Chapter 152: Heart shaped box 003

"Yeah, you never know," Chris agreed.

The three walked to the front door, and Alan unlocked it. Chris walked close by as he escorted her to her car, and then waited until she'd unlocked it and put her purse inside.

When she straightened to climb into the car, he said, "You're probably tired. Be careful driving home."

"Exhausted is closer to the truth. I will. Thanks."

"No problem. Get some sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"For work at least," she said, and sighed. "You have any plans?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Sleep. It's my night off."

She reached out and touched his arm. "You need to get out more. You're letting this job run your life. It's going to pass you by before you know it. Believe me. I know."

"Easier said than done."

"I know that too. Good night."

"Night," he said as she sat down in the seat.

Walking back to the front door, he had an idea that quickly turned into a plan. When her car went by and she waved out the window, he decided to go through with it. A little lost sleep might just be worth it.

****

Chris walked up to the counter, feeling completely out of place in the flower shop. He didn't have a lot of choice, as it was far too late to order anything online and have it delivered.

"Can I help you?" The woman behind the counter asked.

"I hope so. Any chance of sending some roses and maybe some chocolate today?"

She smiled. "You're lucky. It's early, so we still have quite a few emergency arrangements. Here, let me show you."

It only took him a minute or two to decide. The simple vase of red roses seemed perfect — and it was within his limited budget.

"Now, the chocolate," the woman said. "This is my favorite, and it's actually not all that expensive. In a heart-shaped box for Valentine's too."

Chris looked at the price. It was barely within range of the sticker shock he was prepared for. "Sounds good to me."

"Let's go ring this up and take care of things then."

The woman took down the delivery address, which was the store. He wanted her to get the flowers while she was at work. If there was one thing he'd learned, it was that women loved to get flowers in places where they could show them off and glow about them.

"And what do you want on the card?"

He'd been tempted now and again as he thought about this to give some hints as to who sent the flowers, but decided against it. He answered, "A beautiful woman should have flowers on Valentine's Day."

"No name?"

He shook his head.

"Oh, a secret admirer, then?" She smiled. "That's so romantic."

Beginning to blush, he reached for his wallet, hoping to move things along so he could get out of the shop and back to bed. She seemed to catch on, and rang up his purchase, promising that it would be delivered by noon. That was easily a couple of hours before Alyssa usually left, which was perfect.

With the flowers on the way, he headed back home and to bed. Some carefully framed inquiries to the right people would let him know how his gift went over. The women at the store loved to gossip. Feeling good — if a bit wistful — he hit the sack and was out like a light in short order.

****

Ding Dong.

It took until the second ring for him to figure out that the sound wasn't part of a dream, but rather the doorbell. Blinking until his eyes would focus, he looked at the clock. The alarm was going to go off in five minutes, so he turned it off and sat up. Alarm or no, if it was an insurance salesman or some church people ringing his bell, they were getting an earful. He had a sign on the front door warning people that he was a night shift worker, but those types seemed oblivious.

The bell rang a third time as he stumbled out of the bedroom and toward the door. Cursing under his breath, he snatched the door open, wearing a scowl to let whoever was out there know what was coming.

His eyes widened and he shook his head when he saw Alyssa standing outside.

Her gaze darted downward for a second and she grinned. "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

Thankfully, his laundry was still sitting in a basket right next to the door. He grabbed a shirt and pulled it on, hoping his face wasn't too red from answering the door bare-chested. "It's okay. The alarm was about to go off."

A sharp blast of wind whipped her hair. She hunched her shoulders and pulled her arms in close.

"You want to come in? It's freezing," he said automatically.

"Thanks," she said and darted inside.

Chris closed the door, wondering what had brought her over. He had a brief flashback to a porn movie he'd watched once where the hot neighbor came over for a cup of sugar and ended up getting something far different. When that memory combined with Alyssa, he quickly pushed it away before it caused predictable — and embarrassing — results in the sweats he'd worn to bed.

"Need something?"

Her grin widened a little. "I suppose you could say that. I wanted to thank you for the flowers and the chocolates."

His mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. How did she figure out it was me? Is she just guessing?

She didn't leave him hanging long. "A friend of mine took the order at the flower shop, and she delivered it herself because she was dying to know who my secret admirer was. I knew it was you as soon as she described you. The flowers are beautiful, and the chocolates are my favorite kind. It really made my day."

That made his day. He grinned a little as he said, "You're welcome," though he could hear the nervousness in his voice.

She chuckled. "You're cute when you get caught. It was really sweet of you. The card made my heart skip a beat." Her lips turned up in a crooked smile. "Didn't sound like the kind of card that would go on mercy flowers, though."

"I..." He knew his face had to be stop-sign red. Still half asleep, he hadn't even considered the card when he admitted sending the flowers.

She started unbuttoning her coat. "Come on, Chris. I'm not blind. I see you peeking all the time. It's nice that you don't talk to my boobs or stare at my ass all day long, though. Even better because I was pretty sure you wanted to."

As she said that, she pulled off her coat, negligently dropping it on the couch and revealing a fitted sweater that hugged her curves. It was as if she was challenging him not to look, and it was all he could do to maintain eye contact.

She took a couple of steps closer. Her voice dropped a little in tone and volume, taking on a sexy quality that gave him chills. "That's a real turn-on for me. You meant what you said on that card, didn't you?"