Fall (VIP 3)

Brenna grabs her phone and answers a few emails before tossing it down and giving me an overly bright smile. “We should order pizza to go with this random beer your man sent us.”

“He’s not my man anymore,” I mumble.

The door buzzer stops Brenna from responding. She gives me an excited look that has me flinching inside. Yep, love and hope can definitely suck it. I don’t bother turning my head to watch her open the door.

“Another delivery,” she calls from the hall.

“Seriously?” I get up. “If he sent me more beer, I’m going over there and dumping it on his fat head.”

“Maybe that’s the idea.” She frowns at the box. “But, no, this one is lighter and longer.”

Together, we open it, Brenna muttering about heads under her breath. Inside, there’s another box, this one much nicer. I lift the lid and root through the perfectly folded tissue paper and find a length of pale pink fabric. I take it out and it unfurls.

“It’s a dress,” I say, stating the obvious.

“Hot damn.” Brenna runs a reverent finger along the satin. “It’s Stella McCartney couture.”

It’s a knee-length sheath with a sort of box ’40s-style neckline and a cutout back.

“He bought me a dress? What the ever-loving hell?”

“Maybe it’s a message?” She doesn’t look convinced. “Maybe, let’s have a beer out on the town?”

With a noise of annoyance, I toss the dress back into the box.

“Hey,” Brenna protests, “don’t take it out on the dress. She’s innocent in all this.”

“She?” I laugh.

“Well, I’m not referring to dresses as ‘he.’” She sniffs, lifting her chin. “They deserve better than that indignity.”

I’m still smiling when the door buzzes again. Brenna makes a little squeeing noise, but I hold up a hand. “I’m getting this.” Irritation has me stomping to the door and flinging it open.

Poor Darren, holding a smaller box, gapes at me in all my glaring wrath. “Ah, delivery for you, Ms. Grey.”

“This is ridiculous. Take it back and tell him I’m not interested in games.”

Darren’s mouth opens wider as he struggles for words. “Thing is, I’ll get in trouble if I don’t deliver it.”

“Oh, hell.” I take the box from him. “I’m sorry for yelling. It’s Jax who’s the pest, not you.”

The tips of Darren’s ears pink. “Right. Well, have a good day!”

“Right.” I tear into the box.

“What is it this time?” Brenna asks. “A necklace?”

“No.” I shoot her a bemused glance. “A DVD. A Streetcar Named Desire.”

She frowns. “So … Is he trying to ask for a date?”

My finger runs over the plastic edge of the DVD case. Young Marlon Brando, muscle-bound and handsome, his shirt dirty and torn, screams up at me from a small insert picture. A smile tugs at my mouth. “Oh, for crying out loud.”

“What?” Brenna’s eyes dart from the case to my face, her expression eager. “What did he do?”

Putting the DVD down, I stride over to the living room and grab my beer and hold it aloft. “The beer is Stella Artois.”

Her frown smooths out. “And the dress is a Stella McCartney. He’s sending you Stella things?”

A snort escapes me as I look at Marlon Brando again. “Worse. I think he’s calling out to me. You know … ‘Stella! Hey, Stella!’”

She snickers. “God, he’s so weird. Cute, but weird.”

My vision blurs and I blink rapidly. “Yeah.” He is weird and wonderful and damaged. And I love him. I do. But loving someone isn’t enough. Clearly, he’s trying to reach out and make some sort of amends in his own bumbling fashion. But I don’t feel any better. In truth, I feel worse.

When the buzzer rings yet again, I just sigh and trudge to the door. “Look, this has gone—”

“Hey, Stella,” John says softly. He stands there, his hair mussed, a white T-shirt stretching over his chest, the short sleeves rolled up over his hard biceps, and slouchy worker’s pants hanging off his narrow hips. After two weeks of not seeing him, he takes my breath away, and I can only gape, drink him in. God, he is pretty. He will always be my ideal for sheer sex appeal.

And it will always hurt just a little too much to look at him.

“Were you out here the whole time?” I snap, because I can’t think of anything else to say.

He gives me his crooked smile, the one that crinkles around his eyes and wings up one corner of his expressive mouth. I hate that smile. “Only since Darren delivered the DVD.”

“Poor Darren.”

His smile fades. “Yeah, you seemed a little … irritated.”

“You think?” I grip the doorknob like a lifeline. “Not a word for weeks, then a series of bizarre gifts without a note will do that.”

John shifts on his feet and eyes me from under his lashes. “You figured it out, though?”

I will not smile. Nope. Not going to do it. I bite the corner of my lip. “Yes. You’ve watched that movie, right?”