Free Obsessed (BBW Billionaire Light Romance) by Juliet Michaels Page A

in a huff, and Leah looked at me as though she thinks I'm some sort of sex maniac.
    I pour myself a large whisky.
    I think I'll clear off for a few days, ring Jake and go over to Crete. I won't take the private plane, just go out on an ordinary flight like a tourist. I can chill, swim, hang out, work in the bar and see if Jake needs any financial help. After all, he doesn't like to ask.
    And when I come back, I'll get everything under control again.  
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
     
     
    Leah stood back and admired the changes in the shop. It was a few weeks since the loan had been approved and she was proud of the progress. The new window was wooden, with a slightly bowed effect, and gave the front some much-needed character. The inside had been painted in dazzling white for the ceilings and a delicate blue on the walls. She wanted a particular shade. She remembered, when she was small, finding half a robin's egg shell on the ground after the chick had hatched. It was a colour that had remained in her mind and she searched for colour charts to find it. In the end she’d had the paint specially mixed and it worked perfectly. She had arranged for a carpenter to come and fix wooden shelves for display - they were painted white and she would have old-fashioned, silver coloured metal buckets, each filled to bursting with one colour of flower. Roses in all shades, deep blue cornflowers, tulips, poppies, freesias, the list went on.
    Charlie had been a little wary; most florists had loads of flowers on display on the floor, but Leah wanted to raise them up, to eye height. She planned another area where they would sell containers, beautiful cut glass vases, stone jugs, unusual pottery, so that customers would be tempted to buy a special, expensive item to display their flowers.
    "It looks great," Charlie said as he stood back, admiring the changes. "When the shelves are dry, we'll fill them. You should go into interior design, you've got a real gift!"
    Leah shook her head. "No more changes of career for me," she answered. "I have to make a success of this . I'm really going for the challenge."
    Leah was indeed enjoying making the decisions, and seeing her plans carried out, and she felt that her confidence was steadily growing.
    "When the decorating's finished,” she said, “we’ll have to think about a good advertising campaign. It's great to have the shop looking so good, but that just attracts more passing trade. We must get a better website, too."
    They were both busy, still supplying all the outside orders, as well as trying to run the shop whilst the alterations took place.
    "We'll go and look at vans next week," Charlie suggested. "We need something better, we can't afford to have that old banger break down again."
    Leah was pleased that all was going so smoothly and Charlie had really thrown himself into it. They worked well as a team, and he also found time to train Maggie in the art of arrangement and decoration. She was attending college two days a week. They both hoped that she would soon be able to take over more of the simple flower arrangements, as the shop was starting to get busy.
    They’d installed an old-fashioned, brass bell over the door, too. It was a different touch, and Leah turned round from admiring the new paintwork, ready to welcome a customer as she heard it jingle.
    James!
    He was dressed in a very formal-looking in a dark grey suit, with a  blue shirt and red tie. He looked bronzed, too, as though he’d recently been in the sun. His hair a shade lighter and slightly longer. He stopped and stood just inside the doorway, immaculate and impressive, amid the paint pots and buckets.
    Leah tried to compose herself, deciding she wasn’t going to be anything other than professional . This was her territory, even though she remembered the thrill of his firm hand on her knee in the cafe a couple of weeks ago.
    "Can I help you?" Charlie said, as he appeared from the back of the shop.