Valentine Collection (Valentine Anthology) (2 page)

He hit the button to turn on his big screen TV and found the Travel Channel.

“Hey!” Cecilia exclaimed and jumped  up. “That’s the
Deschutes National Forest
. 
We went hiking there last year with Tami. Remember when she thought she heard a bear and ran to hide in the Sani-can? I’m surprised she ever went hiking again. She still talks about that.”

Her grin was contagious and he smiled. She dropped her tall, lean body back on the couch and pulled the band off that held her hair in a ponytail. A cascade of rich brown hair fell over one shoulder before she twisted it up in a knot. He tried to remember if he’d ever seen her hair down before, or if he’d just never paid attention. He paid attention now and saw how silky it was.

As she watched the TV, he watched her.

With
Cupid’s Okay
, maybe he’d find someone like CC.

#

When CC left, he cracked his knuckles, turned off the TV and buckled down to finish the online profile. Too bad you couldn’t just snap your fingers and have it  fill itself in
. Ugh
. Computer work.

Lee opened the folder and typed in the web address. He put in the login information and waited.

The screen said,
Welcome back.

Huh?

Had he filled out the rest of the application and forgotten he’d already done it? He was really tired last night when he started and had a glass of wine. Maybe it cosmically knew his info. Had he been hacked?

Well, if it had hacked his info and automatically filled it in…
lucky him
.

There were five blinking hearts in the top of the webpage box, with a flashing icon that said,
Cupid’s found  five matches for you!

Cautiously he clicked the first heart. A photo of a cute blond popped up. Linzy Bellham. The message read:
Hi Lee. Read your profile and thought we might be a perfect match. You’re a lawyer? Great! Let’s meet and have dinner.
  The message was followed by her cell number and the  time to meet at a local French restaurant.

He clicked through the other heart boxes. All knockout blonds.

This online dating was much easier than he’d thought.

No more lonely nights for him.

Chapter 3

Cecilia wiggled into her
Sponge Bob
polar-fleece pajama bottoms, pulled on a grey college sweatshirt and finished towel drying her hair. It had been a long day at the office and a lengthy hot bath felt close to heaven. She wandered out into the kitchen and lifted the bag of popcorn out of the microwave. Starting to reach for a bowl, she decided it would be one more dish to wash so ripped open the bag and stuck her hand in.

A knock on her door made her jump. She dropped the popcorn bag on the table and moved to the door. Wrapping her hand around her ‘in-home protection’ baseball bat, she asked in a deep voice, “Who is it?”
  “It’s me, Lee. Sorry I didn’t call first. Can I come in for a few minutes?”

Cecilia looked at her makeup-less face and wet hair, and groaned.  “Can we do this tomorrow?”

There was a pause before he answered, “Not really. It should only take a few minutes. Please, CC?”

Was he begging? Did she have no willpower at all? She opened the door.

There he was 
Mr. Perfect
, wearing a light mint green dress shirt open at the collar and expensive dress pants. Good enough to eat with a spoon, her mom would say.

He smiled as he looked down at the baseball bat still clenched in her hand. “Are you going to hit me with that?”

“Should I?” She frowned and dropped it back behind the door. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Can I have some of your custom made hot chocolate?”

She nodded and walked past him as he sat on the couch.

He checked her out as she walked by. “Hey! Tami gave you those pajamas as a white elephant gift last year.”

“Yeah… well.” She felt her cheeks -burn -as she stirred hot water into the cup and added the hot chocolate concoction she had invented. “I like them, they keep me warm.”

“There are better options to keep warm than Sponge Bob pajamas,” he said, as something flashed in his eyes. She swore it was heat. For her? Right…she was one hot-mama in this get-up.

Cecilia gave him the cup and put a hand on her hip. “You made this sound like a disaster of biblical proportions.”

“I need your help with something. I know I can trust you won’t tell Tami.” He set the cup down and ran a hand through his hair. “I signed up for an online dating service.”

She scooped up the popcorn bag and eyed him over the edge. “Did you go out on a date?”

He threw his hand up and rolled his eyes. “It was a total disaster! Lindzy with a ‘Z”. I thought it was great for about five minutes. When I picked her up she was wearing a dress short enough to see her… well, you get the idea.”

“Let me guess, and F-me heels.”

