Her Billionaire Heartthrob - Kaylee Baldwin Page 0,25
“I told him about that Billionaire Mountain Cove place up in the mountains,” she said. “I think I’m going to try to set him up with Naomi.”
“Grandma,” she warned. “Naomi has enough on her plate. She doesn’t need you setting her up.” Naomi was a single mom of two little kids, and she had catered the gala the night before. “Don’t meddle.”
“It’s not meddling. It’s presenting an opportunity. They can both turn it down, if they’re dumb.”
Viola rolled her eyes, but laughed. She’d been the recipient more than one of her grandma’s “opportunities” and was glad she wasn’t on the Dane Lowbridge blind date short list.
She stood and rinsed off her plate, then grabbed her jacket and keys to head out. Normally, she didn’t work Saturdays, but she couldn’t sit around the house, thinking about Liam—or worse, kissing Liam—or she’d go crazy.
When she opened the door, she saw a gold-embossed box sitting on the mat. She picked it up, reading the name of an expensive, handcrafted chocolate store in Bentonville on the box.
A folded over note was taped to the top, and she flipped it up.
To Viola,
A gift from one business associate to another.
Liam
PS. I’m really so very, very sorry.
She snort-laughed, and despite herself, she felt her heart thawing toward him again.
“What’s that?” her grandma asked, seeing the package in her hands.
“Chocolates. From Liam.”
“Ohh, this place is amazing. Me and the ladies have been trying to get a tour for ages, but they’re always booked out.”
Viola opened the box and took out a chocolate at random. One bite in, and she nearly gagged. “Oh my gosh, these are the worst.”
Her grandma looked at her like she was crazy as she finished the chocolate she’d snagged over Viola’s shoulder. “They’re incredible.”
Viola set her chocolate piece down and rushed to get a drink. “I have never had anything so bitter. Is he trying to kill me?”
Her grandma raised an eyebrow. “You need a refined palate to enjoy this, I guess.”
“Well, call my palate unrefined then, because I prefer my chocolate to be sweet.” She slid the box across the table toward her grandma. “Here, you can have the rest.”
Her grandma ate another chocolate, making Viola’s nose scrunch. How in the world could she eat that? She left her house, smiling though, all the way to work, both at the gesture and how terrible it turned out to be.
When she got to the office, she sat in her car another minute to text Liam. I told you to stop telling me sorry, but I’ll accept the apology for subjecting me to that chocolate.
His reply came moments later. Subjecting you?
Have you ever heard of sugar? Cream?
He sent a GIF of someone pantomiming a stab to the heart. That is from one of the best chocolatiers in the entire United States. When I learned they were here, I was even more excited to come to Arkansas.
She laughed and sent a GIF of someone in a chef’s hat pouring copious amounts of cream and sugar into a mixing bowl. As she did, she realized he hadn’t looked at his phone once the night before. For all she knew, he hadn’t even brought it with him. The thought made her smile, until his next text came in.
Come with me to take a tour of the chocolate shop. Let me try to change your mind about dark chocolate.
Her stomach jumped, but she typed back, I’d better not. Work.
I can schedule it for after work hours…
Liam, I can’t.
He didn’t respond, and after a moment, she left to go to her office. He definitely didn’t feel like the business associate she needed him to be, not after last night. She’d have to keep busy today, or she’d forget why keeping him at a distance was a good idea.
Chapter 12
Liam threw the ball as hard as he could, and Darcy and Jax flew after it. Darcy edged Jax out for the catch—she was younger and definitely had more energy of the two, but it never kept Jax from trying.
Callie and Xander were getting home from Seattle late tonight, and that would be the end of Liam’s dog watching career for now. He’d learned that although he loved playing with the dogs here and there, he definitely wasn’t in the market to get his own full-time dog to take care of.
He was in the market for a new chair, though, since Jax chewed one of his up.
His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out, surprised to see a text from Viola.
He hadn’t