“Geez.” Her palms lifted to surrender. “Sorry. I’ll leave you alone, then.”
“No, I’m sorry, it’s just been a hell of a day, and I just want to get out of here—after going through whatever is in these boxes of course.”
“I get it. Let me know if you need anything, okay?” Before stepping out of the office, she glanced over her shoulder. “Don’t stay too late. More storms are comin’, you know.”
As the door clicked shut behind me, I turned to the window.
Sure enough, a thick band of black clouds loomed on the horizon. A few drops tapped the glass—warning that the storm was coming.
There was a charge in the air. Not just weather—something else. A pressure deep in my gut, like the crawl of impending doom. My chest tightened. I inhaled, but it didn’t help. The room felt smaller somehow, like the walls were inching in.
What is wrong with me?
I mentally counted back to my last period, wondering if I was just caught in the middle of an epic hormonal surge. That would explain the irrational sense of dread. Maybe.
I grabbed the box cutter and sliced through the packing tape on the first delivery.
Then froze.
My jaw dropped as I peeled back the flaps and looked inside.
It was a brand-spanking-new Apple monitor, in all its gorgeous, sleek, silver glory.
What?
Who?
I moved onto the next box.
Another monitor. Dual Apple monitors.
The third box held a new computer tower and docking station, and the forth, a new keyboard, and a matching mouse and mousepad painted with red roses.
Red roses?
“So your name is Rose Flower…”
Phoenix’s voice materialized in my head, pulling me back to the moment I’d first seen him, the moment he’d spun around in my desk chair—the first time Phoenix Steele had given me butterflies. Then, minutes later, him destroying my desk in a fit of rage.
I blinked, staring at the thousands of dollars of computer equipment on the floor.
No freaking way had he done this.
No.Freaking.Way.
I searched for a card, a receipt, or any indication of who had sent it, but there was nothing.
My question was answered by a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Zoey poked her head in with a demure, polite smile that suggested she wasn’t alone.
“Ah… There’s someone here to see you, Dr. Floris.”
“Who—”
She pushed open the door. As if he’d materialized from my thoughts, the man, the myth, the legend, Phoenix Steele, loomed in the doorway. He was wearing the same black leather jacket from the day before, but this time it hung over aSteele Shadows SecurityT-shirt. A worn pair of jeans and scuffed cowboy boots completed the look.His hair was extra mussed, his five o’clock shadow thicker than the day before. His eyes, as blue as a spring’s sky, and loaded with as much turbulence.
