Charity Case - The Complete Series - Piper Rayne Page 0,113

hands pressed to the hardwood top of my desk. “I’m a professional. He’s doing it for free. I told him his contact is Victoria from this point forward. I can handle this.”

Her face turns into a giant question mark. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. I’ve handled Dean Bennett at his worst. Surely, I can handle him now.”

She nods. “Okay, but if you change your mind—”

“I won’t.”

She smiles, and I wait to hear her heels click all the way down the hallway to her office.

Let’s hope this isn’t added to the long list of things I’ve come to regret in my life.

By mid-afternoon, I’m drowning in the details of the gala RISE is having at the end of summer. Between all the marketing and finding an auctioneer, convincing my cousin, Skylar, a Winter Classics ski medalist to speak, my day has been full.

“Delivery,” Victoria sing-songs as she walks into my office and places a bouquet of tall, full, and vibrant purple flowers on the corner of my desk.

She stands there smiling.

“I don’t even want to know what kind of flowers these are?” I pluck the card, not that I need to. Unless Glen somehow found out where I work and regrets being a nasty bastard the other night, this is Dean’s doing. He was always good at the making up part.

Yeah, he was.

Ugh, get out of my head, dirty thoughts.

“I do.” Victoria places her hands on her hips.

“Okay, brown-noser, what type of flower is it?”

“Well before I brought them in here I google image searched.” A huge grin erupts out of her like she’s so proud of herself.

“And?”

“They are purple hyacinth flowers. There’s a Greek myth about them being named after a youth when Apollo and Zephyr caused a strong wind—”

“Okay, teacher’s pet, I don’t need a lesson on Greek Mythology. What does the flower mean?”

I ask even though I have an idea.

“It’s an apology. Whoever sends them is asking for your forgiveness.” Victoria’s eyes turn all dreamy like she’s witnessing a wedding where the couple writes their own vows and the groom cries.

This is just an asshole sending flowers five years too late.

I pick the bunch of them up out of the glass vase and drop them in the trash can.

“Chels!” Vic says about to bend down and pull them out. “Don’t let the jerk ruin receiving some gorgeous flowers.”

“Leave them.” I open the card and read Dean’s message.

The reality is people mess up. Don’t let one mistake ruin a beautiful thing.

Love, Dean

I dispose of the note with the flowers and Victoria gasps. She’s all happy and lovey now, but I bet back in her Pete days she was the same as I am now.

She grabs the note from the trash can and reads it over.

“Don’t get sappy, he didn’t write that.” I sit back down at my desk, going through my emails before I have to leave for the dress fitting for my cousin’s wedding.

“How do you know?” She honestly looks disappointed. Jeez, Reed’s really done a number on her. He must have a unicorn cock.

“Because that’s not Dean. Not to mention, he made more than one mistake and what we had wasn’t beautiful. So he’s wrong on both counts.”

She holds the small card in her hand. “You know what I think? Talk it out and move on with your life. It’s not good for you to harbor these feelings inside.”

“Gee, thanks, Mom.”

“Chels,” she sighs.

“What’s going on in here?” Hannah looks from Victoria to me and then sees the flowers in the trash. “What a beautiful flower. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an entire bouquet of them before.”

“They’re purple hyacinth flowers,” Victoria says like the keener in the first row at school.

I roll my eyes.

Hannah pulls one out of the trash.

“Miss Horticulture over there has a whole story to go with the flower.” I mindlessly scroll down my emails to double check that I haven’t missed any for today. I just want to appear busy so these two will leave my office. It’s bad enough I’ll have to put on a brave face when I see my mother today.

“I google image searched,” Vic deadpans, her disappointed eyes on me the entire time. She’s really got that mother guilt thing down pat. Watch out, Jade.

“From our tax attorney, I suppose?” Hannah asks, her eyes practically sparkling.

“Why do you two keep romanticizing this?” I leave my computer and stand, retrieving my stuff off the table on the opposite wall.

“Because everyone loves the wooing of a woman,” Victoria says.

“Am I the only one