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“This
is totally outrageous,” I said in an amazed whisper and looked over at Ash who
was grinning from ear to ear.

“Incredible,”
Ally added and gave Ben a huge hug.

“How
did you manage all of this?” I asked.

Ash
smiled and glanced at Ben. “With a lot of planning and a lot of pre-ordering.”

“Yeah,”
Ben added. “And a lot of arranging too.”

Ash
cocked his head and studied me with an affectionate smile. “The doorbell’s been
ringing all day. While I was busy bringing in the deliveries, Ben was
strategically placing the arrangements around the room in a most artistic way.
In fact, I’ve been tormenting him all day that he’s finally found his niche,”
Ash laughed and looked at Ally, “he should declare a major in interior design.”

Ben
snorted and sneezed. “Very funny.” His face widened as he double sneezed into
his arm again. “I’m not sure I’d live through a full day working with this many
blooming flowers again.”

“I
don’t know,” Ash ran a hand through his hair and continued riddling him, “I
think the art department is calling your name.” He turned and looked at me and
Ally. “All day he’s been commenting on whether the wall colors were in harmony
with certain flowers or about the effect of the lighting on the petals of each
arrangement. He’s obsessed.”

Blushing
through his dark skin, Ben grabbed a bouquet of sunflowers next to his feet and
tossed them at Ash who caught them and eloquently handed them to Ally. In a sly
voice, Ash said, “I think your fiancé meant to give these to you, not me.”
Laughing, we all studied the room some more.

“This
is so shocking,” Ally said shaking her head. She looked guiltily from Ben to
Ash, “And it must have cost a triple fortune.”

“You
ladies are worth it,” Ash said, proudly displaying his pearly whites .

Ben
added, “Ash pretty much paid for everything…”

“Hey,”
Ash warned, “we weren’t going to discuss that. Besides, Ben did all the grunt
work. We couldn’t have pulled it off without each other.”

“Thank
you so much,” Ally said and gave them each a quick hug. Ben grabbed her arm and
walked her over to the windowsill which was a rainbow array of tulips – her
absolute favorite.

“You
like it?” Ash said, fiddling with the silver pendant hanging from the black
cord around his neck.

Clearing
my throat, I said, “Are you kidding? How could I not
love
it.”Damn, he looked
good in a pair of boots, True Religion jeans, and a black shirt with the top
four buttons undone. I grabbed his shirt sleeve. “Thank you. This,” I waved my
hand around the room, “all this, is a wonderful surprise. I’ve never seen
anything like it. You’ve totally spoiled us.”

“With
everything you’ve done for me Lexi,” he said his voice softening and his face
taking on a serious expression, “this was just a small way of letting you know
how grateful I am—”

“You
don’t need to,” I interrupted.

But he
put his finger to his lips and said, “Shhh. I wanted to do this for you and
Ally, but I especially wanted to do this for you,” he added as his eyes darted
between my eyes and my lips, and he closed the gap between us. “You are so
important to me.”

Suddenly,
the warning bells were ringing in my ears. The way he was looking at me, like
the old flirtatious Ash of the past, the one that enjoyed pushing me to the
limits and making me walk the edge with him. My heart sped up, and I had the
distinct feeling that if he could, he would haul me into his arms and kiss me.
I felt scared and confused, because part of me wanted to back away and part of
me wanted him to do it. Exhaling slowly, I relaxed in the knowledge and comfort
that I didn’t have to deal with these crazy emotions, because he couldn’t touch
me. I was safe. Safe from having to make a decision.

“What
are all these presents?” Ally called out, pointing at the kitchen table.

Scrutinizing
me with his green eyes, Ash whispered, “We’ll need to continue this discussion
later.” Apparently, I wouldn’t be safe for long. Turning his attention to Ally,
he said cheerfully, “A few more surprises. But you two,” he turned and winked
at me, “need to get ready, because we’re taking you out for a nice dinner
first.”

“Yes,”
Ben chimed in and looked at his cell phone, “we need to leave here in 45
minutes if we want to make our dinner reservations at the Cliff House. I heard
they have great food and the best view of Bellingham Bay. Although,” he paused
and glanced out the window at a sky full of clouds, “I don’t know how great the
view will be today.”

