His phone vibrated, and he glanced at the screen. Hazel had sent him a text.
I’ve come up with your punishment: I’ll be in Philadelphia next week, visiting clients. I need someone to water my plants. I’ll leave a key with my doorman. Have fun!
He laughed dryly.
The task was simple enough.
It turned out he forgot to do it, anyway. Which meant that the following Monday evening, after a fourteen-hour day at the office, he had to drive to Hazel’s and replace all her dead plants.
Chapter Twelve
Social conduct for hate-free inter-colleague teamwork
Short: SCHIT
Paragraph A (addendum):
Neither party may contaminate the other party’s living space with excessive presence and/or newly created memories!
(I thought that was obvious!)
He wanted a fresh start.
Why the hell wouldn’t she let him go?
He wanted to get married.
Why the hell didn’t she want to know that?
He wanted a truce.
Why the hell wouldn’t she stop fighting with him?
Exhausted, Hazel pulled her suitcase out of the elevator of her top-floor luxury townhouse. She shook her head.
She had spent five days in Philadelphia visiting various clients, preparing ice hockey players for the start of the season, and congratulating figure skaters on their Olympic qualifiers.She had also had dinner with a few baseball stars she had signed more by accident than design. It was mostly a personal favor to Cole Panther, owner of the local baseball team, who had been a few years ahead of her at Harvard and couldn’t stand dealingexclusively with complete idiots.
She had slept little, thought too much, and, if she were honest, had too many clients. If she truly wanted to start a family sooner or later, she’d have to expand her business, maybe open a second location in Philadelphia or New York to save herself the hassle of traveling. She could bury herself in work, find a trusted partner or employee, and share the workload.
It seemed like a good idea at the moment because the search would demand an incredible amount of her time and energy, which would mean less opportunity to think and, consequently, banish from her mind the sincere face of Gareth Clark begging her for a fresh start.
She rubbed her temples, as if that would speed up the process, opened her door…and froze.
Her loft consisted of a single, enormous room with red brick walls, a bright, built-in kitchen, and a loft level on the right, where her bed was. Dominating the room was her gigantic white couch, plainly visible from the entrance.
Hazel had ordered it a few weeks ago and was fairly certain it hadn’t arrived with a sleeping man on it.
Her abdomen tightened as she shook her head, set the suitcase aside, and closed the door behind her. A single dim floor lamp burned in the corner, bathing the loft in warm light. Apparently, it was perfect for sleeping.
“Gareth?” she asked, but he didn’t respond.
He lay in the corner of the sofa, his head leaning against the back, his noticeably dirty hands folded in his lap, his chest rising and falling evenly. A tight, light blue shirt stretched across his chest, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his sinewy forearms.A tie hung loosely around his neck, and his jacket hung neatly over the back of a chair at the dining table. He must have come straight from work, considering it was almost midnight! How long had he been asleep?
“Gareth!” she said more loudly, stepping hesitantly toward the couch. His thin lips were slightly parted, and his dark eyelashes rested at the top of his high cheekbones. Dark stubble adorned his chiseled jaw, as did dark circles around his eyes.
The man appeared to be more exhausted than she was, and that was saying something. But at the same time, everything about him seemed…gentle and soft. It was such a stark contrast to the wakeful, bossy Gareth Clark. Her heart lurched in her chest.
“Hey.” She nudged her foot against his, but he still didn’t wake up. Sighing, she brushed her hair out of her face. He might have wanted to start over, but some things didn’t change. Gareth never slept much, considering it a waste of time — but when he did sleep, he slept like a dead man no necromancer could resurrect.
