Although Ashe talked to Riley over the phone for the next two days, he didn't get to see her till Valentine's day, when he surprised her by dropping by at the Library Cafe. Sure, people did a double-take whenever he walked into the coffee shop, but on the whole, most of them didn't recognize him, not with his large nerdy glasses and his favorite black beanie, or if they did, they were too busy to do anything but give him a brief nod or acknowledge some movie they'd seen him in before going back to their coffee and their conversations. The coffee shop regulars who did know Ashe paid him no mind at all.

This was one of the reasons Ashe preferred to live in New York. It reminded him so much of London, where no one pestered him for autographs as he rode the Tube, nor discreetly took cell phone pictures while he worked out at the gym. It was pretty much the same in New York, although there were still the occasional fans who'd take pictures of him anyway and then post them online.

Riley was finishing up an order for a flat white when Ashe walked in the door. She didn't see him at first, not until she handed the customer his order. At first Riley's eyes grew wide, and then she frowned, glancing at the clock on the wall, confused.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "I thought you were picking me up at the apartment."

"There's been a slight change of plans," Ashe said. "I was hoping we could get an early start."

"But I'm grungy," she protested. "I've been working since seven -"

"All the more reason to get out of here. I aim to spoil you today," Ashe chuckled, leaning against the counter to gaze at her.

"But you already spoil me all the time," she said, blushing as she reached behind her back to untie her apron.

If all the time meant only when Ashe was in town, then Riley was wrong, he thought. "All the time is not enough," he grinned.

Five minutes later, Ashe walked a red-faced Riley out the door to the resounding applause of employees behind the counter and many of the customers. Though Ashe knew she hated the attention, Riley handled it well. Laughing, she did a mock curtsey before joining Ashe waiting on the sidewalk and linking pinkie fingers, they headed towards his condo three blocks away.

"Don't ever do that again," she said, giving him a stern look.

"So sorry not sorry," Ashe grinned, using one of Riley's favorite sayings, something she got from Tessa, one of her employees. He pushed his thick-rimmed glasses up along the bridge of his nose as he draped his other arm over her shoulders, drawing her next to him. He knew the disguise of nerdy glasses and beanie weren't foolproof, but in the bitter cold of February, it was good enough. All everyone caught outside in the cold wanted to do was get to somewhere warm.

"Let's hurry," he said, his breath hovering in front of him as Riley poked her finger through it. "I'm freezing."

Ashe really wasn't freezing, but he was excited to get Riley home. Though the sidewalks were mostly free from ice, there were still some slippery patches if one wasn't too careful. He was glad that she didn't have to wear high heels to work, like some women did. Instead, Riley loved wearing combat boots with jeans and her collection of vintage tees to work.

Seeing the path of rose petals on the floor the moment Ashe opened the door caught Riley by surprise. Except for the light from the fireplace, Ashe had turned off all the lights, and drawn the blinds over the doors leading to the patio, so the whole condo was dark, lit up only by the hundred pillar candles (electronic ones, as he didn't want to burn down the building in an effort to romance his girl) he'd arranged everywhere. Soft music played from hidden speakers in the living room.

"You shouldn't have, Ashe. You spoil me," she said, her eyes glistening.

"Not as much as I should," Ashe whispered as he slipped Riley's coat off her shoulders and hung it behind the door along with his own. "Follow where it goes, Riley. I'll be right behind you."

The path of rose petals led into the master bedroom, past the king-sized bed also sprinkled with rose petals, and into the bathroom.

The master bathroom was one of the reasons why Ashe purchased the condo almost a year ago. It had a huge three-person bath tub and a detached his-and-hers shower with separate shower heads, each with four control knobs that Ashe still had to figure out. He had filled the tub halfway with scalding hot water just before he walked the three blocks to the Library Cafe, and now, half an hour later, though it was still warm, all Ashe had to do was turn on the hot water tap to fill it completely.

"It's beautiful!" Riley exclaimed. "Now all I need is someone to feed me grapes and wine."

"I can do that," Ashe whispered as he came up behind her and brought his arms around her waist. She smelled of coffee and vanilla.

"I wanted to prepare you a bath fit for a queen, like Cleopatra, who was believed to bathe in milk to keep her skin soft," Ashe said.

"It seems you forgot the milk. You know, for authenticity's sake," Riley said, the corners of her mouth pulled down in a mock frown. "Why didn't you?"

