"Oh well," Carrie muttered, climbing out of bed and shutting the alarm off. "Guess I may as well get ready for work."

Carrie made her way into the kitchen after stopping in the bathroom, grabbing a cup out of the cupboard and pouring her morning cup of coffee before going to the front door for her newspaper. Carrying her coffee and newspaper to the kitchen table, Carrie pulled out a chair and sat down before pulling the elastic off the paper. As the newspaper fell open, Carrie was both surprised and shocked at what was laying there. Someone had obviously gotten to her newspaper before she did; lying in front of her was a bright red rose, its thorns meticulously removed.

"What the hell?" Carrie exclaimed, wondering who the hell would play this kind of prank on her. She bet that whoever it was was having a great laugh at her expense right about then. Standing up, Carrie walked over to the sink and opened the cupboard underneath it, pulling out a clear glass vase. Filling the vase with warm water, Carrie carried it back over to the table and placed the rose in it.

Carrie continued to wonder about the rose and it's sender as she flipped through the morning paper, scanning headlines. Turning the page of the first section, Carrie found yet another surprise, stuck to the newspaper was a heart shaped, pink sticky note that read: May this be the first of many surprises, Happy Valentine's Day. Carrie pulled the note off the paper and looked more closely at it, trying to figure out if she recognized the handwriting. She didn't. She flipped quickly through the rest of the newspaper, checking for other sticky notes but didn't find any. Still wondering who could be behind the rose and the note, Carrie set the paper aside and headed for the shower.

Ten minutes later, Carrie climbed out of the shower and wrapped a large, deep blue towel around her body before going over to the sink. Using a hand towel, Carrie wiped the moisture from the mirror and looked at her reflection. Bright blue eyes set into an oval face stared back at her. Her short wheat colored hair hung just below the bottom of her ears. Carrie's eyes moved over her face, studying the bright eyes, the pert nose, and the lush full lips. Shaking her head she turned the faucet on and grabbed her toothbrush and began her normal morning ritual. That morning was a bit rushed as Carrie wanted to get out of the apartment before she was met with any more surprises. After brushing her teeth and blow drying her hair, Carrie grabbed the now hot curling iron and slid it down each part of her hair, straightening the frizz out of it before curling the ends, adding a slightly flipped look to it. Quickly applying a light covering of make-up, Carrie padded back into her bedroom and worked on getting dressed in a pair of black slacks and an ivory button down blouse. Slipping into her nylons and shoes she headed out the door after turning the coffee pot off and grabbing her purse and keys.

Carrie was waiting at the elevator as one of her neighbors walked up to her. Brian Maxwell was new to the apartment complex and was probably a couple years older than Carrie's own twenty five years. He was a fairly good looking man with his deep green eyes and chiseled features. He had a nice strong, slightly elongated, nose set between high cheekbones. His deep red lips begged to be kissed.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Carried smiled slightly at the man standing next to her. "Morning Brian," she said softly.

"Well good morning Carrie, how's the morning treating you?" Brian asked in his deep baritone voice.

"A little odd, but other than that it's going pretty good."

"Odd? How's that?" Brian asked.

"Oh, just some things that aren't all that normal," Carrie answered, glancing over at him to see his reaction. She didn't think that it was Brian that had sent the rose, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to sound him out. "Someone left me a present in my newspaper this morning," she said, waiting on his reaction.

"Oh? What was that?"

"A rose and a note."

"Well, it is Valentine's Day," Brian said a slight smile on his lips.

"That it is, just don't know who it could be. I don't have any admirers, well, at least that I knew about."

"Well, I'm sure that you'll figure it out by the end the day. I mean, why send someone stuff so that they know you're interested and then not reveal yourself?" Brian said laughing.

"Very very true, but I'm sure it's just a prank."

"You never know hon," Brian said, stepping aside so that Carrie could step into the elevator before following.

"Guess we'll see," Carrie said, not convinced that it wasn't Brian. Most of the people that lived in the apartment complex were a bit older and Carrie lived in an apartment complex that you had to be buzzed into, at least if you didn't have a key. The ride down in the elevator was silent as Carrie contemplated about the rose. The more she thought about it, the more she just wasn't sure who it could possibly be. As far as she could remember, she hadn't had anyone flirting with her for a while, for a long while at that. Shaking her head she stepped out of the elevator and after saying goodbye to Brian headed out the front door. Reaching her car she found yet another rose, this time the stem being held in place underneath the windshield wiper. There was another note wrapped around the stem, this time held on with a rubber band. Opening the note she shook her head in confusion, for all it said was: Surprise Number 2.

