A Valentine's Wish Read Online Free PDF

held out his hand, but she pranced out of his reach and lifted the flap.
    “For Lori?” She squealed, then clamped one hand over her mouth. “That’s so perfect. Why didn’t I think of it? And just in time for Valentine’s Day!”
    His anger at her disobedience fled. “Perfect? You think so?” He quickly shook his head. Now he was encouraged at the approval of a high-schooler? Still, no one knew him and Lori better than the youth group.
    “You guys would be great together.” Haley handed over the delivery card. “And I won’t tell. I promise. I want to help.”
    “How in the world could you possibly…” Andy stopped as an idea formed. He looped one arm around Haley’s shoulders and leaned down. “Ever had experience as a delivery girl?”

Chapter Four
    L ori stared at the flowers sitting on the counter. Where’d they come from? She’d gone into the kitchen to ask Monny about sugar-free chocolates, and when she came back, the flowers had appeared in all their fuchsia and burgundy glory. The store was deserted, as it was almost closing time, so it couldn’t have been a customer. Maybe Bella had ordered them for the display before she left for Shreveport.
    “Summer? You know anything about these?” Doubtful. The twenty-year-old, multipierced college student usually had her nose buried in a magazine during the store’s late-afternoon lull. Or was jamming with her iPod.
    Summer straightened from her slump against the counter and shrugged a thin shoulder. The fluorescent lights above glinted off her eyebrow ring. “Beats me. I must have been in the stockroom. Though I’m surprised I didn’t smell those things coming a mile away.”
    Lori inhaled the spicy aroma of the lilies as she searched for a card among the pristine leaves. Smell? That was too harsh a word for this fragrance. The flowers were so pretty they almost seemed fake. She plucked the card from the greenery and blinked twice. Her name, scrawled in unfamiliar handwriting.
    “What is that strong smell…?” Monny stepped through the kitchen and stopped short as Lori held up the bouquet.
    “Someone sent me flowers.”
    “I see that.” He coughed and backed away. “Very nice.”
    “Stargazers, my favorites. But I don’t know why someone would have sent them. It’s not my birthday.”
    “Anniversary?”
    Lori frowned. “Anniversary of what?”
    “Don’t tell me Americans don’t celebrate amore. ” Monny patted his apron over his heart and grinned, his teeth appearing extra white in contrast to his olive skin.
    Summer snorted and turned back to her magazine, shaking her head.
    “Of course we celebrate love.” Lori paused. “But I’m not dating anyone.”
    Monny’s smile seemed to brighten, and Lori quickly averted her eyes back to the flowers. Was the surprise gift from him? They barely knew each other. But why else would he be interested in her dating status?
    A dried petal fell to the counter, and for the first time, Lori noticed another card lying under the vase, a full-sized envelope like one would buy at Hallmark. She tugged it free and slit the light blue flap with her fingernail, noting from the corner of her eye that Monny slipped back inside the kitchen. To hide his knowing smile when she read his card, or just to check the brownies?
    She was silly to think he’d be interested in her. No, she only attracted men with fast words and lying lips, men who broke promises and cheated on their fiancées.
    Lori pulled her lower lip between her teeth and read the card, the bitterness of the past tainting the cute message. No signature, other than the words YOUR SECRET ADMIRER written in big block letters, an obvious attempt to hide the owner’s handwriting.
    Would Monny send a corny note like this one? Everythingelse he had said or done during their days working together had been smooth. Sauve. Sophisticated, like his accent. But who was to say he didn’t have a silly side lurking beneath that savvy exterior? She really didn’t