Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 74554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74554 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Yeah.
It was time to shake shit up a little.
“Alright. I’m gonna catch a shower and head out. You two hold down the fort.”
“Can do,” York said.
“We’ll make sure the brothers don’t burn the place down,” Velle agreed. “Or get an indecent exposure charge,” he added with a smirk.
With that, I made my way upstairs, looked up some plant content online so I didn’t look like a complete idiot, showered, dressed, plugged in the name of the place to find out where it was, then borrowed the club SUV to make my way over there.
I had no idea what to expect.
Or, more accurately, who to expect.
CHAPTER THREE
Rue
“It’s over,” I reminded myself as I sat in the Vital Greens parking lot.
Ernest was snoring in the backseat.
I was having a panic attack in the front.
My hand pressed to my chest, where it felt like my heart was attempting to punch itself free of my ribcage.
My phone was in my hand, a little video on repeat that tells you when to breathe in, hold, and exhale.
The extra oxygen should have been calming me down, but I felt like the anxiety was only ratcheting up with each careful breath.
I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat as I ran my hand over the steering wheel, my leg, my hair, the coffee cup in the holder, and the glass of my window.
Five things I could feel.
I took a deep breath, smelling Ernest’s lavender waterless wipes I’d rubbed him down with, my coffee, the lily of the valley perfume I’d spritzed on, my coconut car vent air freshener, and my cherry lip balm.
Five things I could see.
I flipped down my visor, seeing the perspiration visible on my brow and upper lip, then quickly swiping it away. That was one thing I could see. My dark blue eyes. My reddish-brown hair. The terror in my gaze.
No.
Dammit.
I squeezed my eyes closed, focusing on the breath and repeating a self-soothing mantra until it no longer felt like a rope was tightening around my throat.
It was over.
I wouldn’t have to worry again for another month.
I needed to shift out of that mindset and get my head back in the game.
Everything was fine.
There were no scary guys to think about.
I had some beautiful new plants I needed to check on.
Everything was okay.
“Right, bud?” I asked Ernest, glancing into the backseat. He didn’t bother to open an eye, let alone try to offer me any comfort. That complete and utter peace he felt, though, was like a balm to me too. If anything terrible had actually happened, he would have been freaked out too.
But it was just a little mild inconvenience and scare.
And it was over.
Sucking in one final breath, I turned off the engine, grabbed my purse and coffee, then climbed out to coax Ernest out of the backseat. It was a task that took fifteen minutes and that sweat I’d wiped away was back in force by the time I finally made it into the plant shop.
I didn’t keep the air on very high at night, knowing all the plants were tropical and preferred to be on the warmer side, so there was no real relief from being indoors until I cranked the air up and stood under a vent, fanning cool air up under my shirt.
“Hot,” Traeger declared, coming in from the back with two cups of iced coffee in his hands, checking me out.
“Yeah, maybe in the literal sense,” I agreed.
“In both definitions of the word,” he insisted.
I knew perfectly well I was a mess.
I had on overalls so worn that the blue was mostly white at the knees and around the clasps. My hair was partially covered by a bandana because I’d stress-sweated through my shower the night before, and my hair looked limp and greasy.
“Oh, please,” I said with an eye roll as I chugged the last of my from-home coffee so I could start on Traeg’s superior one.
“I mean it! Overalls with only a sports bra underneath? Hot.”
My eyes went round as my hand shot down to the open sides of the overalls, feeling only a swatch of material and then bare belly skin.
“Oh my God.”
“You didn’t mean to do that, did you?”
“No! I definitely meant to put a shirt on.”
“Well, you didn’t. And it’s a good look. I never even realized you had boobs before,” he admitted.
With a helpless whimper, I moved into the bathroom to check out my reflection.
Sure enough, all I had on under the overalls was a bright yellow sports bra, the kind I wore in a never-ending attempt to stave off the dreaded boob sweat.
And while I wasn’t exactly super blessed in the boob department, what I did have was pretty on display right then.
Great.
Just great.
Another score for my stupid anxiety.
Huffing out a breath, I moved back into the shop to find Traeger had already flicked on the plant lights and music and flipped the open sign.