No Matter What (The Billionaires of Sawgrass #4) - Delaney Cameron Page 0,71

her hand and practically dragged her to the kitchen. Sitting on the bar was a crystal vase full of long stem red roses. They could only be from one person. Tears stung her eyes.

Owen peered up at her, clearly puzzled by her reaction. “Why are you crying, Aunt Robin? Don’t you like flowers?”

She couldn’t tell him it was because these were the first she’d ever received, and that it was entirely fitting that Reece should be the one to give them to her. “I love flowers. I’m crying because I’m happy.”

Owen didn’t look convinced.

Robin reached for the small ivory envelope sticking out of the deep red blooms and removed the card inside. Written in bold, black letters were the words: Yesterday was only the beginning. R.

Reece couldn’t have found a better way to heighten her excitement about tonight. They were going on their first official date. Kait had been more than willing to babysit Owen in order to make it possible.

“What does the card say?” Owen asked.

“It’s for her eyes only, Mr. Nosey,” Kait said as she pulled out a barstool. “Up you get. Cinnamon waffles don’t taste good cold.”

Robin realized she’d left her phone on the nightstand. “I’ll be right back.” She retraced her steps to her room. There was no telling when Reece would get her text, but she couldn’t wait until tonight to tell him what she thought about his gift.

‘Thank you for the beautiful roses! And the message, too, of course!’

Not even two seconds passed before he responded. Here was another difference between him and Wade. The latter had been notoriously lax about keeping in touch. In hindsight, maybe that should have told her something.

‘I wish I could have been there to deliver them in person. As I recall, you’re a beautiful sight first thing in the morning.’

He was referring to their pre-breakfast meeting in Maxine’s kitchen. ‘At least until I get near a boat. You knew before we left the house, didn’t you?’

‘I had a suspicion, yes.’

‘You must have been watching me closely.’

‘I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I still can’t. I hate to cut this short, but my passengers are here. See you around five-thirty.’

Robin sat staring at the phone. Had Reece just admitted that his interest in her dated all the way back to April?

* * * * *

A full schedule of flights and a Zoom meeting with his office manager in Miami hadn’t kept Reece from thinking about Robin. The kisses they’d shared had been as explosive as the fireworks they’d watched following the scavenger hunt. After weeks of waiting and hoping, he finally had tangible evidence that she wasn’t indifferent to him. He understood her concerns about them dating, but he’d never allowed others to dictate his actions. Knowing she was over Wade was all he needed to hear.

This didn’t mean he wasn’t a tiny bit nervous when he pulled into her driveway. There was a lot riding on this. Robin came to the door in answer to his knock. Seeing her was like déjà vu.

“That’s the dress you were wearing the first time I saw you.”

Her lovely eyes widened. “I believe you’re right. How did you remember that?”

Before he could tell her that he remembered everything about that night, Owen pushed his way between them. “Will you be back before I go to bed, Reece? Aunt Robin got me a new Lego set with a cool robot. She said I could put it together after I eat. I wanted to show it to you.”

“I’ll do my best to be back, buddy.”

Owen jumped up and down. “Yippee!”

Robin sent Reece a grateful look and then leaned down to kiss Owen’s cheek. “Be a good boy for Aunt Kait, okay?”

“I will.”

Owen disappeared into the house. Robin closed the door and locked it. When she caught sight of the Porsche, she smiled. “It’s contestant number three. At least this one’s not a color that can be seen from space.”

He laughed as he reached around her to open the passenger side door. “I thought you’d appreciate its more classic elegance.”

“I do,” she said, stepping in front of him to get in. “In fact, I think I like it best of all.”

Before he closed the door, Reece leaned in to get what Owen’s sudden appearance had deprived him of. What was meant to be a ‘hello, I missed you today’ type kiss turned into something else the moment his lips touched hers. When her fingers found their way into his hair, the battle was truly