"I need a moment. I can't…" She shook her head. "I can't go out there." A shaky hand ran through her hair. "Not yet."
Chapter Four
MADDOX
Ten Months Ago
Greenhouse, Lloyd Commons Residence
"Ijust can't." Her voice was soft and lilting, but the look in her eyes…
A loud "whoop" sounded from the main house. My shoulders hardened, and I whipped around. Chants of "speech speech speech" rose in the distance. Drakes must have shown his face, instead of just his dick.It's his celebration. The team's all here…for him.
I took a deep breath and held it, waited for my heartbeat to slow.Relax.My shoulders released as I worked my way back down from "high alert."
She lifted the corners of her mouth into a small smile even as she brushed at her cheek. "I'd like to stay for a bit longer."
My heart rate picked up again. "Then sit." I pointed at the plastic stool behind her.
She huffed, but sat, her bare feet no longer touching the floor. I moved to the low set of shelves along the wall. Grabbed a mid-sized flowerpot from a small stack, then pulled on my gloves.Keep busy, don't stare.
The small, overcrowded pot of blue cornflowers held yellowing leaves and tangled roots. The buds were notoriously difficult to keep alive after repotting, but the challenge was part of the appeal.
"Do you talk to them?" Goosebumps rippled across my forearms. Her legs crossing one over the other caught my attention.
I forced my eyes back to my repotting project. "Who? The idiots out there?"
"The flowers?"
"No."
"I hear they like talking. Or singing." She wiggled and leaned forward in the chair. "Maybe you sing to them?"
I focused on wiping dirt from the worktable.
"Your voice has a deep, soothing sound," she said.
"Mine?" I scoffed and shot her a look. "Keep drinking the water."
"I haven't even been here that long. Just…" she toyed with the cap. "Well, longenough. I guess." She ducked her head and a curtain of hair hid her features.
A quiet moment passed between us.Your name. I want to know your name.She finally glanced up at me, again. Heat worked its way from my neck to my jaw as I realized I'd been standing there, staring at her. "You said you're not here for the party." I returned my attention to the flower pots on my worktable.
“No." She sucked in a loud breath and exhaled. "It's just…it’s like I had this incredible moment of clarity."
Please don't tell me about your boyfriend.
"Like I saw the future and everything in crisp, bright colors. And realized?—"
"You're dumping him." I uncapped my last water bottle and watered the mess of thirsty cornflowers.
"What?"
"Sounds like a breakup speech." I risked a glance at her. Her reddish blond hair curled at the ends just beneath her shoulders. Her crossed legs…My mouth went dry. She didn't have those thin, stick-like legs. They held definition and tone and—I was staring.
I forced myself to focus on my…dirt. Yes, I needed dirt. I knelt to the floor, intent on pouring soil from the open bag into a new pot.
But as my gaze strayed again, I found myself level with those legs. Heat flashed through me as my brain wandered, imagining—my fingertips ghosting along her calf, hands uncrossing her legs, my teeth nipping at her thigh as I ran my tongue?—
