Timing Is Everything

A few days had passed since James and Roxy had hooked up and neither of them had tried to contact one another. James had been busy with games, practices and interviews while Roxy was busy putting together a very large anniversary party for some wealthy couple in Pittsburgh.

"Have you called that girl yet?" Paul Martin asked James one day as they stood out after getting 'out' during two-touch.

"No," James replied, shaking his head. He watched Evgeni Malkin kick the ball to Jordan Staal.

"Why not?"

"Just haven't had the time," James shrugged. "Besides she was a hookup. It wasn't a date."

"You seemed to like her quite a bit," Paul replied. "You talk about her enough, and you smiled big enough for the last few days."

"I told you, I'm not ready for a relationship." James laughed softly. "She was fun and maybe I'll call her again one day, but I'm not ready to run through a wall to get to her."

Paul shrugged. He wanted to see James in a relationship. He knew that James would benefit from a relationship and he wanted to be with this girl more than he let on. Paul knew that James was lonelier than he let on, as well. Paul could tell by the look on James' face at parties and organization events. He knew James would like to have someone to talk to her, a woman friend to hang out with at family events. It was more than obvious.

"Do what you gotta do," Paul nodded. They watched the game end and they played one more before getting ready to play their actual hockey game.

The game went well, the Pens had won and James got a goal. He undressed and got into his workout clothes to cool down after the game. Once he had worked out a sufficient amount he went home to his big and lonely house.

James sighed and walked through the house. He walked to his kitchen and couldn't help but smile as he remembered the time he had spent with Roxy there the other night. He really did like her. He grabbed the piece of paper with her number off of the fridge and stared at it.

Did he call her? What would he say? He had never been good at asking girls on dates. He never really had to. Girls usually threw themselves at him, so he didn't have to really work at asking someone out. Even in high school it was like that. This was something that was new to James.

James shook his head and pinned the paper back to the fridge. He walked towards his bedroom all the way through to his bathroom. He stripped down and got in the shower. After a quick shower James went back to the bedroom and flopped down on his bed, falling asleep quickly.

The next morning Roxy got up early to head to the office and work on the anniversary party. She got to the office of the event planner she worked for and headed straight for her desk. As the morning progressed the receptionist, Gabrielle, came back to see Roxy.

"Roxanne, these came for you." She stated. Roxy pulled her head up from her work and looked at the small blonde girl standing in front of her holding an enormous vase of flowers.

"Oh, wow! Thanks, sweetie!" Roxy smiled, taking the vase from her and placing it on her desk. White orchids and orange Tiger lilies. They were her favourite.

"Oh my gosh," Melanie smirked, standing up and walking over to Roxy's desk. "Who are they from?"

"Let's see," Roxy smiled, grabbing the card from the vase. She opened it and read it, the handwriting unfamiliar to her.

Roxy,
Something pretty to look at while you work your ass off.
James

"They're from James," Roxy smiled widely, biting at her bottom lip. She had been thinking about him ever since the night they had spent together. She had hoped he would call, but this was definitely better.

"Who is James?" Gabrielle asked, looking at Roxy.

"Just a friend," Roxy smiled. "Hung out the other night, I saved his ass at a party."

"That's really sweet. He sounds great," Gabrielle smiled and walked back to the front of the office. Roxy smiled and moved the flowers around, arranging them once more.

"James? James sent you flowers?" Melanie asked, leaning on Roxy's desk.

"Looks like it," Roxy shrugged with a smile. She sat back down at her desk and couldn't help but stare at the flowers.

"Oh, no." Melanie sighed. "I know that look, Roxy. You like him!"

"Of course I like him!" Roxy laughed. "What's not to like?"

"I can think of one very important reason as to why you can't like him," Melanie replied. "Roxy, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You know what's at stake here."

"Is it so wrong to have a little crush on James Neal?" Roxy smirked, turning back to her computer.

"A crush, no. Having sex with James Neal and having him send you flowers is bad," Melanie replied, taking hold of her arm. "You can't see him anymore."

"Mel, I love you. You're one of my best friends and I take what you have to say very seriously, and I take it to heart, but I can't do that. I like James," Roxy replied. "He makes me happy."

"That's all well and good, sweetie, but-"

"No, you don't understand." Roxy laughed softly shaking her head. "James makes me happy. That night we spent together was incredible. The way he held me, the way he talked to me. You know he actually sat and listened to me when I talked about my family. He listened to me. The way he looked at me when he listened to me was just it felt amazing."

"I have a feeling you skipped on something really important when you told him about your family after you spent the night with him," Melanie whispered. "And you know exactly what I mean, so don't play dumb."

"Don't judge me," Roxy snapped at her friend. She couldn't believe her friend was about to throw this in her face. It was a harmless crush. Sure, she had possibly stepped over the line by sleeping with him, but that was no one's business but her own.

"When do you plan on telling him, Rox?" Melanie asked. "Hmm? When?"

"Tell him what?" Roxy muttered, looking away from Melanie and her judging eyes. She could feel them burning holes into her face. She hated it.

"That you're engaged,"