Page 80 of Perfect (mis)Match

“Did you buy out the entire supply?” I laughed.

“Close.” She shifted the bouquet. “I never knew sunflowers are soheavy. But you deserve it. This is a symbol of all of the sunshine to come, my friend.”

I leaned over to place my nose against the giant face of the bloom. I inhaled, but of course, sunflowers had no scent whatsoever.

Perfect. For now, I preferred life with no fragrance.

24

VINCENT

“It’s true what they say: there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” Amanda shrugged as she pushed her glasses up her nose. She was every inch the analyst, hunting me down first thing Monday morning to discuss the fallout from theEvermorelaunch party. “That’s the core of what we’re seeing. Yes, Summit is continuing to take some hits in terms of online comments thanks to Maya’s ongoing campaign, but we’re also seeing upward sales trending sinceEvermoreis everywhere. I’d go so far as to say that it’s helping sales.”

I sighed as I studied the sales reports on my laptop screen. “But that’s not the full story.”

Amanda’s expression went tight. “No, it’s not.”

“The board?”

“They’re split. Happy for the strong sales, but concerned that you’re a…” she gave me an apologetic smile. “A distraction?”

I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. She was sugarcoating the feedback, that much was clear. It wasn’t thefirst time I’d heard that I attracted too much attention. When I first took over Summit from my father, I was known as the Playboy Billionaire by the people who assumed I was only in my position because of nepotism. I’d slowly proven myself over time. I did my best to balance my personal and work lives, but sometimes things blew up. I thought I was past all of that bullshit, but thanks to Maya, I was back in the headlines.

And so was Piper.

I felt terrible every time her photo flashed on screen, partly because I hated that she’d been dragged into this mess, but mainly because I didn’t want to admit how much I missed her every time I saw her beautiful face. We hadn’t spoken since the blowup on Friday night, and the silence between us told me everything I needed to know.

A few think pieces had been published that addressed workplace romances, as well as the concept of “show-mances” and PR relationships. They all assumed the relationship between Piper and me had been completely manufactured. It was a logical conclusion for them to reach, based on the video and what Maya and I had said. But they didn’t know about the very real feelings that had grown between us.

Very real feelings that were partly to blame for where things were now.

“What’s next?” I asked Amanda warily.

“We’ve determined the best way forward is to not address Maya’s ranting. We don’t want to give her any credibility or allow her to use our response as a way to prop up her platform. Our thinking is she’ll lose steam.” She paused a beat. “Eventually. We hope.”

I smirked, because it sure didn’t seem like Maya was going to get tired of talking about me any time soon.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I glanced at it, half expecting another work crisis, but my chest tightened when I saw the name flash on the screen:Mom.

Vincent, sweetheart, I saw the news and just wanted to check on you. It looked awful. I know how hard you work and how much this must be weighing on you. Call me when you can. Love you.

My heart clenched, guilt washing over me. I hadn’t called her in what felt like forever. I’d been so caught up in the mess of everything that I hadn’t made the time. But I knew Mom would understand—she always did. She never pushed, just wanted to make sure I was okay.

I stared at the message, my fingers hovering over the screen, wanting to respond, but?—

Linda’s voice came through the intercom. “Vincent, Piper is on her way in.”

“Uh…” Amanda’s eyes went wide. “I think that’s all I needed to discuss with you. Thanks Vincent.”

She gathered her things quickly and passed Piper on her way out. They gave one another a knowing nod, like soldiers in the trenches.

My heart lurched as Piper strode toward me.Fuck, she was so beautiful, even when she was glaring at me. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but her expression looked determined. Angry, even.She came to a stop in front of my desk and folded her arms across her chest.

“I’m quitting, effective today. I haven’t used any of my vacation days, so you can take that as my two weeks’ notice. I’ll send an official email as well, but I wanted to let you know in person.”

Damn it. Piper had just achieved the impossible. She’d caught me off guard.

“I’m sorry,what?”

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