I lie in bed staring at Phillip's note. It makes my heart feel warm. I close my eyes and relive our week together. I've had such a wonderful time with him. I really could picture myself marrying him. And evidently the chicken shit in me has flown the coup because it's not even that scary of a thought any more. I probably should get up. I think I'll pamper myself and spend most of the day getting ready. I really want to look great tonight. So I get up, have a bowl of Frosted Flakes and decide to start by giving myself a pedicure.

I'm digging through my bathroom closet for pedicure supplies, when my doorbell rings.

I run to the door and look out the window. I see a huge bouquet of roses with two legs. I open the door and the deliveryman, who does have more to his body than just two legs, hands me a massive bouquet.

Wow!

There are three, yes three, dozen beautiful, long-stemmed red roses in a huge vase.

I just stand there for a minute and breathe in. They smell wonderful!

Gosh, I wonder who they're from?

Actually, I'm just teasing, I have a pretty good idea who they're from.

Phillip.

Wow! He's really getting into this whole first date thing.

I mean, no one ever sends flowers like this before a first date.

But I guess this isn't your typical first date. I mean, we have had an amazing week together.

And rarely do you get them after the first date because the guy would be all afraid to look like he was crazy about you, even if he is.

Guys would think that's not cool.

But Phillip knows I love flowers, and knowing him, he probably knows exactly how many times and from whom, I have gotten flowers in the past. My record is two dozen pink roses from Jason O'Connor. Jason was from a very wealthy family, so Phillip irritatingly called him Richie Rich. Jason was adorable, but he could be a bit arrogant and tended to drink a lot. Bad combination. He got wasted at my winter formal, got mouthy, and started a fight. I'd had enough, so I left him at the dance. The next day, he sent me the flowers as an apology. I accepted the roses, but not his apology. One of the few times I have actually followed Phillip's advice on boys.

So Phillip knows that three dozen roses is by far the biggest arrangement I have ever received, or practically seen for that matter.

I'm just ready to close my door and go into the house when Phillip's sister, Ashley, comes walking up the sidewalk. I can just see her through some of the stems.

“Hey, JJ. Wow, those flowers are gorgeous! Are they from anyone I might know?”

“Well, I don't know, I have so many men in my life these days.”

Actually, that's how it used to be. I always had lots of boys around, and I liked it because it meant I didn't have to get serious with any of them. And in retrospect, I probably didn't get serious with anyone because I've always had Phillip.

I'm happy to say that for one whole week, there has been only one man in my life.

And has he been in my life. I can't seem to get rid of him.

He wants to be with me every second.

And guess what?

That's not even bugging me yet! So things are going really well!

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to pick you up.”

“Oh, I'm sorry Ash, but I'm already sort of spoken for.”

“Very funny.” She rolls her eyes at me.

I walk back inside and put the big, beautiful bouquet on my kitchen table. It dwarfs it. This flower arrangement is so big it looks like it should be in the lobby of a Vegas casino. Oh, I don't mean that they are tacky or gaudy in any way. It's just so very large!

“So,” Ashley says, “big first date tonight, huh?” She frowns at me. “Hmm. You don't look like you're ready.”

“Ah, no, I'm not, since the date doesn't start for like seven hours. I kinda thought I'd pace myself, Ash, but I was just getting ready to paint my toenails.”

“Not anymore. WE are going to get you beautiful.”

Like I'm not already?

“We are?”

“Yes. I'm taking you to Bloom Beautiful Spa, that new place.”

“Wow! I've heard that place is incredible.”

“It is and I don't want to be late, so we have to leave. NOW!”

Ashley is still very bossy. I'm glad she's married because now she has someone else to boss around.

Bloom is a great place. I love it!

Ashley and I are immediately treated to a glass of wine. When I question her about drinking wine at ten o'clock in the morning, she just raises her glass to me, takes a drink, and quotes a Jimmy Buffet song, “Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere.”

We sit and relax for a bit. Ashley is babbling on about something, but I'm kinda tuning her out because my mind is on Phillip.

I thought it was pretty cool he left me a sweet note this morning, but then, wow, the flowers were amazing.

And now the spa?

I've known Phillip for a long time, and he has only sent flowers on two occasions, one being Valentine's Day and the other, I forget really why, but they were both wayyyy back in high school.

Really, that seems a bit odd to me now that I think about it because Phillip has had quite a few girlfriends.

They just never seemed to last.

I wonder if that was my fault.

And if it is, I'm glad.

Sorry, but I am.

Phillip has always given me flowers on Valentine's Day. They were not like delivered or anything, but he usually stopped at the grocery store and bought me a sweet little bouquet.

I used to tease him, telling him that he must have a secret crush on me, and he would jokingly tell me that he only did it because he was afraid I wouldn't get anything from a real guy, and then I'd be horrible to live with. He has always been so sweet to me, I seriously do not know why I never hooked up with him before this.

Maybe I knew deep down he was worth more than that?

The other night, I asked him why he never tried anything with me, and he said he was waiting for me to. I was like, So you really didn't want to, and he was like, No, I just, I don't know, it just never felt like the right time, and I didn't want to be like all the other random guys. And I was like, Chicken.

And then he attacked me.

Mmmmm.

I hear my name being called, and it breaks my daydream.

I stand up and ask Ashley, “Hey, did Phillip plan all the spa stuff too?” She just smiled that sneaky smile of hers. She loves knowing stuff that you don't know.

My first treatment is a gingerbread body scrub. After nearly an hour of having my body scrubbed and massaged, I'm feeling amazing. I go back to the relaxation area, curl up on a chaise, and read the latest Cosmo.

Well, I am specifically reading an article about how to please my man, which I am hoping could be um, useful tonight.

Ashley comes out of her treatment room and says, “Isn't this place just heavenly?” She looks all limp, like they poured her out of the room, and she is practically drooling. I think she is really enjoying herself.

My name is called again, this time for a pumpkin enzyme facial. Afterwards, my skin feels so smooth, and I must say, I smell incredible.

Seriously, Phillip will not be able to resist me tonight. I smell like pumpkin bread and gingerbread cookies, which are two of his very favorites!

We are served a wonderful yummy lunch and more wine. I'm really quite relaxed, which is probably a good thing because if I wasn't, I might be thinking about tonight, about Phillip, about our future, if we have a future, all that scary stuff.

And all of a sudden, I am really, surprisingly, nervous for our date.