******

Brian smiled as he watched Carried walk to her car and then chuckled to himself as he saw her reaction when she noticed the second rose. He waited until she got in the car and drove away before turning and making his way back up to his third floor apartment. As he walked in he heard the phone ringing and scooped it up off the couch, knowing exactly who it was that was calling.

"Hey bud," Brian said, smiling.

"Hey, how's it going?" asked the voice on the other end.

"Good, she just left."

"Oh? And how is the Valentine's Day surprise going?"

"Oh man, she is so confused, she looked at me like she didn't know if it was me or not."

"Well," laughing came over the line, "gotta keep her guessing, right?"

"Yeah, I guess, but this is just, I dunno."

"You got the one to deliver when she gets home?"

"Yep, got it right here, note and all," Brian said laughing.

"Cool, well hey, after ya give it to her, give me a call and let me know how it goes, k?"

"Will do buddy, I'll talk to you later," Brian said before hanging up the phone. He couldn't wait to find out Carrie's reaction when she found out that the flowers were not just a prank. Glancing over at his kitchen table he chuckled as he saw the rose laying there, waiting to be delivered.

******

Pulling up to the office, Carrie grabbed her purse and the rose from the passenger seat of the car and headed up to her second floor office, unsure as to exactly what was going on. She returned the greetings that she received and returned the Valentine's Day wishes. So far it had been one of the strangest Valentine's Day's that she had ever had. Reaching the door to her office, she was almost relieved when she didn't see another rose. Her relief was short lived as she saw a vase with another note on it and a rose inside. Making her way over to the desk, she pulled the note off the vase and read it. Again, it didn't give any hint to who had sent it, it just said: Surprise Number 3.

Carrie placed the rose she was carrying into the vase with the other one and sat down at her desk, studying the two roses now sitting on her desk. Like the one in her newspaper this morning, the thorns had been removed. They were also all a deep red color and just barely starting to bloom. Sighing softly, Carrie turned and booted her computer up and had another shocker. Her desktop wasn't her normal blue screen; it was now a pink background with a giant red heart in the center of it with the words "WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE" in pink letters. Carrie didn't know what to do as she looked at her monitor. Finally she got up and stormed out of her office, hollering at the staff, "Who has been messing with my computer?" Carrie's question was met with blank stares and she stormed back into her office. Within minutes, her phone buzzed at her and Carrie picked it up.

"Yes Mr. Blackner?"

"Carrie, can you come into my office for a few minutes?" Kyle Blackner's rich voice came over the phone.

"I'll be right there," Carrie said before hanging up. Standing up she smoothed her slacks out and worked on getting her composure back before heading across the hall to her boss's office. Rapping lightly on the door she waited to be told to enter. A moment later she walked in, surprised to see Matt Draper sitting in one the two chairs across from Kyle's desk.

"Morning Mr. Blackner," Carrie said before nodding at Matt, "Matt."

"Good morning Carrie," Kyle said, motioning to the empty seat.

Carrie sat down in the vacant seat, taking in the two men before her before turning her gaze back to her boss. "What did you need me for Mr. Blackner?"

"Matt? Can you please leave us alone please?"

"Sure thing boss man, I'll see ya later," Matt said before getting up and leaving.

"First off Carrie, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Kyle? Secondly, something was left here for you this morning," Kyle said, his eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Umm, yeah, I guess you could say that," Carrie said. "I'm sorry Kyle; I should have had my computer protected with a password."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I was there with the young man the entire time. You don't think I'd let someone be on any of the computers here without knowing exactly what they were doing, do you?"

"Of course not Kyle," Carrie said, trying to remember to use his first name. "So you know who left me the message?"

"Yes I do, and no, before you ask, I'm not going to tell you. As for what was left this morning for you, I wasn't talking about the message on your computer, I was talking about this," Kyle said.

Carrie watched as her boss opened a drawer in his desk and handed Carrie yet another rose. "Was there a message with it?" Carrie asked, noting that there was no message wrapped around the stem.

"The person who brought this simply told me to tell you that it's surprise number four," Kyle said grinning.

