Total pages in book: 12
Estimated words: 11119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 44(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 11119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 56(@200wpm)___ 44(@250wpm)___ 37(@300wpm)
“Really...”
“No, I’m not. So, if another niece or nephew is getting married, you’re going to have to find a different florist. Despite the crumbling brick and mortar outside my shop, there’s no price high enough to get me to work for you again. I’m sorry.”
He looked taken aback for a moment. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” Robert tilted his head slightly. “You know you’re the one who walked out on me, right?”
“It was only a matter of time before you did the same. I know your type—rich, powerful, and you think can own anyone or anything. You told me yourself you always get what you want.”
Now he frowned. “That’s not fair, Karlee. I felt something between us, something deep enough that I wanted to get to know you better. But you rushed out of my life and refused to return my calls. I left you dozens of messages. I’ve been a zombie at the office. Everything reminds me of you. I keep replaying that day over and over in my head, wondering what the hell I did to piss you off so badly.”
Karlee didn’t know what to believe. She never returned his calls because she knew the second she heard his voice she’d become weak, and she didn’t want to have her heart broken all over again. The last month had been brutal for her. “Trust isn’t an easy thing for me. I don’t want to get hurt,” she said. “Sometimes it’s easier to run.”
He loosened his grip on her upper arms and tugged her closer. “You’re judging me unfairly. Just … give me a chance.”
“You make it sound very simple.”
“It can be.” Robert took a deep breath at her neckline. “Mmm, I love the way you smell.”
His voice was deep and gravelly, his breath hot against her sensitive skin.
The door chimed again. This time with a real customer. Before she could respond, Robert whirled partway around. “She’s closed!”
“Hey! That was a customer,” she said.
“Hush.” He leaned in and kissed her into silence. It was pure passion, possession, and a claim she couldn’t refute. She closed her eyes and savored the feel of his lips and tongue. She’d missed him even more than she realized. “I’ve been wanting to tell you something. You asked me a question that night, and I didn’t answer you honestly.”
“What question?” she asked.
“You asked if I ever got lonely.”
She swallowed hard. His tone had changed. There was no humor in his eyes now, no playfulness or teasing. “And?”
“I am lonely in that big, old house. Much more so after meeting you. You made me realize what’s important, what I want out of life. When you don’t follow your fate, you can never be truly happy.”
He touched her hair as if she might break, studying her features with what appeared to be genuine affection. Could it be true? Her heart began to race as she processed all the possibilities.
“You could have any woman you want.”
“That doesn’t help me if I only want one.” He effortlessly hoisted her up onto the checkout counter, exactly as he had on his hallway table back at his home. His brute strength astounded and aroused her. “Partying and fast women don’t excite me, Karlee. You do.” Once he’d taken up residence between her legs, he began his seduction. He trailed kisses along her jaw before licking along the shell of her ear. Her eyes lolled back in her head as her erogenous zones came to life.
“Robert…”
He leaned back, looking her in the eyes. “I’ve had my fun, Karlee. Trust me when I tell you money can’t buy happiness. Not really. Not the kind I want,” he said. “I want what we had to last more than one night.”
“Like two, three, a week?”
He chuckled, a deeply masculine sound.
“Okay, I have a proposition, Ms. Jones. It seems I’m in need of a full-time florist.”
She scoffed. “You? You need a staff florist?”
“I really love flowers.” He tugged her hair back slightly, exposing her neck. She let out a little gasp from the slight bite of erotic pain. Robert groaned, the sound of a man on the verge of losing control. “All I’ve thought about this past month are flowers.”
“What if you tire of them? Even the most beautiful rose loses its fragrance.”
“Oh, no … I’m not a young man, Karlee. I’m not fickle. I know exactly what I want.”
She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “And what you want, you get.”
“Precisely.” He gave her a wink.
They kissed again. This time things felt different. Or maybe she’d changed. Karlee was allowing herself to trust, to dream.
“How about you close for the day?”
“I just opened,” she said. “Well, kind of.”
He exhaled. “How about you open an hour late, then? I’ll make it worth your while.”
“I told you I can’t be bought.”
“What I’m talking about has nothing to do with money.”