“Will you stop fussing with your hair? You look gorgeous,” Harold said.

Anna frowned at him from the bathroom as he leaned in the doorway, watching. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’s Sunday night dinner at Mom’s. I would rather go than have her show up here and interrupt our lives. Trust me, this is better, and besides, it’s only Jenny and her. How bad can it really be?” The look she shot him told him exactly how bad it could be.

When he was with Anna before, his mother made it quite clear how much she abhorred the woman and the fact that she owned a bar. His friends hadn’t been much help and only added to the situation, telling him they couldn’t stand to see him brought down by such a low-class woman, the daughter of a biker, for God’s sake. Before, he’d listened to them, too much of an idiot to admit how much he truly loved Anna and what she brought out in him.

Now, he was no longer afraid of facing his feelings head on and dealing with whatever shit his family wanted to throw at him. Since the situation with Johnny was resolved and the paperwork was underway for Anna purchasing the rights to the first floor of the building, only one item remained for Harold. It had burned a hole in his pocket for the last two weeks, but he had yet to find the perfect moment to propose to her and make their new arrangement permanent. Anna muttered a she twirled her violet hair up into a bun and deciding she didn’t like it, letting the wavy locks fall down her back.

“Leave it down,” he told her, moving behind her to nuzzle her neck and wind his arms around her waist. “I always liked it down better. You can see more of the color.”

“I’m not sure your mother is going to agree with you.”

“Who cares what my mother thinks? I don’t.”

She turned in his arms and his gaze raked down her body, hungry to plunge into her exposed cleavage and hike up the skirt of her black dress so he could hear her moan. They could be late to dinner, very, very late.

He kissed her neck again and cut off whatever she was about to say. He sensed he already knew what it was. She worried about him facing down his family and his friends again. She had a right to be, but he wouldn’t let her down. If he had to throw away his relationship with his mother and his so-called friends, so be it. Anna made him the man he truly wanted to be.

His lips moved down her neck to the mounds of creamy flesh, and he tugged the fabric aside gently, revealing a dusky nipple hardening before his eyes.

“Harry,” she whispered. “We’ll be late.”

“Hmm,” he murmured and sucked that pert little bud into his mouth.

Her hands clutched at his shoulders as her head fell back. When her thighs squirmed, he sucked harder. Deciding he wanted dessert first, he picked her up and set her on the counter and shoved her dress up to her waist, placed her legs over his shoulders once he knelt before her, and pushed her thong to the side. He licked along the length of her cleft, starving for her taste even though they’d spent the last two weeks tangled up together every chance they got. As his hands held her ass, he ravaged her sex. He swirled his tongue around her clit before he sucked it hard, and his fingers penetrated her sweet, silky folds. She clenched around him as his fingers thrust hard and fast within her body. Each gasp urged him on faster, and his arousal swelled within his trousers until it threatened to split the zipper.

“Harry…please, Harry,” she begged as he slowed his movements, teasing her as she drew closer to her orgasm. Her thighs quivered and her chest heaved with every breath. He couldn’t take it any longer.

Harold was on his feet and undoing his pants in seconds. She wrapped her legs around his body as he dragged her closer and thrust home. Her sleek sheath took him all the way, and they moaned together. They moved as one, their bodies melding together, as did their breaths, their heartbeats, their very beings. As the orgasm ripped through him, he groaned as she cried out sharply, clinging hard to his body as her body tensed against his.

“Damn,” he groaned, out of breath, and though he was spent, he considered carrying her to the bed and ripping that dress off her body to make ready for round two.

“That about covers it,” she agreed, giggling as she often did after quickies like this. They thrilled her as much as they did him, and he made a point to fit in as many as he could. “I guess we should get to dinner now, huh?”

“We’ll only stay long enough to eat and have a cup of coffee after dinner,” he promised.

She trembled when he pulled out, both frowning at the loss. “Deal.”