“You know that term?” He cleared his throat. “As I said, it was good for about five minutes until she opened her mouth. First, all she talked about was my Porsche. I like my car too— but, come on. Then she wanted to know what country clubs I had memberships in and where I played golf. I tried world topics, news, books— nothing. Back to how much she thought I made and what I owned. She ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and – ate only one bite, saying she was watching her weight. I could see her ribs through her dress.” He stopped. “Can I have some of that popcorn? French food never fills me up.”

“So… what exactly do you need my help for again?”

“I need to change something on the webpage but can’t figure out how. This is what I want to add.” He handed her a hand-written slip of paper.

“Looking for a liberal minded, college educated, financially independent woman who can carry on a conversation?”
Cecilia shot him a look as she read out loud.

“Yes. I want that added. No more dim bulbs. She had a body by Fisher, but brains by Mattel, and was an experiment in artificial stupidity.”

“She was one taco short of a combination plate. Her intellect is rivaled only by garden tools and was proof that evolution can go in reverse.”

  “Something like that.” He laughed as he gave her the login which she had to pretend she didn’t already know. He continued, “Did you hear the FBI just updated their definition of rape to include men?”

Cecilia looked up at him hovering over her. “I read that today on BBC news. They updated an eighty-three- year- old law. Good for them. Victims can be men or women; they are still victims of a sexual crime.”

“You would make a good lawyer.”

“No thanks, that’s your gig. Hope this addition brings you only perfect dates for the nights ahead.”

Chapter 4

Unfortunately, three nights later, date two wasn’t a whole lot better. Stella had a lot more brains, but not a better attitude. She was blond and beautiful. It should have been enough, but when she told him she’d blown off her mother’s seventieth birthday party for their date, he was shocked.

“My sisters will take care of her. Do I look like someone who wants to watch an old lady eat a chain-baked, Crisco-frosted cake?
Puleeze
.”

Under the table, before they’d even finished the main course, Stella ran her bare foot up his leg and wedged it against his crotch. He’d nearly choked on his Manicotti.

She batted long fake lashes and purred, “I want to have sex with you. Right now. In the bathroom.”

Talk about being man handled. Now that it was on the books, he should file charges. Weren’t BOTH parties supposed to be up for the game? A minute ago they were talking about bridge tolls, then bam, foot on junk. Where did that come from?

When he said ‘no’ to her offer, she told him no one ever turned her down for sex, and left him sitting at the table.

Thank God!

Lee paid the bill and was leaving the restaurant when he got the text from his sister. He went back in the restaurant to place an order to-go and knew what he would be doing for the rest of the evening

#

Lee stood outside CC’s house and dialed her cell phone. It rang three times until a muffled voice answered, “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Lee.”

“I’m sick, Lee.”

“I know. I got a text from Tami.”

“Got that flu going around.”
  “I am actually standing on your front porch. I wanted to know if you still have that spare key under the frog in the planter box. I’m warning you I’m coming in so you won’t clock me with the bat.”

“I don’t want you to get sick.”

“I got a flu shot and I have the antibodies of a Roman Army.”

“It’s under the frog.”

He set the shopping bag down and fished out the key. When he opened the door, the room was dark. “Are you in this dungeon, somewhere?”

“Here, on the couch,” she croaked out.

He turned on a lamp. CC was huddled under a blanket with her knees pulled up. Her nose was red and her eyes were puffy. Lee sat down next to her and placed a hand on her forehead. “You have a fever.”

“Fever, then chills, then things I am so not going to discuss with you.” She frowned. “Here to tell me about another date with a beautiful blond? Could I look any worse?”

“You look… great.” That was the truth. She was always beautiful and didn’t need makeup slopped on to achieve it. Even with a cold, her dark eyes mesmerized him. He reached into the bag and pulled out a carton.

“A-1 Teriyaki?” she asked.

“Not for a cold, silly woman. Soup.” He opened the lid and stuck in the plastic spoon. Lee lifted it to her mouth. She opened and took the offered bite.

“You brought this for me?”

“Don’t see anyone else here in need of soup therapy.”

After a few more bites she asked, “So what was wrong with this one?”

Lee left out the roving toes and said a vague, “She wasn’t my type.”

“Want me to change the profile again?”

