Forget Me Not (11 page)

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 h
er 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 burn
ed
-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.

“My mother is a very good judge of character,” Gideon began. “When she told me I could trust you to help me, I’m sure she suggested it because she knows you’re a good person. I want to know more about the woman my mother says is good people.”

“Oh.” Janelle lowered her arms.

“Also, I want to know about the woman who thinks I’m good
-
looking.”

* * * *

Janelle didn’t need to look into a mirror to know that her face had turned the brightest shade of red known to man. Her neck and chest felt hot under her turtleneck, and it had nothing to do with the garment.

She could only be mad at herself for Gideon’s comment. She had called him good
-
looking as a way to insult him. Up close, the man had a disarming appearance that matched his charm. Another man would have kicked her out of his store after she’d treated him so deplorably. Gideon wanted to know more about her. To top it all off, he also knew about plants. No way could he be real.

“Somehow, we started off on the wrong foot.” Gideon smiled.

All thoughts escaped from Janelle’s head. When she felt her knees shaking, she slammed her legs together, hoping to steady them.

Gideon continued. “When Victor comes back, would you like to go get some coffee somewhere? I would ask you out to dinner, but I’m going to try to get back up to the hospital to see my brother again.”

God, Gideon came off as such a gentleman and so genuine, and here she had punished him for circumstances that he hadn’t caused. Thelma had left because business had slowed. Janelle had money problems long before Gideon had gotten there. She still couldn’t figure out if he had been the one to kiss her. Only one way to find out.

“I, um—” As Janelle started to talk about the contest and coffee, a man walked into the store.

She stared at him for a bit and recognized him as the customer who had been at her store moments ago. Gideon had given the man an autograph and picture, although he’d looked almost embarrassed to do so. What else could he want? How did he know where to find Gideon?

“Holy shit!” The man covered his mouth when he looked at Janelle. “Sorry for the language, ma’am.” He turned back to Gideon. “I didn’t believe that girl from the other flower place when she said that you were over here.”

Great. Janelle would have to remember to kick Penny’s ass when she got back to Flowers Galore.

“I’m in town to help my mom.” Gideon leaned on the counter.

“Really? That means you’ll be here for a while?” the customer asked.

Gideon glanced at Janelle before directing his full energy back to the man in the tight Wolves jersey. “I’m not sure how long.”

The customer pumped his meaty fist into the air. “Awesome! I’m telling all my boys about this. For now, I’ll get a dozen roses for my girl. No, make that two dozen. Hell, I’ll
buy the whole stock. I’m here with Gideon Wells!”

Gideon held up his hand. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you buy some flowers at Flowers Galore?”

“Nah, man. As soon as that cute redhead told me where to find you, I bolted and came over here. How many times can I say in my lifetime that I bought flowers from a Super Bowl MVP?”

Gideon blinked. “I made MVP?”

“Yeah, didn’t you know?”

Janelle shook her head. “Great. Like I didn’t have enough problems. Enjoy my business, Mr. Wells. Congrats on making VIP.”

“That’s MVP, lady,” the customer called after her.

“Whatever.” She stormed out of the store.

“Wait,” Gideon said.

Janelle didn’t. Once she hit the cold, she realized that in her haste to confront the man who had approached her on the wrong day, she had also forgotten to grab her coat. She stepped up her strut to a trot all the way back to her store.

Once she returned to Flowers Galore, she opened the door and stared at her friend.

Penny smiled back at Janelle at first. “Did you talk to Gideon? Is he even hotter up close?”

Janelle ground her teeth together and had to take a couple of deep breaths before she spoke. “You and I need to have a talk.”

Penny’s smile melted and she stood up straight. “What did I do?”

“For one thing, did you open the door where I’m keeping my hibiscus?” Janelle pointed to the back of the store.

“Yeah. I thought I heard a beeping sound coming from inside it. I opened the door to check it. But I know I closed it.”

Janelle shook her head. “You didn’t.”

“Sorry.” Penny said it in that annoying, dismissive way teenagers caught doing something they shouldn’t respond to their parents or other authority figures.

