Matt wasn’t the first man she’d had over at her apartment. He was the first, though, to show up with roses.
“Come on in.”
“Whatever you’re making smells delicious.”
Matt handed her the champagne pink roses and kissed her cheek. “I wasn’t sure what your favorite flowers were.”
“They’re beautiful. Thank you. I’m assuming you got them at Exquisite Flowers?”
“I did. Why?”
“Then you probably met my friend Emma. She works there.”
Matt followed her across the living room and into the kitchen. “The woman who helped me was probably in her mid-sixties with light brown hair and glasses.”
Well, that explained why Emma hadn’t called to tell her she’d finally met Matt Sherbrooke. “Sounds like you met either Emma’s mom or her aunt.”
Boy, was Emma going to be disappointed when she found out Matt finally went into the flower shop when she wasn’t there. On second thought, maybe Liv wouldn’t tell her. Heaven knew what Emma might read into the fact that Matt showed up with flowers. Yep, keeping her mouth shut was the smarter option.
“I didn’t know what you were making, so I brought a bottle of chardonnay and a merlot.” He set a reusable wine bag and a bakery box on the counter.
“I made my version of chicken chasseur.”
“Well, as I said, it smells delicious.”
If it came out as well as she’d hoped, she had planned to have Dad add it as a special at the restaurant and include it as an option on the catering menu. Now it might not matter how it tasted.
“Well, we’ll soon find out.” Opening the top drawer on her left, she pulled out the bottle opener. “Do you mind pouring the wine while I plate our meals?”
Not only did she have Matt all to herself, but he’d brought her a dozen roses. Most women would do anything to be in her shoes right now. Liv should be walking around on cloud nine, not wishing she could drown her sorrows in a container of ice cream.
“No problem.” Accepting the opener, he put it down next to the bakery box and moved closer to her. “What’s wrong? You don’t seem like yourself,” he said, tucking the piece of hair that had escaped her braid earlier and had been driving her crazy ever since behind her ear.
Regardless of whether she was happy, sad, or somewhere in between, she’d never been good at hiding her emotions, which was just one reason she never played poker.
“Dad heard back from Shirley earlier today. Fredrick accepted someone else’s offer on the building.”
Don’t cry.
After taking a deep breath, she slowly exhaled and reminded herself it wasn’t the end of the world. It was also something to focus on later when she was alone and could cry all she wanted while eating ice cream from the container.
“I know.”
News spread fast in town, but that was a record even for Orchard Harbor. “Who told you? Owen?” She knew her dad planned to let her brother know, but she assumed he would’ve waited until later tonight. Owen would just be leaving work now.
Matt’s forehead creased in confusion. “Liv, Fredrick accepted my offer.”
“Your offer?”
She was dreaming. That was the only explanation for the past twenty-four hours. Yep, and all the signs were around her, starting with the fact that not only was Matt Sherbrooke standing in her kitchen, but she knew exactly what his lips felt like against hers. It also explained why he’d just told her the Worm had accepted his offer on the building.
“Yeah. I made it yesterday before you came over.”
“You made an offer on the building?” That made no sense. Matt had no stake in the businesses that called the building home.
He nodded. “I called Austin at Windsor Realty yesterday. He helped me find my house. And I had him write up an offer. I remember you saying Shirley worked at Windsor too.” Matt shrugged. “I assumed she’d known since she works in the same office as Austin.”
“You’re buying this building?” Complex math aside, she didn’t usually struggle to comprehend things. Right now, though, she couldn’t wrap her head around what Matt was telling her.
