Send Me No Flowers (20 page)

Drew was running out of options and out of ideas. He couldn’t stay cooped up in this closet while Russell set out to ruin his life. “Wait...you can’t just leave me in here. I’m...claustrophobic. I’ll go nuts.”

Russell emitted an unsympathetic chuckle. “You should see a therapist about that problem. I’ll ask Rachel if she can recommend one. See ya, Lavery.”

Then he was gone.

RACHEL’S HAND HURT from pounding so long on Drew’s front door, but she wasn’t about to go away. Lights blazed inside the house, so she knew he was hiding somewhere inside. A typical coward. She’d stand out here until she got frostbite if necessary. Finally she heard footsteps, then the front door opened.

Russell blinked at her in surprise. “Rachel?”

“Hello, Russell. Drew really needs to get a doorbell. In fact, I think I’ll tell him that in person. Along with a few other things.” She stepped inside, stamping the snow off her shoes. “Where is he?”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “Drew? Well, um, this really isn’t a good time.”

“Don’t tell me you’re defending him?-You’re my ex-fiancé, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am on your side, Lovebug. I’ve always been on your side. That’s why...” He licked his lips and looked nervously toward the staircase.

Rachel headed in that direction. “He’s hiding upstairs, isn’t he? He’s too chicken to see me.”

“Not exactly...” Russell said, heading her off before she could climb up the stairs. “We need to talk.”

She heard a rumbling from above, then Drew’s frantic voice. “Help! Get me out of here!”

Russell gulped, looking more nervous than she’d ever seen him. He raked his long, thin fingers through his hair. “About Drew...”

“What about him?” Rachel asked, prickles of uneasiness crawling down her spine. “What’s going on here, Russell.”

He took a deep breath. “Lavery locked himself in a closet and I can’t find the key. I’ve looked everywhere. I was just going out for a locksmith when you arrived. He’s getting a little...hysterical.”

She pushed past him, taking the steps two at a time. She followed the sound of Drew’s hoarse shouts until she reached a big bedroom on the west side of the house. It contained a full-size bed with a white wrought-iron headstand, a maple chest of drawers and a man in the closet.

Rachel moved to the closet door, twisting the brass knob, but it wouldn’t budge. “Drew?”

“Rachel!”

The way he said her name made her tingle all the way down to her toes. His voice was full of relief and hope and some other undefinable emotion.

“Rachel, your buggy fiancé is cracking up. He locked me in here.”

“Ex-fiancé,” Rachel amended, as Russell walked into the bedroom. “And why would he lock you in the closet?”

Russell make a cuckoo motion, circling one finger around his ear. “The guy is delirious. He said he’s claustrophobic.”

“Drew, are you claustrophobic?” Rachel shouted through the door.

“Of course not!” he exclaimed. “Let’s get this straight once and for all. I’m not claustrophobic, I’m not impotent and I’m not making this up. Just look at Russell’s hand.”

His hand? Rachel looked at Russell. He shrugged and shook his head as he held out his hands for her inspection. They both looked perfectly normal. So did the rest of him. Drew, however, sounded a little irrational

“Drew, just relax,” she called, in her most soothing, professional tone. “Take slow, even breaths and imagine you’re in a cocoon.”

“I’ve never been in a cocoon,” he replied, sounding more frustrated than ever. “But I have been stuck in this musty old closet for the last hour. That’s why I missed our date. Russell is trying to protect you from me.”

Russell sighed. “The guy is going wacko. I think he needs a psychiatric evaluation. Should I call the paramedics?”

Rachel jumped as she heard the sound of Drew’s fist hitting the door.

“Drop the act, Baker,” Drew growled. “We both know you locked me in here. If you’re not bleeding all over the carpet, then you must have used fake blood. Once I passed out, you shoved me all the way inside and locked the door.”

Rachel looked at Russell. He tugged at his shirt collar and gave her a shaky smile. “What a wild imagination. Why would I do something like that? It’s illegal.”

“Because,” Drew bellowed, “you found out about the bet and thought you needed to protect Rachel from me.”

“Bet?” Rachel echoed. “What bet?”

Russell laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you should sit down.”

“I don’t want to sit down,” she said, brushing his hand away. “I want to know about this bet.”

“I made a bet with my mother,” Drew said, “and with Charlie. Fifty bucks that I’d convince you to drop the boycott by Valentine’s Day.”

Rachel sank down onto the end of the bed. “So you won.”

“I won the bet,” Drew agreed, “and I lost my heart. I love you, Rachel. No matter what you think of me now. And if you don’t want me in your life, then you’d better make certain I stay locked in this closet Because I intend to show you just how much I love you just as soon as I get out of here.”

Rachel’s eyes blurred as she looked up at Russell. “Unlock the door.”

He folded his arms across his chest, his jaw set in a stubborn line. “I don’t have the key.”

“Russell,” she said, patient with him, because her heart was full of love, “please open the door.”

Russell hesitated. “Do you love him?”

She bit her lip and nodded.

