Page 8 of Approved

WEST

Good. I wanted to say good night. So…

Good Night, Tyler. I hope you sleep well.

TYLER

Good Night, West. I hope you sleep well, too.

That was sweet, and I liked that he had thought about me. Unable to stop myself, I did another Google search on him. There were so many articles with him standing next to someone famous and smiling. He had opened The Dapper Duck five years earlier after working as a manager for one of the more popular bars across town. The article said he had seen what worked and then made it better. West had saved money, taken a business loan, and five years later, he had one of the most popular places for the rich and famous to get a drink.

The images showed several magazine covers where West had appeared, including Fortune 500, which made him look even more handsome. He always wore jeans, a Western-style button-up shirt, and boots. Even in pictures, you could feel theman’s confidence. He was tan and beautiful, with dark, wavy hair, blue eyes, and a little smirk, which he seemed to always have. Reading more about him, it sunk in that this incredibly successful man asked me on a date. He could probably date anybody he wanted, and it wasn’t like he tried to get me into bed. West had explicitly said he wanted to take me on a date.

A little ripple of desire ran over my body. I still didn’t know if I trusted him, but it was clear he wasn’t the same guy from high school—people could lie. Plus, there was no way someone like him would want to stick around once he got to know me. I had avoided being rejected for years, and I liked West. I knew if I was interested in him and he rejected me after we went out a few times, it would hurt more; avoiding that pain was much easier.

The rest of the week was busy, and I was glad business had continued to pick up. Since Valentine’s Day, we’ve seen an increase in customers. We ran out of flowers on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I doubled my order for the rest of the week and used everything we had. Around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, there was finally a lull in business, which was good since we didn’t have many flowers left.

“Have you heard from the sexy bar owner?” Jamie asked me while she bit into an apple.

“Only once. He messaged me the other night.” She raised her eyebrow at me.

“What did he say?”

“He said good night, but I haven’t heard from him since.” I knew I could reach out, and I wanted to. Honestly, I was looking for my person. West seemed great, but I was convinced he only pretended he liked me, and I couldn’t figure out why. A customer walked in before I had any more time to think about it.

“They are saying this is a great place to pick up flowers. Let me have some.” That was one of the oddest ways someone had ever asked for flowers. When I thought about it, quite a few people this week had walked in and asked for a bouquet. There were no stories about who they were giving them to or the reason. Usually, people had a reason and felt compelled to share with me.

“Giving the flowers to someone?” I asked the gentleman in front of me.

“Yeah. My mom will like them.” He responded while scrolling through his phone.

“Is it her birthday or some other special occasion?”

“No. I just wanted to make sure I got some flowers before the deal was done.”

Narrowing my eyes at him. “The deal?”

“Yeah. The one to get flowers.” I had a ten percent off coupon on our website for the next few weeks, so I assumed that was the deal he referred to. I wrapped up the flowers and tied a bow around the stems. It was 7:00 p.m. and he was the last customer of the night. Since Friday was a date night, we had decided to stay open later, and the bet had paid off, getting many people picking up flowers for their night out. I rang him up and thanked him, then turned the sign off for the night.

I hadn’t looked at my phone for a few hours and was excited to see a text message.

WEST

I’d like to buy you dinner. And I know you aren’t ready for our date.

DOORDASH

One hundred dollars has been added to your DoorDash account.

I blinked a few times. The man had just given me money for dinner, which was super nice. I was even more surprised since he hadn’t messaged me since Tuesday.

WEST

Have a wonderful dinner. I look forward to when I can take you out personally.

Any time you want, any day you want.

That might have been too much, sorry.

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