Holly groaned at the suggestion. Decker and Anders had warned her that he might go a bit over the top in his desperation, but this was . . .
Well, it was kind of sweet, really, she supposed. Or would be if she hadn’t developed such an aversion to flowers since working at the funeral home. Prior to that she would have welcomed such a gesture. From James, she added quickly to the thought. She would have welcomed flowers from James before working at the funeral home, but they had both been as poor as church mice since getting married and hadn’t been able to afford the extravagance of even a vase of flowers let alone a whole bloody store’s stock, and that’s what it looked like to her. There were so many she was quite sure Justin must have left the store he’d bought them from completely barren of flowers. They’d probably closed shop the moment he left.
Shaking her head, she carried her bags over to the bed and set them next to the ones Gia had put down. She then glanced worriedly at the pale blue carpeting, concerned that the crushed petals might be staining the carpet.
“I don’t suppose you noticed if there was a rake in the garage, did you?” Holly asked, surveying the floor with a frown. For some reason that made Gia burst out laughing.
“I will go see,” Gia said, heading for the door.
“Oh, no,” Holly protested at once, turning to move after her. “I didn’t mean for you to—”
“I know, I know,” Gia said, waving her to a stop. “I can read your mind, remember? You change. I shall get the rake.”
“Thank you,” Holly breathed sincerely and watched her go before returning to the bags that held the clothes she’d bought that day. She quickly dug through them in search of underwear, a bra, jeans and a T-shirt, and then paused, unsure what to do. Gia had told her to change, but the woman had also left the door open. She wasn’t changing right there when any passing person might see. On the other hand, she didn’t really want to risk crushing any more color into the carpet by walking anywhere again.
Clucking her tongue with exasperation, she toed a couple petals aside in front of her until she’d made a spot large enough to place her foot. She then stepped forward and did that again and again until she’d made her way to the bathroom. She opened that door, only to find it also full of flowers and crushed petals.
“Honestly,” Holly muttered, using her foot to sweep several petals aside. “What the heck was he thinking?”
As soon as the exasperated words left her mouth, a smile followed. The gesture was just so over the top and romantic. Much like the gourmet meal, she acknowledged. She would have been happy with salad, Shake ’N Bake pork chops, and macaroni and cheese for dinner. Instead, he’d spent hours making a fancy meal and gone to all the effort of setting that beautiful table. And a simple bouquet of flowers would have been much less bother than this sea of blooms. The man was trying. It was just a shame his efforts kept missing the mark.
Holly blinked and gave her head a shake as she realized what she was thinking. It wasn’t a shame at all, she assured herself firmly if silently. She was a married woman. He shouldn’t even be making these gestures. And she certainly shouldn’t be enjoying them and feeling all warm and fuzzy inside because of them.
Satisfied that she’d set herself straight, Holly slipped into the bathroom, closed the door, and quickly began ripping her clothes off. She was determined to be changed and ready to rake up this mess when Gia returned. There was no way she was letting the other woman do it. This was her mess and—well, really it was Justin’s mess, she corrected herself. But after experiencing that morning’s kiss, she wasn’t ever letting him in her bedroom again. Ever. Like never ever.
Holly’s parents hadn’t raised an idiot. They had taught her that life was full of temptation. And her mother had sat down on her wedding day and flat out told her that while she knew Holly loved James, there may come a day when a good-looking, sweet, funny, charming man like Justin might come along and tempt her to break the vows she’d made when she married James. Well, okay, so she hadn’t mentioned Justin’s name, and she hadn’t used all those descriptors either. Holly had inserted those herself because they fit. But her mother had said a man might one day come along to tempt her to break her vows. She’d also said that while it was her choice what to do about that, she should be aware that James had known and loved her, her whole life. That he would never do anything to hurt her, and that there was always another man who might come along to tempt her from that one. Life was full of temptation and she could either spend her life chasing after the next merry-go-round, or ride the one she was on until the end, knowing it was a comfortable fit.
James was the merry-go-round she planned to stick with to the end. She’d known him all her life, loved him all her life, and knew that he loved her the same way. And while Justin was sweet and kind and had saved her life by turning her into an immortal when she fell on her scissors . . . well, what if she broke her marriage vows for him and then encountered another Justin, and then another?
Holly didn’t want to be one of those women with countless lovers and six marriages under their belt, who seemed always to be dissatisfied and searching for something special. She would be satisfied with what she had and continue to build the life that she’d started with James. She’d finish her classes, get the on-the-job experience necessary and gain her license as a CPA. Then they’d both work for a couple of years to save up money to buy a house, have children, raise them, see them married and have grandchildren. She would have the normal life she’d always longed for while she’d been dragged around the world as a child. Both she and James wanted that.
And they would have it, Holly thought grimly, as she finished changing and opened the door, only to pause with surprise. Not only had Gia returned with the rake, she’d already raked up the petals. The carpet was completely petal free. It was also rake and Gia free. The other woman had apparently returned, raked up the petals, and left in the time it had taken her to change. Holly had been told that immortals were fast, but this was crazy.
The thought made her pause and tilt her head. She was an immortal. That meant she was supposed to be incredibly fast now too, and strong. She hadn’t seen any evidence of that yet, but then she hadn’t done anything to test it either. Stepping into the bedroom, Holly glanced around until her gaze settled on the dresser. She crossed to it, took a corner in hand, and nearly tossed the damned thing across the room when she tried to lift the end. Seriously, she put the effort into it that she would have had to prior to being turned, when she might have managed to lift the solid oak dresser an inch or so. But instead of that, it flew up, onto its side and then crashed down onto its top.
“Oh crap,” she muttered, scrambling to quickly straighten the dresser. Once she had it upright and in position again, Holly spent a minute looking it over to be sure she hadn’t damaged it and then stepped back with relief and simply peered at the dresser.
“Wow,” she said finally. She was definitely stronger. A slow smile curved her lips. Now she just had to test speed. Turning abruptly, she headed out of the room and jogged downstairs.
Dante and Tomasso were at the kitchen table, eating again. Each had a double chocolate cake before them, a whole cake each. Really, those two had appetites that were scary. There was no sign of the groceries they’d bought, so either they’d tossed the bags straight into the pantry without unpacking them, or they’d used that super speed she was about to test.
“Have you seen Justin?” she asked, slowing as she crossed to the terrace doors.
“I think he’s in the garage looking for a basket,” Dante answered, and then frowned. “Or upstairs fetching a blanket.”
Holly bit her lip, but didn’t stop. She needed to thank him for the flowers, and explain that he should never do that again. But she didn’t really want to wait for him. Besides, she wouldn’t be long.