by Koko Brown
“And frankly I wish he’d stop, he’s making the rest of us look bad,” Ben pointed out as he settled back into his tall leather stool.
Sharon clasped her hands together. “I know! Don’t you just love it?”
Chuckling, Ben shook his head. Perfectly coiffed, his blond hair didn’t move an inch. “I feel for the guy. If he keeps this up, he’ll own half the flower shops in Chicago.”
“So you’ve already seen the video?”
“I’ve seen the tale of woe,” Ben corrected.
Sharon clucked her tongue. “It’s not a tale of woe. It’s romantic that the man is trying so hard to win his lady love. Even more endearing is what Ms. Simmons has been doing with all those beautiful arrangements. Our very own Keilani Summers got that scoop.”
“Yeah. A scoop of ice queen.” Ben winced when his co-host smacked him on the arm. “It’s true! Come on, she’s frozen the poor guy out for weeks, even with all the local media attention.”
“Well, we don’t know what’s transpired between the two. But that’s not the gist of this piece. Instead, Keilani is highlighting how Ms. Simmons has turned a hell of a lot of thorns into happiness.” Sharon smiled into the camera. “Max, could you roll the piece, please?”
* * * * *
“Someone once said that love is like a rose. When pressed between two lifetimes, it will last forever. This can be applied to a tale of two lovers who have all of Chicago talking. But this isn’t just another guy trying to buy his way out of the doghouse. It’s a story of how one man’s determination has allowed a woman to bring happiness to hundreds of hospice patients, nursing home residents and even Meals on Wheels clients across the city.”
The camera panned from Keilani Summers, a mocha-skinned beauty, to a shot of Roxanne in front of Golden Years.
“You look great, boss.” Jessina waved the remote control at the flat-screen television mounted behind the checkout counter.
Roxanne snorted. She had refused an interview, so the reporter and crew had filmed her opening the boutique yesterday morning. She continued working as Jessina turned back to the TV.
“Every single day for the past three weeks, Roxanne Simmons has received ten dozen roses. No one knows the significance of the flowers, or what exactly Mr. Papadopoulos could have done to warrant such a grand gesture, but we do know the grateful beneficiaries. And we have a few of them for you tonight.”
Roxanne couldn’t resist watching when the segment cut to a shot of several elderly residents at the Sunrise nursing home. One by one, Keilani interviewed the latest recipients of Roxanne’s impromptu recycling program. Each wrinkled face beamed as the residents recounted the day they’d received the flowers.
Mr. Percy Kelly, from Oak Grove, Illinois, said, “I’m not really a flower guy. Heck, I don’t think I ever stopped to smell any. That’s female stuff.” A toothy grin changed the man’s craggy countenance. “But I’ll admit I was tickled pink when the nurse brought ’em in. These four walls can be rather depressing sometimes. It’s nice to know that someone cares, even a stranger.”
About half a dozen other recipients followed Mr. Kelly’s heartfelt thanks.
Then, to Roxanne’s surprise, Leo appeared on the screen with the reporter.
Attired in a navy-blue suit dressed down with a navy-and-white-checked dress shirt, he was so strikingly handsome, Roxanne’s stomach did a cartwheel.
“I didn’t know he was going to be on!” Jessing hurriedly smacked the volume button, turning it up.
“We appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to speak with us, Mr. Papadopoulos.”
“My pleasure, Keilani.” Wearing a boyish grin, Leo winked at the reporter and she giggled. “Hopefully this will help my campaign.”
Roxanne’s hackles rose. Are they flirting?
“Speaking of your efforts to woo a certain young lady, most guys would be disappointed that their displays of affection were being given away to strangers. How do you feel about Ms. Simmons’ acts of generosity at your expense?”
Roxanne winced. Turn the knife why don’t you?
“Her generosity doesn’t surprise me. I know my best friend like the back of my hand. I know what kind of person she is, and this act is one of many reasons I’m in love with her. She might come off a little abrasive, but she has a heart of gold.”