She hopped off the counter and fixed her dress and fluffed her hair. The rosy color in her cheeks after their love-making brought a smile to his face, and he kissed the tip of her nose. “We’ll get cleaned up and then we can go.”

Anna put on a brave face, but the trepidation was plain in her eyes. The ride to his mother’s house was quiet. He held her hand on the center console, and her nervous energy radiated off her in waves.

“You said it was only your sister,” she muttered a few minutes later when they pulled up to the house. “Harold, whose cars are those?”

He parked and shut off the car. “Who do you think? Damn it, I can’t believe she invited them over. This was not what I agreed to.” He glared at the three other cars belonging to Bailey, Rodric, and Christian. He tapped his fingers on the wheel, trying to decide what to do when Anna opened her car door. “You want to go in?”

“You said it yourself. If we don’t make an appearance now, your mother will show up one day, and I’d rather not have her barging into your house or making a scene at my bar.” She puffed out her cheeks and nodded her head firmly. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Harold tucked the keys in his pocket after he locked the car and placed Anna’s hand in the crook of his elbow. “Have I ever told you how incredibly brave you can be?”

She laughed nervously. “You might want to hold onto that compliment.”

“No, you deserve it, but I want you to know you don’t have to worry about us going in there.”

She shot him a sideways glance. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure.”

He felt the small, velvet box in his pocket and grinned wider. He reached up and rang the doorbell when they stopped at the front door. He could just walk in, but making his mother walk to the door so he could see her annoyed face was too good to pass up. He had yet to tell Anna about the other announcements he planned to make tonight. The night would certainly be filled with several large surprises.

Terry might be letting her buy the first floor of the building, but Harold was buying the rest of it and planned on putting his house up for sale once summer rolled around. He wanted a house for Anna and him, one they could choose and fix up together. And there was also his decision to quit the current firm and open his own in Anna’s old apartment above the bar.

The door opened and he swallowed a laugh when Prentice Jenson glowered at her son and the woman beside him. “Harold, you’re late.”

“I know,” he replied simply. “You were more than welcome to start without us.”

“Hmph,” she huffed and stepped aside so he and Anna could enter. “Really, dear, you couldn’t have worn your hair any other way? Or changed the color to something normal?”

Anna’s hand tightened around Harold’s elbow. “Why should I? Harry likes the violet on me.”

“It’s true,” he agreed when his mother’s body stiffened and her jaw clenched. “Care to explain our extra guests this evening? Sunday dinner is usually reserved for family.”

Prentice’s eyes darted to Anna as if to point out she wasn’t technically family, but she refrained from saying it out loud. “I’ve always considered them family. After everything you’ve been through the past few weeks, I thought you would like to see them. Was I wrong?”

“Not at all, as long as everyone behaves themselves,” he added and guided Anna past his mother and further into the house. “Jenny!”

“Harold!” Jenny rushed to greet him, hugging him. “Anna, you know I’ve been meaning to ask you what color this actually is. I’m thinking of changing things up a little bit.” Prentice made a loud choking noise behind them, but Anna grinned widely.

“You should take a trip with me to the salon one day. My stylist is amazing. He does some crazy work with hair colors.”

“You will not be dying your hair,” Prentice stated. “You’ll ruin your chances.”

“For what, modeling jobs? Mother, I have more offers than I care to count,” Jenny sighed as if being so successful was terrible, but the mocking look in her eyes forced Harold to bite back his laughter. “There’s nothing wrong with being adventurous.”

“No daughter of mine will walk around with purple hair,” Prentice stormed.

“Violet, actually,” Harold pointed out helpfully.

Prentice’s eyes narrowed so much in her anger Harold wondered how she could still see. “You horrible wench! This is exactly what I warned him would happen the last time you tried to steal him away from us. You twist him up, confuse him.”

“Mother, just stop,” Harold snapped. “Anna reminded me of the man I wanted to be when I grew up, not the arrogant, self-centered bastard Father was.”

