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I stared at the huge flower arrangement in bemusement. It was beautiful, and I’d never got one before.

“Who’s it from?” Freddie demanded as she picked up the card.

“Probably one of my sisters, but I don’t know why,” I replied.

“How about Sunny?” Freddie said, and I turned to her in disbelief.

“What?”

“He sent them, and he says, I quote, ‘see you soon.’”

“Pardon?”

Freddie giggled as she repeated it as I opened the gift bag from Heavenly Delights. I pulled out some candles, incense sticks, body lotion, and shampoo.

“Someone has an admirer,” Freddie teased.

“Shut up,” I replied, but there was no bite to it.

Freddie grinned at me and took off, yelling about my secret boyfriend. Wonderful, there’d be no end to the teasing.

◆◆◆

Next day, I woke up to Harry bouncing on my bed.

“Harry!” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

“Get up, Sunny sent another present,” he declared.

“Huh?”

“Callie, get the hell up, we wanna eat and can’t, as it’s your gift.”

“I shall kill you if you don’t disappear,” I warned.

“Is she up?” Freddie screeched, and I sighed. There’d be no going back to sleep now. I glanced at my phone as I tried to wake up and saw it was eight in the morning. Great, no lie in today.

“I’m coming!” I yelled irately as Freddie screamed for me to get up.

“Give me five minutes, and you better have coffee on!” I hissed at Harry, who grinned and disappeared. I stumbled out of bed, hit the toilet, and washed my hands and face before brushing my teeth.

Incredibly grumpy, I headed downstairs and into the kitchen. There, a delightful aroma greeted me.

“Doughnuts?”

“Pastries, I think, but we can’t be sure. None of us wanted to be so rude to open it without you,” Jack said.

“What a load of bull,” I replied and opened the huge box and sniffed at the smell. My stomach growled in rebellion at the scents.

“Wow,” Phil gasped.

Inside the box was a selection of pastries, but Sunny had been clever. Nobody would have to fight over who wanted what. He’d included five of each type.

“And here you go,” Phil said, handing me a huge cup of coffee. I noted it was from one of my favourite coffee shops.

“Sunny sent one for each of us, but two for you.” Freddie giggled. She had frosting around her top lip as she tucked into a doughnut.

Phil had a bear claw in hand while Harry was chomping on a croissant, and Jack ate an almond pastry. I sipped the coffee and closed my eyes in ecstasy.

“Wow,” I murmured.

Freddie offered me a sly look. “Still think he’s not interested?”

“Shut the fuck up. I’m not caffeinated,” I growled, snatching a doughnut. The others laughed and ate the very generous breakfast Sunny had bought.

◆◆◆

I was in the garden, relaxing by the pool the next day. Everyone had been disappointed because no breakfast items had arrived. I had texted Sunny thank you for his gifts and asked why he had sent them, but he’d not replied.

“Nice!” Harry said, coming out of the house holding a box. I opened an eyelid and frowned as I sat up.

“Did I miss a takeout order?” I wondered. I’d been dozing on and off as today was warm, and I was soaking up the sun.

“Nope. Sunny got lunch,” Harry stated and placed the box on the table. To my surprise, each bag was named, and when they opened theirs, they each had their favourite subs, chips and a cake. Coffees had also been sent.

I was amused at what Sunny was doing but had no idea why. Was this his way of apologising? Yanking my phone out, I texted him.

‘Sunny, thank you for lunch, but please stop. I accept your apology.’

I placed my mobile down, and opening my bag, drooled at the sub. Yup, Sunny knew my favourites. My phone dinged in reply.

I peered at it, and my mouth dropped open.

‘This ain’t an apology. This is me saying I see you and like what I see.’

What on earth? I put my phone down and considered what Sunny was telling me. Was he acting out of guilt? In this situation, I was unsure of what to say and do. While everyone joked around me, I pondered the quandary I found myself in. My phone pinged again, and I picked it up.

‘Don’t shut down on me, Callie. I mean what I say. This is me stating my interest in you. But I know you’re gun-shy. So, I’m going to court you the old-fashioned way. The way my dad taught me.’

Holy cow. I tried to stop the smile hitting my lips but failed as Freddie whistled.

“Is that Sunny?” she demanded.

“Yeah.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he wants to court me the old-fashioned way,” I answered, bemused. Freddie whistled again as the others cheered a little.

“Why, though?” I asked, and they quieted.

“Why what?” Harry inquired.

“I don’t get why he wants to date me.”

“Seriously? Callie, you’re beautiful, inside and out,” Freddie exclaimed.

“Yeah, somehow I doubt that,” I replied.

Freddie gaped at me as Jack stared at me with narrowed eyes.

“Well, now, I didn’t see that coming,” he said, surprised.

“What?”

“You lack self-confidence. You are so confident while on investigations, I never noticed. Callie, I’m aware of your past, we all are, honey, it is not something you’ve ever hidden from us.

But it’s done a number on you. Honestly, I had a crush on you for ages at the start.

However, you were so focused on the tasks facing us I realised you’d never date a member of the team,” Jack replied.

“Really?” I asked, pleasantly shocked.

“Yeah.”

“Jack wasn’t the only one,” Phil spoke up, and I turned to him with wide eyes. “I fancied the pants off you, but you had an unapproachable air to you. Now, I know it’s because you’re guarding your heart, but that little trait was attractive because I wanted to be the man who breached your walls.”

“Damn,” I muttered, more than a little shocked by their admissions.

“Not me, though,” Harry admitted cheerfully. His gaze flicked to Freddie, who didn’t notice. “I liked someone else.”

“Sunny is being genuine?” I asked.

“Yeah. Callie, the man is sending you personal gifts, but when sending something that can be shared, he covers all of us. That’s a guy with a mission. Sunny knows how important we are to you. By including us, he’s covering all bases into winning you over,” Freddie explained.

I frowned, trying to understand. “Sunny’s using you to get me?”

“Not quite. Sunny knows buying you food and not us would make you feel bad. To neutralise that, he sends to us all. That means we like Sunny and say nice things about him. Which means you absorb our good feelings about him. It’s a clever plan,” Freddie continued.

That gave me food for thought. Sunny was honestly courting me, according to the others. I still didn’t know if this was his way or apologising and trying to make amends. As much as they ate at me, I hated my self-doubts and wished I could read people better.

I had dated a couple of times, but they’d not been men like Sunny.

Adam had done a number on me, and the guys I’d dated after him had been few and far between.

Trust didn’t come easily to me. Sunny had hurt me more than Adam, though, and if I was honest with myself, it was partially my own fault.

I knew Sunny had been drunk; I had to take ownership of that.

But Sunny, the sexy man, was courting me, and in earnest, it appeared. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.