Keilani’s smile dimmed slightly. “Since the flowers are still coming, I assume you’re still in love with her?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? Even if love is sometimes full of thorns, I’d still embrace it—because in between those thorns, there’s a beautiful rose worth all the pain.”
She had been a major pain in his side, Roxanne acknowledged. All these years, the poor guy had quietly stuck beside her through countless lovers and boyfriends—even her initial rejection of him.
And still he was lauding her like some crown jewel. True blue, her Leo.
After the reporter signed off, Roxanne looked out the boutique’s front window as if she expected Leo to come barreling in. Didn’t all the heroes do just that after such a public announcement?
Roxanne had a feeling that day would probably never come. Even though he’d started his crusade to win her back several weeks ago, he hadn’t come by her apartment or made an appearance on Milwaukee Avenue. It appears he’d thrown down the olive branch, or more like two thousand five hundred and twenty olive branches, and was now waiting for Roxanne to take the next step.
“You’re my hero and all, Miss Roxanne, but don’t you think this has gone on long enough?”
Roxanne shrugged at Jessina’s question. “Maybe. But what do you want me to do?”
Jessina smacked the side of her head as if saying duh. “Forgive him before you’ll have to start calling the local cemeteries.”
Roxanne pinched the skin between her brows. She felt a migraine coming on.
“You know what’s holding you back? P. R. I. D. E.” Jessina wagged her finger. “Leo taught you a well-deserved lesson, one you admitted you needed not too long ago when you were all gaga over lover boy. Now you sit here acting like Mother Theresa, holding some unnecessary grudge. He’s shown the entire city how sorry he is. What more do you want?”
Roxanne couldn’t deny the truth of Jessina’s words. They were so on the mark, they practically slammed into her.
“I hate to interrupt your conversation, but do you have these jeans in a size four?”
Roxanne looked at the customer standing outside one of the dressing rooms. Slim and long-limbed, the girl had on a pair of newly arrived Dumpling jeans in a dark rinse.
“I believe we do.” Roxanne’s cheeks blossomed with heat as she rounded the counter. She’d been so engrossed in her thoughts, she’d forgotten they had customers.
“I’ve got it,” Jessina volunteered, beating her to the jeans table. She thumbed through the neatly folded inventory, peeking at Roxanne at intervals. “He still loves you. He just admitted it on television!”
Despite her best effort to thwart it, the four-letter word triggered a throbbing ache in Roxanne’s chest, instantly souring her recently returned appetite. She hadn’t eaten much since her showdown with Leo. As a result, she’d lost seven pounds.
“And you still love him,” Jessina continued. “So what’s the problem?”
Apparently her assistant didn’t expect a response, because she snatched the size four jeans and moved away to help the customer.
Leaving Roxanne to dig for an answer.
* * * * *
The rest of the day plodded by like the thick-skinned Chicagoans who braved the harsh elements outside the boutique’s front window. Overnight, Chicago had turned into a winter wonderland, with several inches of snow that was replenished every few hours.
In spite of the weather, Chicago still ran like clockwork, including Roxanne’s business. Her loyal client base was one of the reasons she hadn’t driven herself crazy. Still, she was stretched tighter than a piano string. She fumbled a major merchandise order, losing the sa
le entirely. And she’d lost her train of thought so many times, several customers had to repeat themselves and one had to remind her she hadn’t paid for her items.
“Can we check out now?”
“I-I’m sorry,” Roxanne blinked down at two college-aged girls at the front of the queue. She’d been thinking of then discarding dozens of excuses she could use to show up at Leo’s office unannounced. “I’m ready if you are.”
“We are,” they both gushed. As if stunned by the coincidence, they glanced at each other then burst into giggles. Before Roxanne could reach over the counter and strangle them both, they placed their purchases on the counter.
The shorter of the two, a squat brunette with a muffin top hanging over her jeans and heavy mascara, placed her elbows on the counter. “Excuse me, but are you the chick giving away all the roses?”
