River-rose picked flower after flower before delicately placing them into the large pocket of her overall dress so she could put them in the little vase Hayze had bought her when they had gone shopping. 

When she spotted a little lady bug land on a yellow flower a little further away, she squealed and followed after it before gently getting down on her knees and gingerly placing her little pinky finger near the flower. 

Hayze noticed she was like snow white. All the animals were basically drawn to her. He learned that when she was sitting in the kitchen by the bay window waiting for her tea and a bird flew full speed towards her and hit the window. It dropped to the ground and she was already jumping out of the window to see if it was okay. It was fine except for it being a little stunned and all she did was pet its head until it finally perked up and frantically flew away.

"River?" 

She slowly turned around and peaked up at Vito who was looking down at her with an amused smile. 

"Hi," she smiled sheepishly.

He nodded. "Hayze wants you to come and eat lunch with him in his study while he does a bit of work."

She smiled excitedly and scampered up off the ground with the lady bug sitting comfortably on the back of her hand. "Thank you Vito."

He chuckled and watched as she ran into the house, Blue following closely behind her. 

Just as she was about to run up the stairs, she remembered her shoes which were still on her feet and getting the floor dirty. "Ohmygosh. Blueee. We forgot to wipe our feet," she said as she walked back to the front door and she took off her shoes. She grabbed the wipes from the shoe rack and wiped down Blue's paws and then she pat his head for not running away from her.

Once she was sure they wouldn't be tracking dirt, she ran up the stairs and to Hayze's study. She knocked but didn't even wait for the come in before letting Blue and herself in with an excited smile. 

"I'm here," she announced as she gently shut the door behind her.

Hayze looked up from his blue print before his lips quirked up into a gentle smile. His eyes raked over her and he shook his head. "Come here."

She began to make her way over but stopped when the lady bug flew off her hand and onto the top of the book shelf.

"What was that?" Hayze asked as he watched River run after what looked like lint that just flew through the air.

"It was a lady bug," she said as she placed a chair by the bookshelf and she climbed up. She'd only been in his study once before but she was comfortable in here now with Hayze. And she knew her way around well. Hayze had gone out and got two extra bean bags for his study after she suggested it. It was the only non-professional things in the study. Well, if you excluded River and Blue.

"I haven't seen one of those in a long time," Hayze commented as he looked back down at his sketch plans for a pool house he was planning to build for someone. It was one of his smaller projects. "Careful, bella carina."

"I got it," she said as the ladybug crawled into her hand from off the book shelf. Slowly, she got down off the chair and went around to Hayze's desk before plopping down by his feet onto the bean bag. 

She blushed as he peaked up from his work and he gave her a heart stopping smile. She loved his smiles. 

"You got your new outfit dirty, baby girl."

She placed the ladybug on his shiny dress shoe before looking up at him under her eyelashes. "I'm sorry. I was picking flowers for the vase you got me."

He ruffled her dark hair, then picked up his mechanical pencil and twirled it between his long fingers . "It's okay. It can be washed or I can just get you a new one."

She nodded and then sniffed the air. "I smell food."

He chuckled and nodded. "I made us some vegetable lasagna. Vito's bringing it up right now."

Right on cue, Vito walked in with a lightly steaming tray in his hand and placed the food on a separate table. 

Her stomach grumbled. "That's smells good," she said as she lifted herself off the bean bag.

"I'm glad you think so," he chuckled. "Give that ladybug to Vito and then go wash your hands."

"Okay." She went over to Vito who just stood with his hand held out and gently took the ladybug from her. 

She sprinted to the bathroom, washed her hands and then ran back into study. Just as she was about to plop down in her seat with the smaller plate of lasagna in front of it, Hayze caught her shoulders and swung her back from the table.

"Heyyy," she squealed as Hayze got in the way of her delicious looking lasagna. 

He laughed, his deep handsome laugh and caressed her flushed cheeks. "Lets get you out of the dirty overall first."

She squirmed away. "But... I don't have pants under here."

He gave her a stern look. "You're wearing a long sweater under it and I bought you nice panties. You're fine."

He unbuckled the flower and dirt filled overall dress and slid it off her. She blushed when her smooth thighs were fully exposed and she tried to sit down quickly so Hayze couldn't see her butt.

He sat down across from her after taking off his navy blue tie. "You don't have to be so shy around me, bella carina. I love seeing you in your little bras and short skirts. You could walk around in just your under clothes and I wouldn't mind. As long as its just you and me home. You've got a beautiful body, pretty girl. I'd like to see it."

She pursed her lips together and put her hands over her cheeks to calm her blush. 

"If I'm moving to fast for you, just say so and I'll stop," Hayze said before taking a bite of lasagna.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. She liked when Hayze payed this much attention to her. "No, its okay." She dug into the lasagna and squealed at the taste of it before dancing around in her seat.

"Good?" he asked with a small smirk.

"Yes!" She threw her hands into the air and some of the lasagna went flying. Blue eagerly chased after it and licked the floor clean. "Oops, I'm sorry. I hope that doesn't make Blue sick."

He laughed. "It's okay. Blue's got a strong stomach."

They finished eating in silence but they shared a few small smiles with each other from opposite sides of the table. 

It was obvious now that what her and Nico had wasn't healthy. It wasn't good and she was planning to tell it to him straight; right to his face. Even if someone got hurt.