My hands find their way on his forearms instinctively, electricity shooting up my fingertips at the contact. I let out a shaky breath at the effect he has on me. All it takes is for him to stand less than a metre away and my hormones go haywire.

His gaze moves from my face to my hands resting on his arms. When his lip's part, I have to rip my eyes away from them. I could study his face for eternity but that wouldn't do me any help. Right now, I need to say this.

I stare at his shoes, embarrassed at my racing heart. "Why won't you just let me in?" My voice comes out barely above a whisper.

We stay like that for a while. Our chests rising and falling in unison and my hands wrapped around his arms. It's as if I'm clutching onto him to prevent him from going out of reach and closing himself off again.

Even though he hasn't moved an inch, I feel him slipping through my fingertips already. My heart screams at me to pull him close to me, as close as I possibly can, but my head warns me otherwise. I stand rigid instead, unable to decide which one to trust.

"Archer?" That little word is all it takes for me to lose him completely. "Are you in there?" Penny's voice travels towards us and I'm suddenly aware of her incoming footsteps.

My body moves before my head can catch up as I duck under his arm, so I'm out of his hold. I don't look back to catch his reaction out of fear that I'll see something I don't want to. Relief, maybe? Guilt that he didn't step away sooner.

Penny opens the door connecting the garage to the house moments later. Her eyes flash at the two of us, way closer than necessary as I continue to shuffle away.

"What are you doing in here?" Her eyebrow raises, her judgment spilling out of her gloss-coated lips. "I heard something fall."

I take this as my chance to sneak a look at Archer. He's already leaning over his bike, continuing to replace the air filter. He doesn't spare me or Penny a glance. "Nothing, Madison was just leaving." His voice is now emotionless compared to earlier.

A dull ache in my heart settles at his cold gaze but I try to conceal it. I chew on my cheek to distract myself and blink a couple of times. Despite my attempts, my lips still purse into a line.

I continue to stand there, processing his words. I don't take my eyes off him for what seems like forever. I know he can feel me looking but he remains unphased. Finally, I rip them away from him and follow Penny into the kitchen.

She takes a seat at the table. I run my fingers through my hair when she isn't looking. Why do I do this? I don't know. After, I pull the chair out opposite her.

"You look terrible," I state.

She places her hands over her chest, where her heart is and attempts to look hurt by my words. "If you two didn't make so much noise I'd still be looking terrible in my room." She grunts. My heart rate steadies when she doesn't mention anything about us being together.

*

"Can you take some of these sunflowers outside, please?" Melissa requests and I do as she says. To say this is my first shift, I'm doing pretty well. Well, in my opinion, I am anyway. I've served a few customers so far and they all left the shop seeming satisfied. That's a good sign.

I pick up the tan-coloured pot and proceed to make my way through the shop. My feet carry me outside despite most of my vision being blocked. I'm surprised I didn't trip over my feet. That's definitely something I'd do.

My relief is short-lived.

"Hi." A voice startles me, and my hands involuntarily release their grip on the pot. My eyes widen as I leap to catch it, but another pair of hands get their first. They hover centimetres away from the ground, having narrowly missed it smashing.

I release a breath of relief, slapping my hand against my chest. "Wow," I chuckle softly out of shock. "Thank you."

My eyes travel up the man's body until they reach his face. He gives me a lopsided smile before handing the flowers to me. I'm surprised by the fuzzy feeling that lies in my chest. Adrian.

"Sorry for frightening you, it wasn't my intention."

I kneel on the floor and start to place the sunflowers into the empty basket.

I shake my head slightly. "No, it's okay," I insist. "Did your boss take the news well?"

It takes a couple of seconds for him to catch on to what I'm asking. "As best as she could considering the circumstances," He starts, and I giggle. "She dropped the flowers into the trash as I was leaving."

"What a waste." I shuffle over to my left to place the rest of them into the other basket. He doesn't say anything else causing my eyebrows to furrow. It's not that I mind his presence, I'm just slightly confused why he's here.

"Did you need some more flowers for your next boss?" I ask, looking up at him through my lashes, and he laughs. He rests his hand on his chest as he does, his eyes crinkling with amusement at the corners.

"No, I was just passing by when I saw you stumbling out. I just thought I would come over and say hi."

A blush creeps up my neck at the fact that he saw me. Goddamn it. Why do sunflowers have to be so tall?

"Well, hi." I give him a tight-lipped smile along with a little wave.

"Do you need help with that?"

"Actually, I'm nearly done-" I start but my words falter when he kneels next to me, setting the remaining sunflowers down in the basket. His gaze connects with mine as his tongue darts out to lick his lips.

I clear my throat as I mutter a quick thank you before standing up, brushing off my knees and heading back into the shop. A sigh escapes my lips out of relief that I managed to remove myself from that situation. I don't know what it is about him. Maybe it's his formal attire or manners but something's intimidating.

My eyebrows furrow when he doesn't leave, instead he follows me inside and over to the counter. He listens to the employees only sign and stands on the other side. I place the pot down.

"Can I help you?" I question, confused as to why he's still here.

"Do you want to go out to dinner with me?" He blurts out.

