Page 94 of Perfect (mis)Match

For me, apparently.

Vincent was staring at me when I handed the phone back to the girls. “Do you like it?”

“The lilacs are stunning.”

His face brightened. “I’m glad. I thought you deserved something special after…everything that happened.”

My heart did a three second polka, but I forced myself to calm down. It was a lovely gesture, but not the response I needed after what he’d done to my heart. And worse, he’d just distanced himself by saying “everything that happened” and not “what I did.”

“I appreciate that.”

The sidewalk was packed with gawkers, so Vincent motioned for me to follow him to a less crowded stretch of sidewalk, right next to a vacant storefront that had a giant silver bucket filled with blossoms blocking the doorway.

“I have a few things I’d like to say to you,” Vincent began haltingly.

“Fine.” I crossed my arms, trying to squeeze any hope from my body. “I’m listening.”

“That night…” he trailed off, and I could tell he was trying to put his racing thoughts in order. “That night was a mess. The party was the culmination of years’ worth of work, and I was overwhelmed. And I’ve never been one for parties.”

“You don’t say,” I snorted. “You seem to be forgetting I witnessed your performance at Paul and Chloe’s engagement party.”

He flinched at the mention of it. “Exactly. I don’t enjoy all of that fake smiling and small talk.”

I didn’t respond. I wasn’t about to placate him and make excuses for his terrible behavior.

“Add the pressure of being the center of attention, and Maya being a spotlight-seeking hag, and it was a recipe for combustion.”

I stared at him silently, which made him fidget. I’d never seen him nervous. Ever. But he was clearly going all out, between the flower display and actually talking about his feelings for a change. The display was gorgeous, and obviously very expensive, but I didn’t need grand gestures.

I needed him to be real. But I still wasn’t sure he could manage that.

Vincent kept talking. “And then there was the stuff with you and Rodrigo. That certainly didn’t help my state of mind.”

I froze.Huh?

“You mean me congratulating him about his baby news?”

“Yeah. Who knew?” he chuckled. “I’m sorry, but the guy is a total flirt. He was hanging all over you. It’s no wonder I was suspicious.”

“Right,” I said slowly as I weighed this new information. “Of course you’d assume the worst of me as well.”

“Can you blame me?” he argued. “I mean, look at the guy! It’s literally his job to be every woman’s fantasy.”

The aroma of the flowers all around us was making my head swim. Normally, I loved the scent, but the concentration of it all around me had my sinuses constricting painfully.

Or maybe it was something else?

“You have to understand my frame of mind that night,” Vincent continued. “The pressure was intense. Of course there was going to be some friendly fire, and you took the worst of it.”

“Friendly fire?” I asked as a pit opened up in my stomach. “That’s what you think it was?”

“Well, yeah. I reached a breaking point, I flared up, you got burned—and now I’m making up for it.” He gestured to the display on the street around us, as if I needed a reminder of his fat wallet.

I glanced around at the opulence again. There was no denying it was a beautiful gesture, but it wasn’t even close to what I needed.

“You don’t get it, do you?” I asked him slowly. “You didn’t even say it,” I murmured, even more lightheaded.

“C’mon, you’re talking in riddles. Saywhat?” Vincent asked, sounding a little agitated.

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