“And thanks to you, you sent business over to Pick ’N Clip. That customer that was in my store said you told him where to find Gideon.”

Penny shrugged. “Yeah. So?”

“So while I was there, he came to see Gideon and wanted to buy as many bouquets of roses that he could. Oh, and he said he would tell all his friends that the Gideon Wells is working there. I am so screwed.” Janelle put her hand to her head as she paced around her spot.

“Oh, no.”

Janelle didn’t acknowledge her friend. Right now, she had to figure out a way to regain some ground.

“Look on the bright side.”

Janelle raised her head. “And what’s that?”

“There are two great-looking guys here in town now.”

Damn. The wrong employee had left her store.

Penny wrapped her arm around Janelle’s shoulders. “This could be a win-win for both of you.”

Janelle cocked her head as she stared at her delusional friend. “And how’s that? He’s
got fame. He has the championship. No one knows me.”

“But you can capitalize on his fame.” Penny dug into her back pocket and held up her phone. “Got a shot of the two of you talking. I’ll print this and hang it up by the counter. We’ll tell every person who comes in that you are close friends with Gideon Wells.” She waved her phone around. “And here’s the proof.”

Janelle stared at the shot. Instead of looking like two business people talking, the way Gideon’s head tilted down toward her, and the way she stared at him, it looked more intimate than innocent. In the picture, she stared at him like she wanted to kiss him. Those great eyes of his had her sucked into every word he’d said.

“No.” She turned away from the picture. “Don’t use that.”

Penny looked at the shot before she peered at her friend. “Why not? It’s not often we get a celebrity in here. He came here for you. He knew your name. His mother referred him to you. You should use that to your advantage. You think he’s not going to use his celebrity status to get customers over there? Of course he is.”

“I don’t care about what he does. That’s his business.” Janelle started to head back to her office. “I started this business on my own with the desire to cater to people who love flowers. I’m not going to use someone to get ahead.” She swallowed as she thought about her past. Before Penny could ask her anymore probing questions, she continued. “I’m not using this guy to drum up more business. That would be wrong. We’ll be fine.”

Penny groaned. “You are such an old lady sometimes. You are so not twenty-seven.”

“I am a good person.” She ducked into her office and sat behind her small desk that wobbled when touched.

Penny’s argument had merit, but Janelle couldn’t go down that route. Penny reminded her of Ida. The thought of that sent a shiver up Janelle’s spine and turned her flesh as cold as her refrigerator holding her arrangements.

Janelle would have to figure out how to gain some customers the honest way…and retain her dignity. Had she actually called Gideon Wells good
-
looking to his face?

Gideon visited four different greenhouses, nurseries, and other florists to get enough flowers to restock the store and fulfill orders. By seven that evening, he had sold every flower and arrangement in the store. After Dudley had posted his picture to every social media page he had, customers had come to Pick ’N Clip in droves, including the media.

“Why are you in Virginia Beach at a flower store?” one reporter had asked him.

“Quarterback to florist. Quite a leap,” another journalist mused.

“What do you think of the new moniker for you, Gideon? MVP Mama’s Boy?” a young man who claimed he came from a top 40 radio station asked with a laugh.

Gideon certainly had been called worst names growing up. Being called a mama’s boy didn’t bother him as much as the media wanted.

He took a deep breath before speaking. “Ladies and gentleman, I appreciate you all coming out. As you can see, I’m helping out at one of my mother’s stores while she’s dealing with a medical issue.”

“What issue is that, Gideon?” a reporter asked.

Gideon ignored the inquiry and continued with his speech. He raised his hands in the air. “Business was really good today. If you would like to place an order for an arrangement, I’d be more than happy to take it. If you’re in need of flowers tonight, I would strongly suggest you checking out Flowers Galore, which is only a few blocks away.”

Elizabeth would be proud of Gideon that he broke from his normal competitive self to throw business Janelle’s way. After the way Janelle had stomped out of the store, that would be the only thing he would give her.