“Elizabeth Sommerville. Queen Elizabeth. You know her?”
Janelle’s jaw dropped again. After all the conversations she had shared with Elizabeth, how could she not know that Elizabeth had adopted Gideon and Gunnar Wells? The different races and last names shouldn’t have had anything to do with her not knowing. She would have thought she would have heard something about it considering what he did. Then again, Janelle had shut down all conversations about sports with Penny during the game last night. Before then, she hadn’t been open to hearing about athletes and sports.
Elizabeth talked about her family, but never mentioned her sons’ names or professions. That shouldn’t have surprised Janelle. Elizabeth, despite the moniker from the neighborhood residents, had always been down to earth. She talked about the success of her children in their chosen professions like any mom would. So what she had a champion MMA fighter son and now a Super Bowl-winner son? Now that Janelle thought about it, Elizabeth did mention a third son. She wondered what he did for a living.
“I didn’t know you’re Elizabeth’s son.” She put out her hand. “Hi.”
Gideon held Janelle’s hand. Before that touch, Janelle had always wondered why flowers and plants craved the sun. As she held Gideon’s hand, she understood the power of radiant heat. His large hand enveloped hers. She could imagine what it would feel like to be held by him, to have him stroke her bare skin with his fingertips, or how he would touch her as they had wild, animalistic sex.
At the last thought, she pulled her hand away from his and crossed her arms over her chest when she felt her nipples hardening.
“Nice to meet you.” Gideon cleared his throat. “As you may have heard, my mother is going through a health issue right now, so I’m trying to help out at one of her stores. I’m over at the Pick ’N Clip, but there’s an issue with some supplies, and I’m hoping you can help me. Our last shipment got destroyed. I was hoping to buy some of your stock.” He smiled.
As Penny screamed, “Yes,” Janelle said, “No.”
Gideon split his attention between Penny and Janelle but settled on Janelle. He stared at her like he wanted to challenge her. She imagined that behind a menacing face guard on a football helmet, he probably intimidated lots of men. She wouldn’t crumble. She hoped her quick response would get him to leave.
Janelle cleared her throat as she glared at her employee. Penny and her big mouth. Then she glared at the man who’d come to her at the worst time in her life. “I’m sorry, Mr. Wells.”
“Gideon.”
Janelle shifted in her spot. An itchy tickle crept over her shoulders and down her stomach like a weed taking over an abandoned piece of property. “We can’t spare any today.”
“Janelle, yes, we can. We got that shipment—”
“Sorry we can’t help you. Tell your mother hi from me. I hope she gets better.” Janelle turned around and walked to the other end of the counter away from Gideon. When she pivoted so that she could see the front door, she expected to see Gideon leaving her store. She noticed he hadn’t moved.
“I’m a customer like any other. If I offered to buy every flower in your place for someone special, you would sell to me? As soon as we receive our shipment, I would replace your stock.” His tone remained even and smooth.
Janelle had stood toe-to-toe against bankers who had refused to loan her money for her store and hadn’t backed down from that challenge. Gideon’s determination rivaled hers. She couldn’t take giving something up, not today, not now. His offer felt like he wanted to buy her out of the business.
“But you don’t know when that’ll be, right?” Janelle braced her hands on the counter.
“One, maybe, two days tops.” He strolled closer to her.
Penny gasped. Janelle gripped the counter to keep herself steady.
“We have a large order for some hotels down on the strip. They want an assortment of flowers. How about I buy some carnations, daisies, and calla lilies and leave you your roses? I know how important those are right now. Hopefully, that’ll hold our store and not put you all in a bind.” Gideon lowered his voice.
Cool under pressure. Janelle understood now how Gideon had made quarterback on his team.
Penny clapped her hands. “That’s sounds more than fair. I’ll go get—”
Janelle held up her hand to halt her overeager friend. “Please understand, Mr. Wells. I can’t sell off the bulk of my stock to you. I also have a business to run. If you buy it all, I’ll have to shut down.” She would leave out the fact that the money she would get from him would be enough to pay off her bills.
