Where the Lotus Flowers Grow by Mk Schiller Page B

the screen. “Excuse me, please. I have to take this.” He answered the phone and told the other person to hang on the line. I wondered if it was a bird calling him.
    “I’m going to go now.” I stood and walked toward the door. As I turned the handle, his husky voice coiled around me, almost pulling me back into the room.
    “Next time I order room service, don’t make me do it four times, Miss Costa.”
    Thankfully, I wasn’t facing him, because I smiled so wide, my jaw protested. “Yes, sir.”
     
     

Chapter 7
    Liam
     
    Stephen argued we needed to execute the contract soon. The lawyers had signed off, and the buyers were anxious. I stared at the vacant chair across from me the whole time he spoke. At least he was sober.
    “I’ll call you tomorrow, Stephen.”
    “What? No, we need to talk about this. We have—”
    “Fuck. Off.”
    I slammed the phone on the bed. It bounced three times before landing on the pillow.
    Why the hell did I tell her all that stuff? Details I had never told anyone. The girl was calm and chaos rolled into one. Every time she called me ‘sir,’ it was a reminder our relationship was imbalanced and improper. Still, the fucking term turned me on. I had slapped it back in her face, hadn’t I? I’d stung her with my words…and guess what?
    Words. Don’t. Die.
    The girl, both subservient and rebellious, was becoming more of a mystery to me. How brave was she? She’d lost her entire family and moved to a new city on her own. Although my stepmother, father, and Stephen weren’t exactly loving people, at least I’d had a home. I had a fucking emergency contact, and I didn’t have to worry about supporting myself.
    She had no one. Yet, somehow that made her stronger. The questions I had asked Mary harpooned straight into inappropriateness. They discredited my reputation as an honest businessman. But she’d turned the tables on me.
    Get your shit together.
    Maybe I needed to take Mum’s advice. Take the high road and not order room service tomorrow night. I’d forget about her. Forget the way her body moved as she walked across a room. Forget her long limbs and soft curves. I’d forget about her pouty lips and silky hair. Or the way she parted her mouth or the crimson blush that settled over her face when I flirted. I’d forget how hard I was, too. Well…some things couldn’t be ignored.
    * * * *
    I spent the next day convincing myself I’d forgotten all about her. Even as I dialed room service, I blamed it on hunger. Yeah, I was hungry all right.
    I didn’t know what to expect this time, but I sure as shit didn’t expect Mary’s anger. I got a full dose as she rolled the cart past me so fast I had to get out of the way.
    “How are you?”
    “Pissed off, sir.” She turned back to me, hands on her hips. “Is that the right term?”
    “Oh yeah, you nailed it.”
    She dropped the cloche on the table, its silver platter clanging as it landed. “May I get you anything else, sir?”
    “An explanation perhaps. What has you so upset?”
    “Are you planning to demolish the fountain?”
    It was the last possible thing I expected her to bring up. “Yes. It’s an eyesore.”
    “The stones are crumbling, but the inside structure is still intact. If you take it down, the flower will die.”
    “Why is the flower so important to you?”
    “It’s a lotus flower.”
    I had no idea how that answered my question. “Yes, I’m aware. If you care to make a valid argument, please do. I’m willing to listen.”
    “It was a present to me.”
    “From who?” I hope to God it wasn’t from the bastard driver I sacked.
    “When I left the orphanage, the sisters gave me a packet of seeds and told me to plant them wherever I was. Like you, I didn’t appreciate the gift. When I arrived here, I threw the seeds in that stupid fountain and never thought of it again.”
    “But it blossomed.”
    “Yes, a single flower took root. It should not have. I never took care of it. But it grew