AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Neal
Now we’ve got that out of our system and kissed each other senseless, we’re quiet and still. Our fingers are entwined, and she looks up at my face. Her expression is soft but bewildered, her eyes flicker to my lips.
I love being close to her.
Tenderly, my thumb strokes the back of her palm before I lift her hand up to press a kiss to her fingers. She bites her lower lip, eyes closing.
I lift a hand and gently brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“I didn’t come here today to ask you to sell up. I won’t ask that of you.”
“You mean you don’tneedto. You know I’m going under, eventually. It’s just a waiting game for you, isn’t it?” she responds flatly.
That’s not the reason at all, but it is a fact. I could just wait a few months, offer her far less money, and reap the rewards. But that’s not what I want. I want a fair working solution for the both of us. And I want it now. Never was a very patient man.
Dani pulls away, placing her hands on the counter, either side of the vase, shoulders hunched, nose buried in the flowers.
I join her, leaning on the counter by her side.
“It’s a beautiful arrangement. You’re very talented.”
Since the opening of her florist, she’s only become more so. I absorb the vibrant beauty of her work for a moment. Her cheeks flush a lovely rose pink when our gazes suddenly collide.
Her eyes look so sad.
Instantly, I lift a hand and cup her cheek, unable to resist comforting her. She instinctively nestles her face against my palm. Her gaze not leaving my face.
My heart skips a wild beat whenever I look into those eyes.
“You’re not going under, baby,” I tell her firmly.
Her brows quirk upward. “But you said I would. And it’s turning out to be true. Now that all the other shops are closed, I’m not getting any orders. I’m down to my final days as a going concern. I don’t have the funds to continue buying flowers to have them die on me.”
She heaves a sigh and gazes around her shop for a moment as if she’s trying to imprint the memory of it in her mind so that she never forgets she once owned this place. Even if it was only for a short while.
“That’s a problem, admittedly,” I mumble, keeping a poker face.
She frowns up at me and then folds her arms against her chest.
“I sense you have something pertinent to say, although I’m pretty sure it’s something I won’t want to hear.”
My mouth skews slightly to the side as I mull my words. I’m good at negotiating business deals, and I’m good at keeping myself calm and collected... but I am not good at expressing my feelings. And that’s got to come out before the grand reveal. She needs to know my motives. Or else she’s going to think it’s some cheap trick.
“I do,” I begin, trying to force the hesitancy from my heart. “But before that, there’s something else, equally important, I have to tell you.”
She nods. “Okay, I’m all ears—shoot.”
Her eyes search my face slowly, unblinking.
Why does she make me feel more nervous than when I walk into a room full of financial sharks who are out for my blood and looking for a way to screw me over?
Maybe because I have more to lose than just my cash?
Yeah—it’s exactly that.
I don’t want to lose her.
“So…”