She should yield. The angel on her shoulder whispered in her ear that Elizabeth would sell him the flowers. Her head refused to back down. She looked around her modest place and imagined it with empty shelves and cases. The image proved too much for her to bear, even if the situation would be temporary.
“Why not give the order to me so that we can fulfill it? I’ll be glad to take that business.” This time she smiled.
Chapter 6
Gideon rested his hands on his hips like a gunslinger as he squared off against this statuesque beauty. As a gentleman, he should have accepted Janelle’s first response and left. Then she’d turned her back to him and he’d spied her luscious ass under her tent of a sweater. His mother would have smacked him on the back of the head for objectifying this woman, but he couldn’t walk away from this fight. Not yet.
“I would like to discuss this even further.” He stared into her deep brown eyes.
She looked familiar to him. Maybe because he’d imagined a dream woman matching her appearance. Her cocoa-colored skin had Gideon thinking about stroking her flesh to see if it did feel like velvet. He didn’t know much about hair, but he could tell her chestnut-tinted hair in a bun had to go down to her shoulders and had its natural curl.
As soon as he’d touched her hand, his heart had pounded so hard it scared him. Staring down this adversary didn’t have him quaking in his shoes. He liked the challenge. The fact that she didn’t fold to him made her even more attractive.
“Like I said, I can’t lose anything else today.” The bun in Janelle’s hair gave her an uptight look. The grandma sweater didn’t help her cause.
“Did you lose something already?” Gideon lowered his voice so that Penny couldn’t hear their conversation.
Janelle blinked.
Gideon took that moment to move in closer. He could stare at her plump bottom lip forever and never get tired of the sight. Even though she didn’t look like she wore makeup, her lips carried a healthy pink shade, and they covered a set of straight, white teeth.
“You good-looking guys really aren’t used to hearing no from a woman. Or is it because you won some World Series game or something, and you think you own the world?”
“Super Bowl.” Penny leaned forward in between Gideon and Janelle.
Janelle waved her hand in the air. “Whatever. As much as I respect Queen Elizabeth, I can’t help her this time.”
“Good. I’m glad you brought my mother into the equation. This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with her and her business.”
A customer walked into the store, but Gideon kept his interest on Janelle.
“Penny, will you help our customer, please?” Janelle spoke to her employee, but like Gideon, she kept her stare directly on him.
“Sure, boss.” Penny pivoted and sauntered away.
“Like I was saying, my request has nothing to do with me or who I am or some game. I’m trying to keep her store running until she can get on her feet.” Gideon tried to appeal to her sense of compassion, hoping she had some.
If his mother had suggested he go to Janelle for help, she must have a good heart. He had to keep thinking that to keep his cool.
“I told you I can’t. It doesn’t matter that you’re a Bobcat or whatever.”
Penny popped her head in between the two of them again. “Wolf.”
; Janelle glared at her friend, and Penny resumed her work duties with their one customer.
“I’m not a Wolf now. I’m a man.” Gideon saw Janelle’s eyes widened and she swallowed hard. He hadn’t meant for the statement to come out as salaciously as it did. His pulse accelerated when he caught Janelle’s reaction. He continued. “I’m a son trying to help his mom. You understand that, right?”
“Yes, I understand, you wild violet.”
“What?” He moved in closer.
“You’re like a weed that you can’t get rid of. You think you have them all killed and they keep coming back.” She brought her stare up to his. “You don’t give up, do you?”
He nodded. “Now you’re starting to understand me, you aloe plant.”
This time, she blinked. Before she could ask what he meant, he offered an explanation. “You are able to help. You have the ability to heal, but unless someone is careful enough to break through your thorns, you’re only interesting to look at. I don’t need all of your essence. I only need a little help to get by. What do you say?”
