Page 60 of Scandalous Contract

“What flower says,You’re mine, and no one else can have you?”

Silence. Maybe that was a bit too intense.

I cleared my throat and forced a laugh. “Kidding. That’s a joke.”

A nervous chuckle followed. “Right... well if you're going for something deep like lasting love and admiration, peonies are a great option. They symbolize pure love.”

Peonies. I didn’t even know how a peony looked. I quickly typed it into my laptop. An image popped up. I smiled.

“I think she’ll love those,” I whispered, but the florist heard me.

“Perfect! They come in an array of colors. And would you like a dozen of them? Perhaps a cute vase for them to go in?”

“Um...” I’d never brought a woman flowers. I was out of my element. “I think she’d like pink. I’m on your website. You have a white vase with silver and pink designs on it. I think she’d like that. I’ll take a dozen of them. The flowers, not a dozen vases.”

“I know exactly what vase you’re talking about,” she chuckled. “Where would you like the flowers sent and who should they be addressed to?”

I told her the address of the new station and gave her Stefanie’s name.

“Ms. Adams. I know her. Are you one of her fans?”

Her fans? Were there more motherfuckers I’d need to kill because of her?

“I’m more than a fan.”

“Oh, okay. What would you like the card to say?”

“The card?”

“Yes. The floral arrangement comes with a little notecard. People add things like thinking of you, missing you, can’t wait to see you, and happy birthday. You know, things like that.”

Got it!“Put:I can’t stop thinking about you.”

After rattling off my credit card details and confirming the delivery time, I ended the call. I leaned back in my chair, a satisfied grin tugging at my lips. This should let her know I haven’t given up.

And it should let the bitch who likes her know that there’s already a man in her life. A man who’d do anything to have her. But this wasn’t just about showing some work-husband-wannabe that she was off-limits.

It was abouther. I wanted her to look at those flowers every morning and remember whose hands had once traced every inch of her body. I wanted her to smell them and feel the warmth of my breath on her neck.

I wanted those petals to whisper my name when she sat at her desk, when she wrapped her fingers around her coffee mug and when she took a moment to breathe in their floral scent. If I couldn’t be beside her yet, I could still be close, even if it was just in the form of a gift.

This was just the beginning of me wooing Stefanie Adams. I planned to do everything I could so that she wouldn’t forget me. I refused to let her leave me behind as a distant memory. And I sure as hell wasn’t letting some co-worker fill the space where I should be.

I typed the name of her weather station into my laptop, ready to pull up a full list of their employees. I’d just hit search when a knock sounded on my office door. Who the hell was it, and what did they want?

“Come in if it’s important,” I called out.

The door swung open, and Marshall, one of my team leaders, stepped in, clad in jeans and a white T-shirt, his bald head glistening with sweat.

"Hey, boss," he greeted.

I leaned back, eyeing him. "Marshall, shouldn't you be at the Bak Industries site, pouring concrete with the team?"

He rubbed his head. "Yeah, but I paused the job and rushed back here to talk with you about what we found."

I frowned. "It must be something you couldn't tell me over the phone."

Marshall nodded, his expression serious. "We're pouring a concrete slab for that new boutique hotel they're building along the strip. But we've run into a problem. They'd already put a layer of gravel down for us to pour the concrete over. But it wasn't even. So we started evening it out, and we found bodies wrapped in tarp, duct-taped tight like they were packed for disposal. I opened one to verify. It’s definitely a body."