Page 58 of Almost Always

However, Daisy wasthe one. The minute he saw her at the ice cream shop, he knew that he’d work his ass off to keep her in his life permanently. He had a second chance and he wasn’t going to fuck it up. It certainly helped that his son liked her, that he’d grown up hearing stories about her. Of course, he knew better than to assume she wanted the same thing. Flirting didn’t meanyesand not even calling him Daddy implied that. The little signs were there, but he was going to let her lead the way. Let her call the shots. If all the Ames men got were more nights like this, he’d take it.

Boots trotted into the kitchen, nose following the scent of the food. Smiling, he scrubbed the top of his dog’s head and checked on dinner. While Nonna would pop it into the oven, the revised recipe he found didn’t require that. He added a mountain of grated cheese into the pan and covered it again as Daisy wandered in with a giddy smile.

“You doing okay, Raff?”

“Just more thinking.”

“What are you thinking about now?” She leaned against the counter beside him. Like she was totally unaware of the effect she had on him.

You. My thoughts are always about you.

“The second time we watchedShrektogether.”

“The same time that Poppy joined us and didn’t understand what was going on?”

He chuckled and nodded, setting the last dish on the drying rack. “He explained it to Nonna later and she looked just as puzzled.”

“They were the best,” she whispered and he nodded.

He knew how important his grandparents were to her and how much they had loved her. Until the day she died, his grandmother talked about Daisy fondly. She meant so much to them, just like they meant the world to her.

“I’m so hungry!” Cal groaned loudly as he came into the kitchen.

“Inside voice, please.”

His son huffed and rubbed his stomach. “Is dinner ready?”

“Almost. What does everyone want to drink?”

“Water is fine with me,” Daisy said and Cal shrugged.

“Why don’t you take the waters and cutlery, and I’ll bring the food.”

They grabbed everything and went back to the living room. He gave Boots his dinner, then portioned the bake into bowls. He carried the tray to the couch and smiled at how Cal was tucked into Daisy’s side. He handed them their food, sat down beside his son and started the movie.

It had been a while since he’d seen it, but it felt like old times with Daisy right there. While his son laughed at all the right times, Rafferty was too busy watching the woman on his couch. She seemed content in this moment.

When he invited her over that evening, he only thought as far as a meal and nothing else. He just wanted her close, with the hope of maybe exploring the one thing they’d been trying and failing to do ever since they reconnected. It wasn’t even about the physical aspect, it was so much more than that. Yes, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to touch and hold her, but if they just sat there on the couch and talked, it would be enough.

She turned and their eyes met. “You’re staring, hotshot.”

Hotshot, I could get used to that.

“Just making sure you’re really here.”

“Maybe you’re imagining me.”

“Damn good imagination if that’s all this is,” he said softly and turned back to the movie and smiled as more memories assaulted him. The first time they watched it together, they’d bought individual buckets of popcorn and inhaled all of it before the movie was even half done. The second time, they’d been onher couch, sharing a bowl, hands bumping and tangling as they laughed through the whole thing.

When Cal started to yawn, Rafferty paused the movie. “Shall we get some dessert and finish this later?”

“Dessert?” Cal asked through another yawn.

“If you can help me take this to the kitchen.”

Shaking himself awake, Cal followed him to the kitchen. With the leftovers tucked into the fridge and Daisy washing the rest of the dishes, he served the fudgey chocolate cake and a scoop of ice cream for each of them. He lifted Cal onto the counter as Daisy grabbed her bowl and the three of them ate their dessert in silence.

Until the alarm on his phone blared loudly.

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