Janelle dropped her gaze to the floor. “Maybe if—”
“I knew it!”
Janelle peered around Gideon before he turned around. A man wearing a Wolves jersey stretched across his protruding belly pointed to Gideon as he approached him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” The enthusiastic fan shook Gideon’s hand.
“Watch your language in front of the ladies, man.” Gideon liked being competitive, but he hadn’t lost his manners.
The fan glanced at Janelle and Penny. “Oh, sorry. What are you doing here?”
“Helping my family.” He glanced at Janelle, hoping she understood his stance.
“Yeah, I heard about your brother. That’s rough. Is he going to be all right?” The stranger patted Gideon on the shoulder like he knew him.
“Yes, he’ll pull through.” Gideon gave him a solid nod.
“Do you mind if I get a picture with you and an autograph? The guys at the office will never believe this.” He pulled out his rectangular phone and set it up to take a picture.
Before Gideon could object so that he could focus on Janelle, the customer took the selfie while standing next to Gideon. Then the fan shoved a piece of paper and a pen at him that he snatched off the counter.
“Make it out to Studly Dudley.” The fan rubbed his stomach.
“I’ll sign it to Dudley.” Gideon would do a lot for his fans. He wouldn’t sign anything that talked about some guy being a stud, even one that wore Gideon’s jersey.
Gideon heard Janelle sighing hard as he signed the crumpled paper. He hadn’t meant to disrupt her life. He would have to have a serious conversation with his mother on her friendly resources.
He handed the autograph to Dudley. “Thanks for being a fan.” He turned to Janelle. “It was a pleasure to meet you.” He saw her blink at his statement. “Thank you for your consideration.” He snapped an order form from a pad and grabbed a pen from the counter. “If circumstances change, I’d appreciate it if you would give me a call.”
“I have Pick ’N Clip’s number.” Janelle set her jaw.
“I’m sure you do.” From the few glances Gideon threw her way, he watched her staring at his hands as he wrote. He pressed his lips together to keep from smiling.
“So what are you writing down?” She stood on her tiptoes to peer over his hand. She lowered herself once he stopped writing and took a step back.
He folded the paper and handed it to her. “This is my number.” Gideon stared at her until she accepted it.
Janelle didn’t look at what he’d written. She folded it two more times until she’d formed a ball and shoved it in her pocket.
He couldn’t figure this woman out for the life of him. He didn’t make it a habit of giving his contact information to anyone. Whenever a woman asked for his number, he would politely decline or give her Dennis’s digits. The longer he looked at Janelle’s luscious mouth, the more he hoped to God she would call him.
Gideon moved closer to Janelle before departing. “By the way, your swamp hibiscus should have been cut back. If you want it to survive, you need to keep that door closed. Please excuse me.” He turned to leave as soon as he heard Janelle gasping.
Gideon would have to thank his mother for referring him to this bitter, angry woman.
Once he got back in his car, it took him no time to arrive back to Pick ’N Clip. Victor rushed to him.
“Well?” His mother’s employee peered around him, looking for the needed supplies.
“I went to Flowers Galore.”
Victor beamed. He looked like he knew Janelle Gold and her normally generous capacity. So her change in demeanor must have had to do with him. He still couldn’t figure out why.
Gideon shook his head. “No go. I asked to buy some flowers and plants from her and she turned me down flat.”
Victor, who looked to be on the verge of tears, turned away from Gideon and raised his hands in the air. “Queen Elizabeth is going to kill me. She’ll never trust me to run her baby again. This will break her heart.” He covered his mouth and looked at Gideon. “Oh, I didn’t mean that.”
Gideon held up his hand, a usual stance whenever he spoke to Victor. “I know. I’ll try other places until we can get another shipment in.”
Victor’s eyes widened. “Really? You’ll do that?”
“For my mother? Of course. We won’t let her down.”
Victor wrapped his arms around Gideon’s shoulders and collapsed into his chest. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Gideon liked being home. He wished it could have been under better circumstances.