"Thank you Kyle," Carrie said, holding the thorn less rose lightly in her hand. Her gaze riveted to the bright red color. "Is that everything?" She asked, needing to get away and regain her composure.

"Actually, no, that's not everything. This year I have someone special in my life and want to be able to spend today with him," Kyle began. "The problem is, I refuse to do that unless I let everyone else have the day off, so, could you inform the staff that the rest of the day is a paid day off? Seeing as how I didn't tell anyone and they came in, I hate to just send them home without some kind of compensation."

"Thank you sir, I'll be sure to spread the word," Carrie said before leaving the office, closing the door softly behind her, the rose held in one hand. She quickly spread the word that everyone could go home before going back into her office. She placed the newest rose in with the other ones and sat back in her chair, trying to think of who could be behind this. It had to be more than just a foolish prank, otherwise why would the have involved her boss in it? Shaking her head she turned back to the computer, pulling up some of the office contracts that she had been working on for the past few days. She was still sitting there thirty minutes later when there was a knock on her office door. Looking up she seen Kyle standing in the doorway.

"What are you still doing here Carrie?" Kyle asked, taking a step into the room.

"Just finishing up some contracts that I started yesterday," Carrie said before turning back to the computer.

"Didn't I give all employees the day off?"

"Well yeah, but these really need to get done, so I figure as long as you're paying me I may as well stay and finish them up."

"No can do hon, I'm heading out now, everyone else is already gone and I'm locking the office up."

"I can lock the office up Kyle, it's not that big of deal," Carrie said, not really wanting to go home at the moment. She didn't know what other surprises could be waiting for her. "Kyle, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, ask me anything you want," Kyle said, coming further into the room. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, you know who it is that's doing the roses, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not going to tell you."

"I already figured that," Carrie said with a smile. "What I want to ask you is, should I be worried about a stalker?"

"A stalker? Oh god no Carrie. I'll tell you this, the man sending you flowers is in no way a stalker. If you tell him no then he'll go away," Kyle said. "Now, save that file and shut down that computer. I'm going to walk you out to your car and then I'm going to head home myself."

"Yes Kyle," Carrie said, not doubting for a second that if she didn't save it and shut down that Kyle would do it for her. Moments later they were headed out the front door of the building and seconds later they were standing at Carrie's car where yet another rose was put under each of her windshield wipers. Attached to the first one was a note that simply said: Number 5 and the second one said: Number 6.

"I wonder how many he's planning on doing," Carrie said, forgetting about Kyle standing next to her.

"Well, I have it on good authority that by the end of the day you'll have a full dozen," Kyle said as he chuckled.

"So you know more about all this than you're letting on huh?"

"Maybe a little, but I'm not going to spoil it by telling you everything I know, so don't even try. Anyways," Kyle finished, "you have tons of fun tonight and I will see you tomorrow in the office."

"Well, since I'm not sure what's going on, all I can do is promise that Ill try," Carrie said, unlocking the car door and sliding behind the wheel. Starting the car and hitting the button for the windows, Carrie said to Kyle, "Hey Kyle, do you need a lift home?"

"Nah, it's cool, my ride is already on its way, go ahead and head home," Kyle said, waving before going and sitting on the stairs to the building.

Carrie put the car in gear and started driving off before having second thoughts. She was just getting ready to turn around when she saw a big green truck pull up and Kyle climb in. Letting out a sigh, Carrie turned the car towards home. Reaching the apartment complex, Carrie parked the car in her designated space before heading in the doors. Deciding to check her mail first, Carrie approached the apartment mailboxes. If Carrie hadn't known exactly which box was hers, it would have been given away by the red rose taped to the outside of it. Seeing that rose reminded Carrie that she had left the other roses in her car. Forgetting about the mail for the moment, Carrie pulled the rose off of the mailbox before hurrying out to the car and grabbed the vase, adding the new one to the other five. Carrie rode up the elevator to her third floor apartment and headed towards her door. As she got closer she noticed yet another rose taped to her front door.

"This makes three that have been left inside the complex," Carrie said out loud to herself, her mind immediately going back to Brian. He was the only one that she could think of that made any kind of sense. Carrie pulled the latest rose off her door and quickly unlocked it before going inside. Her gaze was drawn to the single rose that sat in a vase on her table. Walking over, she plucked the rose out of the vase, bringing it to her nose to inhale the sweet fragrance before placing it to join the other seven in the vase that had been left at her office. Removing the old vase and replacing it with the new, Carrie sat down on a kitchen chair, wondering just what was going on.

