The Bouquet List Read Online Free PDF Page A

to spend a whole lot of time together. But did he even find her attractive? There’d been the comment about her hair yesterday, and she thought she’d caught him checking her out while she was eating that scone, but then he’d poured cold water on all her ideas—maybe he saw her as a pain in the butt?
    As he moved through the hallway, she realized they were both in a bit of a transition phase: he’d sold his businesses and she’d decided to turn her life upside down. She didn’t think she’d ever have the problem of needing to get to work early, though.
    “Leo, the chef, won’t be in the kitchen for another hour. He won an award at a culinary thing last night for a side business he has, so I told him to come in late. I can show you around the restaurant first if you like. Or would you rather have a coffee?”
    “If there’s a wait, a coffee would be good.”
    The thought of being alone with him, chatting about their next few weeks together, almost caused her to lose her nerve. No chickening out! “Just go to the top of the stairs.”
    He started up the stairs in front of her, back straight, body in perfect alignment.
    Despite the fact that she’d known him for years, there was still this formality between them, as if he had a barrier around himself. For the first time she registered that he was holding a briefcase. Did people still do that? On a Sunday? With the ability to carry documents on laptops and smartphones, what was the point? She couldn’t help but wonder what he had hidden away inside there.
    “The Palace hasn’t changed much at all,” he said. “Your parents have invited me to every Easter Sunday lunch since I was about ten.”
    He reached the top and she moved in front of him to the kitchen. “I guess that’s part of the whole problem with the Palace. Mom and Dad haven’t had the energy or direction—or the money, I guess—to change things up.”
    Lane perched on a stool at the counter and picked up an empty Pop-Tart packet as if it were a dead mouse. “Breakfast?”
    She leaned forward and grabbed it from him. “That’s all there was in the cupboard.”
    One dark eyebrow rose slowly and his eyes sparkled. She swallowed. “You’ll need your strength if you intend to be completely involved in this renovation.”
    “There’s a lot of strength in a Pop-Tart,” she said, stuffing the wrapper into the trash to avoid his gaze. She reminded herself not to tell him about being sick. She didn’t need him any more dubious about her abilities than he already was. “Leo will make us something nice for lunch, I’m sure.”
    He patted his briefcase. “It’s okay. I have a packed lunch.”
    So that’s what was in there. She could imagine he’d carefully made sandwiches, ensuring all the nutritional groups were represented, and that they were cut in equilateral triangles. “I bet you make a good one.”
    “I don’t have time to make my own,” he said, dismissively. “I have a regular order with my local Sandwich Sensation and they have it waiting for me each morning.”
    She gaped at him. “You mean you have the same thing for lunch every day?”
    He scoffed. “Of course not. Sunday is turkey day.”
    “Then what do you have on the real Turkey Day?”
    There was a pause. “Sandwich Sensation is closed so I get lunch from one of my restaurants.”
    She turned around and took two cups from a high cupboard and allowed herself a quick grin while she was at it. Just as well he was so irresistible, or his straitlaced routine might start to put her off.
    Tring! The mindfulness bell on her phone went off, and its long, musical note floated around the room. She certainly didn’t need reminding to be in the moment right now. She was having no problems focusing on the man in front of her.
    “That’s an interesting ringtone,” he said, frowning. “Sounds like a particularly annoying doorbell.”
    She just smiled, certain that the idea of mindfulness would seem kooky to a man like