Free Shopping for a CEO (Shopping for a Billionaire Series Book 7) by Julia Kent Page B

moved her class outdoors for fun, and also to help give me an out when I described Jordan to her.
    She’s so giving.
    “Is that your mother?” Jordan asks a little too eagerly. “She’s angelic.” His voice goes dreamy and soft, and now...yep.
    He’s crying.
    We walk over to Marie and her outdoor yoga class. Well, I do. Jordan follows about three paces behind, sniffing with each step.
    “What are you doing here?” Marie asks as she gives me a hug. The question is rhetorical, and she gives me a wink. She’s sweaty and radiant, and still manages to smell like lavender even when she’s in the middle of teaching a strenuous outdoor class. When I sweat, I smell like a teenage boy’s locker and tainted cinnamon.
    “Hello,” Jordan says formally, extending his hand to shake hers. Marie gives me a questioning look but offers her hand, which Jordan rotates slightly so he can kiss the back of it.
    How courtly.
    And slightly creepy.
    Marie gives me a look I can’t quite read. It’s somewhere between How sweet and Call the police .
    “My name is Jordan Montelcini. This is Muffin.” He gestures toward the dog, who is either excited or having a seizure. It’s impossible to tell the difference.
    Marie’s eyebrows go up. Her mouth twitches. Nineteen gears involving my sex life click into place in that scheming mind of hers, and one of them involves Andrew, because she tilts her head, blinks in Morse code, and if I could decipher it I’m sure she’d be saying, What about Andrew ?
    Yeah. I know , I blink back. What about him?  
    “I’m here with Amanda on our first date. Muffin approves so far. It’s so nice to meet Amanda’s mother.”
    Muffin puts her jaw on his forearm and closes her eyes. Right. Seal of approval.
    Marie looks at the dog. Looks at me. Frowns.
    “I’m actually Amanda’s best friend’s mother,” Marie explains, correcting him. Her face explodes into an expression of sheer delight. “Did you say your last name is Montelcini?”
    Jordan puffs up. He’s almost tall enough now to ride a roller coaster at Six Flags. “Yes.”
    “Of Montelcini Flowers?”
    The man’s face spreads with a joyous glow that makes me inhale sharply, for he becomes luminous. It’s like watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly before my very eyes.
    “Yes. You’ve heard of us? I mean,” he frowns, swallowing hard. “Me. It’s just me now.”
    Marie looks like she’s been slapped. “Just you? But the Montelcini team is renowned for—”
    Jordan wails as he drops to the ground with a sob that even his mama must surely hear in heaven. Or, um, wherever she resides.
    I’m deeply confused. Who exactly are the Montelcinis, and why is Marie looking at Jordan like he invented salted caramel ice cream?
    “Mama!” Jordan sobs. Muffin begins spazzing out and walks three feet away to tinkle on a stray dandelion. A dandelion that is bigger than the dog. 
    “Is your mother okay?” Marie asks, dropping to the ground and putting her arm around the poor man’s shoulders. I’m watching all of this with a strange sort of clinical detachment, as if Jordan isn’t my date.
    That’s because he isn’t my date.
    So far, we’re two for two with DoggieDate men. Two weirdos. Two showstoppers.
    And I have eighteen more to go.
    “My mama is deaaaadddd ,” he cries.
    Marie’s eyes fill with tears. A few of her yoga students pop their heads up in response to Jordan’s cries.
    “I’m so sorry, Jordan.” She rubs his back. He’s genuinely mourning, and I feel for the guy. I do. I’m in my twenties and while my own mother can be an anal retentive, uptight pain in the butt, I love her and don’t know what I’d do without her. Jordan seems, to put it mildly, like a mama’s boy, and I can only imagine that losing your mom and business partner would be devastating.
    “Does this mean Montelcini Flowers isn’t doing weddings right now?” Marie asks softly.
    Aha.
    I roll my tongue inside my mouth and then bite it. If I