He glanced up when his friends stepped out of the kitchen wearing worried looks and holding their drinks. “Harold, is everything all right?” Rodric asked.

“Of course it’s not. She’s upset him,” Bailey announced, thrusting her chin in the air. “I told him she would. All she does is make a mess of everything. She assaulted her landlord, for God’s sake, and now she’s turned Harold against us.”

Anna laughed so hard she bent over double. “I’m sorry, but seriously?” Harold’s lips twitched in a smirk as Jenny stifled her laughter behind her hand.

“Yes, I’m serious,” Bailey insisted marching forward. “Ever since you came into his life a year ago, Harold hasn’t been the same. You’ve taken a strong, powerful man and broken him down into…into…”

“Into what?” Anna said straightening and standing a few inches from Bailey. “Into a decent man who remembered his dreams of helping and caring for those who aren’t so fortunate to have money? To have a means to help themselves in terrible situations? To be kind and generous?”

Bailey tossed her drink in Anna’s face, and the house fell silent. Harold grabbed Anna right as her fist curled, ready to hit Bailey, and shoved her behind him. He handed her his handkerchief, and she wiped the liquor from her face and neck.

“How dare you?” he growled, fed up with all of them. “You do see how ridiculous you’re being, right? About everything? Anna makes me happy—something you could never do, Bailey. You’re jealous and everyone can see it.”

Her eyes widened, and she flinched away as if he’d smacked her. “That is not true.”

“Bullshit. You’ve wanted me since we were teenagers. Well, I don’t want you. I never did. I never wanted this life, but I was forced into it and I forgot what I really wanted.” He reached behind him for Anna’s hand and pulled her beside him. “Anna reminded me who I am really meant to be.” He glanced around the room at his friends and let his gaze fall on his mother’s. “I agreed to come tonight because I have several announcements I wanted to make to you and Jenny, but since everyone’s here, I guess the whole city will know by morning.”

He removed the black box from his pocket and sank to one knee before Anna. He opened it and she gasped, her hand covering her mouth in surprise. “That ring…I know that ring,” she whispered.

“Your dad asked the jeweler to hang onto it for this day,” he told her. “Your grandmother’s ring. Anna, I lost you once before, but I swear to always be the man you showed me I could be, a better man than my father. A man who’s worthy of your love. Will you marry me? Be my wife and face down whatever life may throw at us next?”

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she nodded. “Yes. Yes!”

He slipped the ring on her finger. “It’s a perfect fit,” he said, surprised.

She grabbed him by his shirt and tugged him to his feet so she could kiss him. “I love you,” she whispered against his mouth. “I love you, Harry.”

“Harry,” Prentice scoffed. “No. No, I will not allow you to marry someone who calls you Harry! And has purple hair! She will tarnish the family legacy!”

“Violet,” he corrected sharply and wrapped his arms securely around Anna. “And that brings me to my next announcement. I’m leaving the firm.”

Prentice and Bailey shouted in response to his words, but to his surprise, Christian and Rodric smiled. The first lifted his glass in toast to Harold while the latter nodded in approval. To be fair, when he was with Anna before, his two friends mostly went along with whatever Bailey said. Apparently, over the year, the two had learned to think for themselves more and had no qualms whatsoever with Harold’s life changes.

“You can’t leave,” Prentice yelled. “You’re the face of that company!”

“Not anymore. You can find a new face. One of them would do nicely, I think. Christian, didn’t you want your own firm at some point?”

“I did and would be more than happy to accept the mantle, although,” he said holding up a finger, “that depends on what you’re going to do after you leave. I find myself bored by our current employment and am intrigued to hear about your decision.”

Anna’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, that makes two of us.”

“Three,” Rodric chimed in.

“Uh, hello? Your sister would love to know, too,” Jenny added brightly.