Roxanne stiffened. Even though she could’ve ignored the girl’s question, she couldn’t find it in her to be rude. “In the flesh,” she mumbled then waited for the axe to fall. Chicagoans were notorious for their honesty.
“What you’re doing is really nice, but…”
“But what?”
“I mean, it’s pretty obvious that maybe you were never true friends. If you were, you wouldn’t have allowed things to go on for so long and probably wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to donate your friend’s flowers.”
Well, the brunette definitely wasn’t her cheerleader. Roxanne couldn’t blame her. She’d been stubborn, foolish and egotistical. It wasn’t the first time.
However, this was the first time her self-centeredness might have caused irreparable damage to a friendship she valued over anything else in life, including the boutique.
Then why am I still here? she wondered suddenly.
As a fire ignited under her feet, Roxanne reached over and locked up the cash register. “We’re closed. Everybody out!”
Chapter Ten
Opting for the fastest transportation, Roxanne took a cab. Instead of heading to Leo’s offices in the business district, she directed the driver uptown. Leo usually worked at home when it snowed.
Roxanne kept her eyes straight ahead. No reason to look out the windows. This time of year, Chicago was a cold and dreary place devoid of any color except for varying shades of gray. And on a snowy day like this, you couldn’t tell where the sky began and Lake Michigan ended.
Since it was midafternoon, traffic was substantially lighter, so it didn’t take the cabbie long to reach her destination. Once she alighted, she bounded up the stairs then used her key to let herself in.
As expected, Spiro came running into the front foyer. “Where’s your daddy?”she asked, scratching him behind the ears.
“Here to return your key?”
Leo stood just inside his home office, barefoot and sexy as hell in a pair of jeans and a gray Chicago Bears t-shirt. Seeing him ignited a girlish excitement Roxanne hadn’t experienced since she’d abandoned pigtails. It took everything in her not to run over, wrap herself around him and beg to start over.
“Just put the key in the bowl and make sure you lock the door behind you,” he said, then retreated back into his office. If his frown was any indication, he wasn’t happy to see her. Roxanne had half expected an open-armed reception, after seeing the morning show segment.
Oh well, this just meant she’d have to worker a little harder.
Despite his chilly treatment, she followed him. “I’m not leaving.”
Leo turned. With each passing second, neither of them saying anything, heat pooled in the apex of Roxanne’s thighs. Even at an impasse, he could affect her libido.
Finally, Leo smiled. “What took you so long?”
If she could faint from sheer relief, Roxanne would’ve been stretched out over the threshold to his office. She almost wanted to do just that as he retraced his footsteps and took her in his arms. She settled on melting against him.
“Being hardheaded as usual?” he asked, nuzzling her neck.
“I’m so sorry for how I acted.”
“You had a perfectly good reason to be mad. I acted like a douche. I was wrong. And I wouldn’t have blamed you if you couldn’t forgive me.”
“But I do, Leo. I do forgive you.”
“Enough to still marry me?”
“More than enough.” Roxanne rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. Leo met her halfway with a kiss that flowed over her like a steamroller. As if he could kiss the love out of her. The way his lips and tongue devoured hers, he probably could.
His commanding insistence made her body heat up faster than a hot plate at a PTA meeting and her mind turned a little fuzzy.
Leo trailed his tongue down her throat. He stopped here and there to trace hearts or suck on her neck. By the time he reached her collarbone, Roxanne was holding on for dear life.
“Do you mind if we consummate the marriage before the vows? Or do you think we should wait?”
The idea of waiting made Roxanne groan. “If you leave me hanging one more second, I’m walking out the door.”
“Just like a woman.”
“Can’t help it when I’m around a beautiful man.”
“I’m not beautiful. Cute maybe, but definitely not beautiful.”
