He sent the flowers to her house instead of the office, so that Derek wouldn’t know. He’d never had to resort to flowers before. Usually his charm and a few drinks did the trick, but Renee was special, and that meant he had to employ special methods.

The first batch were wildflowers because they reminded him of how she smelled. When he didn’t hear from her for two days after that delivery he tried tulips. He thought they smelled like crap, but they were damned expensive and the florist assured him they were unique and tasteful. When those didn’t get a response he sent roses. Two dozen white roses. Seventy-two hours later he again had heard nothing, and it was pissing him off.

So he went to her house himself.

When the door swung open he found himself facing a frail, but lovely woman with a soft blue silk scarf wrapped around her head and Renee’s warm eyes.

“May I help you?” she asked, looking at him critically.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m wondering if Renee is available?”

“Ah, you must be the one who’s trying to turn my house into a florist’s shop.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. He was on his dinner break from work and wearing his usual suit and tie. Amazing how it never bothered him on camera but seemed to be strangling him now.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m Marcus Ambrose. Renee works for my brother, Derek.”

“Hmm,” Anne answered, raising an eyebrow. “Renee isn’t here right now, but you’d better come in.”

Marcus nodded solemnly and followed her into the house.

“Have a seat Mr. Ambrose,” Anne said as she strolled into the living room. “Can I get you a bottle of water?”

“No. Thank you, I’m fine.” He looked around the room, its utilitarian décor reminding him of the house he grew up in. His eyes lit on the row of photos on the fireplace mantle, taking in the series of black and white snapshots of Renee and David as children playing at the beach. He smiled as he looked, imagining a younger Renee herding her wild little brother around, keeping him safe in the ocean and trying to stop him from ruining her fancy sand castles.

“They were five and ten when this was taken,” Anne said as she looked over his shoulder. “He followed Renee everywhere. To the point that I couldn’t let her go swimming in the ocean even though she was plenty good at it, because he’d follow her out into the water and he couldn’t swim very well. She never complained, she only said, ‘I’ll take care of him, momma. That’s what sisters are for’.”

He turned and faced her, noticing the fleeting wistfulness that skittered across her face.

She gestured for him to follow her, and moved to sit in a large stuffed armchair that nearly swallowed her slight frame.

Marcus sat on the sofa nearby and leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees.

“She’s visiting David at the rehab facility this evening,” Anne told him. “But this is a good opportunity for us to talk.”

Marcus swallowed and nodded. This was more than he had bargained on and he wasn’t sure what to expect. He began to wonder why he’d felt it so imperative to visit Renee at home.

“Your brother’s been very good to Renee. And to our family.”

“I know he thinks very highly of her,” Marcus answered. His gaze fell on a magazine laying on the coffee table. Your Cancer, Your Treatment it read. His stomach lurched a little.

“And you seem to think highly of her as well.” She smiled.

Marcus felt beads of sweat underneath his shirt collar and wished like crazy that he had on a t-shirt and jeans. “She’s a very special woman. I’ve enjoyed getting to know her and I’m hoping to get to know her better.”

Anne smiled. “You’re a smart guy. That’s good. Renee would never have the patience for anyone who isn’t as smart as her. Now, I assume you know that I’m sick?”

Marcus nodded somberly.

“I’m a teacher. I was a teacher. My job had to let me go. They’ll take me back once I’m well, but for now I’m unemployed. I get disability payments, but it’s not enough for the three of us. Renee stepped up and got a job, full-time, with health insurance that was better than what I can get being unemployed. She’s taken care of me, supervised David’s recovery, and kept working sixty hours a week for your brother.”

Marcus shook his head. “I’m very sorry this all happened to your family.”

“Thank you. My point is that my twenty-two-year-old daughter deserves something good in her life. I’m hoping you’re that something.”

Marcus swallowed, looking at the older woman for a moment without speaking. Finally he nodded. He was taking up the gauntlet she’d thrown down. He wasn’t afraid. “I’d like nothing more than to be that something. If she’ll let me.”

Anne smiled again, her eyes suddenly looking tired. “Don’t give up. I know she’s tough right now. This has all been so hard on her, but she’s worth it, I promise. If you’ll keep trying, she’ll come around, and she’ll be worth it.”

Marcus had no doubt that she was worth every bit. And he vowed in that moment to make sure he was worth it for her as well.

The flowers were lovely, but she was running out of places to put them. Her mother had started teasing her, and now that David was home he simply shook his head each time the doorbell rang and another dozen arrived. Five deliveries in the last three days, and eight in two weeks. She shoved a batch of daisies to one side and gestured for Elise to sit down on a barstool.

“So he sends them every day?” Elise asked, grinning at the collection that decorated the kitchen.

“Not every day, but yeah, most.” She sighed. The days he didn’t send a batch she’d started to notice the frisson of disappointment that wiggled through her chest. It was exactly what she knew shouldn’t be happening. She was getting used to him. Accustomed to his attention. She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t afford to lose her job, and she had no time for heartbreak. Just no.

Elise watched her for a moment, one eyebrow raised in assessment. “Most days. Sounds like he has it bad.”

Renee shook her head, as much to remind herself as to convince Elise. “No. He’s famous for this. They call it his ‘full court press’. He loves the chase. Chasing a good story, chasing a reluctant woman. He’ll get tired soon and move on I’m sure.”

Elise huffed out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, sure.”

“What?”

“Seriously? Is that what you’ve been telling yourself? I’m not dumb, I know Marcus Ambrose’s reputation. Hell, the Capital City Chatter column did a whole exposé on it when he got hired at WNN. But what I saw at that bar a few weeks ago had nothing to do with a chase, and everything to do with finally getting caught.”

Renee’s heart beat faster and she had to consciously stop her breath from speeding up with it.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she scoffed.

“If you don’t, it’s only because you’re being so incredibly stubborn about this whole thing. That gorgeous specimen has it so bad that anyone within a half block of you two can see it. Whether you meant to or not, you hooked Marcus Ambrose, and if I were you I’d enjoy that while it lasts.”

Renee cringed at the “while it lasts” part. That was a good bit of the problem. Even if she could allow herself to think that Marcus was serious about her, she couldn’t imagine any world where he’d stay serious about her. He was so far beyond her reach she couldn’t help but chuckle. The day Marcus Ambrose was serious about Renee was the day Santa Claus was real.

She shook her head to ward off the errant thoughts—of hope and fantasy. “Men like Marcus don’t get hooked. I mean look at his brother. He can have any socialite he wants. He takes her to a few functions, buys her a diamond necklace, then moves on to the next one. Because he can. And so can Marcus. There’s no earthly reason why he’d want to get ‘hooked’ by a struggling, college dropout with a sick mother and a delinquent brother.”

Elise rolled her eyes and stood. “Okay, madam martyr. You keep telling yourself that. Meanwhile, I promised we’d take David shopping with us so he can get some new school clothes for when he starts back up in January.”

“I don’t have money to get him any new clothes,” Renee answered, lips pressed tightly together. “And he knows that.”

“Yes, he does, but this is my welcome home gift to him, so he doesn’t get a choice and neither do you.”

Elise marched off toward the bedrooms hollering for David and Renee smiled, picking up her purse and thinking that maybe it didn’t matter that most of her friends were gone. Elise was worth five of any normal friend.