Any Time, Any Place
Page 79

But she got him the fries.
Days and nights rolled by, and they got into a strange routine. He was there like clockwork every night till closing. He followed her home, made sure she got inside, then disappeared. He showed up at the gym on the days she trained with Xavier, keeping his distance and working out in the weight room by himself. But he always greeted her, watched over her, and made sure she got safely to her car after her workout.
He sent her flowers. Not expensive roses or lilacs, but daisies. Simple, happy flowers that showed up in small batches on her doorstep. She threw them away the first few weeks, then began keeping them. No reason to waste a living thing that looked so pretty in her kitchen.
When she opened up the bar one Tuesday morning, she realized the front steps had been fixed. It had been on her list for a while, but with the budget of restoring the bar, she’d decided to patch them up until winter closed in.
Now she noticed they had been completely redone and sealed, with no cracks or bumps that would cause liability. She almost called him to demand to know whether he’d done it, then decided ignoring him would be the better option. After all, the man would probably boast about helping her out to win brownie points.
He never said a word.
Slowly, like rock eroded by water and smoothed out over the span of years, her emotions began to soften. She became more used to his presence. He was never with another woman, and the few times she caught a female trying to pick him up, he politely told them he was in love with the bartender.
He’d begun to recruit the crowd in My Place. They cheered him on like they were watching a love story unfold. Like she was some prize for him to win.
It pissed her off.
Even Al went from threatening to throw him out to chatting with him during his breaks. She tried to keep the pain of the night he’d left her close to her heart so she wouldn’t get tricked into believing this was real. Raven couldn’t let herself be hurt like that again. The next time he took her to bed and casually walked away as if she meant nothing would destroy her.
Why did it feel different, though? Like he’d made a decision to love her unconditionally and nothing would deter him? Not even her own stubbornness?
She finally snapped when she caught him leaving an envelope on her front porch early one Sunday morning. Not caring that she’d just rolled out of bed, she marched to the door, flung it open, and began yelling.
“What are you doing? Penance for your sins? They’re forgiven, Dalton, now please go away!”
He straightened up and grinned at her. “Morning. You look beautiful.”
Her mouth dropped open. She should’ve scared him with her crazy hair and no makeup and the baggy sweats she slept in when she needed extra comfort. “Are you kidding me? You cannot force your way back into my life just because you decide! I get to decide, do you hear me? I’m the commander of my ship! The queen of my castle!”
“Yes, you are. I don’t want to piss you off, sweetheart. I want to prove something to both of us. We need to start over fresh. I’ve never fallen in love before, so I freaked and screwed it up, but I’m not going to do that again. I intend to show you every day, from now on. I enjoy watching you close up the bar, and having terrible coffee with you in the morning, and admiring how you try to kick Xavier’s ass in the gym. All that time I couldn’t understand why I was so damn happy sitting in My Place, even when you’d just insult me. Now I know.” He beamed, and that charming male beauty reminded her of Gabriel, an angel so stunning, poor mortals were helpless beneath his smile. “Because as long as I’m with you, I’m happy. I get it now. I was a bit slow, and now I need to convince you I won’t make that terrible mistake again.” He cocked his head as if thinking through an inner schedule. “You’re stubborn. And prideful. So it may take weeks, maybe even months, but eventually you’re going to look for me and I will be there.”
Stunned, she listened to the words with a hope she needed to squash. She opened her mouth to say something terrible and awful and cruel. “What if it takes years?”
He rocked back on his heels. “That’s okay. You’re worth it.” His eyes glittered. “We’re worth it.”
She stuck her chin up in the air, refusing to get lost in his pretty words. “I don’t believe you. Now leave me alone so I can enjoy my coffee in peace.”
He handed her the envelope. “This is for you. I told Cal no grand gestures, but this was different. I wanted to do this.”
“You didn’t have to fix my front steps,” she grumbled.
“Yes, I did,” he said softly. “Because I want to take care of you.”
He left her on the porch, simmering with unresolved tension and rioting emotions. Damn him. Why couldn’t he just go away like a normal man? She ripped open the envelope and took out the piece of paper.
A certificate.
A star has been chosen and named in your honor . . .
Raven Bella Hawthorne
Ah, shit. He’d named a star after her. It was the most romantic gesture a man had ever made to her, but like the enemy of Moses, she hardened her heart and refused to get all weak and soft and girly.
Absolutely refused.

Raven didn’t know what to do. She sat on the leather couch in her living room and tried to analyze the whirling array of emotions clutching her body. It had become more than a game now. Dalton had been seriously pursuing her for almost three months, with no signs of slowing down or getting frustrated. The open affection and love glowing from his ocean-blue eyes tempted her to give in and surrender. But the raw pain of his brutal rejection still ached.
He seemed different. More centered, as if he accepted his feelings with an ease he’d never shown before. There was no more fighting or pretending. He told her every day with actions and words what she meant to him, and that he didn’t want to let her go.
Was it enough? Was it time to take another leap and hope he caught her?
Raven reached for her cell, dialed the familiar number, and prayed she’d get an answer. The voice that came on the line was one she both trusted and admired.
“’Bout time you surfaced.” The sleepy feminine grumble reminded Raven of all the times she’d tried to rouse Izzy before noon, mostly so they could get into more mischief together.
“I’m in trouble.”
She heard the rustle of movement, then Izzy spoke again, serious. “Tell me everything.”