What do you do about gifts on Valentine’s? Do you go with a more traditional flowers and chocolates? Do you get something the two of you can enjoy together (take that however you want!)? Do you go expensive with jewelry? Or maybe you skip the gifts altogether in lieu of spending a nice evening together?

And now that I’m asking these questions, I realize I don’t know my own preference. I guess I fall into the last camp. Presents are great and I’ll take them, but it’s more important to me to spend a nice evening together than to receive or give any particular gifts. (That being said, I had a particularly fun time one year giving chocolates to my then-boyfriend, a guy who loooooves chocolate. I mean LOVES chocolate. Fun. 🙂 )

In The Reluctant Billionaire, Sophie gets flowers (even though it’s not Valentine’s!) and Rhys has to deal with it… Hope you enjoy this excerpt!

 

The Reluctant Billionaire

Rhys felt like crap the next morning. He’d finally left the bathroom the night before and hadn’t been surprised to see that Sophie had left. He couldn’t blame her.

It had taken him a long time to fall asleep, alternately scared about what might happen if Dan and Sophie insisted on the testimony, and sad that Sophie wasn’t beside him. Which was his own fault, so he had no one to blame but himself.

By morning, after tossing and turning and lying awake for a full hour in the middle of the night, his head pounded. He wanted breakfast, but more than that, he wanted to see Sophie. And he might as well kill two birds with one stone.

He passed Raymond on the way. “You can bring my silverware to the kitchen.” He didn’t wait to see Raymond’s response.

A few seconds later, he entered the kitchen and swung around the end of the wall to see Sophie standing in front of a huge bouquet of flowers–pink carnations, white tulips, red roses. He took a few steps closer. She was reading a small card; it must have come with the flowers.

“What’s it say?” Until he heard his voice, he hadn’t recognized the emotion running through him–jealousy, pure and green.

Sophie jumped a little but didn’t try to hide the card nor did she show any other signs of guilt. “Forgive me. Stanford.” She shoved the card back in its little envelope. “Typical Stanford. He didn’t apologize. Just ordered me to forgive him.” She tossed the envelope and card onto the counter.

That was his cue. He tamped down the jealousy so he could do the thing his rival didn’t. “I’m sorry about last night. I was so angry and—and scared for you that I couldn’t have held a civil conversation right then. But I should have said that instead of hiding in the bathroom.”

She pressed her lips together but came closer to him. “It bothers me that you avoided me instead of talking out our problems.”

He cupped her cheeks. “You’re right. I know that’s what we need to do. And we can do that now. Last night, though–I needed to cool down first. But I should have told you that.”

She put her hands over his. “I forgive you. But next time—”

”There won’t be a next time.” He let his hands drift to her shoulders.

“Of course there will. It’s normal to argue about things once in a while. But we need to handle it better. Okay?”

“Yes. Definitely.” He laid a chaste kiss on her lips.

Sophie pulled away from him to walk toward the flowers. “Let me just take care of these and then I’ll get you your breakfast.”

“A little ostentatious,” he said.

She picked them up and carried them to a far corner of the counter, out of the way. “I think they’re beautiful.”

His stomach clenched. Did that mean she was softening toward that bastard? No, she didn’t say that. All she said was that she liked the flowers.

He could do flowers. Hell, he could do flowers that would outshine that display sent by her spurned lover. He could fill the room with flowers.

Sophie finished fluffing the arrangement and headed back toward the stove. “What’s the matter?”

He started. “What?”

“You look…fierce. Something wrong?”

His first instinct was to deny it, but he remembered what she’d said about working out their problems. “There are much better flowers in my garden.”

She stopped short and looked back at the arrangement. “Yes, there are.” He heard a question mark in her voice.

“If you like flowers, I’ll get you some.”

Sophie’s face softened. She stepped closer and slipped her arms around him. “I would love for you to get me some flowers. I’m sure they’ll be much better than his.”

And then he felt stupid for being jealous. But comforted, too. He hugged her tight.

 

When BBW Sophie begins her new job as chef in William Blackwell’s mansion, she wants a new start. Her last job led to a romance with her billionaire boss which ended in heartbreak. This time, she swears she’ll stay away from workplace romance…a vow that’s put to the test when she meets the enigmatic Rhys, one of the mansion’s gardeners.

William “Rhys” Blackwell might be a billionaire, but he still loves digging in his gardens. When he meets Sophie he feels instantly attracted to her. But Sophie says she doesn’t want to date anyone from the mansion, and Rhys knows that goes double for him, so he keeps his identity quiet. Maybe if she gets to know him first, she’ll change her mind.

In the midst of the growing attraction between Sophie and Rhys, they have other problems to deal with, too…a lawsuit, a billionaire ex-lover and more. In the end, there’s just one question: what are they willing to risk for a chance at love?

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