“Hey, Baker,” Drew suddenly called out, “is a yellow bug with little red spots all over it considered poisonous?”

Russell perked up. “You don’t mean a
Anthrenus scrophulariae
, do you?”

“I’m not sure,” Drew replied. “There’s one crawling in here on the floor. I’ll step on it, then shove it under the door so you can take a look.”

“No,” Russell shrieked, diving for the door as he pulled a key out of his pocket, “don’t touch it.” He twisted the key in the lock until it clicked and the door came open. The next moment he lay flat out on the floor, courtesy of Drew’s fist.

“You were right, Baker.” Drew dropped a thick entomology tome on Russell’s chest. “It did come in handy.”

Rachel hurried over to her ex-fiancé, who moaned as he sat up on one elbow and gingerly fingered his swollen lip.

“You didn’t have to hit him, Drew. Oh, look...he’s bleeding!”

Drew averted his eyes. “That’s something I’d rather not see,” he said, pulling her into the closet and shutting the door behind them. “I’ve seen enough blood for one day. Besides, I want to remain conscious long enough to tell you how much Love you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m waiting.”

He circled his arms around her waist, pulling her close as he gazed into her eyes. “I love you, Dr. Rachel Grant, and I want to be your valentine. If you’ll have me.”

“I will...on one condition,” she said, a smile playing on her lips.

He looked wary. “What?”

She stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. He laughed, then hugged her close. “Deal.”

“Shall we seal it with a kiss, Mayor Lavery?”

“Definitely,” he replied in a husky whisper, then covered her mouth with his own.

He tenderly traced her lips with his tongue. Rachel’s lips parted as she melted into him, full of love and pent-up desire. She moaned deep in her throat as his arms tightened around her and his tongue delved into her mouth. Her hands restlessly caressed the length of his back, wanting to draw him even closer. His own broad hands spanned her waist, his fingers flexing as they stroked over her hips.

At last he lifted his head, his breathing as ragged as her own. “Now that’s what I call a business transaction. Remind me never to negotiate with you again, Rachel. Because I’ll give in to everything just so we can seal the bargain.”

She laughed. “Too bad I didn’t know that when I first declared the boycott. It would have saved me a lot of trouble. We could have been kissing instead of fighting.”

“All that wasted time. We have some catching up to do.”

“I’m all yours,” she said, slipping one hand in between the buttons of his shirt, relishing the feel of his taut, muscular chest under her fingertips.

He closed his eyes, sucking in his breath, as Rachel continued her exploration. “Don’t stop.”

A knock on the closet door interrupted their passionate interlude. “Go away, Russell,” Drew mumbled, pulling her to him for another kiss.

“This is Candi Conrad from WKLV,” trilled a familiar, grating voice. “We’re here to interview Love’s Most Romantic Couple.”

“We?” Drew and Rachel said at the same time, staring in horrified dismay at each other.

“That’s right,” Candi chimed. “I’ve got my camera crew with me and we’ve got a live television remote scheduled in two minutes. There’s also a couple of reporters from the newspaper and some other interested people who joined the hunt to track you two lovebirds down.”

“Rachel,” Gina called through the door, sounding a little frantic. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s an understatement,” Drew murmured, his lips lingering on her neck.

“How’s Russell?” Rachel asked, pleasantly distracted by Drew’s kisses and roaming hands.

“He left,” Gina announced. “He grabbed his cockroach case and muttered something about heading back to Africa.”

Drew hugged her close. “Just what I wanted for Valentine’s Day. Well, besides a picture of you in a bikini. I just hope you like your present just as much.”

“My present?” she asked, surprised and intrigued by the sparkle in his deep blue eyes. “Is it flowers? A box of candy?”

“Even better.” He grinned. “How do you feel about the patter of little paws?”

Rachel’s breath caught in her throat. “Oh, Drew, you got me a dog? A pet of my very own?”

He nodded. “A puppy. She’s sound asleep in my bedroom.”

“Take me them,” she said, her eyes shining with excitement.

“Definitely,” he said in a seductive whisper. Then he kissed her again. When they finally emerged from the closet, her cheeks were still flushed from the heat of Drew’s embrace.

Everyone started talking at once, with cameras flashing and reporters shouting questions. Candi motioned for silence, then shoved the microphone under his nose and whispered, “We’re on the air!”

“I have a short statement,” he announced, “and then Dr. Grant and I have some more negotiating to do. She’s agreed to be my valentine.” He held up one hand as the crowd bust into spontaneous applause. “And I’ve agreed to a new town motto, which I’m confident I can pass through the city council.”

Rachel’s heart beat faster as he grinned down at her, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Perhaps my opponent would like to tell you Love’s new motto.”

She stepped forward. “Thank you, Mayor, it would be my pleasure.” She smiled, her heart full of love and her life full of dreams. “You Don’t Have To Be In Love To Be Happy...But It’s A Great Place To Start.”

SEND ME NO FLOWERS

Copyright © 1999 by Kristin Eckhardt

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