Hearts in Bloom Read Online Free Page B

sowing wild oats while I was studying actual oats.” Remaining academic advisor to a student he was sleeping with was unethical but the whole being married and only sort of separated thing was not a problem. For him.
    CJ nodded sagely and sipped his lemonade. “To paraphrase Dorothy Parker—you can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make him think.”
    She tightened her smile with a snort. “Thanks.” Her gaze fell on the BMW.
    CJ finished his drink then stood. “I’ll let you get back to your evening.”
    “So soon?” Ivy bounced to her feet with her hands outstretched until she realized how her eagerness might look. She adjusted her stance to be more neutral.
    “I have to download these photos and get the info to our web guy. He works mainly in the wee hours, so he should have something for us to look at tomorrow or the next day. I’ll give you a call when we have it up and running.”
    “Okay.” She followed him to the porch steps but grabbed a post to keep from following him.
    “See ya!” he called. She waved. The engine purred to life then he made a neat turn in the drive to head back to the highway and town.
    Two days passed before the website was fully operational. CJ stopped by the shop twice during that time with the unfinished site for Ivy to adjust or approve. It looked good. She handed him a check for the final amount as agreed but was reluctant to end their association yet.
    A small vase of sweet pea blossoms and ranunculus accompanied the check. “To make up for that awful bouquet,” Ivy said. He has to look this up, if he doesn’t know it already. Please let him get the message. Departure, delicate pleasures, and I am dazzled by your charms.
    CJ sniffed the sweet fragrance. He looked at her over the tops of the flowers. “Would you be willing to go out without having business to discuss?”
    Unable to respond, Ivy only nodded.
    The next two weeks flew by in a cloud of hazy happy evenings. CJ had other clients, so she didn’t see him every night, but often enough. The website had generated a tiny bit more traffic. He said the difference would increase over time. Beth returned from her honeymoon, leaving Ivy no reason to hang out at the store beyond her normal shift. She spent her time in the greenhouse again, glad to be in grubby clothes and boots.
    One Saturday, while Ivy enjoyed a quiet lie-in, watching the birds out her window, CJ called.
    “I have the perfect date spot,” he announced.
    “Oh?”
    “Let’s go skating.”
    “Ice or roller?”
    “Roller.”
    Good golly. Ivy knew how to roller skate but it had been years; the last time she’d been to Skate World was in middle school. She pushed herself up into a seated position. “Indoors or out?”
    “Your choice.”
    “Skate World it is—I tried inline skates once and discovered I’m not that great on them. You?”
    “I do all right.”
    “Sounds like fun.” Self-consciously she stretched her toes and massaged the tendons on the bottom of one foot. Hopefully, it was like riding a bike and she’d remember quickly how to balance and move in roller skates.
    He picked her up—his insistence, although she lived so far from town that meeting at the rink would have made more sense. Still, she didn’t mind a ride in the silver beastie. Her jeans slid smoothly over the leather bucket seat and the wood paneling on the high-tech console looked like the real deal, not plastic fake-wood. The hairs stood up on her arms, and she rubbed the skin vigorously. CJ dialed up the heat, but she wasn’t cold. At his indication, she lifted his mp3 player he had hooked to the car stereo. She chose a playlist mix, interested in his musical taste and abilities to match keys and rhythms. Nodding along with the beat, she listened to some songs she’d never heard but decided she liked.
    They found a spot in the surprisingly crowded parking lot and walked through the tinted glass doors into the wide, cavern-like foyer. The carpeting had been updated