Mr. Beast

by Nicole Elliot

  “It’s why she’s such a phenomenal florist. And wonderful with flowers. She throws all of her love and passion and dedication into them and they flourish. She deserves that kind of compassion from other people. And I don’t think she got it at her previous job.”

  “Then it sounds like the right choice was made for her,” I said.

  The woman slowly turned to me, her eyes scanning me up and down. A rose was poised midair, clamped between her two fingers. She narrowed her eyes at me and I stuck my hands in my pockets, trying to conceal the shaking in them.

  “I didn’t say anything about anyone making a choice for her,” Emilia said.

  “Miss Emilia, I don’t think we had the pleasure of meeting when you were delivering flowers to my home. I’m Hayden Lowell.”

  The flower dropped from her hand and I watched as her expression fell.

  “You’re Hayden,” she said.

  “I am.”

  “And these flowers…?”

  “Are for Grace. If I knew where to take them.”

  “And you’re hoping I know where to take them?”

  “I’m actually hoping you can tell me where to take them,” I said.

  The struggle in the woman’s face made me nervous. This was all I had. The only other option was to keep coming back like some stalker until I could catch Grace at the shop. And I didn’t want to do that to their lovely business. I didn’t want to have to stalk Grace out in order to see her. I wanted her and this lovely woman in front of me to see me for the man I was. The man I’d turned myself into so I could be with Grace.

  “Please,” I said. “At the very least, she deserves an apology.”

  “That she does,” Emilia said flatly. “You hurt that girl.”

  “I’m sorry. But it was for the best.”

  “I’d think twice before making that kind of declaration.”

  “If I knew where she lived, I could explain to her why it was.”

  “She doesn’t need an explanation, Mr. Lowell. What she needs is someone who can stand in her corner even when it doesn’t suit the other person.”

  “Then it’s a good thing I’m standing on my own two feet again.”

  Emilia raked her eyes down my form before she sighed. I watched in silence as she finished rearranging the flowers and I looked back at Zander. He was sitting in the car bobbing his head to whatever music he was listening to and I was thankful he’d driven me to the shop. I listened as Emilia tapped at her cash register, then she opened up her hand and threw her eyes back up to mine.

  “Forty-five, seventy-two,” she said. “Would you like to add anything on? Like chocolates or a card?”

  “That won’t be necessary, but I would like you to add a tip for yourself.”

  “That’s very kind of you. How much?”

  “It depends. Will you tell me where Grace is?”

  “You’re not paying me for Grace’s address. You can tip me, and then if my gut is still screaming at me then you’ll have my answer,” she said.

  All I had was one chance, so I figured I’d better make the best of it.

  “Tip yourself four hundred,” I said.

  The woman’s jaw dropped to the floor and I stifled my grin.

  “We’ll do four,” she said.

  “Four hundred or nothing. That’s my offer,” I said.

  “You really are as relentless as she said.”

  “It’s one of my many endearing traits.”

  Emilia giggled, and I knew I had her. Whether she wanted to be had or not, I saw her eyes twinkle and I knew she was on my side.

  I just had to get Grace on my side.

  “Fine. A four-hundred-dollar tip for the woman with the address you want,” she said.

  “No. A tip for the woman who arranged a beautiful set of flowers and could use a bit of spoiling herself.”

  “Relentless and a bit of a romantic. No wonder Grace fell for you.”

  My eyebrows ticked up and the woman closed her eyes.

  “Where is she?” I asked.

  “She’s going to be so pissed.”

  “Please,” I said. “Where is Grace?”

  The woman finished charging my card as I scooped the roses up into my arms.

  “Go up to the light and take a left. Take the third street to your right. The apartment complex is immediately on your right and she’s in apartment 9602.”

  “Thank you,” I said as I turned my back. “I swear to you, Grace won’t regret it.”

  “She better not. Otherwise I know where you live!”

