Free Evidence of Desire: Hero Series 3 by Yvette Hines, Monique Lamont

card over she saw it was blank on the back, no signature anywhere.
    “Who do you think sent them?”
    “Councilman Marcs most likely. I’m going with him to a function tomorrow night.” She shifted the box to the side of her desk and keeping the top off so she could look at them until she got off and took them home. She would have to stop at a store to get a big vase.
    “Are you two dating finally? I know he’s had a thing for you for a while.”
    “No. Not dating. He needed a plus one to the symphony and I didn’t have anything else planned.” Before Simeon could ask anything else, she said, “I think we both have work calling our name.”
    “Sure do.” He gave her a two-finger salute from his temple and headed out.
    When she was alone, she lifted one of the roses from the box and brought it toward her. Burying her nose amongst the petals she smelled the sweet, cloying scent. She loved roses. As simple and traditional as they were, they always did something to her to get them. Her mind brought up an image of someone standing before her with a rose. 
    Parker. He was dressed in the same gray slacks and white shirt he’d worn when he came to her dorm to pick her up for their first date at a local pizza restaurant. One red rose in his hand. He’d waited in the lobby for her, disregarding all the jeers he got from other guys that came by.
    “But these were from Daryl,” she declared, pulling it away from her face. She set the rose back with the other twelve.
    There was no reason for Parker to send her flowers. After they had done brunch, she’d gone out of her way not to encourage his interest. Even modifying her schedule or having Simeon tell him she was in a meeting or gone. After the first month he stopped coming by. She was satisfied Parker got the picture. They were not going to be rekindling things.
    Daryl was safe. Getting flowers from him or being on his arm for an occasional charity event didn’t make her want more with him.
    Parker was dangerous. Even having kissed him once and sitting with him over a meal had her fantasizing about him every night when she went to sleep. Really, she was avoiding her own heart as much as she was keeping her distance from him.
    The spark of desire she had for him, kept her peeping out of curtains or windows randomly, expecting he’d just show up at her house again. Six weeks had passed since his exhibit opened and he hadn’t come around.
    Good. That’s what I want.
    Her heart wasn’t convinced.
    A last glance at the flowers before she went back to filing her preliminary travel voucher. Sunday she would be flying out to Kansas to visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Natural Art because they had the Hale Woodruff’s 1838 mural collection. The same collection she was trying to get on exhibit here. She had a meeting on Tuesday morning with the curator and the owner of the collection.
    Focus on work, that’s what she needed to keep doing.
    ~ML~
    “I really had a good time tonight.”
    “The Youth Orchestra was amazing.” Sonya agreed with Daryl’s words as they walked toward her porch. “Such a talented group of children. To see so many parents with their kids in attendance and well behaved was wonderful.”
    “I wasn’t referring to the performance.” He took hold of her forearm and stopped her at the bottom of her stairs.
    She faced him. Staring up into his face she saw emotions of hope and desire shadowing his features.
    “Being around you is always great. I think we have a lot in common and we communicate on the same level.” She wanted to pull away from his hold. It felt restrictive instead of warm and welcoming. There were no dynamite chargers going off in her body.
    “These nights can be more frequent. We can be more than what we have been.”
    His words weren’t new. In the beginning, almost a year ago, when he’d asked her out he’d said he was looking for a serious possibly permanent relationship. She’d told him she wasn’t ready.
    She stepped