made the request as he and Cecilia met at the front area of the plant nursery the next morning. They’d driven into the staff parking area within seconds of each other.
‘I’m sorry for the disruption to our review, but would that be manageable for you?’
‘There’s no need to apologise. I’m surprised you got through even one day without a disruption, to be honest. And the flower show management team aren’t due here until eleven—so, yes, I can do the tour now.’
Cecilia’s words and tone were calm. Yet in catching her unawares Linc had glimpsed what had looked like sorrow in her eyes, before she’d shielded her expression and the mantle of ‘business manager’ came down over her face.
There’d been an awareness of him, too. It had sparked briefly before that mantle had come down. It disturbed him that he had looked and hoped for that very thing. And it disturbed him that she had seemed sad.
He frowned, but a moment later Cecilia spoke with such enthusiasm and apparent focus on her work that he wondered if he had imagined that earlier moment of interest and its preceding sadness.
‘It’ll be a real pleasure to show you everything here in detail. Just let me stow my things, Linc, and we’ll get into the tour.’
Cecilia quickly divested herself of her purse and her lunch, tucked her cell phone into the back pocket of her jeans, and led the way to the first part of the nursery.
She’d been an intriguing young woman at twenty, when she’d fought so hard to get him to let her manage one of his nurseries. With nothing but a community college course and some time spent in customer service in a small plant nursery behind her, she’d gone after her dream of managing one, tenaciously.
Linc would have been a fool not to employ her, so he had done exactly that. But not before she had let him see that she would have welcomed the opportunity to know him better as a man, not only as a potential employer.
Her interest then hadn’t been one-sided.
And now...?
Now, for his sins, Linc had seen a whole new aspect of her yesterday, and that had not only refreshed the underlying awareness of Cecilia that had never truly left him, but had added to it. Why? Was it because there’d been no woman in his life at all lately?
Well, he’d been busy.
Too busy to pick up the phone and invite someone out or to say yes to any of the invitations that came his way?
Was he getting jaded? Or perhaps lonely? Wanting what his brothers had in their marriages?
That last thought came out of nowhere, and Linc shoved it right back there just as quickly. Ridiculous. He was perfectly happy as he was. He ignored any possibility that he might not be.
Linc’s gaze was focused on the back of Cecilia’s head as she walked along a curved pathway ahead of him, but all that did was draw his attention to her again.
A yellow sleeveless shirt contrasted with denim cut-offs, and both highlighted her soft curves. Today she wore her hair up in that ponytail again, and it bounced with every step of her work-booted feet.
The ponytail made Linc want to kiss her, and while the sensible work attire spoke of her determination, she looked equally as appealing to Linc today as she had yesterday—all feminine curviness and beauty.
Layers had definitely been peeled from his eyes, and Linc wanted to paste them right back on. He needed to do that, because Cecilia wasn’t the kind of woman he’d date and forget—the type of woman he had always dated because it was easy to walk away.
He had to set aside this awareness of Cecilia—whether he’d suddenly noticed her on a whole different level or not.
Cecilia glanced over her shoulder. ‘Shall we visit the cold storage first?’
‘Yes. That would be...ah...great.’
They headed over there, and Linc forced his attention back to the tour. He noticed the amount of empty space surrounding the limited offerings of cut flowers.
‘How’s the cut-flower trade going?’
‘It’s going well.’
Her glance seemed only to calculate the empty shelf area. But her cheeks held a hint of pink that couldn’t be attributed to their brief walk.
Was she feeling this, too? This interest and curiosity that felt fresh and new and oh-so-tempting to pursue?
‘At the moment we’re keeping our stock orders tight.’ She waved a hand in the general direction of the shelves, and then shoved it into the front pocket of her cut-offs.
She’s as aware of it as you are.
Maybe, but that didn’t mean she wanted to pursue it any more than he did, Linc reminded himself belatedly.
‘Any special reason?’ He cleared his throat. ‘For keeping the stock orders tight?’
She tipped her head on one side and seemed to consider him for a moment before she responded. ‘It’s because Valentine’s Day is very close and we’ll need the space for all the cut roses.’
‘Right. It’s good that you’ve thought ahead to make as much of that day as possible.’ His voice was so deep it might have come from his boots. ‘I should have thought of that straight away.’
‘It’s a very special day.’ The pink in her cheeks deepened. ‘For—for the customers, and very much for the nursery.’
And most of all for lovers.
She didn’t say that. Instead, she drew a deep breath, as though to try to compose herself.
In Linc’s experience women seemed to expect a very emotional expression of love on that particular day of the year. To show a love that encapsulated exactly the kind of commitment that would never be part of Linc’s own life.
He was grateful his brothers had found such love—that their lives had turned out okay in the end. However, Linc would never deserve—
‘We’ll be getting in red roses, predominantly.’
Cecilia’s words drew him back from the dark thoughts as she led the way out of the cold storage area and, once he’d joined her outside, secured it.
‘We’ll stock other colours of roses, too. There’s a growing percentage of buyers who will purchase something other than the classic red—particularly when purchasing for friends or family rather than—’
‘The romantic loves of their lives?’
There. He’d said it and the sky hadn’t fallen in.
‘Yes.’ She glanced at him and quickly away again. Her chin tipped up. ‘Roses are lovely at any time of the year. My favourites are the creamy white ones. They have a beautiful, subtle scent.’
She led the way through a section of potted seedlings and, as he came to her side, gave him the benefit of a determinedly work-focused gaze.
‘Hopefully