I step back slightly, my eyes wide, and look back to see if Melissa is watching. Thankfully, she isn't taking any notice. I wasn't expecting to get this sort of question working here. I was expecting people to ask where certain flowers are or how long they'll last, not if I want to go out to dinner with them.

"Um," I shift on my feet and play with the hem of my shirt. "When?" This is the only word I manage to say. I'm still trying to wrap my head around why this successful-looking man would be asking me on a date.

"Whenever you're free."

"Well, my shift ends in a couple of hours," I suggest causing his eyes to light up.

"Done. I'll be here when you finish." He nods his head and skips slightly as he leaves the shop.

I pinch myself to check if that actually just happened. I don't wake up back in the comfort of my bed which tells me that I'm not dreaming, and Adrian did just ask me on a date. The nerves settle in once I process it. I've never been on a date in my life. Where will we go? What will I eat? Should I make a mental list of what to talk about? So many questions rush around my mind.

"Did he decide not to buy anything?" Melissa comes out from the back.

"What?"

"The young man, did he change his mind?"

"Oh," I pick up a pile of paper and flick through it. "No, he didn't."

Adrian is true to his word. Once I finish my shift and step outside of the shop he's there. A smile makes its way onto my face once I see that he's stood in front of a car rather than a motorcycle. I don't need to put my life in danger tonight.

"You ready?" He asks, holding open the door for me.

I hum in response before stepping into the car. He goes around to the other side and does the same. "Where are we going?"

"There's a restaurant not far from here, I made reservations for us there." He pulls out onto the road.

That's a change, Archer would never tell me where we were going. It's different to have someone actually answer my question. I have to remind myself that I'm with Adrian and I shouldn't be thinking about Archer.

"I don't think I'm wearing the right clothes."

He's sporting a suit like the other day whereas I'm wearing plain jeans and a t-shirt that needs a wash. Is this my second time wearing it or the third? I'm starting to think that he might just wear a suit daily.

"You look amazing," he reassures me, and I blush. "But if you don't feel comfortable then we can stop by your house so you can change."

"That would be great." I smile. We stay in a comfortable silence until we reach the house. It doesn't take us long to get there.

He cuts the engine. "You can wait inside if you want?" I offer and he nods, unbuckling his seatbelt and following me to the door.

When we step inside, I notice Penny sat on the sofa eating fries. Our eyes connect as her jaw swings open automatically. She almost drops the fry that was in her mouth. She looks between me and Adrian. I can already see her connecting the dots.

"I'll be five minutes tops," I tell him.

"Take however long you need." He stuffs his hands into his pockets and swings back and forth in front of the door. I make my way up to my room. I'm not surprised to hear Penny's footsteps hot on my heels.

"Who is he?" She asks eagerly once we are in the safety of my room.

"He's just someone I met at work." I shrug nonchalantly, trying to conceal how I feel inside, and rip my closet open. My fingertips brush each boring item of clothing as I push them to the side.

"If you met him at work, why's he in our house?" She eyes me suspiciously.

I pick out a little black dress from my closet before walking over to the mirror, holding it up against my body. Penny looks at me with disapproval. I shove it back onto the rail. "He asked me to go to dinner with him," I admit.

She jumps off of my bed, letting out a childish squeal. "Why didn't you say so!" I step out of the way as she attacks my closet. "What's his name?" I tell her and she wiggles her eyebrows at me. "Is that French, Italian, maybe?"

"How should I know?" I roll my eyes at her excitement. I think she's more excited than I am.

I lay down on my bed and throw one of my pillows at her. She then asks me a series of questions like how old he is or what his job is. I find myself unable to answer them. "Do you even know anything about him?"

"I know his name." I trail off, suddenly realising that I know next to nothing. All I know is that he likes to give flowers to his boss when he quits, and he likes to wear a suit.

She finally picks me out something to wear and I throw it onto my body before tackling my hair. She chose a blush pink silk skirt that ends at my knees with a cream jumper and a pair of snake print, white ankle boots. I remember that Adrian is still waiting for me downstairs and just let my hair fall in loose waves down my back.

When I make it down the stairs, Adrian is no longer stood alone. My eyes zero in on Archer standing next to him with his helmet in his hand. I clear my throat which earns me their attention.

"What are you doing?" I ask Archer.

"You're going on a date with this guy?" He throws Adrian a glare.

His concern with my love life puts me on edge. Does he care enough about me to be bothered about who I date or is he doing it just to spite me? The latter seems more likely. I'm frustrated at the part of me that hopes he cares. It's wrong to think that way when it'll never come true.

"Yeah, I am," I confirm confidently, choosing to push that part of me away.

I loop my arm with Adrian's and raise my eyebrows at him to prove I'm telling the truth. The look on his face tells me that he's confused as to why anyone would ever ask me on a date. He's still glaring at Adrian, probably disgraced that a member of the male species has wasted their time on me.

"How long have you known him?" I don't bother to answer his question as I drag Adrian out of the door and towards his car. "Madison." He calls to me sternly. It's the last thing I hear before I close the door.

"Sorry about that." I cringe internally and apologise as we walk down the path.

"Don't worry. I don't let jerks like him get to me."