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A grin slid up my cheek. “When guys think they can show you all their fancy feathers and you’ll just fall at their feet.”
“So he’s thoughtfulandrich?” She looked skeptical that I could reject the two things at the top of her checklist for the holy grail of a perfect man.
“He’s got money.”
Her eyes brightened. “How much money? I call dibs if you throw this one away, but don’t you dare or I’ll tie your shoelaces together and hang you from the nearest telephone wire.”
She lifted the card and I tried to grab it from her.
“Lorenzo. Is he Spanish? I love Spanish men.”
“You loveallmen.”
“Italian?” she asked hopefully.
“No, I think he’s Native American.”
* * *
It didn’t sit wellwith Austin when Lexi went home alone. While there were still surveillance cameras, he couldn’t get to her quick enough if something happened, and they weren’t watching her twenty-four hours a day. Worry nestled in his head like a seed and began to take root until he finally told the boys he was heading out there for the night. He didn’t plan on going up to her apartment, just sleeping in his car and keeping an eye on things.
During the drive, he thought about her situation at the store and located another candy shop in town. He talked with the owner about cost-related factors and inventory. Then he noticed an enormous display of suckers. They were Lexi’s favorite—round and colorful with an assortment of flavors from watermelon to gourmet coffee. A mischievous grin surfaced because Wes had once revealed how he bribed his baby sister.
Her birthday was tomorrow and Austin had been thinking about getting her something special. He never bought birthday gifts for anyone; it’s not something the Cole brothers did. But Lexi always loved her birthdays and he wanted to do something special to make up for lost time.
“Do you make arrangements?” Austin inquired. “I mean, can you take some of these and make it look like… hell, I don’t know. Something girly?”
“Certainly,” the man replied with confidence. “I have several containers in the back with foam, unless you want them tied in small bundles. I can do lots of creative things with these—you’d be surprised.
“What about a bouquet?”
“I designed one for a wedding two years ago, believe it or not,” he admitted with a chuckle. “Let me know what you want, or how many, and I’ll put something together.”
He sure did.
When Austin arrived at Lexi’s apartment, he was beaming with pride. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when he gave them to her, not just because of the way they were arranged, but no one would have thought to get her something like this.
Austin walked quietly up Lexi’s stairs with the heavy bouquet in his right hand. The man had done an excellent job, somehow attaching them to a ball in the center so that they stayed in place and gave it a handle that he could hold on to. It looked just as good as any flowers, and a delicate white ribbon wrapped around the bottom. The man urged him to fill out a card, but Austin found out he had more to say than what would fit on a small note card. He ended up writing his message on a sheet of paper that was folded up and burning a hole in his back pocket.
“Lexi, these are just the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen!” he heard a woman exclaim through the cracked door.
Austin eased up at the entrance, holding the bouquet behind his back. He peered in and his jaw slackened when he saw the obscene amount of roses all over her table. The woman in the tall shoes he recognized as her neighbor.
“Lorenzo,” Naya said, holding a card. “Is he Spanish? I love Spanish men.”
“You love all men.”
“Italian?”
“No, I think he’s Native American,” Lexi replied with her back to the door. She touched one of the flowers. “They are pretty, aren’t they?”
“Pretty penny,” Naya agreed. “And the note! Totally swoon-worthy. I can’t imagine a man topping an offer like this, Lexi. You should take it. If he’s good-looking, then that’s just icing on the cake, but you already have my approval,” she declared, placing her hands on her hips and jutting them out.
Lexi shouldered her and they both admired the roses. Austin’s nose filled with the smell of defeat and he stepped back.
One of the suckers clacked on the concrete beneath him and Naya said, “What was that?”
“You left the door open,” Lexi chastised. “Always lecturing me about locking up and you get all swept up by flowers and lose your mind.” They giggled and Austin quickly backed away, hurrying down the stairs.
