Page 5 of This December

My mind raced as my car crawled up his driveway. Did he order them for someone? Or did someone order them for him? And why the grocery store? He or whoever ordered them could afford to call an actual florist.

This whole thing was so weird.

Please, baby Jesus, keep me from making a fool of myself in front of this gorgeous man today. Please? I wasn’t asking for much. I didn’t need him to instantly fall in love with me. All I wanted was tonotfaceplant—or worse—in front of him.

Again.

The front door opened before I’d even shifted into park.

And there he was. Grammy winner, chart topping, voice of an angel, Cole Jackson all gorgeous and grinning.

No biggie.

I unbuckled my seatbelt with a groan. I could do this. Just act normal.

And try not to land on your face.

Grabbing the flowers, I opened my door

I could do this. Easy. This time the driveway was shoveled, but ice was a tricky bitch. I slowly toed each step to make sure I wouldn’t slip. No big deal. Totally normal and not embarrassing at all.

“What’s with the walk?” Cole shouted from the front porch.

I laughed. So much for normal. “I’m trying not to fall on my ass!”

“Oh shit. Is it icy? None of the other drivers had a problem.” Cole Jackson took a step toward me, but I’d already reached the bottom of the stairs.

“I got it.” Then what he said sank in. “Other drivers? Have you had a lot of deliveries today?”

He ducked his head, and I could’ve sworn he mumbled “so much for being suave” under his breath.

When I reached him, I cocked my head. “I just have to take a picture of these at your door, and then I’ll get out of your hair.”

He didn’t move. He just stared at me with that slight smile on his face like I was funny.

Okay.

I stepped around him, set the flowers down at the door, took a quick picture, then grabbed them, and held the roses out to Cole Jackson.

Who didn’t take them. He tilted his head and sent me a look I could’ve sworn was simmering with sexual heat. But I was probably projecting.

“Should I leave the flowers at the door then?” I asked with a confused frown. What the hell was going on?

“They’re not for me.” He rocked back on his boot heels and held onto his jeans back pockets.

“I, uh, I’m confused. This was the delivery address I was given.” Did I drive to the wrong house? I pulled out my phone to double check. No wonder he was giving me weird looks. Probably thought I was some deranged stalker.

“Because they’re for you.”

All the blood left my head, and I slowly pulled my gaze away from my phone to look at the gorgeous man in front of me.

Did he seriously just say that?

He lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “I remember having more game than this. Uh, I guess you can say I’m out of practice.”

I just stared at him.

“Shit, this is creepy, right? I thought it was cute. I didn’t know your name or even how to contact you aside from your delivery job, so I’ve been ordering flowers from the grocery store all morning, hoping you’d show up to deliver them.”

---