“He never withdrew, did he?”
“No, he didn’t.” Dan’s muscles tightened and his voice grew dark. “He won best overall and threatened me when I told him I planned to tell his daughter the truth.”
“So what happened?”
“I didn’t have to tell her. Some contest officials grew suspicious and several of the top prize winners were retested. Wesley tried to protest, but it wasn’t any use.”
“Oh my God.” I gasped. “That must have been awful for you.”
“Yeah, it was. Especially when he shifted the blame to me.”
My heart stopped and I bolted upright in the bed.
“What?!” I shouted.
“Yeah. He blamed me for using a chemical fertilizer, falsifying records, and sending the committee false soil samples to be tested.”
“Did you tell everyone that you were innocent?”
“Of course, I did. But whom do you think they were going to believe: a legend in the horticultural community, or his unknown protégé?”
“What about Melanie? She believed you, didn’t she?”
His silence told me everything I needed to know. He simply let out a deep sigh and held me closer.
His words from earlier echoed in my head.
She chose her father over me.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
I opened my eyes to find Dan gazing at me.Beautifulisn’t the word I would have used to describe the way I was feeling. After Dan told me the reason why he’d left the UK, we made love again. I drifted off to sleep in his arms, sweaty, sleepy, and satiated, but I also hadn’t tied up my hair.
“Hey,” I whispered and tried to smooth my hair away from my face. He tightened his grip on my body, bringing our faces closer. “No, don’t, I look a mess.” I clapped a palm over my face.
“You look like an angel, love.” He gently pulled my hand away as I giggled and pressed our lips together. He parted my lips with his tongue before he slid a knee between my thighs, parting those, too.
“Morning sex?” I asked when I separated our mouths with a soft pop.
“Yes, please.” He grinned and held up a condom. His lips painted my body with featherlight kisses as he made his way down my torso until I felt his beard tickling my inner thighs.
Less than twenty minutes after I’d woken up, I was in the middle of the throes of an intense orgasm sponsored by the skilled lips and tongue of a man I was falling more and more in love with every minute. Before I had a chance to catch my breath, Dan entered me again, plunging me into ecstasy.
“You feel so good, Emma,” Dan breathed into my neck. “I could make love to you forever.” I grabbed the sides of his face and brought our lips together again. We spent the rest of the morning kissing while we slowly made love.
“Thank you, Emma.” Dan carefully lowered himself onto his mattress before setting down the tray laden with tea and biscuits, which confused me for a moment before I realized that for Dan, biscuits were actually cookies. He pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and I wrapped his bedsheet around my chest, tucking it under my arms.
“Are you thanking me for sex?” I asked with a mouthful of cookie, giving him a skeptical look.
“Not at all.” He laughed and squeezed my knee beneath the sheet. “As lovely as that is.” He waggled his eyebrows at me. “I’m thanking you for listening to me last night. That was the first time I’ve spoken about it since I came to the States and… the first time I’ve ever told anyone the full story.”
“Not even your family?” I asked, and he shook his head.
“I told them that I was innocent, and I’m pretty sure they believed me—”
“Of course they believed you,” I interrupted. He gave me a smile and squeezed my knee again.
“—but I didn’t tell them everything. I was lost for a while. I’d lost my job, my home—Melanie and I lived together—” he quickly added, sensing my question. “My career was over. Plus, I was angry. I was so fucking angry. Part of the reason I took the job when George offered it to me was the opportunity to work on my rose. I felt like I had to prove myself, clear my name somehow…”
