"Go ahead," I said, backing up against the pink wall of the shop. "Do something other than glare at me." I waited. One, two, three seconds... and nothing. I raised my chin at him. "You're boring me, mute boy." He stepped closer. Leaned toward me as his gaze burned into mine. Then... ❀ ❀ ❀ After three months in juvenile detention, it's time for Romy Pereira to help out with her family's flower shop. And it's not all bad... until they hire Jack Michel to work beside her. He doesn't speak, communicating with glares and scowls instead of words, and seems to be more interested in literal rocks than other human beings. And with an ex-convict mother, her friends drifting away, and the flower shop falling apart, the last thing Romy wants to deal with is Jack's attitude. She'll forever praise the day he screws up big time and gets himself fired, but until that day comes, it's mostly one cold-hearted girl, her silent (but still infuriating) coworker, and a whole lot flowers. [word count: 100k] [originally written in 2014-2015; re-write completed 2020-2021] ❀ Rankings ❀ #1 in #badgirl #1 in #goodboy #1 in #flowershop #1 in #sociopath

He came to New York City to be born again. She yearned to get out of the city, where she'd been all her life and the symphony was her only escape. Rich, gorgeous, sexy and oh-so talented British pianist William Chevalier doesn't need to care whom he insults or belittles as he lives his life as if every day is his last. He could have continued down the path to hell forever, but then an encounter at the symphony with the beautiful, dark-haired Alegria marks the beginning of the end. Buried pains will resurface and secret scars will reopen as lust, love, betrayal and cheesecake tear apart William and Alegria's worlds. Love can take the strangest turns... ...And they won't always be in the right direction.

2016 WATTY AWARD WINNER - HQ LOVE! This Halloween, Maggie Juarez just wants to nerd out on the finer points of period costume design in her hand-made Regency ballgown and try to ignore her painful, awkward crush on beautiful ice-queen Samantha Winters. But Sam is impossible to ignore, especially when she shows up to a party dressed--perfectly--as Mr. Darcy. She can't be trying to attract Maggie's attention...can she? **** This short story is a companion story to About That (Almost) Kiss and A Kiss At Christmas and takes place on the same college campus. :-) You can buy all three stories here: https://www.londonsetterby.com/three-kisses.html