The front door crashed open. Gideon didn’t expect to see Janelle Gold, although a tiny part of him wanted to encounter her again.
Though antagonistic, the natural beauty caught his notice. Even as she glared at him, his heart raced. He couldn’t wait to watch her leave to peep at her backside.
“Can I help you?” Gideon moved in front of Victor, blocking her from going any farther into the store.
Janelle breathed heavily as she glared at him. Had she run to his mother’s store from hers? Granted, a few blocks separated the two stores. He peered behind her, looked through the front door and didn’t notice any new cars in the parking lot. One car rolled on to their lot and parked as he stared through the glass. He peered down at Janelle.
“How did you know?” She jutted her thumb over her shoulder while attempting to catch her breath.
Gideon felt his eyebrows rut together. “Know what? That you would fight me on the flowers?”
Janelle shook her head. A strand of her hair managed to break free from her bun. It waved as she moved around, swaying like a willow in the wind. “No. The hibiscus. How did you know about the plant?”
Queen Elizabeth would have wagged her finger at Gideon for his eye roll, but her question warranted that reaction.
“Why wouldn’t you think I would know what that plant was and how to care for it?” He crossed his arms over his chest as he directed his glare at her.
Damn it! Why did she look so familiar? Had he gone to school with her? He would have to look through his yearbooks.
“Because…” Janelle stopped and waved her hands up and down in front of him. “You’re you.”
“And what does that mean?” Gideon started to feel a slow simmer in the pit of his stomach.
Besides hating hearing assumptions about him and his family, he couldn’t stand to be underestimated. He knew in his gut this woman would be insulting him in three, two, one…
“You’re a football player.” Janelle crossed her arms over her chest to match his look.
Gideon paused before he answered. “I’m not just a football player.” He pointed to the floor. “I grew up here. I learned from my mother.” He waved his hand all around him. “I learned about all these plants and flowers. I’m not some stupid jock.”
/> Janelle’s burned-butter skin tone transformed into a dark crimson shade over her cheeks. “I didn’t say—”
“You didn’t have to. I got it from your statement. Sorry for interrupting you.” He turned to Victor. “Where’s the closest greenhouse or nursery?”
“Greenhouse?” Janelle chewed on her bottom lip as she volleyed her gaze between Gideon and Victor.
Gideon faced Janelle. “Yeah. We have to resort to Plan B to fulfill orders.”
The reddish hue over her face deepened. Gideon dropped his gaze to the floor for a moment. If he stared at her any longer, he would start to feel guilty, a strange reaction considering he didn’t think he had done anything wrong. Seeing Janelle looking so conflicted, he decided he needed to back off from his harsh demeanor. The woman had run to the store to confront him.
“Go into Mom’s office and look on her desk to see if you can find a number for an electrician. I’m sure she has one she uses all the time.” He pointed to Queen’s office.
“Are you sure I should be going through her things?” Victor peered around Gideon to look at Elizabeth’s office.
“If she notices anything out of place, I’ll say I did it.” He nodded toward the room. He brought his attention back to Janelle. She glanced around the store.
“You really don’t have a lot of inventory, do you?”
“The flowers got overheated.” He removed his jacket and put it behind the counter. “So why are you growing the hibiscus?”
Janelle eased into the store even more. “Why do you want to know?”
Gideon studied her from behind the counter. He switched to quarterback mode a little too easily. He watched her mannerisms, trying to figure her out and wonder how she had become so guarded. He replayed their conversation from her store over in his head.
This woman had scars, demons, past battle wounds. He had to come at her a lot more cautiously than hitting some opposing player.
Instead of talking to her from behind the counter, Gideon strolled around it and stood in front of her. He stared into her eyes. She didn’t flinch. That impressed him. She didn’t seem in awe of the fact that he had won some game as she had called it. He liked that even more.
Forget Me Not Page 8