“Wow,”
Ally said. “That’s not much time. Come on Lexi; let’s see what we can do with
ourselves!”

Dinner
was delicious, the conversation light and laughter abundant. The Whiskey Crab
Soup was to die for, and so were our expensive entrees. Rain and clouds blocked
any possible sunset view, but the ever present Squalicum Harbor loomed before
my eyes the entire evening. When we returned home the guys suggested we change
into comfortable clothes like jeans and white shirts. Evidently, they were
taking us for Moonlight Bowling which entailed loud music and black lights.
After changing into more casual clothes, the guys insisted we had plenty of
time to open gifts first.

“What’s
so funny?” Ash asked as we gathered around the table, because I was snickering
under my breath.

“Poor
Ally,” I said, looking across the table at her. “It must be driving you crazy
to know you’ll be going out in public wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt.” I
looked at Ash. “It goes against her religion you know. She just doesn’t do
jeans.”

“Well,
I would be if I wasn’t wearing your terribly expensive Rock & Republic
jeans. But I’m dealing with it,” she said.

I
picked up a loose rose from the table and smelled it. “We’re not exotic enough
for this Paradise Island we now call home.”

Ash
gave me a funny look. He got up and walked over to the counter and brought back
a cluster of flowers surrounded by dark, green leaves. “What do you see here?”
he demanded.

“You
holding a flower I don’t recognize.” I answered with a shrug. Abruptly, he
disappeared before my eyes, but the flowers remained floating in mid-air before
me. “Oh!” I said with surprise. “What are you up to?”

“What
do you see?” he asked again with impatience.

Snickering,
I said with attitude, “I can tell you what I don’t see.”

“Don’t
be so saucy.” He reappeared, his iridescent green eyes locking on me. “Let me
tell you what I see then,” he countered. “I see delicate pink and orange
colored petals, all twisting gracefully upwards at the edges. This exquisite
flower is like nature’s own pinwheel. Do you agree?” he asked.

“I
suppose,” I said, my heart fluttering under his direct gaze.

“This
flower reminds me of you for precisely those reasons. You are part of nature.
Beautiful and exquisite, especially in jeans and a t-shirt,” he said in a deep
voice, and I could feel myself blushing. Flashing his signature cocky smile, he
continued, “This is a rare Plumeria known more specifically as the Thai
Lurline.” He touched the tip of my nose with the flower and sweet and fruity
scents of apricots and peaches drifted under my nose.

At
that precise moment, Ben turned on some music, and whistled as he waltzed back
across the room. Ally was a die-hard American Idol fan, and even though Chris
Daughtry hadn’t won Idol, his debut album had become one of the fastest selling
rock albums in history, and it was also one of Ally’s favorites. Sliding next
to her, Ben said, “I’m not as flowery with my words as Ash over there,” he
paused and laughed at his own joke, “but you,” he kissed her on the lips, “are
one hot woman in those jeans and should wear them more often.”

Ben
and Ash went to work clearing flowers off the table so we’d have some room to
open gifts. The kitchen looked more like a tropical jungle than a place for
cooking, but what did I care? I hated cooking anyways. My nose might be on
sensory overload, but I couldn’t stop smiling at the outrageousness of
everything and how much work they’d gone to all for us.

“I
can’t believe you were able to get so many different flowers during this time
of year,” I commented, looking at Ash with wonder.

“I’ll
admit, we had to do some serious calling around,” he said.

“Yeah,
like all around the world,” Ben supplied with a chuckle. “We started making
special orders several weeks ago.”

“We
can’t divulge too many secrets here, but we have someone with connections on
the inside.” Ash’s eyes twinkled.

“Like
who?” I demanded, because I could tell he wanted me to.

He
rubbed his hands together. Bet you didn’t know Mrs. Zimmerman has relatives who
own a chain of flower shops in Europe?” My jaw dropped, and he nodded. “Yep.
When she was younger, she even had her own shop for awhile.”

“I
didn’t know that,” I said, completely dumbfounded that he’d been working with
Helen behind my back.

“I can
say no more. So, let’s get to the presents already. Ally, you start.”

Ally
drummed her hands on the table. Eyes wide with anticipation, she rocked side to
side, her ponytail to swinging back and forth. She tore open her first present
with enthusiasm and thanked me profusely when she found the pair of black boots
she’d been ogling over every time she went into 12
^th
Street Shoes.
“Thank you,” she said and hugged me.

