“Because he wants it to be a surprise.”
“I don’t feel like that’s a valid excuse.” She taps her fingers on the glass case.
“Please, Paula. They have a joint account and he doesn’t want her to see the purchase. He wants it to be a total surprise for his proposal.”
Her body loses some of the tension it held. “Oh, that’s so sweet.”
“Yes, it is, which is why I really need to get an order in for them.”
She picks up a tablet and taps the screen before scrolling. This seems like a weird time to be looking at that instead of getting my order on the books.
“I’m sorry, I don’t see where we would be able to fit it in. There’s a reason the shop has a cutoff date. Especially with special orders where we’d need to get flowers we don’t normally carry.”
A small part of me feels like she’s doing this on purpose. There has to be something she can do. Maybe I should have ordered from one of the bigger shops and just told Dale that I got them from here.
Who am I kidding? There’s no way I would do that. I’m not sure why I even considered it. The blame could be laid at his feet for not giving me this task sooner. As much as he likes to plan these big gestures, he always rushes around last minute to bring them to fruition. Well, I usually have to do the rushing, but that’s beside the point.
“Are you sure there’s no way you can squeeze it in? It’s just one teensy tiny order.”
“Is it, though?” She tilts her head to the side, studying me.
“You’re right.” I sigh. “I guess I need to find another shop.” My shoulders drop and I turn toward the door.
“Wait!” she calls out, and I stop in my tracks. “Let me ask my bosses if there’s anything they can do.”
“Thank you.” I’m seconds from throwing my fist in the air in victory. But I don’t want to celebrate too soon.
She disappears down the hallway behind the glass cases. I take a moment to study some of the smaller arrangements. I’m guessing they keep these out here for soon to be brides so they can have an idea for what they want. There are bouquets sitting on shelves on the wall. It’s not cluttered though. They give each arrangement space to shine.
Paula rushes back into the room with a devious grin. I’m already wondering if I’m going to like whatever she has to say. I hope like hell it doesn’t up the cost to squeeze in the order.
“Good news.” She leans on the counter waiting for me to come closer. “They can fulfill the order for Dale. The other bouquets will be pretty generic, but they’ve decided to make an exception for you.”
A sigh of relief escapes me. “That’s gr?—”
“But there’s a caveat.”
“How much is it going to cost?”
“Not money, but time.” She’s still smiling, but I know she has something up her sleeve.
“What do you mean?”
“My family goes on a yearly vacation, but I don’t want to go alone. It makes it easier for them to pounce on me at the same time.”
“Okay.” I scratch my head. “I fail to see what that has to do with me.”
“Well, you have a background in theatre, and we get along well enough.”
“And?”
“I want you to go with me as my boyfriend. It’s the only way they’ll allow me to bring someone.”
My mouth drops open. There’s no way she thinks this is an even trade.
CHAPTER THREE
paula
