Page 66 of Vow

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“I’m surprised it took you this long. Or rather, that it took you a whole week to decide to come and talk to me about the folder.”

Haven sighed, and continued staring at the green shrubbery someone had placed in a terracotta potter beside Andino’s front door. It was easier to stare at the small plant than at the man who managed to tell her that statement, and yet, still not sound smug about the fact that he said it without a hint of surprise.

Like he just knew.

She was going to come back here again.

“I had a busy week,” Haven said. “Took a two-day trip to Florida to visit my mom, and work … well, work is work.”

“How is your mom?”

Haven frowned, and finally glanced at Andino. There was genuine concern written on his expression, and not a hint of the arrogant man she expected to find when she knocked on his door earlier. She didn’t quite know what to make of that. God knew it was far easier to deal with Andino—at times—when he was laying all of his cards out on the table rather than keeping them close to his chest.

She didn’t know how to deal with him like this at all.

“Still sick,” she said.

Andino nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Haven shrugged. “It just upset her to see me there, anyway. She thought I was coming to stay right then, and hadn’t told her. They would rather I keep living my life, and help from afar. They don’t want me to uproot everything.”

“And you just want to help.”

“Yeah, well …”

That was the best thing she could think to say, as lame as it was. The visit to see her mom had helped a bit. Despite the chemo treatments being far more aggressive this time around, her mother was doing wonderfully. That counted for something.

Andino stepped back a bit from the doorway, and widened the door. “Do you want to come in?”

Haven clutched the folder in her hands a little tighter as she stared at the dark hallway behind Andino. The sight was as familiar as it was uncomfortable. His entire life was hidden in his home. Haven had learned that over time. She also learned that he guarded his private life more carefully than most.

Yet, he had no issue with inviting her in, and letting her make herself at home. She craved the comfort of this place—filled with furniture, things, and life—as much as she did Andino, in a way. Compared to her own house currently, it was far warmer.

Even if the man in front of her was the source of heartache for her.

“I don’t know if I should,” Haven said.

Andino chuckled, and gave her a look from the side. “It’s just a house, donna. One you’ve been inside time and time again. Stop looking at it as though it might come alive and bite you.”

Funny.

That’s exactly how it felt.

“Don’t be patronizing,” Haven said, moving past Andino in the doorway to enter the house. “It’s not a good look on you.”

“First of all,” he said behind her as he slammed the door close, “any look on me is fucking great. And secondly, I wasn’t being patronizing. I was being funny. If you’re looking for the right word to describe that, it’s wonderful.”

Haven shot him a condescending smile over her shoulder. “Is that what your mother tells you? You did say you were spoiled being an only child and all.”

Andino’s mouth curved at the edges with one of those sexy smirks of his before he tossed his head back, and laughed hard. There was something beautiful about this man when he let loose, and separated from the hard shell that he seemed to always keep front and center.

It was distracting and disconcerting to Haven. Just the sight of him laughing was enough to make her breaths quicken, and her heart ache. How different things could have been between them if only shit had worked out.

She needed to get away from those thoughts, and fast. That was not why she had come here, and she wasn’t about to indulge that nonsense.

“Let’s sit in the living room,” Andino said, seemingly noticing Haven’s change in mood. “I was doing some paperwork.”