No Flowers Required

by Cari Quinn

  “You’re bummed about selling the house, huh?”

  “No.” Alexa went back to her steak, being careful to cut the meat into small slices. She’d underestimated how much nervous energy she had to burn tonight. A lot of that had to do with her studly plumber and her near miss with his delectable lips. Dillon must be one of those moral can’t kiss during the first home improvement project types. “My decision to sell was the right one. I know my new place will be awesome after I do some decorating.”

  Once the imminent flood threat is gone…

  Nellie frowned and leaned forward, stopping short when her oversized belly bumped the edge of the table. “Still not used to this,” she muttered, rubbing her stomach.

  Alexa laughed. “You’ve only been pregnant for five months now. Why would you be used to it yet?”

  “Funny. It changes your center of balance or something. I keep thinking I’m smaller than I am.” She shrugged, but it didn’t diminish her beaming smile.

  Everyone in the world, it seemed, was happy. Alexa’s older brother, Jake, certainly was, with his and Nellie’s little girl on the way. They’d settled into domestic bliss with a suddenness Alexa still wasn’t sure she’d caught up to. She was thrilled for them, of course, but she couldn’t help looking around her world sometimes and wondering when it had tilted off its axis.

  Less than two years ago she and Nellie had been single, freewheeling women, only planning as far as the next Friday night. Then Nellie and Jake had gotten married. Shortly thereafter, Roz Keller, Alexa’s boss, mentor, and the woman who’d owned Divine for twenty years, died. And she’d left the shop—and all its overdue bills—to Alexa.

  Overnight, she’d gone from a flower designer to a business owner. That it had happened at the height of the recession hadn’t helped. While her brother and Nellie were building their love nest outside of town, she’d been delving into the books and discovering exactly how much Roz had hidden behind comforting pats on the back when Alexa voiced concerns about the drop-off in customers.

  As fast she could say financial ruin, Alexa’s former champagne taste had morphed into a miserly dedication to pinching pennies. Now she funneled all her extra money into the shop. Luckily she already had a great wardrobe. Outwardly she still looked every bit the confident, successful young businesswoman.

  Inside, however, she was shaking in her fancy lingerie.

  “Lex?” Nellie reached out to grip Alexa’s wrist. “Honey, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” She would be. The first step in achieving that would be to get her mind off her problems, especially the ones she’d already made a plan to fix.

  “Are you sure? If you want to talk, I’m happy to listen. I won’t even interrupt.” The corner of Nellie’s mouth lifted. “Much.”

  “I’m good, thanks.” Okay, not really. But at least there had been one notable bright spot to her day, and he was over six feet tall and boasted enough muscles to feed her most lurid fantasies for months.

  “Okay, fine.” Nellie let out an exaggerated sigh. “Then tell me what’s new with you.”

  Alexa swallowed a bite of fluffy mashed potatoes and decided she might as well get some entertainment out of the day’s events. “I almost kissed my plumber. Or he almost kissed me. Not really sure.”

  Nellie coughed and set down her heaping forkful of macaroni and cheese. “Excuse me?”

  “He’s a plumber in my new building.” Alexa dragged a sliver of meat through steak sauce. These days she was full before she made it halfway through a meal. Damn stress. “He didn’t get riled at me, though I was a little keyed up.”

  “You? Keyed up? Impossible. So, uh, why would you almost kiss a strange man?”

  Why indeed. The intensely hot moments she’d spent with Dillon in her bathroom might as well have shone a spotlight on her sexual drought. From where she was sitting, rushing headlong into an impetuous blink-and-its-over fling with a man who was likely all wrong for her was made of win. Assuming she could get Dillon on board, which might require some finesse considering his disappearing act.

  She’d just have to convince him. Through tactical—and explicit—means.

  “Do you remember the old Alexa?” she asked, meeting Nellie’s concerned hazel gaze. “The one who grabbed hold of the Tilt-A-Whirl of life and held on with both hands?”