Carrie got up from the table and tried to concentrate on other things that she could be doing. She got up and washed the few dishes that were sitting in the sink before wiping down the counters, her gaze continually drawn to the roses that were like a beacon sitting on the table. Shaking her head she moved into the living room, straightening up the large coffee table and side tables. No matter how hard she tried to divert her attention, it kept coming back to those roses. Finally giving up, she grabbed the vase off the kitchen table and sat it on the coffee table before going to her bookcase and grabbing one of her many Stephen King books off the shelf and flopping down on the couch. She settled herself in for a long read and with a last glance at the roses, Carrie started re-reading the book for like the millionth time. She loved Stephen King and had most of the books that he'd written. She'd even read some of his short stories.

Carrie hadn't realized the passing of time until she heard a knock on the door. Carrie sat the book face down on the coffee table before going to the door. She didn't know who it could be, since she hadn't buzzed anyone up. Opening up the door, she was surprised to find one of the local food delivery boys standing at her door.

"Ms. Ryan?"

"Yes, that's me," Carrie replied, wondering what was going on.

Without saying another word, the young man handed her a hot to go box and two roses before turning to walk away.

"Excuse me, but do you know who sent this?" Carrie asked.

"No mam," the boy answered.

"Well here, let me get you a tip," Carrie said before starting to turn away from the door.

"No worries mam, it's already been taken care of," was the reply before the young man walked down the hallway. Carrie looked at the roses for a minute before closing the door of her apartment. She still didn't know who it was sending her flowers, but the best guess she had at the moment was Brian.

Carrie finally noticed the note wrapped around the two flowers and set the food on the counter. Pulling off the note, she read: Numbers 9 and 10... will deliver the last one in person. Completely puzzled, Carrie added the two newest roses to the vase. Looking over at the to go box, Carrie walked over and lifted the lid, smiling when she saw it was from a delivery teriyaki place not far from her apartment. Whoever it was that was doing the roses obviously knew what she liked. Grabbing a pair of chopsticks from the drawer, Carrie carried the box over to the table and sat down to eat. When she was done, Carrie decided that what she needed was a long relaxing bath. Grabbing her book off the table, Carrie made her way into the bathroom. Carrie started the water and added a lid full of her favorite bubble bath before stripping her clothes off and climbing in the water.

After about an hour, Carrie set her book aside and washed her hair and body before climbing out of the tub. She quickly dried off before grabbing her heavy terry cloth bath robe and slipping it on. Moving into the bedroom she tried to decide what she wanted to wear when she remembered what the last roses said. Apparently her mystery man was going to deliver the last rose in person. Kyle had said that there would be a dozen, so that left two roses that hadn't shown up yet. Carrie opened her closet door and started flipping through shirts. She finally settled on an ivory three quarter sleeve blouse and pulled it out of the closet, laying it out on the bed. Moving over to the dresser she started pulling open drawers, but was unable to find anything to go with the blouse. She knew that she had a Levi skirt somewhere that would go perfectly, but she wasn't sure where it was. Slipping out of her room, Carrie went over to the dryer in the laundry closet in the hallway and opened the door. After riffling through the contents she finally came up with what she was looking for, but found it was extremely wrinkled. Sighing in disgust, Carrie threw the skirt back in and started the dryer, hoping that she'd be able to get the wrinkles out with a minimum amount of fuss.

Carrie headed back into the bathroom and plugged the hair dryer and the curling iron in. After running the brush quickly through her hair she grabbed the blow dryer and turned it on, quickly drying her hair. Carrie grabbed the curling iron and curled her hair softly around her face. Not wanting to over do it, Carrie applied a very light coating of make up, just enough to highlight her facial features. Heading back to the bedroom, Carrie stopped by the dryer and pulled the warm skirt out, satisfied to see that most of the wrinkles had come out. Slipping into the bedroom she pulled a pair of lacy panties and a matching bra out of her drawer before donning her outfit. After a quick glance in the mirror Carrie was satisfied with her appearance and grabbing her book she headed back into the living room. After grabbing a Dr. Pepper out of the fridge, Carrie settled in for what she assumed would be a long wait.

Barely a half hour had passed when Carrie heard a knock on her front door. Feeling only slightly nervous, Carrie got up off the couch and smoothed her skirt into place before going to the door. Opening the door she was met with what she expected, Brian standing there with a single red rose held in his large hands. Carrie couldn't help the smile that played across her face.

