Page 8 of Proslo

A rap on the glass entrance door had us turn our attention towards it.

“That’s Mrs. Titchmarsh!” I exclaimed. “And she’s got Pumpkin!” I couldn’t help the squeal that came out with those words. My furbaby was here, peering out of the backpack carrier I used to take him on walks with me and to the vet.

Lechand called out, “I’ve got the door,” and sailed past us, throwing it open.

“Thank you so much,” he told her.

“Yep, sure thing. Oh, my, aren’t you two tall drinks of water for a thirsty woman?”

Lechand laughed. “I see the moving crew are here as well,” he said, pointing to another Mylos who had just appeared in the parking lot.

She whirled around. “Where’d he come from?”

“The roof,” Proslo replied. “They came with me on the shuttle.”

Lechand reached into his pocket and fished out a set of keys before calling out the door to the man. “Do you know how to operate one of their motor vehicles?” he pointed towards an SUV parked in the far corner of the lot.

“I do,” the man replied, inclining his head.

“Here, catch!” Lechand tossed the keys at him and the man deftly plucked them out of the air.

“Xeranos will instruct you on where to pick up a truck rental.”

The man inclined his head. “Blethis also knows how to operate these, and we are both cleared for larger sized commercial vehicles.”

“Excellent. One of you can drive the truck back here and the other one my car. Then you can all follow the lovely Mrs. Titchmarsh to Betty’s apartment.”

She nodded vigorously. “I’ll do you one better. Follow me to the Ryder truck place, boys. I’ll show you the right size to get and we can get going from there.”

“How will they get my stuff up if we’re taking the shuttle first? Will it come back for them?”

“One of the cargo transports will meet them at the local landing field in your town,” Lechand replied. “There’s one currently loading at a grocery warehouse and it will have enough space for your things.”

“Oh, okay then.”

Proslo brushed his lips gently across my forehead before stepping back and taking my chocolates from me. My face burned as I realized I’d stood there this whole time just clutching these things in my hand while she still had my cat. She cackled, coming inside and holding out the straps to Pumpkin’s backpack.

“Before we go, someone needs to get the stuff for him out of my car.”

“I’ll help with that,” yet another Mylos said, appearing from the side of the building.

“There’s a ladder or something to the roof, isn’t there?” I murmured and Proslo laughed, showing a dimple in his chin that had me coming simply undone once more.

“Yes,” he replied, leading me towards the door in the back. “But we shall take the stairs.”

6

PROSLO

She was even lovelier in person and none more so than when she took her lower lip between her teeth, a gentle blush upon her cheeks, her eyes shining as she took in the sight of me holding the roses and chocolates. My heart soared at her reaction. The delay I took before going to the waiting shuttle had been worth it. At first, I was only going to stop at the florist’s, but when I explained what they were for, Tina, the proprietress, explained about the language of flowers. She then proceeded to gather a bouquet of the fragrant red blooms she called roses, warning me against the thorns as she wrapped them up.

“And since you’re kicking it old school,” she’d said, “you best pop over to Candy’s Sweets on the other side of the park, just opposite. Tell her to give you a sampler.”

I’d hurried there and the eponymous Candy had squealed, selling me the box of Whitman’s which came with a red bow to show it was a precious gift.

“If it was good enough for Elizabeth Taylor,” she said with a wink as she pointed to a framed advertisement behind her on the wall, “it’s definitely good enough for your lady.” Seeing my expression, she added, “She was a huge film star and was considered one of the most beautiful women in the world in her heyday.”

My mate was definitely a female who stole my breath away, so these were indeed appropriate. I paid for them and hurried towards the shuttle bay. Yes, definitely a wise move – just look at how she’d reacted! She’d understood immediately that I was wooing her and that she was valued.