Lorenzo: BWWM Romance (Members From Money Book 12)

by Katie Dowe

  “I hope I am not keeping you from anything,” he said after he had greeted her politely and they made their way to the conference room.

  “Not at all,” she told him immediately.

  “I am surprised you are not going out on some date or the other,” he said, shocking both of them. “I am sorry, I have overstepped.”

  “No,” she told him with a winning smile. “It’s quite okay. I have not met anyone I fancied to go out on date with and just going out with someone for going out is a complete waste of time. I can go out all by myself.”

  “I agree with you,” he told her briefly. “Will you be okay in here by yourself? I have something to finish up in my office. You can come in when you are finished.”

  Janice stared after him. He looked so solitary and lonely; she thought and somehow wished she could erase the sad look from his face. With a shrug she started working. She had sent over the arrangements from this morning and had found some clear bowls to place the flowers inside as well. She had come armed with some Sprite and hairspray to do the trick of making the plants last longer.

  She was finished in half an hour and decided to find his office. She had asked him if he did not need floral arrangements for any of the offices including his and he had told her he would think about it. His door was open and she could see his dark head bent over a tablet, his brow creased in concentration. “I hope I am not disturbing you.”

  He looked up immediately and put aside the device. “Not at all. You are all finished?”

  “I am if you would like to take a look,” she suggested.

  “I trust your judgment,” he said with a smile. “And besides you are the expert.”

  “I hope there is someone here who will remember to change the water every two days or they tend to wilt.” Janice took a seat in front of his desk.

  “I was thinking about that. Do you think we could get fresh arrangements every three days?”

  Janice looked at him in surprise, her heart racing! It was exactly what she had hoped for!

  “I definitely could do that,” she told him, trying to appear casual but not quite succeeding.

  “And I would also like arrangements to be put in all the offices as well. Think you can handle that?” He was leaning back in his chair and looking at her quizzically.

  “I will be happy to do so. Thank you,” she told him.

  “You are welcome. My dad was not into bright colors and preferred an office to look like an office, but I must say the addition of a touch of color makes the surroundings much more pleasant and comfortable to be in.”

  “It most certainly does,” Janice agreed, calculating the amount of money in her head. It was the biggest contract she had had since she had opened!

  “Please make out the bill each week and send it to accounts.” He paused and stared at her. “Would you like to have dinner?”

  Janice looked at him in amusement. “Don’t tell me, the chef left something for you in case you were hungry.”

  “Something like that,” he said with a ghost of a smile.

  “I would love to.” She nodded, wondering what on earth she was doing. She had some paperwork to finish and the spring festival was tomorrow afternoon, so she had to get to the location early to set up, but it was dinner and he was giving her a lot of business so surely she could take the time out to have dinner with him.

  He picked up the phone and spoke briefly to someone before coming from around the desk.

  “Pierre has smoked salmon and baby potatoes available. I hope that’s okay?”

  “Sounds delicious.” She stood up and joined him around the table.

  “White wine?” He held up a bottle already chilled.

  “Thanks.”

  He poured both glasses and came over to join her. She tasted it and her eyes widened in surprise. “This is really good!”

  “It’s called La Sibilia,” he informed her. “I don’t much care for dryness myself.” He took a sip and put the glass down. “You said you are not dating, but don’t you get lonely?”

  She tilted her head to one side as if thinking about his question. “I work long hours from Monday to Saturday and I have friends I socialize with. There is also my mother and father, we happen to have a good relationship. The only time I am usually by myself is on Sundays and sometimes I am at a function. I don’t get time to be lonely.”

  There was a knock on the door just then and he beckoned for the person to come in. “Pierre, this is Janice Langley, she will be doing the floral arrangements for the company.” The man was a rotund balding Caucasian with a ruddy face and a beaming smile. He placed the tray in the middle of the table and whipped off the snowy white napkin.

  “Nice to meet you. I have included my famous chocolate mousse and a pot of coffee.” With a bow, he left the room.

  “This looks delicious.” She sniffed the air.

  He stood up and passed a plate to her and put the next one over where he was sitting. They ate the meal in silence and Janice found herself wondering if he was thinking about his wife. Did she have dinner with him at the office sometimes? Or did he take her out and then they go home together?

  He poured the coffee into two very small cups and handed her a bowl of chocolate mousse.

  “Pierre is very good,” she murmured, tasting the concoction and closing her eyes in pleasure.

  He looked at her for a moment, his eyes drawn to her lips then he dragged his eyes away and looked down on his plate. “Yes, he is,” he said stiffly. They continued eating in silence and then finished their coffee.

  “Are you going to stay and continue working?” she asked him, breaking the silence.

  He was looking down into his coffee cup broodingly and when she spoke he looked up at her. “I think I will.”

  “I know it is not my place because I only just met you, but I think it is time you start living again.”

