“Gently! You don’t want to damage the roots.”
He frowned. “I’m not good at gentle.” He turned a little and caught my eye. My heartbeat had turned into a bass drum boom that shook my whole body—slow, but gathering speed.
“I’ll help you,” I said. I stood, scraping my stool on the floor, and stepped behind him, putting my arms around him so that I could guide him. But immediately, I realized my mistake: he was so big, I couldn’t easily reach around. Not without getting very, very close.
Too late now. I stepped right up to him. My pubis grazed his back through my jeans and I caught my breath. As I leaned forward, my stomach and then my lower chest and finally my breasts made contact with his back. I slid my head next to his, our cheeks inches apart. I could smell the clean, outdoor smell of him, like the air after a storm, and feel his back rise and fall beneath me as he breathed.
“Just brush at it,” I told him, trying to focus. The roots were like tiny hairs and I was staring at his thick, powerful fingers as they touched them. I stroked the roots with my own fingers to demonstrate. Every time I moved, even the slightest amount, my breasts shifted against his back. I could feel my nipples hardening, pressing out through my bra and top to rasp against his muscles. He tried brushing again and immediately, I was hypnotized by the sight of his two big fingertips stroking along the roots— “Careful,” I mumbled. “It’s really sensitive.”
“Sensitive?” His voice was a rumble I felt through my whole body.
I flushed. “Delicate.”
He carefully put the seedling down.
My voice sounded almost drunk. “Why are you—”
He twisted around, his back and then his front sliding across my breasts. And suddenly his lips were almost brushing mine.
18
LOUISE
Even that almost-contactwas enough to send ripples of excitement straight through my body, all the way to my toes. I hadn’t fully understood how much I’d been needing him—aching for him—until that second. My whole body stiffened against him and I felt the heat of him throbbing into my groin and breasts.
I’m not sure if he leaned closer or I did. We were now so close I could feel his breath against my lips and with every slow exhale I sank deeper into an intoxicating darkness where anything could happen.
And it hit me that I couldn’t let it.
I staggered sideways, away from him. We stared at each other and I saw the dark, animal lust in his eyes.
“I have to go,” I croaked. And ran.
19
SEAN
Shit.
I was still reeling from the almost-kiss. My whole body was coiled and tense with the need to grab her, hold her.
Another half second and I would have been kissing her. Another ten and I would have slammed her down on the table and torn that scoop neck top right down the middle, baring her to me.
But now everything had gone wrong. Before I could even get up, Louise had slipped out of the door and off into the night. The thought of her out there, alone, was what finally gave me enough of a jolt to shake off my stupor and jump up—so fast I knocked over the table. The seedlings we’d been so carefully planting crashed to the floor, spilling fantails of soil.
Outside, I looked up and down the street but there was no sign of her.Shit!She didn’t have her car with her—I’d driven us here, today. What if someone had been watching the house and had grabbed her when they saw her alone? What if she’d run into some gang who didn’t know she was with me? What if—
On my second check of the street, I finally saw her: walking on the dark side of the street where the streetlights were broken. Her natural reaction was to hide herself away, to disappear, not realizingthat just put her in more danger. Out here in the darkness, her pale skin made her look even more vulnerable. We needed to talk...but first, I needed to make sure she was safe.
I raced across the street and caught up with her. “Louise!”
Her shoulders tensed but she kept walking. That’s when I grabbed her arm.
She yelped, pulled up short and spun around, eyes wide with fear. My heart leapt into my throat. I didn’t want to be that guy—not with any woman but especially not with her. Both of us looked at my big, clumsy hand encircling her slender arm. I opened it, releasing her, but now there was a dirty mark on that smooth, milky skin from my soil-covered fingers.
“You can’t walk home alone,” I muttered. “It’s not safe.”
She was breathing fast, looking up into my eyes with an expression I couldn’t read.You’re safe with me,I wanted to say.I swear, you’re safe with me.But I’d just proved she wasn’t, hadn’t I? I’d betrayed her trust and tried to kiss her, and she’d run, just like I’d always feared.
