Loving Styles [Brac Village 12] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (3 page)

No shit.
“I’m still not giving up.”

Kenway inclined his dark head. “If you need time off, just let me know.”

Robby had never been the type to back down. He had left his pack to strike out on his own, had put himself through culinary school while working two jobs to support himself. He didn’t let anything stand in his way.

And he wasn’t about to let Styles stand in his way of them becoming a mated couple. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that this was going to be easy. Styles had a lot of rage inside of him and Robby was going to have to find a way to get around that and hopefully help the man heal.

Styles was his and he was very determined to make the coyote see how important that was…to both of them. “I’ll need three weeks off so I can kidnap him and take him to a remote place.”

Kenway gaped at him.

Robby chuckled. “I’m just kidding, mostly. But I appreciate you giving me leeway to pursue my mate.”

The way his boss was looking at him made Robby smile.

“Dude, I’ve never met a more driven man. You aren’t going to let his feelings deter you in the least, are you?”

“Nope,” Robby said as he stood. “Why should I let him throw away our happiness because of what some jackasses did to him? Styles deserves his chance to be happy like everyone else and I’m going to make sure he finds it, even if I have to beat him over the head to show him the way.”

“And here I was feeling bad for you.” Kenway chuckled. “Now I’m feeling a bit sorry for Styles.”

Robby clenched his jaw. “Don’t feel sorry for him, Kenway. He is about to get a very rude awakening. He may have been fucked over by my breed, but that doesn’t mean I deserve to suffer for those crimes. He
will
be mine.”

Kenway gave him a smile that said he was looking forward to this. “He works at Santiago Cycles and lives with me and a few other men at the Manchester place out on route—”

“I know where it is.” Robby headed toward the door. “I’m taking the rest of the day off. I think Baker can handle the work.” He didn’t wait for an answer. Robby may be scrawny and not an average height for men, but he was a force to be reckoned with. He wasn’t sure how he had been slighted when it came to the build of his body, but he was a true alpha at heart.

He just had to make sure Styles didn’t try to kill him.

“I’m heading out,” he said to Ross and Baker. “If you need me, just call.”

“You’re going after him, aren’t you?” Ross asked.

“Damn right,” he answered in a self-assured tone as he walked out of the bakery. Instead of heading to Santiago Cycles, Robby walked to Floral Fragrances. He smiled when he walked in, seeing Randy and Blair.

“Hey, Robby,” Blair called out when he entered the shop. Robby liked coming here to get the things he needed for his garden. He had been fixing the place up that he had bought, putting a botanical garden in the back. It was coming together nicely. The backyard almost looked like a garden someone would have as an exhibit, but he liked how enclosed it made his yard feel and the beauty it brought to his place.

“How are things going?” he asked as he walked over to the counter and shook Blair’s, and then Randy’s, hand. He liked Randy. The guy was a bit shy, but he always smiled when he saw Robby. The man was a wealth of information when it came to what plants or flowers he needed for his garden.

“Come to pick something up?” Randy asked as he set a pair of pruners down on the counter.

“Yep,” Robby answered. “I need a bouquet.”

Blair’s orange-brown eyes lit up. “Oh, Robby has a boyfriend.”

“No,” he corrected. “I have a mate. I want to send him some flowers.”

“You found your mate?” Randy asked in excitement. “Who?”

“Styles.”

Blair gaped at him, his eyes growing wide. Robby was beginning to worry that he would have to give the man CPR if he didn’t breathe soon. “You’re kidding right? He hates—” The man glanced away, as if he didn’t want to finish his sentence.

“Wolves,” Robby supplied. “Yeah, Kenway filled me in. What do you have that I can send?” He began to look around the shop, his eyes falling on some pretty tulips. He didn’t want to send roses. Those were overrated. Robby wanted something different. “How about a dozen of these?”

“You are going to send a man who doesn’t like you some flowers?” Randy asked as he moved from behind the counter.

“What better way to break the ice?” Robby asked. He had to start somewhere with Styles. Flowers probably wouldn’t work, but it would let the man know that he wasn’t backing down. That was all Robby was trying to do, send a message to the guy that he couldn’t run. Robby wasn’t going to let him.

Randy shrugged his slim shoulders. “If that’s what you want to do.” He plucked the flowers from the shelf and walked over to the counter. “Did you want to send a card with these?”

Robby stood there for a moment, wondering what he should put in the card. He grabbed it and a pen from out of a cup and began to scribble.
Hate me all you want, but you are mine and I’m coming for you. If you run from me, then I’ll kidnap you and fuck you until the cows come home. Hope you have plenty of lube, buddy.

That should do it. He wasn’t going to get all sweet and sentimental, nor was he going to beg. Robby believed in getting straight to the point. The message was as blunt as he could make it.

He handed the card to Randy, seeing the curiosity in the man’s eyes.

“Go ahead and read it.” Blair was probably going to read it as soon as Robby’s back was turned anyway. Randy and Blair gazed over to the card. Blair burst out laughing, holding his side as Randy looked as if here were going to pass out.

“You’re delivering these,” Randy said to Blair. “There is no way I’m getting caught up in this.”

Blair plucked the card from Randy’s hand. “I wouldn’t pass this opportunity up. Get the bouquet together so I can take them over to the bike shop.”

Randy shook his head and then started to arrange the tulips. Robby would love to be a fly on the wall when Styles received the flowers. The man was more than likely going to throw them out, just as soon as he tore them apart.

But again, baby steps. Robby was very assertive, but he knew he couldn’t change Styles overnight. He was going to have to start out slow and work up to the bigger things.

“Wait right here,” Blair said as he snatched the finished bouquet from Randy’s hands. “I’ll let you know what happens.”

