All Fired Up (DreamMakers) (12 page)

The arrangement on the right, while still large, was nowhere near as gaudy. Cornflowers and delicate yellow grasses emerged from a bright orange ceramic watering jug. Smiling, Lynn reached to touch one of the pale blue leaves of her favorite flower.

More people than usual wandered past, all eagerly peeking over her shoulder. She supposed she didn’t blame them—the office grapevine usually buzzed from
one
flower delivery. But two? The gossipmongers would go nuts.

Feeling herself blush, she dropped into her chair and tugged the bouquets to the side, out of easy viewing of her curious onlookers.

Well. This was unexpected. From Parker and Dean? Kinda flattering they’d tracked her down from a single comment about where she worked, but flowers turned the entire situation awkward again because of the whole “going on a date” with Parker and not with his friend.

She lifted the card from the roses and pulled the note free from the envelope. Her dismay grew with every word as she realized it wasn’t Dean or Parker who’d sent the bouquet.

My dearest Lynn.

I’m so torn up we’ve had a misunderstanding regarding my affections, and it’s my desire to clear all your concerns as soon as possible. The depth of what I feel, and how well we suit each other, is not something to toss aside because of rumor or innuendo. Let me assure you, I am the man for you.

Phil

Really? The bastard really thought she hadn’t been serious about kicking his cheating ass to the curb? The urge to gather the flowers and dump them in the trash was strong.

“Screw
you
, Shotelle,” she muttered. “You’re going to need all your strength to recover from being backhanded into tomorrow if you come anywhere near me expecting to get into my good graces.”

She jerked the envelope from the other bouquet, her blood still boiling at Phil’s arrogance. A single hand-drawn cornflower graced the card in her hand, the clean lines of the sketch making the flower appear to sway in a summer breeze. The delicate design soothed her ruffled nerves, and the words inside triggered a completely different reaction than Phil’s over-the-top gesture.

The cornflowers remind me of your eyes. Shining with life and passion, and so beautiful, like a mountain lake full of secret depths.

I can’t wait to fall into them again.

Oh mercy. Her cheeks went so hot she actually had to fan her face with her hand, like a damn southern belle sitting on a plantation house porch. Jeez, maybe there was something to this romance company Parker ran. He certainly had the art of love notes down pat. And it warmed her heart that he’d remembered she liked cornflowers from one passing statement she’d made at yoga. A man who actually
listened
? Who knew?

When a low whistle sounded behind her, Lynn twirled to find a familiar grin.

“My, my, my.” Suz wiggled forward next to the desk to admire the flowers better. “What have we here?”

Lynn pointed. “This is—”

“Oh, wait. Let me guess.” The blonde folded her arms, tapping a finger on her lips as she examined the bouquets in turn. “My brilliant intellect leads me to deduce the hothouse roses are from a certain spineless, brainless, ball-less gentlemen who works on the sixth floor.”

Lynn’s lips twitched. “Go on, Sherlock. Halfway there.”

Her friend’s green eyes sparkled. “Well, I would infer from the other bouquet that something went more than
halfway
last night. More like a home run, am I right?”

Squirming in her chair was beneath her. Lynn forced herself to sit still as she hid the smirk that wanted to escape. “I’m not going to tell you while we’re in the office.”

“That’s not a denial, you know.”

She had no intention of denying anything, not to Suz, at least. “Lunchtime. I’ll tell you all about it at lunch.”

Her friend sighed heavily. “I can’t believe you didn’t call and give me an update right away,” Suz scolded.

“I figured you were busy.” She wiggled her brows. “How was
your
evening?”

“One for the memory book.” Suz tugged aside the uppermost part of her blouse to reveal a large hickey. “Lunch is going to be very entertaining.”

They grinned at each other.

“Hey.” Lynn picked up the bouquet of roses and thrust it forward. “Do me a favor, and give one rose to everyone on your floor? I don’t want them around, but someone else may as well enjoy them.”

Suz winked. “You’ve got it, girlfriend. Meet you at the Souper Shop at eleven thirty?”

After confirming their lunch date, Lynn dove into the final debug for her program. This was the idea that would break her career to a whole new level, but even with an appointment to see the head of the design department looming, she couldn’t seem to keep on task. Her gaze kept drifting to the bouquet of flowers, the faintest hint of a floral scent floating around the cubicle and distracting her.

Last night had been amazing, and she was glad she’d taken the out-of-character chance to try the threesome. But she was looking forward to spending time with Parker
alone
.

Anticipation was part of the excitement, and she wallowed in how good the idea of being with him made her feel.

“Damn those idiots.”

Lynn jerked to attention, whirling her chair around as Phil stomped to the side of her desk and glared angrily at the defenseless blue arrangement, his perfect brow creased with disgust.

“Phil? What are you—?”

“I should sue them for delivering such trash.”

He reached for the pitcher, and Lynn moved without thinking. She slapped the back of his hand away as she shot to her feet. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Phil lurched away in surprise, dark blue eyes widening in shock. “That’s not what I ordered—it’s a bunch of trash. You deserve nothing but the best.”

An unladylike snort escaped her. “Right. Which is why you took such special care in treating me like your one and only, is that it?”

“Exactly.” His good looks were still there, but the smile he gave her did nothing but leave her icy cold inside.

“What do you want, Phil?” When he took one step in her direction, she jerked up a hand between them. “And
don’t
tell me you want me, because I’m off the menu. I made that clear last night.”

“I swear this is all a misunderstanding.” Phil tilted his head to the side, a look of absolute yearning in his eyes. “You’re breaking my heart. Just give me the chance to talk to you. To show you how much you mean to me and how good we are together.”

