Fires of Autumn by Kathryn Le Veque Page B

the card.  It was a very pretty
card and inside was a hand-written note:
     
    Sorry you
were left behind today.
    Would
dinner make up for it? I’d love to treat you to a night out.
    Warmest
regards, Scott Dane
     
    Shocked,
Casey quickly folded up the card as Maggie and Lisanne strained to see who had
sent the flowers.  Casey waved them off, shoving the card into her top desk
drawer.
    “Go back
to work, ladies,” she sat down in her chair. “I’m going to keep this a secret.”
    Maggie and
Lisanne weren’t about to let it go.  “Casey, that’s not fair,” Lisanne whined.
“Can we guess?”
    “No.”
    “Please?”
    “ No ,”
Casey was focusing on her computer. “I’m not going to tell you, so go back to
work.”
    “The
florist is the one near the Capitol Building,” Chris said from his desk next to
Casey. “Maybe it’s from someone in the senate.”
    Casey
glared at him. “Zip it, Eckart,” she commanded. “It’s none of your business.”
    Chris
snickered and went back to work.  As Maggie and Lisanne pestered the
tight-lipped Casey, Colt entered the office. He couldn’t help but notice the
massive flowers on Casey’s desk but did nothing more than cock an eyebrow at
the sight as he went into his office.
    “Nice
flowers,” he commented.
    Casey
watched him, trying not to react. No doubt he was wondering who sent them and
she was feeling some anxiety as a result.  She really liked Colt and didn’t
want him to think she was a player with a string of boyfriends. She wasn’t like
that at all.  She chased Lisanne and Maggie out of her office and went back to
work, trying not to look at the massive flower arrangement on her desk.   It
really was beautiful, but she wasn’t interested in dating the senator, not when
Colt Sheridan had her attention.  She was definitely a one-man woman.
    Russ came
down from the family apartments around two thirty in the afternoon, passing
Casey’s desk and making a fuss over the flowers.  He asked who had sent them
but she coyly declined to tell him, causing the man to chuckle.   Just as he
was heading to his office, the uniformed secret service agent that was
stationed in the lobby of the west wing entered with another massive
arrangement of flowers.  Three dozen red roses were artfully positioned in
another massive glass vase as the secret service agent sat them on Casey’s desk
next to the other arrangement.  He looked at the two, nearly covering half her
desk.
    “Wow,
Casey,” he commented. “Is it your birthday?”
    Casey was
quickly growing mortified, even more so as Chris giggled over at his desk.  She
was ready to punch him right in his smug face. She stood up, inspecting the
gorgeously perfect roses, before shaking her head.
    “Somebody
must feel sorry for me or something,” she said, noting the card and pulling it
from the holder. “Are these really for me?”
    The
uniformed secret service agent, a young man with an infection grin, nodded. 
“They just came. Who are they from?”
    Casey
cocked an eyebrow at him. “None of your business,” she said, sweeping her hand
at him. “On your way, Anderson.  Bye-bye. Get lost.”
    The young
man backed out, a big grin on his face, as Russ came up to the desk, inspecting
all of the flowers. “I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often,” he said. “A
beautiful young single woman ought to get flowers every day.  Will you tell me who sent them?”
    Casey gave
him another bashful grin, the card in her hand.  “I don’t even know.”
    “Will you
tell me when you do?”
    “Probably
not.”
    He snorted
and turned back for the Oval Office.  Sure that no one was looking over her
shoulder, Casey opened up the small card that had come with the roses.
     
    To the most beautiful
girl I’ve ever seen.
    Looking forward to
dinner.
     
    Casey
couldn’t help the grin on her face as she quietly folded the card and put it
back in the envelope. That, too, went into the top drawer of her desk.