And it fucking rocked.
But she was gone. The lights were out, and he was alone on her sidewalk. She closed early. Again. She never did that. Never left work. It soothed her. Gave her a purpose. And he fucked that up for her. All of it. But he would fix it.
Some way, somehow, he would.
He stalked toward her apartment, each stride longer than the last. When he got to her doorstep, he lifted his hand and knocked. After a few minutes, it became apparent she wasn’t home. So he sat. And he waited. And waited.
And waited some more.
Her elderly neighbor came, and went, and came again, her arms full with grocery bags. She must’ve taken pity on him. “She went out with a friend for dinner. She might be home soon.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Seechler.”
She smiled gently, her soft gray hair in a bun. “You’re welcome, Steven. Would you like to come in and wait? I can make tea, and I just bought some fresh baked cookies.”
“That’s very kind of you,” he said gently, forcing a smile. “But I’ll wait here. I don’t want to risk missing her.”
Plus, he deserved to sit on the hard concrete stairs.
He’d known, deep down, when she lied to him about the break-in, that she had done it out of love. There was no doubt in his mind. But his knee-jerk reaction had been to leave. To punish her for hurting him, and in a way, it was an excuse to escape the overwhelming happiness she made him feel. The love she made him feel. Yeah, that’s right. He fucking loved her. And it scared the shit outta him.
Guys like him didn’t deserve happiness.
So it was only right he lose it, like the rest of his men had.
But his decision to deprive himself of his one chance at a happy ending wasn’t fair, and he’d made a mistake in leaving her standing alone, outside her bakery. It wasn’t a mistake he would make again.
He could be fucking happy, too.
And he’d spend the rest of his life showing her how.
“If you’re sure…” she said.
“I am. But let me help you carry those in.”
He set his flowers down and took the bags from her. By the time he left her apartment, he’d declined tea and cookies at least three times. Walking out into the dark night, he sat back down, stretched his legs out…
And waited some more.
By the time familiar footsteps rounded the corner, it was close to nine o’clock. He didn’t stand. Just sat there, waiting for her. With flowers.
Like the sorry fool he was.
When she came around the corner, she wasn’t alone. She had a friend with her, one he vaguely recognized as someone she hung out with from college. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember her name. But he was pretty sure it had something to do with a flower or a plant.
“That’s awful,” the girl whose name he couldn’t remember said. “And he just went home after that?”
“Yep.” Lauren dug in her purse. “And, hey, moving on…about that guy you might like.”
“Oh, God. Not again.”
“But this one’s good. His name is Mark, and he works at the Shillings Agency.”
Steven gripped the flowers tighter.
Fucking Mark.
“Stop right there.” Her friend shook her head. “Prior military?”
“Yeah, but—”
“No way. Those men are way too hesitant to let people in.” She glanced at Lauren and flinched. Steven did, too. She was right. “Oops. Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Lauren said, but her voice was tight. “But this guy’s different. He’s handsome and sweet and a single—” She broke off, stumbling back a step.
Fuck. He’d finally been spotted.
It was go time.
“Hi,” he said, forcing a smile. “You look beautiful, Lauren.”
And she did. Then again, he couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been absolutely breathtaking. Even back in elementary school, when he’d spotted her panicking because she didn’t have a number two pencil, she’d been stunning.
“Thanks,” Lauren muttered.
The other woman glanced up, and scowled. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting. With flowers.” He stood and smoothed his jacket nervously. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you wouldn’t be alone.”
“Have you been here since you left work?” Lauren asked.
“Well, I stopped by the bakery first, but yeah.”
Lauren held her keys tightly and hugged her purse to her chest. “That was four hours ago.”
“Yep. It was.” He swallowed. “I’d have waited four more, too.”
“I went to dinner with Daisy,” she said, not looking the slightest bit swayed by his statement. “We made plans yesterday.”