Blackstone Ranger Scrooge - Alicia Montgomery Page 0,31
the start of the Christmas Carnival at Lennox Park. Cassie’s pretty excited to go. Amelia might stay home with James if it gets too nippy.”
She chuckled. “Awesome, I’m sure she’ll love it.” Mason’s little girl Cassie was hilarious, and J.D. loved the spunky four-year-old.
“And you? You’re heading over, right? I know you never miss the first night when they turn on all the lights.”
“Maybe.” Stupid Cam, she thought. Frankly, she’d thrown herself into work so much that she’d forgotten, and for probably the first time in, well, ever, she wasn’t feeling the Christmas spirit. “I got a lot to take care of. You know, the usual holiday rush. Anyway, just wanted to catch up with you on a few things.”
They chatted for a few minutes about work, then J.D. bid him goodbye. As she headed back to the office, she saw one of her guys, Junior, coming out of the trailer. “Were you looking for me?”
Junior nodded. “You got a delivery, boss. Placed it on your desk.”
“Delivery? I’m not expecting anything? What is it?”
A smile tugged up his mouth. “You’ll see.” The smile turned into a grin and then scampered away, as if he was trying to hide some juicy secret.
Shrugging, she pushed the door to the trailer open. “What the—” To her surprise, a large teddy bear sat on her desk. “Where the hell …”
Cam.
Her heart soared, and she giggled like an idiot as she closed the door behind her, looking around as if someone might catch her doing something bad. Dashing over to the table, she took the white card clutched between the bear’s paws. Thinking of you, my mate. It was printed out and not signed, but who else could it be from?
Her cat, however, let out a mee-reow and wrinkled its delicate little nose, like it smelled something distasteful, then flicked its tail.
“Oh, who asked you?” She held the card to her chest. Oh, Cam …
Despite the excitement bubbling up in her, she knew a cute gift wasn’t enough to make up for what he did. It was a nice thought, but she needed an explanation. Checking her phone, she frowned as her notifications tab sat empty. No missed calls, no text messages. Hmmm.
Cam didn’t call that day or the next day. However, another delivery came. This time it was a huge—no, gigantic—arrangement of flowers. She took a whiff of the red and white roses—two dozen of them, each the size of a child’s fist, arranged beautifully with other decorative leaves in a beautiful crystal vase. Plucking the card sticking out from the top, she opened it and read it aloud.
“You’re my dream come true, my one and only mate.”
Huh.
Not that she didn’t like the sentiment behind it, but it just didn’t sound like Cam. Plus, once again, the note wasn’t signed.
A knock on the door made her jump. “Come in!” she said automatically without realizing whoever it was would see the flowers. Of course, Junior would probably have spread the word around about the boss getting gifts two days in a row now, and they were going to rib her hard for sure. “I—” Her heart smashed into her rib cage as the force of blue-violet eyes collided with her own. “Cam?”
He took a step forward, his entire frame seemingly filling up the small office, making it feel even tinier. Today, he was wearing a clean and pressed shirt, and his jaw was clean-shaven. “J.D.,” he began, his voice hoarse. “I’m so—what in God’s name are those?” he growled.
“What?” She blinked. “What are you talking about?”
Striding past her, he stomped over to her desk. “These.” His eyes blazed, and the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees.
“F-flowers,” she stammered.
The expression on his face turned murderous. “Who sent them?”
She gaped at him. Was he crazy? “What are you talking about?”
A vein in his neck strained. “Who. Sent. Them?”
“You did,” she said. “I mean, didn’t you?”
“No,” he replied. “I did not.”
“Are you sure?”
“I bloody well am.”
She held up the card to him. “Who else would write this? It—hey!”
He snatched the card and read it. “There’s no name.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” She scratched at her chin. Guess he didn’t send the teddy bear either. “But if you didn’t send them, who did?”
“Well, I’m going to find out.” Turning to the arrangement, he dug through the bouquet, ripping out greenery and roses. “There has to be some kind of receipt or something around here.”
“Hey!” She pushed him away. “Stop that! You’re destroying them!”
“Oh, and you care about them now?