Page 55 of Santa of the Creek
“Ready to get out?” he asks.
I nod, and he turns off the water. He dries me like a child, quickly dries himself and leads me to bed.
“Do you think you could stay awake for a couple more minutes?” he asks.
I nod, although I’m not sure. I’m exhausted now.
Dean disappears out of the bedroom and returns a moment later with an ice pack for my ankle and a large bouquet of flowers which he hands to me. I stare at them, bemused. Red roses, mixed in with something pink and white. I don’t know flowers beyond roses, but these are beautiful.
“For me?” I manage, sniffing them, inhaling their sweet scent.
He nods, his expression nervous. “I wanted to get you something to say thank you. I didn’t know what to get. I know flowers are silly but?—”
I place a finger to stop the babble, then kiss his lips. “They’re beautiful, Dean. Thank you. No one has ever bought me flowers before.”
“I’ll put them in a vase overnight and you can arrange them tomorrow,” he says.
I look at him in consternation because I have no idea how to arrange flowers.
He chuckles. “Don’t panic. We’ll do it together.”
“Much better,” I say and kiss his lips. “Thank you. I mean it. No man has ever thought I was worth flowers before.”
“I’m glad I was your first.” Dean says. His tone is solemn, but he has a twinkle in his eye, and I love that. “Come on, into bed.”
He takes the bouquet, placing it on the nightstand. Then he puts a pillow under my ankle and rests the ice pack against it, tucking the bed clothes around me. Ariel meows as she joins me.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” he says.
If he is, I have no idea. I’m warm, comfortable, thankfully off my ankle, and exhausted. I close my eyes and tumble into a deep, deep sleep to the accompaniment of my cat purring.
I’m late!
I sit bolt upright in bed and stare at the clock.
Why didn’t Dean wake me up?
I’m halfway out of the bed when I remember that I have a day off, and I flop back on the pillows. I had to wrangle today from Randy. We did some hard negotiation. I have today off, then I work 24/7 until thetwenty-third,and then I have two days off.
I hear Dean puttering around downstairs, chatting to Ariel. I can’t hear what he says, but I love the way he’s talking to my cat.
Maybe I doze for a few minutes because when I open my eyes again, the flowers are in a vase on the nightstand next to me. I reach out to stroke the petals.
“Hello, sleepyhead. You’re finally awake.”
I turn my head to see Dean is reading a book in bed next to me.
“Morning.” My voice is raspy, so I swallow a couple of times and try again. “Morning, honey.”
Dean bends down and brushes his mouth over mine. “Afternoon.”
“What time is it?”
“One-thirty.”
I groan. “I’m sorry. You must be sick of waiting for me to wake up.”
Dean puts his book down and slides down next to me in the bed, then runs his hand down my side. “It’s nice to have a lazy morning. I fended off another order from my brother for Santa to make an appearance, using you as an excuse.”
