AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shake my head, which has both of us bursting into laughter. Her laugh is full, but I know her well enough to catch the hints of sadness in it. The Anti-Valentine’s Day preparations were the perfect distraction from her breakup, but now…
Nora jumps down from the desk before flashing me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “It’s fine. I guess we’ll have to take everything down. The florist is going to be so mad at me when I cancel the rest of the flowers.”
I mirror her smile and watch her walk out, her steps missing the spring that I’ve come to associate with my best friend. I’ve never seen her like this before. Nora is the fun boss, and some of it may be due to the fact that we’re both twenty-two, but for whatever reason, she makes the work environment a very enjoyable place to be. To see her so beat down pulls at my heart.
I need to make this right, I decide.
I take out my phone and look up Rowan Preston. His image pops up on the screen, and I find myself tracing his perfect jawline with my fingertips. His eyes are sharp as they focus on a piece of art, or what I assume is a piece of art, and…part of me wants him to look at me that way.
I want to feel the caress of his sharp gaze on my body. I can just imagine it, a single dark brow going up as he runs his eyes over my body. His long fingers would reach out and…
FocusWillow!
I slap my cheeks to bring my thoughts to the present. I need to find Rowan and change his mind before tomorrow. If I am to succeed, I can’t be thinking about his eyes, his firm lips, dark brows, or even the tattoos I spied peeking out of his shirt collar earlier.
I wonder if they run down to his…
“Willow?”
Nora’s voice makes me jump and drop my phone. My eyes follow the device as it lands face up on the floor, revealing what it was I’d been looking at. I look up to find Nora’s eyes glued to the screen, and I hurry to pick it up, but it’s too late.
“Willow? Why are you googling my brother?”
“No reason, just curious now that I know who my boss is.”
“Willow, you’re not interested in Rowan, are you?”
“Of course not,” I hurry to say, walking past her and out of the office. “I think Kim needs my help.”
I want to meet Rowan and talk to him about Nora’s idea. Well, technically, it was my idea first, but that’s not important. If hosting an Anti-Valentine’s Day celebration at Fine Taste is the thing that will make my best friend happy again, then I’ll do anything to make it happen, even if that means tracking down her brother and forcing him to listen.
CHAPTER THREE
Rowan
“Mr. Preston, a Miss Nora Wilde is asking to speak with you. She said you’d see her, if I mentioned her name,” my assistant, Amanda, calls over my office intercom.
I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger in an attempt to fight off the brewing headache.
It seems Nora just won’t give up, which is unlike her. She’s never pushed back against my decisions before, so this is different. Sure, she likes to push my buttons, but she’s never fought me on something once I’ve put my foot down. Why is this Anti-Valentine’s Day business so important to her?
“Mr. Preston?”
“Let her in, Amanda.”
I drop my elbows to my desk and run my fingers through my hair. I don’t bother to look up as the door opens, then shuts quietly. The soft patter of footsteps announces her progress across the room.
I wait for my feisty sister to start her tirade and curse me out for being the villain she’s made me out to be in her head, but…nothing.
The silence has me opening my eyes and looking up. My breath catches in my throat as my gaze meets that of the woman standing on the other side of my desk.
Dressed in jeans and an “I hate love” t-shirt, is the angel from earlier. Her hair is still tied up in a messy bun with a few more strands falling into her face.
She’s real.
Her cheeks flush a soft rosy hue, and she looks down, hiding her pretty green eyes from me.
“You’re not Nora,” is the first thing out of my mouth. Very few people know that Nora and I are related, but it’s not because I am ashamed of her. Quite the opposite. She and I may argue a lot, but we’re incredibly close, each the only family the other has. Her decision to stay away from the publicity my life brings is one I respect and guard jealously. Nothing is more important to me than my sister’s happiness and safety.