  I slammed out of the floral shop and got back into Zander’s car. I directed him using the information Emilia gave me, then I told him to drop me off. If things didn’t go well, then I’d get an Uber to get myself home.

  I watched as Zander drove off, then I turned and started up for her apartment.

  It looked like a decent-sized place, but I knew she was sharing it with someone. I had been listening to those phone conversations the day before she’d left. Listening to her voice was comforting, even if the subject matter was gut-wrenching. I was glad she had people in her life who could help her out, especially since things between us had ended so emotionally and abruptly.

  But the situation was out of my hands. All I had were the dozen roses, my explanation, and the hope that Grace would sit and listen.

  So I drew in a deep breath, raised my fist, and knocked on the door.

  Chapter Twenty

  Grace

  Ivy was a decent roommate. She was a fashion choreographer who helped out with the world’s most incredible runway shows. She worked with some of the most high-profile designers, some of the most beautiful models, and always came home with clothes that seemed tailored to fit her slim form. She was bubbly and bright, and always had a bottle of wine she never could finish by herself. I enjoyed listening to her stories at night over a glass of rose or red wine, and little by little I started settling into the rhythm of my new life.

  Emilia was trying to do everything in her power to make sure I stayed at the shop this time. Starting with giving me a salary and two days off a week. I chose Sunday and Monday so I would only be off one day the shop was actually open, then I rearranged the entire workspace in the back to better suit the growing of the flowers. The salary wasn’t much, but it was enough for me to live off of from week to week. I stuffed the money Hayden had paid me for my work into multiple investment accounts, then let them ride.

  Maybe if I was lucky, I could retire early and travel or something.

  I was glad to be back at the shop. In some ways, I had missed it. The smell in the morning. The monotonous cultivation. Researching new methods to grow flowers and using different methods to tie-dye white roses and tulips. The wedding orders were flying in and Emilia was right. The need for azaleas was high this year. The entire back half of the green room was dedicated to growing those things, and I still had to call out to other shops and reserve azaleas for when the time was right.

  I told Emilia that, eventually, we would be at capacity for those kinds of orders and would have to start turning people down.

  I thought about Hayden more than I should’ve. At night, mostly. When I was lying in bed and painfully aware of who my roommate really was. I wondered how he was doing with his recuperation. How his physical therapy was going. If he’d found himself a good part-time nurse that would check on things like his diet and vitamin intake. I had the urge to call him on several occasions. I never could bring myself to delete his number from my phone.

  But I always chickened out at the last second.

  Ivy was gone for the week on business again and I was at the apartment alone. And while I enjoyed Ivy’s presence, I also enjoyed the time to myself. I’d cook in the kitchen and sit on the couch and stare out the window into town. We were just far enough away for the traffic to not bother us but close enough for me to feel like I was still a part of things. A cog in an important turning wheel that somehow helped our fine city to move a little easi
er.

  The longer I worked at the florist shop, the more I realized how much I missed it. It was cathartic and peaceful, and nowhere near the type of stress load I endured as an in-home nurse. It felt like I was back home after trying to branch out on my own as a teenager, and there was something comforting about the notion of coming home.

  But that didn’t mean I didn’t miss Hayden.

  A knock came at the door and it pulled me from my thoughts. I put down my mid-day glass of wine and walked to the front door. I peered through the peephole, expecting to see Emilia on her lunch break or something.

  However, I was met with a face I hadn’t seen in weeks.

  My heart slammed against my chest and my hands began to sweat. My knees grew weak and my head was spinning at lightning speed. What was he doing here? How did he figure out where I lived? I hadn’t told very many people where I was staying now to give myself time to adjust.

  How had Hayden found me?

  I drew in a deep breath before I opened the door, and the first thing I saw were the roses in his hands. Clipped at a specific angle I recognized and arranged in a fashion I knew could only be attributed to one person.

  Emilia.

  Which meant Hayden came in peace.