Roxanne cupped the sides of his face, his five o’clock shadow tickling her fingers. “You are beautiful,” Roxanne whispered, taking a serious turn. “You’re an extremely selfless person who would gladly calculate my projected revenues for the next twenty years without my asking. You’re a saint who allowed me to run roughshod over you while decorating this place. And you’re a great friend who, in spite of his love for me, signed me up for a dating service. Bundle them all together and you’re the most gorgeous man in the world to me―both inside and out.”
He nipped her shoulder, bunching her sweater set between his teeth. “You have no idea how hard your little speech has made me.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Roxanne asked, channeling her inner vixen. His confession had jumpstarted her libido in a matter of seconds and now a keen ache pulsed along her erogenous zones.
Without any warning, Leo tore at her sweater and cardigan. “Even though I love the naughty librarian look on you, it’s got to go.”
Roxanne wanted them gone like yesterday. She couldn’t wait to feel him, skin to skin. His movements were jerky and hurried, but he divested her of her pencil skirt and sweaters in short order. As his fingers brushed against her tan-and-brown argyle stockings, he hesitated.
“Take them off if you want to keep them.”
Roxanne began to remove them but she must have taken too long, because he ripped them from her, along with her bra and panties. Ruined beyond repair, he threw the scraps aside like an afterthought. Seeing him in such a manic rush had her trembling and her breath rushing past her lips in short, harsh bursts.
With record speed, Leo undressed. Lordy, lordy! The man is fine. Unclothed, he appeared taller and broader, his wide shoulders blocking out anything else but him as he pressed her against the wall to capture her lips in another jarring kiss.
“Aren’t we going upstairs?”
“Can’t wait,” he mumbled against her lips.
“What about condoms?”
“No need. You’re clean and I’m clean. And If I get you pregnant, we’ll be married anyway.”
The idea of having Leo’s babies sent a shiver of excitement through her body. “One more question. Are we doing this up against the wall?”
“Right here, right now.” Leo gripped her ass and hauled her up. “Wrap your legs around my waist and hold on.”
Roxanne followed his orders to the letter. “You’re such a freak.”
“You love it.”
More than he would ever know!
He positioned the broad crown against her sex, thrust hard—and both of them immediately moaned.
“Fuucckk, Roxie! You’re so hot and tight.”
Even in her kinkiest wet dreams, Roxanne would’ve never guessed Leo was pac
king like this. He completely stretched her walls, so much so she wondered if he had any room to move.
“Are you sure you’re only eight inches?” she croaked.
Leo tongued one of her nipples until she writhed against him, sending his cock deeper. “Give or take.”
“Give or take?” she panted. “Either you are or you’re not.”
Half-lidded, lust-induced eyes bored into hers. “I can stop if you want.”
“Not on your life! I want you to fuck me.”
“Now look who’s the freak.” Leo grabbed a hold of her wrists and hauled them over her head against the wall. The position stretched her torso like a canvas that he proceeded to paint with his mouth and tongue as his dick plowed her pussy.
Roxanne’s head fell to the side to rest against her arm. She could barely think straight. Every deep-seated, hard thrust robbed her of her sanity. All she could do was feel, while sensation after sensation ripped through her.
Leo watched their joining, his cock, though flushed, still so pale compared to her dark. He’d never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. He dipped his head and licked a path between her luscious breasts, even more perfect than he remembered. More perfect than he could ever imagine. And he’d done a lot of imaging over the years.
He could barely believe this was happening. But it had to be real, no dream could replicate the way her pussy squeezed and milked his cock. She was so tight, he couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.
Leo bucked against her, again and again, until he established a maddening rhythm. If he could fuck her to oblivion, he would.
Roxanne groaned and writhed with each thrust, her legs locked around him so tightly he’d probably have leg burns in the morning. Leo didn’t care. The marks would be a reminder that he finally possessed the only woman he’d ever loved.
Dipping his head, Leo drew one of her cinnamon-tipped nipples into his mouth. Her nails dug into his back, clutching him close. Still he held on, sucking on one sweet nipple then the other.
“Oh…Leo,” she moaned. Her walls clamped down on his shaft, barely making it possible for him to move. “You’re making me—”