Page 75 of The Grumpy Billionaire

A clerk comes by, and Mom shows him the scarf and asks for the same scarf created as an entirely different product with completely different features. He brings Mom to another area of scarves that might suit her.

Kelsey turns to me. “I don’t care what your mom and brother say. You need to give that man a chance.”

I spin a rack of earrings. “I am giving him a chance. In bed. At Hotel Luxe.” I get excited and nervous every time I think about us meeting like sexy secret agents. I’ve already picked out my underwear for it.

“But didn’t you hear your mom? Maybe he always had eyes for you! Could he have loved you all along?”

“Highly doubtful.” I spin another rack. I’ve explained this all to Kelsey in excruciating detail, how men like Hugo start off loving my sunshiny ways. So refreshing! Then comes the part where they shut me out because I’m not a serious person, just this shiny and slightly distracting object. And finally, the barely concealed disgust.

“I’ve had more than enough of the not-measuring-up shit for one lifetime. It’s a thing with me, Kelsey. It just is.”

“I get that it’s happened historically, but it doesn’t mean it’ll aways happen. Maybeguys like Hugoturn out to be shit boyfriends because they’re not Hugo.”

I snort. “That’s like saying, if you’re allergic to the peanuts in peanut brickle ice cream, have I ever got a delicious treat for you! Here’s an entire bag of peanuts. Enjoy!”

“Poor Hugo,” Kelsey says. “Such a fox, so bananas for you.”

I examine a pair of silver hoops. “I run a hard bargain.” I put the hoops back. “A lurid and tawdry office affair, that’s the only affair for me!” It’s hard to keep from smiling when I say that, though. I love that he used the word tawdry—it’s so old-fashioned.

I do that a lot lately—think about things he said and get a warm glow.

An hour later, we’re down on the men’s floor where Mom’s hunting for a wallet for Dad, much to my exasperation, when I catch the scent of Jonathan’s peppery bergamot cologne.

“You smell that?” I clutch Kelsey’s arm. “That’s Jonathan’s cologne. The smell of heartbreak.”

“Very masculine,” Kelsey says.

I’m looking around to figure out who’s wearing the offending scent when I see the display—a circular table piled high with the telltale black boxes of cologne under a black-and-white photo of a hot model gazing into the distance in a hot and manly way.

I beeline to it, slide my finger over the tops of the boxes. It’s like a sign.Stay strong, Stella!

Kelsey comes up. “Just can’t get enough of the smell of heartbreak?”

I pick up the box. “What if I got this for Hugo?”

“And you would do that why?”

“It would be like sticking a warning label on him. Known to cause heartbreak. Beware.”

“Stella, oh my god, you can’t.”

A salesperson comes up. She wears an excited expression and a nametag that says Florence. “Did you see the special we’re running right now? You get a Jack Hermann overnight bag with each and every Obsidian Valor purchase.”

“See?” I say. “A cute overnight bag. It’s a sign.”

Kelsey widens her eyes. “You really want him to walk around smelling like heartbreak and devastation? This is what you want?”

“Hmm…” Florence tilts her head. “I think of this scent as more like bold sophistication.”

“Nose of the beholder,” Kelsey says.

“I think of it as heartbreak, and I want him to smell like that,” I say. “Heartbreak and devastation and agony. A man who cuts you to shreds until your self-esteem is zero.”

Florence looks concerned. “I could show you some other colognes.”

Kelsey grabs my arm. “Dude.”

“You’re right,” I say, putting the box back.

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