  “Yeah. This time I’m adding,
My family and friends are incredibly important to me, as is a woman who can make me feel a part of her life and join in theirs.”

She grinned. “That’s good. Did you think that up on your own?”

“If I can write it on paper, I can wax poetic.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
”

“You didn’t write that, Shakespeare did.”

“He was the lucky chap. He wrote all day on paper instead of screens.”

“Well, it’s good you are looking with your mind and not your eyes. I look like crap.”

He fed her another spoonful of soup.  “You cannot make an objective assessment of your appearance. You do not see yourself as I do. By the way, I came up with that.”

###

Cecilia knew she was in trouble after the third bite of soup. She was losing her objective of finding - another woman for Lee. -She wanted - to keep him for herself. Why was he adding all this charming talk? Shakespeare, her favorite none-the-less. What happened to getting him out of her life once and for all?

But, it was
so
nice. And she was sick. And he was taking care of her. “What else do you have in that bag?”

“Your favorite movie,
The Fisher King
.”

“No way.” 

Lee put the DVD in the player. He stretched out his arm for her to snuggle against him and kicked off his shoes.

“You’re shivering,” he said, concerned. “Can I get you anything? Water? Aspirin?”

You?
She almost blurted out. Self- conscious, she touched her face.

“
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand. O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek
.”

“Stop.”.

Couldn’t he quote something from a Shakespeare death scene instead of love soliloquies?  Didn’t he know with that honey silk deep voice he was melting her into the cushions? Cecilia laid her head on his chest. He was warm like a big blanket and smelled spicy and male. When he wrapped his arms around her, she could feel his heart beating.

She was in so much trouble.

Chapter 5

Lee lay awake most of the night. When a garbage truck clattered by, he dragged himself out of bed and made a pot of coffee. He tried to read the paper, but his mind was elsewhere. He folded it and threw it in the wastebasket on the floor.

He sat up and briskly rubbed his face. It was the day before Valentine’s Day and truth be told, even guys were drawn in by the idea of having someone special to spend the day with. That had to be why he couldn’t stop thinking about Cecilia. She had been a part of his life for years, so what had changed to make him feel like this?

What would she say if he asked her on a real date? She was one of his best friends, could she ever think of him in a different light?
A man who struggled with feelings surfacing of her as his lover?

But, Cecilia wasn’t his type. She wasn’t blond and petite … and ditsy … and only interested in his money … or his body … and she could carry on a conversation about … everything.

When he logged in to the website last night there were twenty-five blinking hearts. All blonds. Why suddenly, did none of them seem appealing? He wanted a woman with brown hair and dark eyes. Eyes that danced and laughed without words.

Things were going too fast. Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day, and he would give
Cupid’s Okay
one last try.

##

  When the phone rang, Cecilia knew it was Lee without even checking Caller ID.

  “Thought you were going on another date?” She tried to make her voice light, but every time, with every date, it grew more complicated. Good or bad dates, she didn’t want him seeing other women and hated this possessiveness she felt.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  “Must have been a short term bug or the miracle soup you brought over. I feel great. I’ve been out for a jog already this morning.”

  “I have my truck packed with hiking and snow gear. I know you are recuperating from being sick, but I thought maybe we could go up to Paradise Lodge for a short hike and a late lunch.”

  “It’s Valentine’s Day. Aren’t you supposed to be with your
one true love
?”

“I’ll be at your place in an hour. Bundle up. I don’t want you to get sick again.”

Cecilia stared at the phone when he hung up. She hadn’t said yes, had she?

Lee was on her doorstep in exactly one hour. He wore a black ski jacket and his head was covered in a hand knit, two-tone hat with ear flaps that his mother made for him.

She crossed her arms. “You had another date today. What happened this time?”

“Didn’t work out. I told her we were going mountain hiking. When I showed up dressed like this, she was in some sexy black get-up. How did
mountain hiking
end up being - misconstrued as sexual innuendo?” He blew out a breath. “Why do women think just because I have money all I want to do is hang out at clubs, golf, and have sex?”

“You don’t?”

He stopped and grinned, a wicked grin. “Well, one out of three. Come on. By the time we get up there we’ll have only a few hours of light. We have to make it fast.”

Cecilia licked her lips and batted her eyes. “But, I like it slow…”

“Knock it off.” He chuckled as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door. “Come on.”