"Because for authenticity's sake, I'd have needed to find 700 lactating donkeys to provide enough milk to fill this tub," he said, his expression serious though he was fighting hard not to smile as he spoke. "Do you know how hard it is to find 700 donkeys in New York state? Not to mention, lactating donkeys?"

"Maybe you should start a donkey farm upstate," Riley giggled. "It would be a hit. You can even do the milking."

"Hush, lass, don't give me any ideas now. I just might do it - milk a donkey, that is," Ashe said as he reached for a small brown bottle on the counter, opened it and poured two capfuls into the water. "But for now, we'll have to make do with rose otto oil."

Though the whole condo already bore the faint smell of roses when they entered, the scent that drifted from the rose otto oil dispersing in the water seemed to permeate through the weariness of Riley's day as Ashe felt her muscles relax.

The sigh that escaped Riley's lips signaled the official beginning of the evening, the transition from the end of her busy workday to that of Riley-Day, as Ashe preferred to call that evening in lieu of Valentine's Day, which had been named for a martyred saint who was stoned and then beheaded for attempting to convert the reigning emperor to Christendom.

No, Riley-Day, which should be everyday from here on, Ashe thought, sounded so much better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Ashe joined her in the tub, loving the feel of her long blonde hair trailing against his chest and belly as she leaned against him, he gave her the only present that mattered. He still had the Tiffany bracelet that he'd give her later, but he wanted her to remember this present first.

"I met you in October," Ashe said softly against her ear as he reached for a gold hinged box he'd set aside next to tub. "And by November, when fate led me to where you worked, I knew that I'd fallen head over heels in love with you, Riley-I-Am," he said, calling her by his favorite nickname for her, based on a children's book they'd read together the first time they babysat her three nephews.

Riley was quiet as he opened the box in front of her. She was nestled comfortably in his arms inside the tub, warm water splashing around them. He loved the moments they shared like this, with her in his arms, safe from the harsh realities of the world - at least the world she'd left back in Jackson Heights.

As he opened the box, she gasped as she saw what lay inside. Nestled within its velvet trappings was a gold ring with a cushion-cut citrine gemstone. The gem glistened in the light of the real candles that Ashe had arranged around the tub.

"It's a promise ring - my promise to you," he said, slipping the ring over her left middle finger. "From the first day I met you in that elevator, it's always been you, Riley. This just makes it official, in case you haven't yet noticed."

"I don't really need anything to make us official. I just need you," she said, smiling as she turned to look at him. "But I'm not complaining, Ashe-I-am. I love it. It's beautiful."

She brought her hand in front of her, gazing at the ring and touching it with her other hand. Ashe knew Riley didn't own a lot of jewelry, but as much as he wanted to spoil her with all the jewelry he could buy just because he could afford it, Ashe didn't want to overwhelm her either. Just because Riley wasn't used to receiving gifts didn't mean he had to subject her to an avalanche of them - so he did his giving in little increments - however 'little' meant.

"Do we really have to go out to dinner?" She asked, leaning back against him and brushing her hands along his thighs on either side of her. "Why can't we just stay in? There's a snow alert for tonight, you know. They say nine inches is coming down."

"And since when have you ever let nine inches stop you?" he whispered in her ear, his voice low and sensuous, it made her shiver.

"Never. Not when it's coming up," she giggled, moving her hand behind her. "Like it is now."

"Naughty girl," Ashe murmured as he felt her hand wrap around him. He breathed hard against her neck, closing his eyes as he savored the feeling of her hand tightening around him. He cupped her breasts, kneading them gently as she moved her body closer to him, water splashing along the sides of the tub.

"Only around you," she said, as Ashe kissed her on her lips, the first time he'd done so since he got into the tub with her. He'd kissed her shoulders, her neck, her cheeks, but not her lips. He had wanted to savor her slowly, tease her with his mouth along the back of her neck and watch the goosebumps rise against her skin, even if his own body was begging for release.

But Ashe had set boundaries for himself that evening. He had learned so much about Riley's life in the last forty-eight hours, that he needed the boundaries, the lines drawn between her past and her future. Ashe needed to do everything right, as if it would even out the life Riley had lived before he met her. Still, even with thoughts of what Sid Eames had told him two nights ago and Ashe pushing such thoughts away, there was so much he wanted to do for Riley, and the night had just begun.

And so his complete surrender - and hers - would have to wait.