The Billionaire's Secret: A BWWM Romance Mystery Read Free Page A

sale. I had to tamp down my hard feelings and do the whole good customer
service thing. "Well, tell me more about her?" How long have you been cheating on her, for one?

 
    "She's been through a lot and
she's come out the other side."

 
    I felt my heart skip sideways. Poor thing gets cheated on right when she
comes through the bad times. But I looked at Liam again. He was clearly
thinking carefully about this. Who was this man, putting this much thought into
a bouquet? Standing there, in a coat that cost more than my car, fretting about
buying flowers that "mean" something.

 
    Maybe I had misread the flirting?
Maybe I had been out of the game so long I was just desperately seeing
something that wasn't there?

 
    "Well, now," I heard my voice
softening slightly. Jasmine always said I had the worst kind of soft heart.
"You don't have to make it solely flowers," I told him. "Foliage
adds color both to the bouquet and the language. We can add oak leaves, those
mean bravery."

 
    "Yes," his eyes glinted. They
really were the color of the sea in winter.

 
    "There's also 'hope in adversity.'
That's pine, which is nice with the season."

 
    "What about her being
happy?"

 
    I felt my heart skip a small beat. If you're cheating, no amount of flowers
will make her truly happy. A bit of advice, free of charge. "Well we
can say two things. There are yellow roses, of course."

 
    He raised an eyebrow. "You said
those mean friendship."

 
    "They do, but not in Victorian
language. That’s like the...," I waved my hands in the air, trying to grab
the right word, "The...superficial meaning. Yeah, there's happiness, but
then there's also the return to
happiness. And that's lily of the
valley."

 
    He nodded. "She'd like that."

 
    I swallowed. "Okay, so we have a
bouquet here that says bravery, hope in adversity, the return of happiness and
pride. I think you'll want the red amaryllis. Contrast with the little white of
the lily of the valley." I held a few sprigs together to show him.

 
    He cocked his head. "What about
that one?"

 
    I moved to where he pointed to the
brilliantly red and white striped amaryllis still in the fridge case.
"Yes," I nodded, impressed. "This is even better."

 
    Liam tapped the order form. "So,
this bouquet, this tussie-mussie ,"
He looked at me and dimpled and my anger flared anew. "It says 'I am proud
you made it through the hard times and now I want you to be happy?'"

 
    "Yes." I clenched my fists.

 
    "Perfect." He whipped out
his card. It was black, heavier than normal, made out of some kind of metal
instead of plastic. "When can I pick it up?"

 
    "I can have it for you the day
after tomorrow, provided the snow doesn't cut off our shipments."

 
    "That's perfect." He looked
at me sincerely for a moment. "I really want to thank you, Shay." He
wielded my name like a caress. I felt the breath squeezed out of my lungs.

 
    "You're welcome," I said
tightly.

 
    He extended his hand. I didn't want
to touch him. I wanted him out of the store, out of my life before I did
something I would regret forever. I never wanted another woman to feel as bad
as I did when Tre cheated on me. I would never be the source of someone else's
misery. But those eyes...

 
    They needed to go.

 
    "Okay. Thank you so much for
your order, Liam," I wanted to say his name again for some reason.

 
    He moved a little closer.
"There's just one more thing...Shay."

 
    He was close enough to slap. Or kiss.
"What?"

 
    "You said I had no idea what to
do with you. I'd like to prove you wrong...."

 
    Something inside of me snapped.
"I don't think so, Liam " I
spat. "You've got some fucking nerve, you know that? Cheaters. You make me
sick."

 
    He looked startled and then amused.
"Wait, you think...?" Then he laughed, "You've got the wrong
idea, Shay."

 
    "Do I?" I seethed icily.
"Actually, in fact I think I have the exact right one." My voice was
rising.   "What exactly are