The swelling of support Harold hadn’t expected eased his worries. “I’m going to open a smaller office in Anna’s old apartment that caters to those in need of legal services but can’t afford a big-time lawyer.”

“You are?” Anna asked. “So I guess I’m officially moving in with you?”

He shook his head. “Nope. You and I are finding ourselves a new home, something that fits who we are together.” He kissed the top of her head and she hugged him hard. “Oh, and I’m buying the rest of the building from Terry,” he added in an undertone.

Her lips pursed, but she gave in and rested her cheek to his chest. “I can’t say I’m surprised by that, but thank you for letting me buy the bar at least.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t take that accomplishment away from you.”

“This new venture of helping people,” Christian asked, “could you use some consultants?”

“I’m sure I could,” Harold agreed. “I’m not sure when I’ll get it off the ground.”

“When you do, you know where to find us,” Rodric said as the two walked over and shook his hand in turn. “And congratulations. You found yourself one hell of a woman.”

Christian agreed as Jenny rushed over to bear hug Harold and Anna. “Can I see the ring?”

Anna held out her hand and Jenny shifted it so the light reflected off the diamonds. “I can’t believe he held onto it all this time.”

“No,” Prentice snapped, and everyone turned to stare at her blotchy red face and shaking hands. “No, you cannot do this! I forbid it! You will not throw your life away for that tramp!”

“I’m not.” Harold trailed his fingers down Anna’s cheek and lifted her chin to kiss her. “I’m doing all of this for love. You can either choose to be a part of our lives, Mother, or you can choose to act like your son doesn’t exist. That is up to you.”

In all his years of living, Harold couldn’t remember a time when he saw Prentice Jenson at a loss for words. She looked so defeated, but he wasn’t turning back. He loved Anna, and this was the life he wanted to have. Bailey stood beside her, her arms crossed and grinding her teeth. He waited to feel guilt or the fear that had incapacitated him before. All that filled him was the love he had for Anna and the promise of what their futures would bring.

“I think we should go get some dinner,” he said happily. “Anyone care to join us?”

“Oh, I know a place that makes killer burgers,” Anna said. “Back to The Crawler?”

“I’m game,” Rodric said, and Christian held up his hand, too.

“I’m coming, too,” Jenny said, but Prentice reached out to grab her daughter’s arm. “Get over it, Mother. You can’t control us forever. I’ll be back later. Maybe.”

They left through the front door. Harold was the last to step outside. He offered his mother one more smile, but she seethed with rage and turned her back on him. Bailey glared. Neither woman was going to change tonight, and that was fine by him.

Like he told Anna, he didn’t care what anyone else thought. Not anymore. He had the woman of his dreams and she had her bar. What more could he ask for?

* * *

One Year Later

Anna tried to bend over to pick up a towel she dropped when Missy scolded her. “What? I can get it.”

“No, you can’t,” Missy argued and picked it up for her. “You and your big belly shouldn’t even be behind the bar. Honestly, Anna, you’re pregnant.”

“And your point is what?” She wiped out a few more glasses and set them aside to be hung up on the rack over her head. “The doc said I could keep working, so I’m going to keep working. What would I do all day if I wasn’t here?”

“Knit baby booties,” Pat suggested as he sidled past her.

“Yeah, I can definitely see her doing that,” Missy agreed, smirking.

“Little hats, too, for the fella,” Aiden added from his usual seat at the bar. “And some blankets. I think they’re onto something.”

“I am not knitting,” she informed them firmly. “I am taking care of my bar.”

“Yes, we know,” a man growled from behind her. “Much to the annoyance of us all.”

Anna waddled to Harold and kissed him. “You were fine with me working a few months ago.”

“That was a few months ago. You, doll face, are about ready to pop.” He held her belly protectively and bent down to kiss their unborn son. “If you come out crazy, you can only blame your mother.”

“He’s going to come out just fine,” she sighed and sidled away to bus a table.