“You’re
welcome,” I smiled as she tried them on. “And,” I added, “your first issue of
Modern
Bride
should be arriving in a couple weeks as well.”

“That’s
great,” she said and walked around modeling her boots for us. “We’ve got some
serious planning to do.”

“You
guys have set a date then?” Ash asked curiously.

“August
7
^th
, next year,” Ben replied. “You better be there, man.”

“Are
you kidding,” Ally interjected, “I was hoping we could hire your band to play
at our wedding.” Holding her hands out in an open gesture, she glanced over at
Ash. “What do ya think?”

“Ally,
it would be an honor. But you aren’t paying us anything,” he scolded, and she
ran over and gave him a big hug. She opened new kitchen gadgets from Ash and
went loco over the Ninja blender. He must have noticed her drooling every time
an advertisement flashed across the television screen. But that excitement was
nothing compared to the crazy dance she performed after ripping open her
present from Ben.

“What?”
I asked. “What did you get?”

“Yes!
Yes! Yes!” she exclaimed. “Two tickets to paradise. By that I mean Mexico
during Christmas break.” Suddenly, she came to a complete standstill. “Wait,
how were you able to afford these?”

“Remember
all the music CD’s and video games you accuse me of blowing all my money on?”
Ben asked. She nodded and lowered her head. “Well, all along I’ve really been
saving up for your birthday.”

She
walked over and wrapped her arms around him. “I love you, honey. And I’m sorry
if I sound like a nag sometimes.”

“Gotta
love it,” I said with a shrug and looked at Ash.

“Lexi,
open your presents now,” Ally said, still smiling ear to ear. From Ben I
received the
All-American Rejects
CD I’d been wanting, but like a true
friend he made me promise to let him borrow it. I opened a slim, magenta
colored, glass bottle of my favorite perfume, Escada’s Magnetism, which Ally
had picked up from Macy’s. As I was thanking them for my gifts Ash grabbed the
bottle from me and sprayed some into the air next to him. “Hey,” I yelled.

“It
just smells sooooo good. I couldn’t resist,” he said.

“Oh
man.” Ben shook his head.

Ignoring
Ash, I opened the present he’d set before me. “Wow. Now I officially have my
very own helmet; I love it. Thank you.” I smiled and pulled the bright red,
sleek helmet over my head.

“You
look like a true biker woman now,” Ally laughed.

Ash
nodded and said, “I like you in red. This is a full-face helmet which will give
you the best protection and it’s comfortable.” After I took off the helmet, Ash
left the room and came back with a huge box wrapped in metallic, red wrapping
paper.

My jaw
dropped. “What’s this? I don’t need anything else. You did way too much.”

“No I
didn’t,” he said in a disgusted voice. “The helmet was something you needed;
this is your real present.”

I
ripped off the paper and gasped; it was an electric keyboard. “Are you kidding
me?”

“Coolness,”
Ben cried out after he got a look at the box.

Leaning
over his shoulder, Ally blurted out, “Oh heavens!” Her favorite expression.
Maybe you’ll have to play at the wedding too, Lexi.” She laughed. “I can see it
now. Maid of honor in an elegant dress one minute, and then rockin’ on the
keyboards in ripped jeans the next.”

“Very
funny,” I said, flipping the box over to read the details about the keyboards.

Ash
tapped the box. “This is the Yamaha Motif 6; the piano sounds are awesome.
You’ll have a great time playing around with it. I’ve ordered some sheet music
from a few of your favorite songs too, so those should be arriving soon.” He
smiled, looking at me eagerly.

“Thanks
Ash. I love it.” Leaning over, I gave him a big hug.

“All
right birthday women, let’s roll,” Ben clapped his hands together. “We’ve got
some Moonlight bowling to get to.”Leaving the mess for later, we all piled into
Ally’s car and took off for the bowling alley. We had a great time, but Ash
kicked everybody’s butt. He said he’d never been a good bowler in the past, so
he credited his high scores to the extra strength and power he’d gained from
linking. We didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but he certainly kicked
our butts with consecutive strikes. It was a memorable birthday, especially for
my last one.