  My eyes raked up to his and I was mesmerized. His suit clung fabulously against his body and he was upright on both of his feet. My eyes dropped back to his long, strong legs as a smile crossed my face.

  He had done it.

  Hayden was walking.

  “For you,” he said.

  He handed the roses to me and I took them into my shaking arms.

  “Hayden. You’re…”

  “Walking?”

  I smiled up at him and the grin that crossed his face made my stomach lurch.

  “Could I come in?”

  “Yes. Of course. Sorry,” I said.

  “I believe that word belongs to me.”

  “Huh?”

  I stepped to the side and let Hayden in before I shut the front door. I rounded around to the small kitchen the apartment had to afford and grabbed a vase from one of the top cabinets. I filled it with some water and put the flower food attached to the rose stems in with it. Then I stuck them in and fanned them out before I drew in their heavenly scent.

  Emilia’s roses always did smell the best.

  “Sorry. That word. It belongs to me,” Hayden said.

  I opened my eyes and found him standing in the living room staring at me.

  “I’m not following.”

  “I didn’t fire you because you were incompetent, Grace.”

  I drew back from the roses and closed my eyes.

  “Hayden, whatever the reason, you had it,” I said.

  “But you misunderstood my actions.”

  “You were frustrated. Held back by me because of my own worries. It’s okay. I’m not upset with you,” I said.

  “But I’m upset with myself. I didn’t get the chance to properly communicate to you why I let you go.”

  “Then take your chance now,” I said. “What happened? What did I do?”

  His long legs carried him into the kitchen and the only thing he had was the slightest limp. Which only served to etch a swagger into his step that left me breathless. He hovered over me, his chiseled features gazing down into my eyes. My hand was itching to touch him. To smooth over his freshly-shaved skin and fist my hand into the thick tendrils of his shining hair.

  He looked like a new man.

  One I almost didn’t recognize.

  “I know this man is foreign to you, but this is the man I am. Confident. Powerful. Protective. I know what I want, and I never fear chasing it, but that accident ripped that away from me. It wasn’t vanity or ego that kept me in that chair, Grace. It was you.”

  “What?” I asked breathlessly.

  “Watching you in my apartment. Your hips swaying and that constant smile dancing on your lips. It reminded me of what I couldn’t have. I was broken. Exhausted. Frustrated at my predicament and the downturn my company was facing. I was in control of nothing, and I didn’t understand how to handle it.”

  “I tried to help.”

  “And you did a wonderful job. But we grew close. From the first time you took my hand in that movie theater to all the times you helped me put my own damn pants on, I knew there was nothing I could give you. Nothing I could offer you from the broken parts of my existence that would’ve ever been worthy for the care and compassion you were showing me.”

  I had no idea how to respond to such a thing.

  “Grace, you couldn’t be my nurse and my lover. And so long as you were my nurse, my pride was always going to be a downfall. I recognized that, so I leapt at the emotional chance to fire you. To send you off on another path so I could lick my wounds and heal myself.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “Why are you here?”

  His hand raised to cup my cheek and his touch sent electricity flowing down my spine. I backed myself into the kitchen counter, my hands pressing into the edge of it. His thumb slid across my cheek before dropping to my lower lip, and his eyes watched as he unfurled it from my teeth. The look in his eyes. The intensity of his gaze.

  My body was heating for him.

  “To apologize,” Hayden said. “And to tell you I’m ready.”

  “For what?” I asked with a whisper.

  “For this.”

  He guided my lips to his and everything else melted away. The anger. The abandonment. The pain. The sorrow. My hands slid up his arms and gripped his shoulders, then I felt his fingertips fall to my waist. Dancing along my skin. Playing with the hem of my pants.

  Teasing me in ways I couldn’t take any longer.