  He put down the cup and gave her his full attention and somehow Janice knew that she had probably said the wrong thing. “You think you know what I am going through?” His tone was soft but she could hear the steel behind it and wished she could take back what she had just said.

  “I don’t and I am sorry,” she told him quietly, ready to leave.

  He shrugged and stood up, waiting for her to do so as well. “I will see you out,” he told her.

  Janice felt her heart sinking to the floor. She stopped at the door as they were heading out. “I am sorry, David,” She turned to face him, looking up at him with contrition. He stared down at her, his expression unreadable and for a moment there was a charge in the atmosphere. He was very tall; she only barely reached his shoulders. He saw her parted lips and her exquisite face and felt a stirring within him and knew he could never ask her to come here when he was alone again.

  “That’s all right,” he told her casually, forcing himself to move away from her. Her nearness was getting to him.

  She nodded and they rode the elevator in silence each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

  *****

  David went back into his office and was not surprised to notice that the plates had been cleared away from the table. He had stared at her and he had wanted to kiss her. He poured himself a stiff drink and downed the liquid hastily, coughing as he did so. His wife had died barely a year ago and here he was desiring another woman, what kind of monster was he.

  His mind drifted back to the argument they had had a week before her death. “I love you, David!” she had cried. “What more do you want from me?”

  “I want you to stop asking me about a child, Eileen. We are not ready for that sort of commitment yet.”

  “When will we be ready, David?” she had asked him sadly. “When you decide if you will ever fall in love with me?”

  “We are not going there, Eileen,” he had told her coldly. “You knew how I felt before we got married and you said you were prepared to deal with it.”

  “It so happens that I have changed my mind. I love you and I want you to l
ove me back.”

  He had walked out of the room and left her, angry and frustrated at the nagging and angry with himself for not loving her.

  He was doing penance and if it meant staying away from other women, then so be it!

  *****

  “I just love spring festivals, don’t you?” Janice looked up from the leaves she was pruning on the stage and noticed that it was Mayor Sarah Logan. The middle aged African American woman had been mayor for the small town for a number of years and made it her duty to attend every one of the civic events. The weather was cool and beautiful with not a cloud to be seen. People were milling around and looking at the various arts and crafts on display and the food carts were scattered all around the park

  “Hi Mayor Logan,” she greeted the friendly woman warmly.

  “Your flowers look magnificent and healthy as usual, Janice,” she said with a beam, waving to some people who were calling to her.

  “Thank you.” She had left Maggie at the shop and she and Jake had come out to the festival. There was going to be a concert later and a pie judging contest but she doubted she was going to stay for the entire thing.

  It was already one o’clock and she felt her belly rumbling reminding her that apart from the plain bagel and coffee she had had this morning she had not eaten anything else.

  She excused herself and went to one of the stands to get a hot dog and something to drink. There was no sign of Jake and she suspected he was at some of the booths decorating. “Here you go Janice, on the house,” Mickey said with a flourish handing her a hotdog with everything on it.

  “Mickey, no.” She gave a token protest but took it just the same. They did that all the time and he would insist that he was not taking a cent from her. She usually made up for it by sending some children to get something for themselves on her.

  She ate and walked, looking at the displays and the arrangements she had put up at strategic places. She turned around when she heard her name and waved her friends over. Leah had the day off and both she and Candace had decided to come out since Janice was going to be there. Her mother had also said she was going to be there as well.

  “Lord I am suddenly wishing I had stayed home and slept the day away,” Leah complained transferring her large pocketbook from one shoulder to the next.

  “Don’t listen to her, she just wanted to stay home and have sex with Lance,” Candace said dryly. Both of them were in knee length shorts and light sweaters. Janice had worn a khaki pants and a light pink blouse with a tan sweater vest.

  “So what’s wrong with that?” Leah asked her.

  “Cut it out you two,” Janice said mildly, linking her arms between them and heading to a costume jewelry booth.

  *****

  “I thought you were going to the spring festival,” Richard said lazily, trailing a finger down her naked torso. He had come by for breakfast and had not left yet. He was fascinated by the fact that he was enjoying her company more now than when they were married and wished he felt guilty about cheating on Charlene, but he could not work up the effort. He had told her he had work to do and had headed over to his ex-wife’s place.

  “Why don’t we go together?” Janet asked him teasingly.

  “Are you crazy?” he asked her shocked. “That place is filled with nosy people and besides our daughter and her friends will be there.”

  “What about that two-year-old you are engaged to?” she asked him with a lifting of her finely arched brow.

  “Be nice,” he told her mildly. “She might be there as well.” His hand drifted down to her pubic area and she opened her legs readily. “I doubt we will be leaving here for awhile,” he whispered as he pushed his fingers inside her.

  *****

  David smiled and said all the right things. Pierre had outdone himself in the catering department and the center piece on the table had elicited quite a number of comments but it meant that the flowers reminded him of her and the way she smelled and the way she had looked up at him. She had told him she had a spring festival to attend and she was going to be working as well and he wished he could just ditch his responsibilities and go out and mingle and see her work. He had not slept much last night but had twisted and turned in the huge bed restlessly.