"So it is you," Carrie said lightly.

"Who? Me?" Brian said confused.

"Well, you're the only man I see standing at my front door with a rose," Carrie said laughing.

"Yeah but, if I remember correctly, you were getting a dozen roses," Brian said.

Carrie thought back to all the roses she had already gotten and counted them up. A frown crossed her face as she realized that Brian was right, the one that he held would be number eleven, so that meant that there was still one that was unaccounted for.

"So, you're in on this too, huh?" Carrie asked lightly.

"Yup, I'm just the delivery boy this time."

Carrie was still trying to figure out who could be behind the roses, if it wasn't Brian, when a deep husky voice came from behind Brian.

"Trying to steal my thunder, huh Bri?"

"Nope, would never even think of that," Brian said over his shoulder before turning to Carrie, "laters Carrie." When Brian finally moved out of the way and Carrie could see who it was, she felt the breath leave her lungs.

"Matt," was all she could muster. Carrie had never for one second thought about it possibly being Matt. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Matt had stopped by her office on numerous occasions, but she had never realized that he might like her. Sometimes Carrie felt like she was just a complete idiot. The signs had been there for a couple months, but they had flown right over her head.

"Hope you're not disappointed," Matt said smiling and bending down and brushing his lips against Carrie's cheek. "Happy Valentine's Day, Carrie."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Matt," Carrie said before stepping out of the doorway, "come in."

"Thanks Carrie," Matt said, stepping past where she stood at the door. As he walked into the living room he looked around him. "Nice place," he commented.

"It's home," Carrie replied, feeling slightly giddy inside. She had always thought Matt was extremely good looking, but she had never thought that he might return the compliment. "So uh... what... why..." Carrie stammered, before finding her voice. "Why me Matt?"

"Well, somebody needed to bring a smile to your face, and I really wanted that someone to be me," Matt said, knowing that it sounded sappy, but meaning every word.

Carrie felt the blush rising up her face, but had no way of stopping it. Trying to give herself a minute to compose herself, Carrie walked over and sat down on the couch. "So uh... what did you have planned?" Carrie questioned.

"Well, it would ruin the surprise if I told you," Matt said, his eyes twinkling. "Why don't we get going and then you'll see," Matt said, holding out his hand.

Carrie was nervous as she placed her small hand in his larger one. She didn't know the last time she'd actually been out on a date. Her last boyfriend had turned out to be a royal jerk and she just hadn't really had the desire to date since then. They were just getting ready to walk out the door when Carrie remembered the roses and added the newest two to the vase on the coffee table, making the dozen complete.

"It was really sweet of you," Carrie said as they were walking down the corridor. She was mildly surprised when she saw Matt's cheeks turn red.

"Well, uh... I kinda wanted to get your attention," Matt said before cursing himself for sounding lame.

"Well, you did that and more," Carrie said, flashing a smile at Matt.

"Good," was all Matt said, giving her hand a squeeze.

Carrie felt extremely feminine on the way out to Matt's car. He was proving to be a real gentleman as he opened doors for her and helped her get seated in his metallic blue Toyota tundra. Carrie smiled softly as she held her hands nervously in her lap. She smiled as Matt climbed into the truck and started it up. As though he sensed her nervousness he reached over and grasped one of Carrie's hands, squeezing reassuringly.

The ride to their destination was fairly quiet, with the two of them making very little small talk. About an hour later they pulled up to where Matt was taking Carrie and Carrie's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Hogle Zoo?" Carrie asked stupidly after Matt had gotten out of the truck and came around and opened her door.

"Yep, I try to go every couple of years."

"I love the zoo; it's just been awhile since I went. The last time I went was with my dad. The last time I went was the year before he died, when I was 16. It just never seemed the same after that," Carrie finished, her voice cracking slightly.

"If you'd rather go somewhere else..." Matt began, only to be interrupted.

"No, it's okay, I just could never face it alone before."

"Well, you're not alone this time, so let's go see the aminals," Matt said, purposely mispronouncing the word.

"Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY," Carrie answered, chuckling slightly.

"Let's go make new memories," Matt said softly, enfolding Carrie's hand in his.

"Sounds good," Carrie replied softly.

