Page 5 of Prince Charmless
“Do you have a plan now?”
The Prince runs a hand through his wavy brown locks and steps towards the counter. “What’s your favorite flower?”
“Huh?” He’s not thinking about buying me some, is he?
“What flowers do women like?” he asks as seriously as a scientist doing research.
“I like peonies, I guess. They’re pink and fluffy.”
He nods. “Just let me do the talking.”
He’s acting like this is some covert operation. It’s just flowers.
When the girl comes back, he leans over the counter. “I don’t think I caught your name.” His tone of voice changes from being bored and disinterested to warm and friendly.
“It’s Lily,” she says. Her polite smile is met with Taylor’s flawless one. I’ve seen it in interviews and pictures before, but this is the first time I’m witnessing it in person. He has impeccable teeth.
“Wow, and you sell flowers. It’s perfect.”
Is this flirtation I smell?
“Thank you,” she says, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear. “It’s not my favorite flower, though.”
Taylor rests his elbow on the counter and his chin on his hand. “Really?” he asks, like what Lily just said is the most interesting thing he’s ever heard. “My favorite are peonies. I love how pink and fluffy they are.”
He sneaks a glance at me. I squint to let him know I disapprove of this situation.
“No way!” Lily squeaks. “That’s my favorite flower too.”
He leans into the shell of her ear, letting his mouth linger for a second. “It’s fascinating we have that in common.”
Yeah, I’ve seen this move before. He knows that it works every time. Lily is too busy giggling to notice me rolling my eyes. She’s probably forgotten that I’m here.
Taylor rests his hand on hers. “It was nice meeting you, uh—” The Prince looks to me as if it’s my job to remind him of her name.
‘Lily,’ I mouth through a smile.Like the fucking flower, remember?
“Lily,”he parrots. “But if there’s nothing you can do for us, Melanie and I have to head off.”
How can a prince be bad with names? He must meet new people every day.
As soon as Taylor puts his hand on the door, Lily says, “Hold on a sec.” She types something into her phone like her life depends on it. “How much are you willing to pay for the flowers? Maybe you could stay, and we could work out a negotiation.”
His smile is sickly sweet. “I love negotiating.”
That bastard.
––––––––
In the end, Lily called the owner and put Taylor on the phone. After explaining, ‘No, this isn’t a prank,’ he offered to pay double the owner’s asking price. The flowers in the display cases are all mismatched, but at least Rachel will have them for her centerpieces.
“So that was your big idea?” I ask after we walk out. “Emotional manipulation? Batting your eyelashes and saying pretty please?”
Taylor opens the car door for me again, and I slide in.
“Julien used to call it the PC method when we were idiot teenagers,” he decides to explain after five minutes of silent driving. “We’re telling himyougot the flowers, by the way. I don’t need him thinking I can get whatever he wants all the time.”
“What does PC stand for?”