  He left the room discreetly and went inside his office just to get away from the people there and sat there around his desk. She had told him to let go of the past and start living again, but she had no idea what he was holding onto. He had never been one for socializing even before he had married Eileen and now it had gotten worse. How could he start living when he doubted he ever knew how?

  *****

  Charlene let the gossip flow over her head as she styled the hair in front of her. She was far away and it was a wonder she could concentrate on what she was doing. He had told her he had work to do, but she knew he was lying. He had not had sex with her in two weeks and when she asked why he had told her that he was very tired and he was not in the mood; that translated that he was getting it elsewhere.

  “Charlene dear, how is the planning of the wedding coming on?” the woman whose hair she was styling asked her. Mrs. Eldridge had been her customer for a number of years and had told her quite bluntly that for a man to spend so many years with a woman and suddenly decide that he wanted to be with someone else was not practical. They tend to go back to their wives, she had told her.

  “It’s going,” she said trying to sound cheerful.

  “When is the wedding?”

  Charlene was aware that all conversations had ceased in the busy salon and all eyes were on her. “Sometime in June,” she said brightly.

  “Are you sure that man is over his wife?” a particularly hateful elderly woman asked. Her name was Laura Gibbons and she was the town’s busybody.

  “Of course he is,” Charlene answered sharply.

  “If you say so,” she said smugly as if she knew something Charlene did not know.

  She continued to style the hair, her brain working rapidly.

  *****

  “I think I put my foot in my mouth,” Janice told them wryly. They were standing by the refreshment booth sampling strawberry shortcake. The crowd had swelled dramatically and she had sent Jake back to the store to help out Maggie who had been overrun with customers. She had not seen any sign of her mother so far, and she was planning on leaving there at three o’clock.

  “Don’t you always?” Candace said teasingly.

  “I don’t,” Janice protested, waving to several of her mother’s neighbors.

  “Did you apologize?” Leah asked her, brushing away the crumbs and icing from her hands.

  “I did, two times, but somehow I think it was not quite enough.”

  “Poor guy,” Leah sad sympathetically. “In my line of work you tend to see these tragedies all the time,” she said with a sigh.

  “Are you staying for the show?” Candace asked Janice.

  “Can’t, I have to go back to the store. Oh, there is Mom. I thought she was not coming.”

  “She looks flushed and radiant,” Leah commented. “That can only mean one thing,” she whispered.

  “Don’t say it,” Janice warned, smiling as her mother came nearer, looking around to see if her father was there.

  “Hello girls,” she greeted the trio warmly. She was dressed in green linen pants and a light white sweater with her hair caught up on top of her head and secured by a white jeweled clip. “I had some things to take care of before I got here.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Langley,” Candace and Leah greeted her. “You look nice,” Leah added.

  “Thanks dear,” she said with a smile.

  “We are going to take a look at the entertainment going on over there.” Leah pointed in the opposite direction where a crowd had gathered. “We will catch up later.”

  “Mom, are you okay?” she asked as the woman and linked her arm through hers.

  “Of course darling, why wouldn’t I be?” She waved to several people and looked around in excitement. �
�Spring always makes me feel light and happy; I guess it’s the smell of the flowers and the coolness of the weather.”

  “Have you seen Dad?” Janice asked her casually.

  “Why?” Janet stopped, forcing her to do so as well.

  “I was just wondering,”

  “I saw him this morning honey; we are kind of seeing each other again.”

  Chapter 4

  “Dad, I don’t want to hear it!” Janice exclaimed. She had just reached home from the store and had propped her tired feet onto an ottoman and settled back in the sofa with a much needed glass of red wine to relax her. It had been a week since the spring festival and a week since her mother had told her that she was seeing her ex-husband again. She had not heard from or seen David since, even when she had gone to his office building to change the floral arrangements on Thursday. His secretary had smilingly told her that she loved the smell of fresh flowers when she came in during the morning.

  Janice had put alliums and begonias in his office. Not on his desk but on a beautiful cherry wood table in the corner of the room and the table where they had had their meals.

  She had to admit that she missed seeing him.

  “Baby girl, I want you to understand that I did not set out for this to happen, it just did,” he told her contritely.

  “So what are you planning to tell the woman you are engaged to?”

  “It’s not like you ever warmed up to her, honey,” he said trying to reason with her. “And I am not planning to tell her anything just yet.”

  “I could never warm up to her because she is only three years my senior and you never brought her around,” his daughter reminded him.

  “I know honey,” he said with a sigh. “I think she is starting to suspect something.”

  “Think?” Janice said with a wry laugh. “You are spending a lot of time at Mom’s so it would be safe to say she already knows.”

  “Your old dad has gotten himself into quite a pickle,” he said with a wry laugh.

  “I think you have.”