Love-Blocked – Charity Parkerson Page 0,8
gaze skimmed the room. For a second, they held each other’s stare before Jett turned away and headed for the front counter. A wave of something primal overcame Derreck. He had to do something. Simply walking across the room to say hi wasn’t enough. He wanted to see Jett smile. Judging by watching Jett today and yesterday, Jett didn’t do that much anymore.
An idea struck and Derreck headed for the door. He nearly ran in his rush to get back before he lost his chance. There was a woman who sold flowers from a cart each day. When Derreck spotted her right away, it felt like fate. He hurriedly purchased the nicest bouquet she had and rushed back inside.
Jett was still there, patiently standing with his hands clasped behind his back, as if waiting for someone.
Derreck practically leapt into Jett’s space, holding out his gift. “You look like you need these.”
Jett eyed the flowers like Derreck held out a snake. “Those are very pretty, but I don’t want them.”
Derreck eyed the bouquet. He was fairly certain there were no bugs and he didn’t think Jett had any allergies. “What’s wrong with them?”
“They’re a guilt gift.”
With a huff, Derreck dropped his arm. He didn’t remember Jett being this difficult. “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s not a thing.”
“Of course it is,” Jett said without missing a beat. “You know, it’s like when you buy someone a Christmas gift, and then they rush out to get you one, even though they never planned to get you a gift. That’s a perfect example of a guilt gift. Those are the worst. Who wants a present begrudgingly given? You never stopped by a flower cart when we were together, thinking you wanted to make me smile. Now you show up with flowers you never would’ve bought if we were still together. Those are guilt flowers. So, no thank you.”
Derreck bit back a growl. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“Oh, dear. Are those guilt flowers?”
Derreck’s eyes fell closed at the sound of Kirill’s voice.
Kirill clicked his tongue. “For shame. Are you ready to go, my dear?”
Jett flashed Derreck a pained smile before reaching for Kirill’s arm. They walked away together, leaving Derreck behind with a bouquet of roses and looking like an idiot. Jett was leaving with Kirill. Fuck his life. The man was everywhere, taking everything from Derreck. Derreck pulled out his phone and called Antonio. He needed a friendly voice in his life. Everything sucked. The second Antonio’s smooth Italian voice caressed his ear, Derreck didn’t bother with saying hello. “Did you know guilt flowers are a thing?”
“Of course,” Antonio said without missing a beat. “They’re flowers you buy only because you feel guilty and not because you wanted to do something nice. Never, ever buy them. No one wants them.”
Derreck’s shoulders fell. “But I did just want to do something nice.”
“Oh dear,” Antonio said, matching Kirill’s earlier tone to perfection. “Who did you try giving guilt flowers anyhow? I didn’t think you had dated anyone since... wait. Did you see Jett?”
Derreck blew out a loud breath as he headed for his office. It looked like he had some roses to liven up the place. Goddamn it. When it came to Jett, Derreck was always stupid.
“I’m taking your silence as a yes.”
“Yeah,” Derreck said, shutting himself inside his office. “And, as usual, I made a fucking idiot of myself.”
“Where did you run into him? Vegas is a big place.”
“He came into the casino.”
“Hmmm,” Antonio hummed, sounding irritated. “That sounds like he was looking for trouble.”
Even though Antonio couldn’t see him, Derreck shook his head. “No. Apparently, he was here for Kirill.”
“The sexy Russian who you hate because he’s ten years younger than you and is your boss now, and who I really shouldn’t have called sexy? That Kirill?”
Derreck’s lips stretched into a smile. He tossed the bouquet on his desk and plopped down in his chair. Derreck wished Antonio wasn’t so far away. “Do you know a lot of Kirills?”
“Not really, but I hear it’s a pretty common name in Russia.”
An ache bloomed in Derreck’s chest. He needed to think about something else. “How is your sexy doctor husband who I really shouldn’t call sexy?”
“He’s good. Speaking of which, and don’t get your hopes up here, a clinic right outside Vegas sent him an offer.”
Excitement had Derreck sitting forward in his seat. “Are you fucking kidding me? Are you saying I might get you back?”
“Well, you never lost me, but yeah.