  “The one who had a love life I was always jealous of? Yeah, I remember her. But you’ve grown up now.“

  “So if you grow up, you can’t enjoy yourself anymore? You can’t snatch a few hours from real life and go do something wild and crazy, just so you don’t forget you still can?” The memory of Dillon pressed so tight against her back, hard and hot, drew forth a shiver she couldn’t suppress. Why the hell hadn’t she hadn’t taken her own advice?

  “Life’s about more than staying up at night crunching numbers you can’t make balance, no matter what you do,” she continued, softer now, as she shifted her gaze to the twisted stems of the yellow and peach carnations in the table vase. So pretty and simple. But right now, carnations represented everything she hadn’t yet made work. “Or it should be.”

  “I know you’ve had a rough time lately. You don’t have to stay up alone. Ever. Besides, I can’t sleep much now that munchkin likes to pretend she’s rolling down the Falls in a barrel.” Nellie gave her a beseeching look that any man, woman, or child would have trouble saying no to. “Call me and we’ll watch reality TV together. Or trash-talk men. I’m always up for that.”

  Alexa rolled her eyes. “You’re completely, disgustingly, in love with my brother. You haven’t trashed him once, ever. Not to mention the last three times I’ve been over you were lights out, blankie up to the neck, by nine o’clock.”

  “Hey, I’m trying to help. I know I can’t necessarily relate to everything you’re going through right now, but true friends stick by you and try to offer moral support.”

  Alexa sighed at Nellie’s hurt tone. Great. Any time now she’d make the pregnant lady cry and her saintly brother Jake would swoop in and tell her off. As he probably should.

  Surely she needed someone to tell her off. She’d been snippy and tense with everyone lately. “I’m sorry, Nellie-cakes. I had no reason to snap at you,” she said, reaching out to clasp Nellie’s hand.

  “No. You didn’t. But I accept the apology.” Nellie smiled and reached behind her to grab her jacket off the back of her chair. “Sheesh, the AC in here is crazy. I’m freezing!”

  “Aww, don’t cover up the fuzzy gray kitten,” Alexa protested, laughing at the narrow-eyed look she got in return.

  Nellie—Noelle to those who hadn’t been her best friend since they were in kindergarten—had a tendency to wear shirts adorned with sheep and bunnies under the best of circumstances, but pregnancy had given her the chance to go all out. Designers of maternity clothes evidently loved the animal theme. Today’s shirt featured an adorable tabby cat holding up a daisy.

  Another flower. God, no wonder she couldn’t escape her thoughts. Divine’s eviction bill would probably arrive with a tulip stamp on the envelope.

  “Not all of us are meant to wear designer clothes,” Nellie said with a sniff as she bundled her jacket around herself. But the teasing light was back in her eyes, letting Alexa know the crisis had passed.

  If luck held, there would be no crying fits at their dinner table, either hormonally or situationally based. All things considered, that meant they were doing okay.

  She was doing okay.

  “So tell me more about your plumber,” Nellie said, returning to her dinner. She ate with a gusto that Alexa couldn’t help but envy. Truthfully, there were a lot of things about Nellie’s life she envied, when she dared admit it to herself.

  Which wouldn’t be tonight. Settling down was all well and good for some people, but not her. Who wanted to stare at the same guy’s mug day in and day out? Who wanted the tiny noose of a gold band around their finger? Not her. She wanted sex. Dirty, potentially regrettable sex. With Dillon.
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  “He’s not my plumber.” Giving up on her half-eaten meal, Alexa reached for the dessert menu. She was in a chocolate sort of mood. “He could’ve been, for an hour or so. Maybe two, depending on the size of his wrench.”

  “Lex!”

  Alexa giggled and peered at her best friend over the top of her menu. “Split some chocolate lava cake with me?”

  “As if you had to ask. So what’s his name?”

  “Dillon James.” Alexa went back to looking at the menu. She could always drown her sorrows in apple brown betty. With extra whipped cream, nutmeg, and a sprinkling of walnuts. “Or would you rather—”

  “Dillon? Is he new in town?”

  Alexa was tempted to respond with how should I know but decided that might make her look sort of indiscriminate. Nellie had never even kissed a guy she didn’t have a full dossier on, so it wouldn’t take much to squick her out. “I have no idea.”

