Caroline’s POV
The weekend was crazy, and I started Monday feeling exhausted. I’d decided to try forgiving Draven. But the girls had a plan,they said he needed to suffer more before I took him back. That way he’d learn his lesson and never hurt me again.
When I got to work, my office was already busy. I liked my job here. The team was great and the work was easy, even though it wasn’t what I studied for. I’d worked really hard in college, and now my degree was just sitting there useless. It made me a little sad. But I had Liam to take care of, so I couldn’t waste time feeling sorry for myself.
While turning on my computer, I saw a coffee mug land on my desk. I looked up to see Ruby’s huge smile directed at me.
"Carrie, how do you get away with being this gorgeous?" I smiled at her words. "All the wolves in the office are drooling over you. My brother’s crazy about you too. If you weren’t already tangled up with an Alpha,I’d totally want you as my sister-in-law."
"As if, Ruby. They’re just curious because I’m the new girl. How are you? Did you get a taste of that eye candy yesterday when he drove you home?" I asked, taking a sip of coffee.
"Oh, honey, that eye candy looks delicious. But I haven’t risked it yet. After you guys told me he’s a player, I got scared." She sat down and rested her chin on her hand.
"Good morning, ladies!" Mr. Reeves said as he approached.
"Good morning, sir," we replied in unison.
"Caroline, I know you asked to leave early today for your doctor’s appointment, but could you possibly reschedule it? I hate to ask, but the client from the two o’clock meeting just called to reschedule for five, and I couldn’t move it to tomorrow. As you know, it’s an important client, and you need to be in this meeting." He looked genuinely embarrassed to ask.
"No problem, Mr. Reeves! I’ll reschedule my appointment. Let’s close this deal!" I said with a smile to reassure him.
"Thank you, dear. You can reschedule for whenever you want and take the afternoon off on your appointment day." He said before returning to his office.
I grabbed my phone and called my doctor’s office.
"Doctor’s office, good morning."
"Good morning, Sylvia. How are you? This is Caroline Bennett."
"Good morning, Caroline. I was actually about to call you to confirm your appointment today."
"Well, Sylvia, I’m calling because I need to reschedule. Is that okay?"
"Of course not a problem, Caroline. I can actually fit in a new patient who was waiting for a cancellation to move up their appointment. Just a moment while I check when I can fit you in again."
I waited for Sylvia to tell me when she could fit me in, but a commotion at the entrance of the floor caught my attention. Two men were walking in with two enormous flower arrangements; one was made of tulips, and I could already guess who it was from. The department staff started buzzing, trying to guess who the flowers were for, and the comments only grew louder as all eyes followed the arrangements. I just wanted to crawl into a hole.
"Miss Caroline Bennett?" one of the men stopped at my desk holding that tulip arrangement.
"Caroline, I can fit you in on..." Sylvia had come back on the line, but I wanted to get this over-the-top flower delivery scene over with quickly.
"Sylvia, can I call you back in a bit?"
"Of course, dear. I’ll wait for your call."
I quickly said goodbye to the secretary and hung up the phone, looking at the man who was staring at me with that huge vase of flowers.
"That’s me, Caroline Bennett."
"Perfect! These are for you, okay to put them here?" He placed the vase on my desk when I nodded. "Sign here please?" As I signed, he added, "This is one of the biggest bouquets I’ve ever delivered. Either he’s trying to win you back or he really messed up, but man, he must love you a lot."
I had to smile. After the delivery guy left, I stared at the massive flower arrangement covering my desk. Looking up, I saw Ruby gaping at an equally huge bouquet on her desk.
"Can you believe Ryan sent this?" she said, shocked. "Carrie, it’s taller than me! How am I supposed to get this home?"
"I’m wondering the same thing," I laughed.
My phone rang, and it was Elle, super excited.
"Carrie, my man sent me the biggest flowers ever!"
"Let me guess, Nate too?" I said, suspecting they planned this together.
"What do you mean?"
"Hold on." I sent her a photo and got Ruby to do the same. "Check your phone."
"These idiots! I knew Nate was in on it. Wonder if Ava and Kyle got them too? I’ll ask the group."
Soon enough, messages from Kyle and Ava confirmed it. We all got massive flowers at work. These wolves weren’t messing around.
The arrangements were huge and flashy. Everyone kept staring and talking all day, which got pretty annoying. Would it have killed them to send normal sized bouquets?
We all had to contact our boys. No way we could carry these gardens home ourselves. Leaving them at work would just cause more gossip.
I picked up my phone and called Draven.
"Baby, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice," Draven answered immediately. I could hear Ryan in the background talking to Ruby.
"Draven, are you crazy? Did you have to send the entire flower shop to my office? It’s taking up my whole desk," I complained.
"Angel, I just wanted to treat you special," he said, all casual.
"Draven, this thing’s too big to carry. How am I getting it home? Ruby and I are getting teased by everyone." He just laughed.
"Well, now everyone knows you’re taken. Don’t worry, I’ll pick you up. Plus I get to see Liam. Really miss that little guy."When he mentioned Liam, my anger faded a bit, but I almost missed something important. Then I caught it.
"Who said anything about being mates?" I challenged.
"Oh Caroline, you’ve been mine since you first heard my voice, even when you didn’t know who I was." His voice got deeper, more possessive. I remembered our first phone call when I started working for him, how his stern voice had scared me for weeks before we actually met.
"Aren’t you being a bit much?"
"Not at all, my love. You’re mine just like I’m yours. Even when you’re mad at me, you’re still mine. I love you, Carrie. You’ll forgive me eventually. But you will be my mate, I choose you."
"Moon Goddess, you’re so full of yourself!" I could hear him smiling through the phone.
"Angel, I’d love to talk all day, but I have to go. I’ll pick you up after work. Missing you like crazy."
He hung up, leaving me staring at my phone with a stupid smile. Inside me, Rory was purring happily, no matter how hard I tried to stay mad.