Matt and Carrie walked toward the entrance and after paying the fee, Matt led Carrie around the zoo. It was just like she had remembered it, only more animals than before. As they approached the wolf pen, Carrie started to get giddy. Her favorite animals at the zoo had always been the wolves and the cougars. As they got closer, Carrie felt a wave of disappointment; she didn't see the wolves anywhere. She looked in every nook and cranny that she could spot and let out a sigh when she couldn't find them.

"What's wrong Carrie?"

"Oh nothing, I just love seeing the wolves."

"I'm sure they'll come out," Matt said softly.

"Eventually. It was always funny; I was always disappointed if I didn't see them. I don't remember how many times my dad sat with me just waiting for a glimpse of one of them."

Matt thought for a few minutes about the rest of the day's plans and decided that things would just have to be rearranged. Spotting a bench set just to the side of the wolf pen, Matt pulled Carrie over to it. After sitting down, Carrie looked at him quizzically.

"What are we doing Matt?"

"We're waiting."

"You don't have to do this," Carrie said, feeling slightly guilty.

"I want to. Today is for you, and if you want to see the wolves then we will stay right here until they come out," Matt said, reaching up with his free hand and brushing Carrie's hair gently back from her face. "This is obviously important to you, so that makes it important in my book."

Matt and Carrie sat for a while making small talk before they just sat in companionable silence, keeping a close eye on the pen in front of them. About an hour later, Matt saw what he was waiting for and nudged Carrie's shoulder lightly.

"Carrie? Look, right there," Matt said, pointing at where he had spotted the white wolf.

"Oh god, he's gorgeous," Carrie breathed, taking in the long haired white wolf, its movements graceful. There was just something about wolves that had always seemed to draw her in. There was just a certain knowledge that shined in a wolf's eyes that completely entranced her.

"Yes, he is," Matt replied, watching as the wolf moved stealthily through the trees that encompassed its den.

They continue to watch the wolf for a few minutes when it disappeared again. Carrie turned shining eyes to Matt and smiled up at him.

"Thank you Matt, no one but dad has ever been willing to wait with me."

"Like I said, it was important to you, so no worries."

After the wolves, Carrie continued around the zoo with Matt, still in wonder at how he had just waited with her. She never knew why it was so important to her to see the wolves, but there was just something about them that made her feel better. After visits to the rest of the animals, Carrie and Matt were on their way out the gate when Matt changed directions. He headed into the gift shop and they wandered around for a while until Matt found what he was looking for. At first he passed it by, hoping that Carrie wouldn't notice. A few minutes later he led her outside before making the remark that he had forgotten something and would be right back. Minutes later he walked back out with a huge stuffed wolf held under one arm. Walking up to Carrie, he handed her the stuffed wolf before leaning over and very lightly brushing his lips against Carrie's surprised ones.

"Oh god Matt, you shouldn't have," Carrie exclaimed after she'd regained her voice.

"Yes, I should have, I knew they would have one. I wanted to get you some souvenir from this trip, and after I seen how much you loved the wolves, well, this made perfect sense."

Carrie didn't know how she could argue with that so she accepted gratefully and wrapped her free arm around Matt's neck, giving him a heartfelt hug. "Thank you Matt."

"Anytime."

Once back in the truck, Matt headed back towards home, smiling as he thought about how well the day had gone. As he realized that they wouldn't be able to make the sunset since the sun was already low in the sky he decided on another course of action. Despite the fact that he still had a half a tank of gas, Matt made the excuse that they needed to stop and fill up the tank. As he jumped out of the truck he dialed a number on his cell phone. After explaining what he needed, he paid for the gas and climbed back in, satisfied that everything would be taken care of by the time they got back into town.

"So what's next on the agenda," Carrie asked lightly.

"You'll see," Matt answered, a slight smile curving his lips.

A short time later, Matt pulled up into the driveway of a small house. To Carrie it actually looked more like a cottage or maybe even a mother in law house. Carrie climbed out of the truck and followed Matt up the steps before asking.

"Whose house is this?"

"Mine," Matt answered, hoping that he hadn't just gone too far.

"Oh, okay," Carrie said agreeably. Carrie didn't know what Matt had planned, but she was sure that if it was anything like the trip to the zoo that she was going to love it. Carrie waited while Matt unlocked the door and then walked through the door that Matt held open for her. The site that greeted her eyes was beyond anything that she had been expecting. A coffee table had been moved against the far wall of the large room and a red and white checkered table cloth was spread out in the middle of the living room. Two plates were set on the tablecloth and next to them were a couple of wine glasses and forks. Scattered on every available surface were dozens of tea light candles, all of them lit and infusing the room with a light glow. Playing on the stereo was some soft, sultry music.

