Breathless

Chapter 11: Priceless - April 1

She squinted up at him. "Do you really think so?"

"Don't you?"

"I don't know."

He stared at her like she was insane. What had Owen done to her that she thought so little of herself?

"Why else would he buy you fifty dozen roses?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know." Then she met his eye again. "Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe he thinks I'm someone else. Someone he knew a long time ago. That would make sense, wouldn't it? If I look like another girl, and this man saw me a few weeks ago and thought he'd found his long-lost love." She nodded her head as though satisfied that she had solved the mystery.

But Blaze's heart sank. "Ruby? You do know that you're worth six hundred roses. Right?"

She turned her eyes slowly up at him. He had just stolen her breath. The expression in his eyes wasn't helping her to recover it either. She stood trapped in his gaze. Those jade pools seemed to have flames of golden fire leaping in them this morning.

This morning...

Oh, she was going to be late for work!

"I'm sorry! I have to go! I'm going to be late!" She bent to retrieve her tub.

"Can I help you with that?"

She glanced up at him in surprise. "Oh! Yes! Thank you!" she breathed.

After he deposited his treasured bloom on the passenger seat, he pulled his truck into a parking space close by. As he exited his vehicle and slammed his door shut, he spoke before closing the short distance between them.

"So, you're going to give all these roses away?"

She nodded. "I want to spread the joy he gave me. Besides," she glanced down at the dozens of flowers below her, "I don't have enough vases at home. I already filled every room in my house with them."

"Did you really? It must smell like a garden now." A wide grin bathed his face in light.

She answered him with a beaming one of her own. "It does! Oh, Blaze! It's heavenly!"

For just a moment, she closed her eyes and lifted her face towards the sun. His eyes grew serious as they caressed the planes of that beloved countenance.

I love you.

But he didn't speak the words. He knew that she wasn't ready to hear them. Not yet. The question was: would she ever be ready?

"I would wish for it to always smell so wonderful," she murmured as she opened her eyes.

Blaze bent to pick up the tub. "Where to?"

As he followed her, he reflected on the truth that he rather liked the idea of her sharing her joy with others. After all, he was the first one to receive a rose from her. He laughed as in his mind's eye, his daydream played out like a scene from that television show, The Bachelor. In this crazy fantasy, Ruby turned towards him and whispered, "Blaze, I choose you," before handing him a long-stemmed red rose. Then she leaned forward to plant a sweet kiss on his lips as the audience sat breathless.

Suddenly, her real voice broke into his silly imaginings.

"Blaze, thank you so much for carrying those into the building for me. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage it. It was hard enough to get them into my car."

"How did you manage that?" he asked as he carried the tote with ease.

"I don't know. Someone moved them from my porch to my car. I only had to lift them up into my trunk."

"What do you mean? Someone?"

"When I took my other flowers into the house, somebody picked up my poem and moved that tub."

"What poem? The one he wrote you?"

She shook her head. Then she blushed. He gazed at her with interest.

"What poem, Ruby?"

"The poem I wrote him. To thank him for the roses," she rushed to add.

Why had she felt the need to add that explanation?

She glanced up at him with concern in her eyes. "Do you think I should be scared?"

"Scared?" he asked in surprise.

She bobbed her head. "Of the guy who gave them to me. Could he be a stalker? Clearly, he was watching me when I found them. He waited to move the tote to my car until I went inside. And how did he know I wanted to take it with me?"

"Well, first of all, I don't think it's all that unusual that a man giving a woman six hundred roses would want to see her reaction to his extravagant gift. Or that he'd want to help her."

"But...how did he know I wanted to take them with me?"

He furrowed his brow. "I don't know. Did you perhaps say something? Like, 'I know! I could pass them out at work!'"

"Did I?" Her own brow wrinkled. "I don't remember."

As he peered down at the flowers in his arms, he responded, "Well, it was pretty obvious you were going to do something with them. Otherwise, wouldn't you have just carried them armful by armful inside? I mean, this tote is pretty heavy. For you anyway," he added teasingly as he glanced down at her slender form.

"Hey!" she ejaculated before chuckling. "I resemble that remark! A little too closely."

"What? You've got nothing to be embarrassed about, Ruby. You're just perfect."

Perfect?

Her?

She glanced up at him as a frown of incomprehension clouded her gaze. But he didn't notice. He was glancing around the office building.

"Where are we headed?"

"The fourteenth floor," she responded as she leaned over to press the elevator button.

They entered the lift and rode in companionable silence for a few moments. Then she turned to him.

"Blaze, did you still want to eat dinner with me again?"

"Sure!"

She smiled as she saw the sweet gleam in his eyes. She had just made him so happy.

"Wanna come back to the restaurant?"

"No."

His face fell.

"I don't want you to have to work. Would you...would you like to come to my house for dinner? We could eat out on my porch swing. In the cool evening air."

"That sounds blissful," he murmured as his eyes delved into the depths of her own.

"Does it?" she frowned uncertainly. "I'm not sure I'm a very good cook. Owen deplored half the things I made."

"Can we agree on one thing?" he asked abruptly.

Her eyebrows slid towards her nose. "What?"

"Owen was an idiot."

She gaped at him.

"The man was an absolute moron to let a gem like you go. So please don't derive any of your self-worth from his treatment of you. The guy was a grade A jerk. You deserve so much better than that, Ruby," he finished heartily.

A flood of warmth suddenly blossomed in her heart as she lost herself in those glorious jade eyes once more.