Robby knew he wasn’t going to stay in the store while Blair delivered the flowers. He wasn’t going to let Styles see him, but he wanted to see the reaction for himself.

He followed Blair out of the floral shop and around the corner. “Have him come to the front of the shop, Blair. I can watch him from a hiding spot outside.” There was a big glass window up front of Santiago Cycles, and it would give Robby an unobstructed view.

“You are so damn diabolical,” Blair said before Robby stayed back as the guy walked into the bike shop. Law was standing at the front counter. He watched the timber wolf walk toward the back. A second later Styles appeared.

The man looked confused as he grabbed the flowers. Robby held his breath—even though he knew what the outcome was going to be. Styles grabbed the card and read it. Blair leaned against the counter, his head turning slightly so he could wink Robby’s way.

He had been waiting for Styles to shred the flowers, to start cursing and threatening Robby’s life. But the guy just walked to the back of the shop, out of sight, the flowers still gripped in his hand.

Maybe he was waiting to be alone before he destroyed the tulips. Curious beyond belief, Robby tiptoed to the back of the shop and peered around the corner. There were sliding doors that closed the back of the shop. But today they were wide open, providing fresh air to whoever was back there.

He could see Styles standing by a counter, staring fixedly at the tulips, as if he didn’t know what to do with them. His mate reached down and caressed a pedal, his expression tortured. Robby’s throat tightened at the way Styles was staring at the tulips. His heart went out to the guy.

More than ever, Robby wanted to go to Styles and hug the man, telling him that he would never hurt Styles. But he knew he wouldn’t be welcomed right now.

Styles set the bouquet on the counter and then grabbed a wrench. Robby quickly pulled back so he wouldn’t be seen. His heart was pumping painfully in his chest as he moved to the front of the store.

“Well?” Blair asked as Robby met the man on the sidewalk. “What happened?”

Robby shook his head, confused at Styles’s different reactions. He had gone insane when he found out that Robby was his mate, yet he had accepted the flowers as if they were the most precious things in the world.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the guy. “He didn’t destroy them.”

Blair grabbed Robby’s arm, snaking it around his own as they walked back to the floral shop. “All kidding aside, Robby, you shouldn’t give up on the guy. I heard he had been given the short end of things as far as wolves go. But being mated for a very long time myself, I can tell you that the fight to get him will be well worth it.”

Robby knew that. But he was still feeling a bit strange about how Styles had looked at the tulips. The man hadn’t even snarled when he read the card.

“By the way, you still owe me for the flowers. Frisco isn’t in the habit of giving them away.”

He and Blair made it back to the floral shop, Robby paying for the tulips before he took off. Instead of going back to work, he headed home. Kenway had given him leeway and Robby wasn’t trying to take advantage of that, but he needed time to think about his next move.

Styles’s reaction had caught him off guard. Robby’s body coiled up with arousal, a raw and hungry feeling starting to fill him. He wanted Styles now, wanted him sexually. But that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Robby pulled into his driveway and parked his car. He walked back down the drive and checked his mail. He pulled out a slim manila envelope. Checking to see who it was from, Robby realized that it had been shipped to the wrong house. It wasn’t even the right city.

Ah well, he would take it to the post office tomorrow. Today he needed to gather his thoughts and figure out his next game plan. As he walked up the driveway, Robby pulled out his cell phone, glancing at the caller ID.

It was Baker.

Flipping his phone open, Robby walked into the house and tossed the envelope onto the counter in the kitchen. “Don’t tell me you need me back there already.”

“Hardly,” Baker replied. “I just wanted to check to see if you were still breathing.”

“I guess you have your answer since I’m talking to you on the phone.” Robby walked out back and grabbed the hose, ready to water his garden. He loved spending time out here. It was such a peaceful place he had created.

“What are you going to do about Styles?” Baker asked. “I thought he was going to kill you.”

So did Robby for a hot second.

“Reno is coyote and he didn’t react that way. Of course, he stalked me and made me run, but he never looked at me like he wanted to snap my neck.”

“Are you trying to cheer me up?” Robby asked. “Because if you are, you suck at it. I don’t need to be reminded about how he tore the bakery apart.”

“He didn’t technically tear the bakery apart. He just shattered a very expensive piece of glass that Kenway is going to charge him for.”

Robby turned the hose on and then walked through the garden, watering as he talked. “Did you call for anything important?”

“I guess me making sure you’re still alive isn’t important.” Baker hung up.

Robby tucked the phone into his jeans as he slowly strode through the plants and flowers, his mind wandering back to Styles and his expression in the back of the bike shop. He was dying to know what the man had been thinking when looking at the tulips.

He wasn’t sure if he would ever find out. Styles was a complex man. Robby could tell just from the small encounter with the guy. He was determined to get through to the guy, but worried that Styles would flat-out refuse him and not budge. There was always that possibility. Sometimes persistence did not pay off.

Robby decided to send Styles a bouquet of flowers every day this week. He would change it up though. Tulips were pretty, but maybe tomorrow he would send carnations. If Styles accepted them, then Robby would take the next step and bring the man a lunch. He wouldn’t stay, just drop it off.

Baby steps, he reminded himself once more. Tearing down years of hate was going to be exhausting, but well worth it in the end.

He hoped.

Styles was angry with himself. He hated that he was feeling fevered toward Robby just for sending him flowers. Did the guy think that pretty bouquets could make him forget a lifetime of betrayal from the wolf breed?

Robby had been sending flowers all week and Styles wanted to shout for the man to stop…He just couldn’t bring himself to do that. No one had ever sent him flowers before. No one had ever sent him
anything
before.

“Hey,” Law called from upfront. “Did you order lunch?”