Page 83 of Almost Always

“Who made fun of you?”

I should tell him it was his stupid girlfriend and her friends. Tell him that they’re horrible people.“I don’t know,” she said instead. “I was so embarrassed I didn’t look at their faces.”

He nodded and tugged at his hair. “You know that I will protect you, right?”

“I know, Raff. I appreciate you being there for me.”

“Always, Hero.”

She stared at him, the words feeling like a promise, and forced a smile. “I’m really tired, so I’m going to nap before Dad gets home. I’ll see you for dinner?”

“Yeah, okay.”

She moved past him to get her bag from the Ames house and hopped over the railing onto her side of the brownstone. With one more look at him, she waved and hurried through the front door, ignoring the way her heart raced at the look in his eyes.

CHAPTER 25

Even though dinner with her friends wasn’t for a few hours, he’d gotten to Daisy’s house early. He could hear orchestral music playing, but had no idea where it was coming from as he let himself into her house. Leaving his bag by the stairs he saw the back door was left open. With his hands in his pockets, Rafferty followed the music to the greenhouse.

It was a small space with a counter running against one side while the rest of it was covered in plants. Large leaves blocked his path, but when he stepped past them, he saw her. His eyes gobbled her up greedily—her feet were tucked into gardening shoes and bare legs led up to a short dress that flaunted the silver lines on the back of her thighs. A dark blue apron was wrapped around her body and her hair was up in a messy knot that matched his. She was humming along with the music, body swaying as she dug into a pot.

“You can’t leave your house unattended, darlin’,” he said and she jumped, dropping some of the mud she was working with. “What if I was a serial killer looking for my next victim?”

Rolling her eyes, she looked him up and down. “Serial killers are often very handsome men. So in short, I’d be screwed.”

He chuckled, pushed off the doorway and her arms slipped around his neck as his settled at her waist. They stared at each other a long moment before she stretched up to kiss him. Rafferty sighed happily and pulled her flush against him.

“You’re early.”

“Was missing you.”

She nibbled on his bottom lip before leaning away. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. Wanna help me finish repotting?”

“Sure.”

With another quick kiss, she stepped out of his arms and tossed him a pair of gloves. She lowered the music and pointed to what they were working with—strawberries.

“I’m sure you know how to do this, but I have a process I like.”

He nodded. “I’ll follow your lead. I don’t know how to repot strawberries. How often do you have to do this?”

“Every couple of years. This batch didn’t produce much so far, so I figure revitalizing them would be a good idea.”

“Did you get good stuff off the others?” he asked, looking around the small space and identifying a few vegetables.

“The tomatoes have been really good. I think by the end of the summer, the others will have their act together.”

He grinned and watched her get to work. She did have a process, but there was something so beautifully fluid about how she moved. Even if she did stop often to brush her hair out of the way. Rafferty did the best he could to focus on his own pot, but it was impossible. She was always distracting, even more so when she was in her element.

“Eyes on your work, hotshot,” she teased.

“I’d rather be looking at you, anyway.”

She shook her head, more strands falling into her face. She huffed and attempted to blow them away, but wasn’t successful. He took off his gloves and helped, his fingers twisting the wispsof hair before sliding it behind her ears. She stared at him, lust swirling with the caramel in her eyes and her lips were slightly parted.

“Don’t look at me like that, Daze.”

“You started it,” she whispered, gloved hands fisting into the front of his gray T-shirt.

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