Trent shook his head. “I started college last fall, but it just wasn’t for me. I dropped out and came looking for you.”
Shit.If he’d ever found Trent, Ryan’s goal had been to get into his adoptive parents’ good graces so that he could stay a part of his life, and now he was proving a bad influence before they’d even met.
Fate had a really fucked-up sense of humor sometimes.
* * *
Emma arrived at Off-the-Grid for her eleven o’clock meeting with Ryan with her head held high. She might be mortified about how last night ended, but he never needed to know it. She stepped out of her SUV and smoothed her hands over her Artful Blooms logoed jacket and khaki pants. Last night’s almost-kiss aside, right now she was here to talk business. And if she’d left her hair down again today, well, that was because of the chilly weather, not because Ryan had said it looked beautiful. Okay, maybe it was a little bit about Ryan. Or a lot.
With her iPad in hand, she pulled open the front door and walked inside. Ryan—coming out of the kitchen while stuffing a candy bar in his mouth—nearly ran right into her. He pulled up short, his eyes settling on hers with an intensity that sent sparks ricocheting around in her belly.
“Sorry.” He wore a black fleece pullover with Off-the-Grid’s logo on it and a pair of worn jeans. And he smelled delicious, a combination of some kind of manly aftershave and chocolate—courtesy of the candy bar.
“No problem.” She clutched the iPad against her chest. Okay, so internally she was definitely not playing it cool right now, but she was reasonably sure her face remained impassive. She’d perfected the art of hiding her feelings years ago. “I thought we should walk the property together first so we can make sure we’re on the same page with landscaping. Then I’ll put together an estimate and some virtual mock-ups that I’ll e-mail you in a day or so.”
A muscle in his cheek twitched. Apparently he hadn’t expected her to launch right into business after the way they’d left things last night. “Okay.”
She turned around and walked back out the front door with Ryan at her heels. “I assume most of what we’re looking at will be here around the main building and out along the road by the sign.”
“Yeah. We want something eye-catching, maybe some nice, bright colors, especially out by the road, but it needs to be low maintenance. We don’t have any money in the budget for grounds keeping this year so Ethan, Mark, and I have got to be able to keep it up ourselves.”
“Okay. I was envisioning some beds along the walkway here, maybe African daisies. They come in pretty purples and yellows, and they’re hardy.”
Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Long as you stick to the budget, we don’t much care which plants you pick. Just don’t stick us with a bunch of hot pink roses or anything.” He cracked a smile.
“I’ll keep your manhood intact, don’t worry.” She grinned, leading the way around the side of the house. “I can put in some flowering bushes around the edges of the field. If there’s room in the budget, are you interested in reseeding the grass, too?”
“Sure.” Ryan was still watching her intently.
Every time she glanced over and caught him staring, she felt a jolt of awareness. Did he feel it, too? Or was he just uncomfortable about the fact she’d almost kissed him last night? They walked together to the sign by the road and discussed the options there. Then he led her down the path to the ropes course.
“We need to add something to hide that drainage ditch back there,” he said, pointing.
“Done.” She tapped it into her notes and marked the spot on the digital rendering of Off-the-Grid’s property on her iPad. “I can get some inexpensive shrubs in here that will hide the ditch and even look pretty while they’re at it.”
“Great.” His brow wrinkled. “Em—”
She looked away. If he had something to say, he was just going to have to come out and say it. She’d already made a big enough fool of herself.
“About last night…” He gave her a pleading look.
She cocked her head, pressing her lips together.
He chuckled. “You aren’t going to help me out here, are you?”
She shook her head with a smile. “My mom always said I was the stubborn one.”
“That makes two of us.” He took a step closer. “Look, it’s not that I wouldn’t enjoy kissing you, but—”
“Please, stop right there.” She cringed, pressing a hand over her eyes.
He peeled her hands away, holding them in his. He met her gaze, his eyes warm and rich as the earth around them. “I like you a lot, and that’s the problem. We’re friends, and I don’t want to mess that up, okay?”
She blew out a breath. What the hell could she say? “Look, I drank a lot of beer last night, and that motorcycle ride? Well, it was awesome, and I got a little carried away, but let’s just pretend that I hopped off your bike and went straight inside after, okay?”
He stared at her for a long moment, his expression so intense it was all she could do not to squirm. Then he cracked a smile. “’Kay.”
Relief loosened in her chest. “You’ll still teach me rock climbing, though, right?”