  My hands fisted his hair and my tongue plunged into his mouth. His hands held tightly onto my hips and he hoisted me onto the edge of the counter. He pressed my legs open and seated himself between them, his groin rolling deeply into me. Our tongues did battle and my lips were swelling against his, and soon my hand dropped to wrap tightly in his tie. I pulled him closer. Slid his suit jacket from his shoulders. Fumbled greatly with the buttons of his shirt before he grunted and pulled everything over his head.

  My hands drifted down the chiseled muscles of his chest. Rumbled over the physique of his washboard abs. Tickled the padded lines that disappeared beyond the hem of his tightly-tailored pants.

  I looked back up into his eyes as his hand wrapped around me, then he picked me up from the counter and carried me down the hallway.

  We fell to my bed and his lips were all over me. My neck. My bosom. My nipples as he pulled them out of my bra. He clawed at me until nothing but my skin was underneath his hands and I could feel my arousal pooling between my legs. I heard him unbuckle his pants and shove everything to the floor, then he rose up and devoured me with his eyes.

  His cock was throbbing. Swollen. Thick with girth and leaking with lustful desires.

  I rose onto my knees and scooted towards him, then bent down onto all fours and slid my lips across his cock.

  His hand curled into the tendrils of my hair and he fucked my face. I could taste his precum dripping down my throat as he swelled against my teeth. The taste of him was luxurious. I felt my arms and legs trembling as he pulsed against the walls of my throat. I lapped at his tip and traced the bulging vein underneath his dick, and the groans that fell from his throat made goosebumps trail along every inch of my body.

  But before I could bring him to the precipice I so desired, he pulled me away from his body and pushed me back to the bed.

  He grabbed my ankles and pulled me to the edge of the bed. Then he knelt down and curled his arms around my thighs. I looked up and caught his stare. Darkened with pupils that were blown wide with lust. His lips tell to my coated thighs and I began to tremble. To pant with shallow breaths as he grinned against my glowing skin. My pussy was begging for him. Aching for the touch of his tongue. My clit was swollen and my hands were curling into the sheets of my bed.

  “Plea
se,” I said breathlessly.

  His mouth hovered over my pussy lips before he smiled up at me.

  “Anything for the beautiful lady,” he said.

  His tongue plunged into my depths and my head fell to the bed. My hair, haloed around the pillow, dug into the softness of the fabric below me. My hands curled in his hair, pulling him closer as my thighs tightened around his cheeks. Fire shot through my veins as his tongue flicked and raked, lapping at my slit and driving me to a speechless ecstasy.

  My toes curled into his back and I could feel his muscles twitching. His tongue raked side to side, pushing me further and further up the darkened mountain. I rocked against his lips as whimpers fell from mine, and soon starts were bursting in my vision as he sent me over the edge.

  “Hayden. Hayden. Ho, yes. I… it… ugh.”

  I trembled and held onto his hair as he rode me through my orgasm. Through the bursting stars and the shivering body and the trembling legs. My arching back dropped to the mattress and he kissed my pussy, causing me to jolt with every touch he initiated.

  When I opened my eyes, he was hovering over me with his cock pressed squarely against my entrance.

  I lifted my hips to beckon to him and he slid himself in. Inch by inch, he sank into me, his lips dropping to mine. I tasted myself on him. The luscious mix of his sweat and my scent. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he bottomed out, sinking to the hilt and molding our bodies together as well.

  “Don’t hold back,” I said with a whisper.

  “As you wish,” Hayden said lowly.

  His hands reached up to grasp my headboard and he drew himself out. He slammed back in, forcing me up the bed and causing my mouth to part in ecstasy. I latched onto his back, my nails curling into the strength of his lean muscles as my legs fell open for him, making room for his thighs as he perched himself onto his knees. His eyes were locked onto mine and the grunts falling from his lips were pure bliss. I planted my heels into the bed and met him thrust for thrust, watching as his jaw slowly unhinged.

  Then, it happened.

  My name slipped off his tongue.

  “Grace.”

  “Say it again.”

  “Grace.”