“No. Now get out and let me work.” She turned her back on him, sitting down and resolutely focusing on the screen.

The bastard stood there silently for a good two minutes before he finally left.

Lynn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Confrontation was never fun, but hopefully he’d finally gotten the message and would leave her alone. Phil was in her past.

But the future? The future looked bright. She picked up the note from Parker and read it again, a smile coming easily. Yes, she had a lot to look forward to.

She opened her email and typed in the address he’d written on the bottom of the card.

[email protected]

I got the flowers. Thank you so much—they’re beautiful!

I’m looking forward to seeing you again, too. Call me tonight, and we can make some plans for Friday if that works for you.

Lynn

Parker couldn’t wipe the enormous grin off his face as he reread Lynn’s email. It was official—he had it bad. So bad he couldn’t concentrate on a single damn thing. Each time he tried to make a phone call or study a client’s questionnaire, his mind strayed to the beautiful brunette who’d gotten him so fired up he hadn’t been able to sleep a wink.

But the giddiness was accompanied by the ever-growing guilt that had been burning a hole in his gut since the moment they’d left Lynn’s apartment.

He’d come into her life under false pretenses, and that wasn’t something Parker ever did. He always put all his cards on the table, except for keeping the occasional ace up his sleeve, but when it came to women? Honesty was his only policy.

He had to tell her the truth. But as he glanced at his phone and read her email for the hundredth time, he couldn’t help but question his decision.

What if he
didn’t
tell her the truth? Lynn didn’t have to know Shotelle had hired them—now that the job was over, there was no way she’d ever find out. Not unless Shotelle said something, but Parker doubted that would happen. Not many men wanted to admit to their girlfriends they couldn’t even plan their own dates.

“Why, oh why are you frowning?” Dean appeared in the doorway with a cup of coffee in one hand and a half-eaten chocolate croissant in the other. “After last night, you should be grinning from ear to ear. I know I am.”

Parker leaned back in the armchair and raked both hands through his hair. “I was thinking about how to tell Lynn the truth.”

Dean looked startled. “You mean that we knew who she was before we hooked up with her?”

He nodded.

The conversation paused. Dean stuffed the rest of his croissant in his mouth and chewed rapidly as he headed for the second armchair. He plopped down, swallowed, and fixed Parker with a stern look.

“Do you still want to date this woman?”

“You know I do.”

“Then you can’t tell her.”

Uncertainty washed over him. “Ever?”

Dean took a quick sip of coffee, thinking it over. “Not saying that. You can tell her at some point. Just not now.”

“No?” He rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

“No.” When he caught the reluctant expression on Parker’s face, Dean heaved out a sigh. “Okay, look. Remember that op in Paraguay?”

He nodded.

“And do you remember how three hours before we went wheels-up, Commander Tate told us Jenson’s sister had died in a car accident?”

“Where are you going with this?” Parker said warily.

“So the CO asked us not to say anything to Jenson because he didn’t want the guy distracted in the middle of a hairy mission.”

“Kenny took two bullets to the leg during that op!”

“Yeah, and he was focused and alert—imagine how much worse it would’ve been if he was
distracted
. And then he spent three months in that army hospital and hooked up with his physical therapist, and now they’re married with four kids.”

Parker’s guilt had been temporarily swallowed by the rising urge to shake Dean until he made sense. “This analogy isn’t doing it for me, bro.”

Impatience filled Dean’s dark gray eyes. “Okay, I’ll talk slower so your dumb ass can understand me. Right now, Lynn only knows you as the guy she fucked. And let’s face it, most guys are assholes. So if she finds out you met her under less-than-honorable pretenses there’s a ninety-nine percent chance she’ll never want to see you again. I.e., if Jenson had been killed during the op.”

Dean crossed his arms and paused for emphasis, until Parker finally rolled his eyes and said, “Go on, Master.”

“Now, if you wait a little bit, let Lynn get to know you and see what a stand-up, non-asshole you are,
then
when you tell her the truth, your chances of getting dumped are reduced drastically. It might still happen—i.e. Jenson getting hit in the leg—but you might still be able to work things out. As in, Kenny Jenson meeting the woman of his dreams in the hospital and putting four babies in her.” Dean cocked a brow. “Do you understand, or should I repeat myself?”

He sighed. “No, I feel ya.”

And as annoying as it was to admit it, Dean had a point. A convoluted one, sure, but it made sense. If Lynn got to know him, she’d see he was a good guy and would probably forgive him for his deception. But if he told her the truth now, she’d never get to know him, and he’d never get the chance to be forgiven.

“You’re right,” Parker grumbled.

Jack chose that exact moment to wander into the office, and his jaw promptly hit the floor.

“Sweet baby Jesus. Do my ears deceive me, or did you really just tell Colter that he’s
right
about something?”

“He made a good case,” Parker admitted grudgingly.

Jack hopped up on the desk and tilted his head. “Okay, I’ll bite. What was he right about?”

Parker was about to explain, but a sharp rap on the open door interrupted them before he could. He glanced over, surprised to find Didi in the doorway. She wasn’t usually polite enough to knock, which meant there must be a client in the waiting room. That was the only time their eccentric receptionist showed even a smidgen of professionalism.

Didi took a few steps forward, shooting Parker a funny look. “Phil Shotelle is here to see you. He says he urgently needs to discuss Saturday’s date.”

Wait—
what
?

Parker had been expecting to hear from the man today. He’d even been practicing the “disappointed” face he’d wear when Shotelle requested his deposit back and informed them their services were no longer required because his relationship had ended.