  “Hmm.” Nellie shoveled in more mac and cheese, then rested her chin on her palm. “Dillon’s a yummy name. Is he yummy?”

  “He’s attractive.”

  “Attractive tells me nothing. Less than nothing.” Nellie did her typical pouty mouth thing that turned Jake into a salivating mess. Luckily Alexa wasn’t similarly afflicted. “You won’t give up the goods to the fat, married, pregnant lady?”

  “Who you calling fat?” Grinning, Jake came up behind Nellie and bent to kiss her forehead. “Not my gorgeous wife, I hope.”

  Nellie laughed and thrust herself at Jake with enough force to bowl him over had his feet not been securely planted. “You must’ve gotten my message.”

  “I did, and I rushed home from my business trip just to eat dinner with my two favorite people.” He came around the table to Alexa and gave her a teasing smile. “No hug for your big brother?”

  “It’s only been a week since I’ve seen you.” But Alexa grinned just the same as she half-stood to give him a quick squeeze.

  “A very long week,” Nellie added, her face softening as it always did around Jake. “And it’s your three favorite people. Not two.”

  Though it shamed her to snort, Alexa couldn’t help it. She adored them, but lately even finding a decent guy to have a very indecent night with felt like climbing Mount Everest in spike heels. At this rate, she had no hope of finding what those two had.

  Or even a reasonable facsimile.

  “Very true.” Jake smiled and thanked the waitress who bustled over to add another chair to their table. He took a seat and grabbed the menu she offered, his attention clearly on his stomach as usual. “So what’re we talking about?”

  “Your sister wanting to lip-lock her new plumber.”

  “Seriously, Nellie, if you weren’t pregnant I’d—”

  “Do go on,” Jake said smoothly, cocking a brow. “I’m curious. Also curious about this plumber. Who is he? Do I know him?”

  “She doesn’t even know him.” Nellie twirled her hair then let out a long sigh at Alexa’s sharp glance. “Look, it’s not that exciting in my corner of the world. I take my thrills where I can get them. Your love life thrills me.”

  “What love life? It’s been positively stagnant lately.”

  “Good,” Jake put in, his brows knitted. “The last thing I want is to get another call at 2:00 a.m. because your car died at some guy’s house that you barely know.”

  “That was in college,” Alexa said under her breath, her face going hot. “And I did so know him. He was my chemistry partner.”

  “And he just loved to study after hours,” Nellie teased. “Didn’t you ace that course?”

  “Doing extra credit always helps,” Jake added with a grin.

  Shaking her head, Alexa motioned for the waitress. Dessert time. Maybe bourbon time too. “God, you’re so…married.”

  They both laughed, and luckily soon forgot all about her nonexistent love life in the stream of baby chatter and gossip. But Alexa’s sour mood remained.

  Two hours later, she let herself into her stuffy apartment. Nellie and Jake had gone back to their place to likely engage in some conjugal married bliss—ick—and now the night stretched in front of her, full of possibilities.

  Full of nothing. As blah as her new home.

  With a sigh, she tested the bathroom sink and nothing untoward happened. Had her mysterious plumber snuck in here and fixed it for real when she’d been out? Picked the lock maybe? Shimmied in through the window from the fire escape?

  She looked down to see Trixie staring at her, wild-eyed. Either she was on the verge of a kitty meltdown or she was hungry, which made more sense since Alexa had yet to set out bowls of dry food and water.

  After handling that, she grabbed the lone item in her refrigerator—an unopened bottle of Moscato. Snagging a paper cup, she poured herself some wine. Maybe she’d do some reading on her phone before going to sleep. Assuming she could.

  At least she’d put on the sheets earlier, so all she had to do was turn out the lights and crawl under her favorite soft throw. She’d go shopping for a daybed soon enough, but until then, her air mattress would do just fine.

  She was not a princess. She was a survivor, and she—and Divine—would make it.

  Smiling at her new sense of resolve, she turned on her phone and saw she had two new voice mails. Great. Probably her mom with a fresh guilt trip. She’d been bugging Alexa to go shopping with her, and Alexa knew she’d only be able to put her off for so long. As if she had spare money to shop. But she could make the time and she would.

