eyes, his common sense took a hike. His raging hormones took charge and left him longing to steal a kiss. A long, passionate one.
He was in so much trouble.
He half hoped Jules would already be waiting for him on the sidewalk. They could head back to the villa, and he could lose himself in his work. It’d keep his mind from straying back to Jules’s sultry lips or tempting butterfly. He inwardly groaned.
And no matter what Dante said about his father wanting to get more involved with the business side of things, Stefano had made a lot of changes since his father had last run DeFiore Winery. Stefano was certain he’d have questions.
When Stefano neared the front of the shop, he peered in the big showroom window. Colorful blooms in various arrangements stared back at him, and he saw no sign of Jules making a hasty exit. Could it be that this place lived up to her high standards?
He sighed in relief. Once they placed a quick order, they’d be back on the road. Maybe this day wasn’t going to be a complete waste of time after all.
A little bell above the door chimed as he entered the shop. He was surprised to find so many people inside. There were men with bouquets of long-stemmed red roses. Others had arrangements of pink carnations. And yet another man had a bouquet of lilies, some sort of bright green pom-poms, brilliant pink roses and tiny deep purple flowers. And then there were a cluster of young women pointing at the cooler cases that held a wide array of flowers in black buckets. He couldn’t help but wonder if this place was always this busy. Perhaps he’d gone into the wrong business.
He found Jules at the back of the shop, studying a cooler case of flowers he didn’t recognize. “Did you find what you need?”
“I think so.”
“Good.” This had gone even easier than he’d imagined. “Ready to go?”
“Go? Are you kidding?” When she looked at him with those big green eyes, he could feel himself melting. “I haven’t even talked with a salesperson yet.”
“You haven’t? What have you been doing?” It wasn’t until the words were out of his mouth that he realized how they sounded.
She frowned. “You might get things done by pushing to the front of the line, but there are those of us who believe in waiting our turn.”
His head lowered. She was right. “I just didn’t realize there’d be such a demand for flowers.” Well, he wasn’t going to do any good just standing there taking up space. “It looks like it’s going to be a while. I’ve got some things to do. I’ll be back—”
“You’re leaving me?”
The way she said it made him feel as though he was shirking his duties as best man. “I was just trying to make good use of the time. I don’t know a dandelion from a carnation.”
“You can help me pick out some flowers. Lizzie told me the main flower she wants in her bouquet is a dahlia. If possible it should have a yellow center with deep pink tips. She said they have a sentimental meaning for her and Dante.” Jules shrugged her slender shoulders. “I see that they have some here, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem to get them to order more. I hope.”
“Great. It sounds like you have the flowers all figured out.” He turned toward the door, feeling extremely uncomfortable as a grandmotherly woman gave him a smile and a nod as though she thought that Jules and he were...were a couple. “I’ll just wait outside.”
Jules reached out and caught his arm. “Not so fast. I still need some other flowers to complement the bouquet. I thought about baby’s breath, but everyone uses that. Lizzie needs something different. Something that will make the colors in the bouquet pop. You know this whole thing will be on television. Well, not the whole thing, but highlights of the wedding. And it just has to be perfect.”
Stefano stifled a groan as Jules pulled him around to look at the variety of flowers. Though she mainly wore black and white, she appeared to have a fondness for other colors, too. Interesting.
“I’m sorry it took me a bit to get to you two.” The saleswoman was an older lady who spoke perfect English with an Italian accent. “With summer here, romance is in the air.”
“It certainly is.” Jules smiled broadly. “We’re here to order flowers for a wedding.”
Stefano was caught off guard by the ease of her smile and the twinkle in her eyes. Was it possible that Jules was a closet romantic? She certainly seemed to know enough about this stuff.
The woman’s face lit up. “What do you have in mind?”
Jules turned to him and asked if he’d hold her purse. He quickly scanned the area. Relieved to find no male witnesses, he reached out for the very large black leather purse. He was shocked by its weight. What did she carry in there? Barbells?
He watched as Jules opened her wedding planner and flipped to a page with colorful pictures, but before he could focus in on the images, she lifted the notebook out of his view. Whether it was intentional or not, he didn’t know and he wasn’t about to ask. He didn’t need her thinking that he was interested in any of it. He was doing his duty as best man. Nothing more.
The saleswoman produced various stems of tiny flowers from white to pink to deep purple. In the beginning, Jules would turn to consult him. He generally shrugged and said they were nice. After he kept repeating the same response, she gave up asking for his input, which was fine with him.
“Don’t worry, honey.” The woman patted Jules’s arm. “If it were up to most men, they’d pick some wildflowers from the side of the road as a wedding bouquet. That’s why you have me.”
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate all of your help. And I know it’s short notice, but the wedding is next month. Will we be able to get the flowers in time for the ceremony?”
“Let me check.” The woman pulled out a day planner and Jules read off the date. “Non c’è problema. You two are such a cute couple.” The woman beamed at them.
Without warning, Jules leaned over, wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. His body stiffened. What was she doing? He would have asked, but his heart in his throat kept him from breathing, much less speaking.
“You really think so?” Jules lifted her chin and smiled broadly up at him.
“Oh, definitely. Just wait until you have children. They’ll be real darlings.”
“Hmm...I hadn’t thought about it.”
Jules gave him a quick once-over as though inspecting his physical attributes to see if he would make good father material—a father to their children. When her gaze met his, her lips lifted into a smile that lit up her eyes. His jaw tightened. She was having fun at his expense. But what bothered him the most was he could easily envision a little girl with Jules’s big green eyes—his daughter. He stopped his thoughts from meandering down that dangerous path.
What in the world was going on? He and Jules were barely even friends, much less planning a life together. That was not going to happen.
Jules pulled away. Although he should have felt relieved, he found himself missing her touch. It killed him to admit even to himself, but he’d
