Wanted - Bad Boyfriend by TA Moore

Author:TA Moore [Moore, TA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64080-260-5
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2018-08-21T00:00:00+00:00

“WHAT THE hell? I just delivered your arrangements to the hotel,” Mahdi said. He snipped through the stem of a bird-of-paradise and pointed the secateurs at Nate. “If some porter has nicked them to take to his mother, don’t try and lay it on me.”

The sun beat through the dusty glass of the greenhouse windows and heated the damp air until it was muggy. Flowers bloomed in perfectly lined-up rows of pots, where crimson roses graduated into pink carnations and then white daisies.

Those were only the basics. The special-order stuff Mahdi nurtured in the smaller hothouse behind his house. Madhouse Flowers supplied all of Granshire’s floristry needs and additionally shipped rare roses and orchids across the British Isles.

Surprisingly enough, Mahdi could be charming when there was money on the table—less so when it was a favor.

Nate held up his hands in surrender. “Nothing like that,” he said. “We had a leak at the hotel. The flowers are ruined. I need new ones… by Friday.”

Mahdi raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow at him and snipped the secateurs. “Yes? Well, I want my boyfriend to move back to the mainland and stop shearing sheep for a living. Life is full of wanting and not having.” He scooped the neatly trimmed flowers up off the table, turned his back on Nate, and poked four orange-petaled stems neatly into the bouquet already constructed in its vase. They nestled in among the furled ferns and baby’s breath sprays.

“So you can’t do it?” Nate asked.

Mahdi spun dramatically. “Can’t? Can’t?” he blustered. Then he deflated with a snort and a curled lip. “What am I? Six? I can’t do it because I don’t have four dozen ranunculus to hand, or—what was it—six feet of gold-plated wire to hold them together?”

“The wire could probably be salvaged.”

He got the gardener’s gloved finger for that.

“I fulfilled the contract,” Mahdi said. “It’s your problem now. I have other clients to tend to.”

Nate crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. The sole of his sneaker was finally dry. No more squelching. He raised an eyebrow.

“Better than the Granshire? Because I manage the event accounts, and we pay you a considerable sum for the various weddings, parties, balls, and golf tournaments we run. So I’d love to know who else around here could use that many flowers.”

There was a pause as they stared at each other. Mahdi’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Yes.”

“So, if I don’t sort out this mess, you’ll take your business elsewhere?”

“Exactly.”

Mahdi scoffed at him. “Good luck with that. Before I moved here, I worked for the florist you used. Remember? I know how much it cost to ship flowers in from the mainland.”

That was a fair point. It had been expensive enough that the memory of the invoices still made Nate wince. Obviously he needed to change tack.

“It doesn’t have to be the same flowers. You don’t even have to stick with the color scheme.” He hadn’t particularly liked the yellow and orange anyhow. Hopefully he could sell Katie on that too.

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