  “Hi, Alexa, this is Patty. I hoped you’d be available so I didn’t have to leave a message, but I’ll just say it straight out. I got the mail today and there was an overdue rent notice.”

  Fabulous. Having her new designer see yet another overdue notice was not good. God, she’d thought she’d paid enough last month to make a dent in the amount she was behind. And she’d pay more just as soon as the money from the sale of her house arrived.

  “I like you a lot and I enjoy my job, but I was offered a position at Value Hardware and I took it. I hope you understand. I wish you all the best—”

  Alexa clicked off. After checking the other message and determining that it was her father who’d called with the guilt trip this time rather than her mother—he’d fretted ever since she’d announced she was moving into the “rat trap” above Divine—she tossed her phone aside.

  Her dad could worry about the nonexistent rats and Patty could show up or not in the morning. It didn’t really matter.

  She was fucked.

  She’d believed, wrongly it seemed, that her house closing would be the lowlight of her month. Maybe even year. Then she’d experienced some sparks with a guy who hadn’t been able to get out of her place fast enough. He probably thought she was just one shade above destitute and therefore too much trouble.

  Not that Dillon’s opinion mattered. They didn’t know each other. It wasn’t as if she was looking for a boyfriend, just a lover. Someone to hold her for a little while, to remind her she was a woman.

  Now this.

  Clearly the universe intended to make sure she got its message. And that message was: you suck.

  Swallowing hard, she reached for her wine and downed the cup in a few sips. She looked around her apartment, still in a state of disarray, boxes and suitcases everywhere, and jumped to her feet. Uh-uh. She couldn’t stay locked up in here tonight, staring at the silver streaks of rain just beginning to slip down the windows. If she didn’t get some air and some perspective, she’d lose what was left of her mind.

  She went into the bathroom and freshened her makeup, though she had no idea where she was going to go. Hitting a bar sounded about as appealing as staying home. Nellie and Jake were probably halfway through a welcome home celebration. Double ick.

  Occasionally on nice nights after work, she’d escape upstairs to the roof, just to check out the sunset. It was so quiet up there, and the expansive view somehow helped put her chaotic mind at ease. But she hadn’t been up there in
months—no sunset could soothe what ailed her now—and it was raining. Still, even sitting out in a nice, warm rain was better than sweating to death in her stiflingly hot apartment. Anything was.

  She glanced down at her simple black sleeveless sheath dress. Yeah, that wouldn’t work. Good thing she’d bought a pair of shorts for moving. Since she’d moved into Dante’s Inferno, she had a feeling she’d be buying more.

  Five minutes later, after changing into her cutoff shorts and a tight tank top she usually wore to bed, she retied her braid and grabbed her purse. The sound of the rain was now a steady patter, much heavier than it had been even a few minutes ago.

  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Then again, did she have any better ones?

  She followed the bend in the hallway to the roof access point she’d discovered about a year earlier when she’d first explored the building. Her insatiable curiosity had led her to the partially open door, held open with a doorstop to provide additional airflow to the top floor on a sweltering summer day. Unsurprisingly the door was cracked again, held open with that same heavy doorstop. Rain spattered through the opening.

  Nerves crawled up her spine. Was someone up there? She glanced down at her unrestrained chest. Should she have worn a bra?

  Screw it. This was a safe building. She’d worked in it for years with no problems. Despite her father’s concerns about rats, there was nothing to fear, animal or human.

  Right.

  She toed aside the doorstop and stepped onto the narrow staircase. Her gaze swung to the top of the stairs as someone stepped into the space, blocking the remaining light.

  The door behind her swung shut.

  Chapter Three

  “Who’s up there?”

  From the top of the stairs, Dillon didn’t speak. He’d seen Alexa’s face in the flash of light from the hallway, but up on the roof it was pretty damn dark, hence her confusion.

  He didn’t have any, though. She’d been on his mind all frigging day, and seeing her again when he’d finally started to focus on work —all right, not really—really pissed him off.