Once Haven had traveled some distance, she could finally breathe. She had to be stone cold crazy for even entertaining the idea of having dinner with him.
Chapter 12
Five minutes into Haven’s drive, her cell phone rang. She answered on the second ring. “Hello.”
“Hey. I know I said I would wait until you called me tomorrow, but then I remembered I have your flowers. I’m not too far away from the apartment. I can drop them off on my way to home.”
“Dylan, stop.”
“What?” He faked innocent as if he didn’t know what he was doing. “I just want you to have your flowers.”
Her bullshit meter was on full tilt. Haven was pissed. “Regardless of what I say, you’re going to try to execute your agenda. It doesn’t make me think you’ve changed or make me want to say yes to anything with you!”
“Okay . . . okay. I hear you.” Frustrated, Dylan ran his hand over his face. “If it seems as if I’m pushing you too hard, it’s because I’m scared. I’m afraid that I’ve messed up so badly, you won’t give me another chance.”
Haven sighed into the phone because he was right. She both wanted and didn’t want to travel down the same road with Dylan. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to try something new with him. Haven’s only goal was to be happy. Over the past month, she’d been miserable but felt she was finally on the right path. “Dylan, I’ll call you tomorrow. I promised that I would, and I’m pretty good at keeping my word. But, I can’t make any promises beyond that.”
“Then, let me just say this—I love and miss you. I’ll do my best to try and back off, but it’s hard. Being without you is like losing a piece of myself. But, you’re right. You’ve always kept your word, so I’ll wait to hear back from you tomorrow.”
A moment later, they disconnected. Haven was afraid to go straight home. She may have been a woman of her word, but Dylan wasn’t a man who could keep his. He knew her like the back of his hand. It was evident that she was confused, and he knew it. Knowing him, Dylan would use any excuse to break her down including showing up at their apartment.
Haven made a quick U-turn and found herself pulling up into the circular driveway of Ms. McKenna. It was too late for her to be up, so she dialed Ellis’ cell phone. More than likely, he wasn’t home, and even though Haven had a key, she didn’t want to barge into the house unannounced. He answered.
“Hello?”
Haven was caught off guard. “Hey! I’m surprised you picked up.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I figured you’d be out on one of your many dates. I was just going to leave a message.”
“Unless I’m asleep or making money, I always answer my phone. No reason not to.”
“Oh. Umm. . . I wanted to make sure it was okay to stop over and watch some television.”
“You have a key. You don’t really need to ask my permission.”
“I didn’t want to be presumptuous.”
“I knew you couldn’t resist me.” Ellis joked. “Come on in. I’m just sitting here about to watch a movie.”
“You’re home?”
“Why are you so surprised. I live here—for now. Isn’t it a little late for you to be out anyway?”
“It’s date night for you, and it’s not that late, it’s only nine p.m.”
“Not tonight. I’ve got an early conference call in the morning. I spent the evening getting ready for it. And, nine p.m., that’s late for you. Unless you have class . . . and you know my grandmother went to bed a couple of hours ago.”
“True. Well . . .” Haven dragged her answer out. “I wasn’t quite ready to go home after work. I thought I’d stop by to watch a bit of television for a little while. You guys have cable, and I didn’t want to walk into the house without asking.”
Ellis had planned just to chill, but something in her voice made him change his mind. Plus, her apartment was almost an hour away, so for Haven to want to come over meant something was up. “Yeah, come on in.”
“Okay. I’m getting out of the car now.” Haven got out and walked up the stairs to the front door. Ellis had it open by the time she’d made it to the top step. He was holding a bowl of ice cream and was dressed more casual than she’d ever seen him, outside of his workout clothes. The white t-shirt that covered his broad chest and a pair of jeans that hung low on his hips made her blink a couple of times. They hugged his ass perfectly. If Haven were even remotely interested in dating, she would be mildly attracted. Fortunately, for her, Ellis was a man and, therefore, could only be seen as being part of the animal species that breathed air—that wasn’t exactly the case. She had to give him credit for being a good listener when he wasn't a smart aleck.
She smiled and walked inside. “Thanks for letting me come over and hang out with you.”
He closed the door behind her. “I’m just getting ready to watch a movie.” Haven took off her coat, and Ellis noticed she was still wearing her company issued black polo and matching skirt as she sashayed past him. Haven didn’t have much height to her, but damn, she had legs for days. They went on and on and were what he would call perfect. Ellis let out a cough
