Asking a beautiful woman out never got easier. Despite the fact that I was thirty years old, I still felt as anxious as I had when I asked Maria Constantini to the senior prom.

“What?” Haven blinked those pretty eyes at me, and I chuckled nervously.

The only thing harder than asking a girl out was having to do it twice.

“Would you like to go out with me sometime? Have dinner, maybe catch a movie?”

“I’d love to, but ...”

I was wrong about asking twice being the hardest thing. Watching a beautiful woman trying to let you down easy was harder.

“Hey, no problem. Can’t blame a guy for trying, right?”

She touched my hand lightly, her eyes soft and scolding. “You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say that with you working second shift and me working third, we might have to get more creative than dinner or a movie.”

It took a moment or two for her words to process. “Is that a yes?”

The smile she gave me set fireworks off in my chest. “Yes, Vinnie, that’s a yes.”

I wanted to do a fist pump and let out a great big “Yes!” but I managed to maintain some dignity. “Great! How about tomorrow? Around lunch time?”

“Sure, I’d like that.”

“Great.”

The grill cook, Cal, rang the bell to signal an order was up. When Haven turned to get it, I felt Wanda patting me on the shoulder.

“About time, Mr. October,” she said on her way past.

I felt heat rush to my face. I wasn’t the blushing type, but thinking about that calendar shoot did it. The project had been for charity, and my cousin Lucia was the one who had done the shoot, which were the only reasons I did it.

I had been uncomfortable about the whole thing, but Lucia had smirked and told me she’d taken it easy on me because we were family. She had let me wear my uniform, complete with my hat, which I had pulled down low, and mirrored shades. However, she had insisted my shirt be left unbuttoned and open to showcase my “ripped gym body,” as she had put it. I’d had to dangle a set of handcuffs suggestively, too, which I thought was ridiculous, but which she said women would think was “hot.” Yeah, right.

Lucia had talked my younger brother, Dom, into doing the calendar, too, so at least I hadn’t done it alone. He’d had it even worse. He was a fireman, and she had posed him shirtless with just his hat and his fire pants partially undone, held up only by suspenders. He had taken it all in stride, though. Dom was a ladies’ man through and through. Months later, he was still reaping the benefits.

I paused, coffee midway to my mouth. If Wanda had seen the calendar, did that mean Haven had, too?

I turned on my stool and met Wanda’s eyes as she walked past again. When she smirked and winked, I had my answer.

Well, hell. I wondered what Haven had thought when she’d seen it. Then I wondered if she had found the handcuff thing “hot”...

I shook my head, dispelling the images that tried to take hold. I already felt like an awkward teenager around her as it was. If I started adding fantasies to the list, I might as well resign myself to sitting behind the counter for the next hour or so.

Lindelman’s was busier than usual, so Haven and I didn’t get to talk much. I didn’t mind. She still gifted me with plenty of smiles, and that was good enough for me.

I had been pleased to find her brother Joel sitting at the counter when I’d walked in. It suggested that some of what I’d said to him had gotten through.

At one point last night, I had turned the conversation to the recent increase in criminal activity around town. I hadn’t mentioned Slash specifically, but I had shared that we believed the burglaries and attacks were the work of a local gang. I had described, in detail, what had been done to Kat when she had been walking home alone one night, as well as how places like Lindelman’s were being targeted. When his eyes had hardened and his nostrils had flared, I knew he’d received the message loud and clear. Whether or not it made a difference remained to be seen.

Reluctant to leave, I lingered over a couple of coffee refills, but eventually, I made myself go home. It was easier than it usually was, knowing that I would be seeing her again in a few hours.

“Here.” Haven slipped me a piece of paper when she came to collect my empty mug. “It’s my address. I’d give you my phone number, too, in case something comes up, but Wanda already took care of that.”

I grinned, happy that she had been thinking about our first real date, too. Then I glanced down, as if I didn’t already know exactly where she lived. “Got it. See you around noon?”

“Perfect.” She beamed.

I left Lindelman’s feeling lighter than I had in a very long time. I wished that feeling could have lasted longer than it did.

***

I got the call just before dawn. My phone went off, pulling me out of a deep sleep. When I looked at the display and saw my brother Dom’s number come up, I knew it couldn’t be good.

Instantly awake, I sat up. “What’s up?”

“Fire at Lindelman’s Diner. Got a friend of yours here who asked me to call you.”

My heart stopped. Haven. “Is she all right?”

“I think so. The EMTs are having a look at her now.”

“I’m on my way.”

I hauled ass, opting to take the car to get me there faster. The fire was out by the time I arrived, but the firefighters were still spraying water around to put out any remaining hotspots. Lindelman’s was still standing, yet the interior was a blackened mess. I spotted Hannibal and Lecter taking statements, presumably from potential witnesses. The only thing I cared about was finding Haven.

“Vinnie!” I heard my name and turned to find my brother Dom waving me over to the fire truck. Haven was sitting there with a blanket around her shoulders. Dark soot smudged her pretty face, making her light blue eyes stand out even more than usual.

I sat down beside her and put my arm around her shoulders. She was shaking. “Hey, are you okay?”

She nodded then looked at my brother. “Thanks to him. Wanda and I got trapped in the kitchen when the fire started.”

“Where is Wanda?”

Her eyes filled up with tears. “She went in the ambulance with Cal. He tried to stop them, and they hit him with something.”

“Who hit him?”

“The two guys who came in. They said if we gave them the money from the register, no one would get hurt. Cal came out with his billy club and told me and Wanda to get in the kitchen. He tried to chase them off, but there were two of them ...” Her lip trembled, but her eyes were filled with anger.

“Okay, it’s okay. How did the fire start?”

“I don’t know. When they started trashing the place, Wanda and I pulled Cal back into the kitchen and tried to bar the door. Next thing we knew, we smelled smoke. We were trying to pull Cal toward the kitchen exit when the fire department arrived.”

“Did you recognize them?”

She shook her head. “No. They were wearing ski masks, and their voices didn’t sound familiar, but ...” She lifted her eyes and met mine. “One of them was really angry. He said something like, ‘he never mentioned the security cameras’.”

Dom and I shared a look. He was familiar with the string of hits on local businesses, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was—someone had gone into Lindelman’s to check the place out before the hit.

“Ms. McAlister.”

Hannibal and Lecter had worked their way over. Their eyes narrowed on the way I held Haven next to me. I didn’t care.

“We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

She nodded. “Sure. Go ahead.”

Dom took off to tend to something or another. I sat there with Haven while they asked their questions. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them—both guys were pros. I stayed there for her.

She leaned some of her weight on me, which I took to mean she liked having me there. That worked for both of us.

They asked her the standard questions, and she told them basically the same thing she had told me with a few additional details. Two unidentified males entered the diner during a lull around three-thirty a.m. and demanded cash from the register. Cal Lindelman attempted to get them to leave the premises, and a physical altercation ensued. After disarming and disabling the owner, the suspects then proceeded to empty the register and cause as much damage as possible in a short amount of time.

When the detectives finished, they thanked her, and Hannibal gave her his card in case she remembered anything else.

“I’ll be right back,” I told her, then got up and jogged up to the two detectives. “You are going to check the security cameras, right?”

“Not our first rodeo, Cerasino.”

“Yeah, I know.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “But this one’s personal.”

Hannibal’s lips twitched. “Yeah, figured that out, too. We’ll call you first if we find anything.”

“Thanks.”

I returned to Haven. Even though her hair was disheveled and her skin was covered in black smudges, she still looked beautiful to me. “Come on; let’s get you home,” I said gently.