Love Me: The Complete Series by Shelley K. Wall

reached home, he checked his watch then dialed Information. With the number in his phone, he dialed Jeffries Florist. The minute she spoke, he felt the smile behind the words.
    He grabbed an apple from his backpack, took a bite, and spoke as he chewed. “I’d like to voice a complaint.”
    “Oh, no! Whatever it is, we’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
    “You promise?” He swallowed the apple and grinned.
    “Of course. How can we make it better?”
    “Well, I was in there a couple of weeks ago and bought some plants from this girl. Nice looking, good salesperson—but real bossy.”
    Did she just suck in air? “Carter?”
    He laughed. “Yeah, how’s things, Abby?”
    “So, you’re not really complaining?”
    “Well, I do kind of have a problem.” He glanced at the brown leaves drooping on the philodendron. “I’ve been on a business trip for a while and one of the plants is losing all its leaves. I watered it before I left but I think I killed it.”
    “Which one?”
    He told her and she proceeded to tell him it would perk back up with water.
    “Perk—okay, sounds good. Hey, did you ever get a chance to meet that blind date?” He rolled the apple, seeking for a good spot to bite again.
    “Um, sort of.” She quickly changed the subject. “I heard Maddie got her boot off and is walking now. I don’t need to worry about you losing control again, do I?”
    Hmmm. Losing control. He wasn’t sure how to answer. He grabbed a cup from the cabinet, filled it, and doused his molting plant. “You mean with Ruckus?”
    “Of course, what did you think I meant?”
    “No idea. Listen, I was actually calling about business.” The thought popped into his head mere seconds before he spoke, but it was still good.
    “Yours or mine?”
    “Um, both. We moved into our building less than a year ago and it’s pretty empty. I wondered if you guys did corporate plant maintenance?”
    “You mean watering, pruning, and all that?”
    “Yeah. We need to spruce it up. So, do you?”
    Seconds ticked as she considered his question. “Of course, but I’d need to come by and look at the space and give you an estimate. We’d have to charge for delivery, but other than that and the monthly care fee, it would be hands-free. No way you could kill them.”
    “Great. Come by tomorrow at eleven.” He rattled off the street address and told her where to go once inside. “Oh, Abby—you can tell me about the loser blind date then too. Over lunch.”
    He clicked the phone off before she could refuse and headed to the fridge for a beer. He’d completely forgotten to mention the baseball tickets and ask if she’d go. Again.

Chapter Twelve
    Listen, asshole. There r games in 2 wks. If u plan to go, say so or I’m asking someone else.
    Carter figured that would get Jackson’s attention. He didn’t understand it. The guy had seemed more than willing to take the tickets off his hands when Amanda dumped him, but then he just disappeared. Carter had called him also, but it went straight to an automated voice mail. If not for the texting responses, Carter would have thought he was hurt—or something else was wrong. He frowned and pecked in a few more words.
    Answer me or I’m coming by ur office and making a fool of you
    He waited a full five minutes.
    Ding.
    That would just make a fool of u, not me
    Should I tell ur boss you took a picture of her changing clothes in the car for yoga?
    Carter expected a smartass response, but nothing came. At all. He still had no idea about the tickets.
    The blinking icon on his screen reminded him that it’d been a while since he’d looked at the Justchat application, not that he had time for any chatting with his crazy schedule. Still, he should at least respond if there was a message. He tapped the open key.
    She Hearts Dogs: Sorry it’s been a while, crazy week. I don’t know why I chose that nickname … wishful thinking, I guess. I live in an apartment where no pets are allowed. Always