Carrie turned wondering eyes to Matt, wondering how on earth he could have possibly had this set up. He had been gone for most of the afternoon and from the looks of it, the tea light candles couldn't have been burning for too long. The wax had just barely started to melt.

"How on earth..." Carrie started.

"I had a little help," Matt said, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. He hoped that he wasn't coming on too strongly, but he had spent months trying to figure out the best way to approach her. About two weeks before he had come up with the idea of Valentine's Day.

"Have a seat," Matt said softly, motioning towards the couch. "I need to get the food ready."

Carrie took the proffered seat before looking around the room, noting how the décor was largely Native American. Her gaze was captured as she looked at a picture of her boss with Matt and some woman. As Matt walked in, Carrie asked him, "Who's that?"

"That would be me, Kyle, and a friend of ours," Matt answered lightly.

"Oh, and are these your parents?" Carrie said lightly, pointing to another framed photograph.

"Yeah, that's Mom and Dad. They were high school sweethearts and have been together ever since," Matt said before setting the basket he was carrying in the center of the tablecloth. Extending a hand out to Carrie, Matt helped her off the couch and waited until she was sitting with her legs tucked under her before moving and taking a seat across from her. Opening the basket, Matt took out a bottle of wine that looked to be a deep red wine. Taking Carrie's glass, Matt poured some of the deep red liquid into it before handing it to her and filling his own. Reaching into the basket again, Matt started pulling out food.

Carrie watched in amazement as he pulled stuff out. It started out as just regular picnic food, fried chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, Ritz crackers, sliced cheese, and olives. Then he surprised her and pulled out what Carrie was sure was desert, chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered cherries.

They slowly made their way through the dinner, talking a little bit in between bites. Finally, Carrie put her napkin down and sat there, watching Matt. Within moments Matt set his napkin down and picked up a strawberry, placing it at her lips. Carrie blushed slightly as she ate it before doing the same for him. They made their way through the strawberries and cherries and then Matt placed everything back in the picnic basket and took the basket and the dishes into the kitchen. He helped Carrie up from where she still sat on the table cloth and led her over to the couch before folding the table cloth and setting it aside. Turning on the TV, Matt turned to Carrie, holding two movies up for her decision. Carrie was surprised to see the movies "Dirty Dancing" and "Sweet Home Alabama". She had always been a sucker for "Sweet Home Alabama" and quickly picked it.

Matt popped the DVD into the DVD player before joining her on the couch, pulling her over to lean lightly against him. They sat cuddled together throughout the movie, and Matt would have sworn that he seen tears in Carrie's eyes during the last scene on the beach. Most of the candles had burned out by the time the movie was over and Matt picked up the remote, hitting the stop button. They sat cuddled together in the comfortable silence before Matt gently sat Carrie up and turned her to face him.

"Carrie?"

"Yes Matt?"

"So what's your answer?"

"My answer?" Carrie asked confused. She didn't know exactly what Matt had asked her, and she knew he hadn't asked her anything within the last little while.

"Will you be my Valentine?" Matt said softly, smiling softly at Carrie and reaching out to gently cup her cheek in his hand.

Carrie couldn't seem to be able to form words and finally had to settle for just nodding her head. She smiled back at Matt whose grin had gotten bigger. Moments later she felt Matt's lips gently moving over hers as he pulled her into his arms, holding her as if she was as fragile as a porcelain doll. Carrie didn't know how long they sat their, their mouths lightly exploring before Matt pulled back and got up, moving to put the other DVD into the player. When he came back to the couch he didn't sit next to her as Carrie expected, but rather eased her down on the couch before moving behind her, wrapping an arm around her and holding her back against his solid chest and sliding his other arm under her head for a pillow.

Carrie knew that this position couldn't be comfortable for Matt, but when she tilted her head back and looked up at him she found that he was using a throw pillow for his own head. Snuggling into the warm arms encasing her, Carrie relaxed and watched the movie. Sometime between the moment when Patrick Swayze got fired and the end of the movie, Carrie drifted to sleep. The last thought on her mind was that maybe Valentine's Day wasn't so bad after all.