A Place with Briar (Harlequin Superromance) by Amber Leigh Williams Page A

inside him that reached for her, threatening to wrench him in two.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    B RIAR WAS STILL in somewhat of a confused daze the following morning. So much so that as soon as she finished preparing the garden suite for the first family on the guest calendar—the Josefstines—she found herself tiptoeing around the door to the bay-view suite to take a walk.
    She wound up at Flora. Adrian had propped the front door of the shop open to invite in the early morning breeze. Flowers all but poured out of the door in perfusion. There was a chalkboard easel on the sidewalk announcing the latest sale. Silver buckets of colorful gerbera daisies sunned in the dappled light along with sprigs of iris and lavender. Briar stopped to trail her hand over the soft, white lilies of the valley nearest the door before entering the cool air of Adrian’s shop.
    Her summer assistant, Penny, a high school junior whose family had connections to Adrian’s, looked up from behind the glass checkout counter. “Hello, Briar!” she greeted, her face lighting up instantly.
    “Penny,” she said. “How are you?”
    “Great.” Penny beamed. “Just great. Are you here to see Adrian?”
    “Yes,” she said. “I thought I’d order some new centerpieces for the entryway and dining room. Is she around?”
    “In the back,” Penny said, gesturing beyond the front room with its potted plants and glass-fronted display coolers filled with Adrian’s many impressive floral arrangements, corsages and bouquets.
    “Thank you,” Briar said, going through the archway that led into the work area. Adrian was not at her usual post, the preparation counter where she worked her unique brand of magic every weekday and Saturday. “Adrian?”
    “In here!”
    Briar walked into the office all the way in the back of the shop where Adrian was sitting at her desk. “Catching up on some bookkeeping?”
    Adrian huffed as she pulled off a multitasking headset. “Well, I was until bridezilla called, sobbing.” She took a breath, held up her hands. “Crisis and cold feet averted.”
    Briar grinned. There was no one more equipped at calming distressed brides than Adrian Carlton. “You could’ve been a therapist.”
    “Trust me. It’s me who needs the therapy,” Adrian said, reaching for the last dregs of coffee in the coffeemaker at her right. She shook her head, filling her mug. “Replenishing centerpieces?”
    “I can come back later,” Briar offered. “With mimosas. And pâté.”
    “You know my weakness. But have a seat. I could use a calming presence.”
    Briar felt far from calm, but she scooped a handful of floral design books off the only other chair in the room and sat down. “I do need centerpieces...but I don’t think that’s why I came over....”
    Adrian lowered her mug before she could take a sip. “Something’s wrong.”
    “No. Well, not exactly.” She pushed her hair from her face, frustrated with her own restlessness. Lifting her hands, she realized there was no better way of getting it out in the open so she blurted, “Cole kissed me.”
    Adrian’s mouth fumbled. Very carefully, she set the mug down and swiveled her chair around to face Briar fully. “He kissed you,” she said after a moment’s contemplation.
    “Yes,” Briar said, brushing her hair back again, this time from her brow. “I...I don’t think he meant to. It just happened.” She exhaled on a shaky rush. “It wasn’t an overt kiss...it was just... It was...perfect.” She frowned over the word as it slipped out. “Yes,” she said on second thought. “It was perfect. But then he got distant and backed away...practically ran away. And now I don’t know how to act or what to do about it or him or anything....”
    Finally, she raised her eyes to Adrian’s and felt her cheeks color when she saw her friend’s pursed lips and studious expression. “I’m sorry to drop this on you, Adrian, especially after the morning you’ve had already. I just need an