Page 39 of No More Heartbreakers

“It doesn’t. I’m not upset. You don’t know yoursubject matteras well as you think you do.”

An infuriating grin sneaked across his lips. “Okay. You’re right. I apologize,” he said in the least sorry tone I’d ever heard.

We spent the ride back to the station in silence while I stewed over how casually Aric had dismissed my boyfriend of four years.

Then I moved on to worrying about how well I’d been getting along without Hale after he’d essentially dismissedme, temporarily anyway.

Finally, when I couldn’t put it out of my mind any longer, I let myself wonder… what kind of guydidAric see me with?

And why did I care?

ELEVEN

Tears and Cheers

The next day at work, I walked into the newsroom and immediately spotted a vase of gorgeous yellow roses waiting on my desk.

Had Hale finally broken his flower-free streak? Was this his way of saying he wanted to end the break and get back together?

Instead of joy or relief, the thought produced an unpleasant squirmy sensation in my middle.

But theywerelovely. A thrill flashed through me in spite of my reservations concerning the unexpected gift.

The sweet fragrance of the flowers drifted around me as I approached the huge bouquet. I fished out the tiny envelope hiding between the blooms and opened the card inside.

I’m sorry. Again. Not usually this dense. Minding my own business from now on,

A.

A? They had to be from Aric.

Arichad bought me flowers. Impractical, dead-in-a-few-days, waste-of-money flowers. I was frightened by how much that pleased me.

And what did it mean?

Yes, he was apologizing for being rude yesterday, but it couldn’t be a coincidence that he had sent me flowers one day after I’d told him Hale never had. And why had I even told him something so personal? I’d have to be more careful from now on.

When Aric entered the newsroom a few minutes later, my stomach scrambled up the inside of my ribcage like a squirrel up a wooden fence. The expectant look on his face told me he was waiting for my reaction to the flowers.

Okay, Heidi, just say something nice and get it out of the way so we can go on with our workday. Be appreciative, but cool.

“Thank you for these.” I stroked a velvety petal then snatched my hand back to my side.

“They’re beautiful.”Appreciative.“But completely unnecessary.”Cool.

Good. Well done.

A smile spread across Aric’s face. “Considering I behaved like an ass, I think they were totally necessary. Can we call them a peace offering… from one co-worker to another?”

How could I reject a gesture of platonic workplace peace? Especially one so beautiful. “Sure. Of course. Apology accepted.”

We collected our assignment notes and gear and got into the news car to drive to our first shoot.

“So… what do you call your mother?” Aric asked.

“What?”

“You call your father ‘Daddy.’ What do you call your mother… ‘Mommy?’”

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