Page 22 of Demon On Deck

Whether she embraces me or I embrace her is irrelevant. All that matters is I have my arms wrapped around Kallie once more.

Fate has given us another chance, and I’ll be damned if I let it slip away like a ship in the night. No, now that I’ve found her again, I’m never letting her go. I just need to convince her of that.

Chapter 9

Real World Dating

KALLIE

It really is a small world after all. Never in a million years did I think I would ever see Evren again after the cruise ended. Have I thought of him all day, every day, since I stepped off the cruise ship and back to reality?

Absolutely.

I have relived every moment I spent with him a million times over.

But to see him again? In my local grocery store, of all places? That was not on my Bingo card of life.

And I’m fucking thrilled.

When I got back from the cruise and the post-cruise blues hit, I threw myself into work. The shop had managed fine while I was gone and had even booked two large weddings, but with all of the legal fees I’d paid over the last two years, I needed more.

When I finally made it through invoices, payroll, and a mountain of other paperwork, I was able to log into my email. Shifting through more orders, invoices, and inspiration boards from brides, I clicked on a message I was positive was spam.

Prior to leaving for the cruise, I approached several of the smaller grocery stores and other small businesses near me about selling pre-made arrangements and bouquets. Most smaller stores don’t have a floral department and tend to only bring in flowers for major holidays.

What I was proposing was a trial run of premade bouquets and arrangements of varying sizes to have on one cooler end cap and in stands with water buckets at the checkouts. I hadn’t heard anything before leaving, so I wasn’t holding out hope that any of the stores I approached would be interested.

Much to my delight, the email I almost mistook for spam was from one of the small businesses I had approached. They wanted to draft a temporary contract and get my flowers into their store as soon as possible. If it was successful, we would renegotiate for a long-term contract.

I was so excited I nearly missed the email from the second store.

Things were finally turning around, and my first thought was to tell Evren and Mel.

Except I couldn’t tell Evren.

Cruise fling. No strings, no expectations. Just you and me until the dock.

Every day since the night I walked away from him, I’ve wished I’d said to hell with until the dock and asked for his contact information.

I missed him. Not just the sex, although that was a definite highlight. I missed him. The way he made me laugh, how he listened and engaged in our conversations, the way he looked at me like I was the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. How safe he made me feel.

I. Missed. Him.

Thinking of him made my heart ache in spite of all the happy memories we’d made together.

So when he magically appeared after I finished setting up my floral displays in the store, the grip sadness had around my heart eased.

“Seriously, Evren, what are you doing here?” I ask, leaning back to look into a pair of sparkling orange eyes I’ve desperately missed.

“Buying coffee creamer and finding you, Doll,” he says as if it’s that simple.

“Coffee creamer?” I ask, confused.

He nods and explains, “Do you remember the cafe from the cruise? The one where I tracked down the manager to ask what went into that cinnamon caramel coffee?”

I nod.

“Well, it just so happens that this is the only store in town that carries the cinnamon crumb cake coffee creamer.”