Missy beat her to it and shooed her away with a towel. “Go sit down or something. Just go away. We’ve got your bar well in control.”

Anna pouted, but her feet were swollen today and her lower back ached. “Fine, if that’s what you want, I’ll sit right over here out of the way and offer annoying advice the rest of the evening. Does that work?”

She waddled to her and Harold’s booth and moaned with relief at taking her weight off her feet. Harold draped his arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head with her blue hair. When they wanted to reveal to everyone the baby’s sex, she decided to change her hair color to match, so blue it was. Absently, her hands rubbed her belly and she rested, watching Missy and Pat work.

“You sure you should be standing this much?” Harold asked.

“If it would make you feel better, I’ll take up a permanent spot at the bar, sitting at it instead of being behind it,” she said, patting his thigh.

“Yes, it would, thank you.”

“How’s it been today?”

“Not so bad. I have a new case that should prove to be highly entertaining,” he said and grinned wickedly. “I’m going up against Bailey’s firm.”

“Kick her ass,” Anna grunted. “She sent us a card by the way—well, you a card.”

“And I’m assuming you tossed it without opening it?”

Anna picked at the table. “I set it on fire.”

Harold burst out laughing and she joined him. “God, I love you.”

“That’s good. I’m probably too crazy for anyone else.”

They sat in comfortable silence, watching as customers came and went in the bar as the evening settled in over the city. Snow blew past the windows, and Anna watched it, more than happy with the past year of her life. They had married a month after he proposed, not wanting to waste any more time, and found a house in the suburbs, a cute bungalow that had been expanded. It came with a massive backyard and huge trees Harold was already making plans to put a treehouse in. His new, smaller firm established upstairs took over Anna’s apartment and the two empty ones between her and Johnny’s old place. And last month, they took over that space as well since he wasn’t coming back. He would be in jail for quite a while for all the shit he did that Anna hadn’t even known about.

Rodric and Christian she worried about in the beginning, but they settled in nicely. Helping those who needed it most rubbed them the right way, and she found herself getting along with them. Life was good. Harold was there every morning to greet her with a sleepy smile and every night to snuggle with. The bar was safe, and thanks to her grandma’s bonds, she had a nice little nest egg for their son started already.

“I’ve been thinking about names again,” Harold said, and she sensed the smile in his words.

“What did you have in mind? Harold Jenson IV?” she asked, cringing.

“Ha, no, not even close. I was thinking of Winston. What do you think?”

Tears blurred her eyes and she wiped at them. “Hormones suck.”

“You can cry. I won’t judge.”

She tilted her head so she could stare up at him. “Winston, huh? You’re sure?”

“My legacy isn’t the only one that should be carried on in this town, Anna. Your dad was a great man, and I’m sorry I never had the chance to meet him,” he said sadly. “I think he’ll be a Winston.”

“Then Winston it is,” she said and rubbed her belly. “Little baby Winston who is going to be raised in a bar by a mother with blue hair and a father who rescues those less fortunate. Oh, yeah, this kid is going to have one crazy upbringing.”

Harold shifted and pulled an envelope from his back pocket. “I thought maybe you could take the night off,” he said as he handed it to her. “And to stop you from being too bored, I made you something.”

“You did, huh?” she mused and opened the envelope. “This is a riddle.”

Harold was already sliding out of the booth. “Yes, yes it is.”

Anna glanced to him and back to down to the paper. “A riddle that leads to something?”

“You tell me?”

“Oh, oh, you’re on,” she said and got out of the booth as fast as she could, waddling to the door. “Missy! You’re in charge,” she called out as Harold helped her slip into her coat. His lips found hers, filled with promise of what this little game of his entailed. The voice in the back of her mind screamed to hurry up and get home so she could really enjoy the rest of her night. She pulled her mouth from Harold’s long enough to see her bartenders grinning as she said, “I have a scavenger hunt to complete.”