Page 68 of Bedroom Rodeo

Chapter Thirteen

After a second desperate video call from her client, Sylvee needed some R and R.

And a stiff drink. Was it too early for a drink when the sun never actually set?

As if she could even handle alcohol. A weight in her stomach felt as if she’d swallowed rock. From an active volcano.

The meeting started out well enough, but it quickly degenerated to the client bursting into tears about how much of a toll this was taking on her sanity.

That admission left Sylvee’s throat tight with her own tears. Damn, could she commiserate. The long battle with Charlie over the business and a few stupid little aspects of their shared life together started breaking her down months ago.

She stared at the suitcase of clothes she’d brought with her. Not knowing what activities she’d be doing, she packed a vast variety, from jeans and sweaters to a silky robe.

She touched the string of the deep blue bikini. Well, she might as well show off her curves by the pool. She longed to see the greenhouse and indoor pool anyway.

She wrinkled her nose. Hopefully, the space didn’t reek of chlorine—that would be the furthest thing from relaxing.

After she tied the string behind her back, she dropped her arms to her sides and pivoted to stare in the mirror.

She blinked at her reflection.

That really was her, wasn’t it?

The woman who woke at the crack of dawn to fly to Alaska, sporting a messy bun and bags under her eyes that competed with the size of her luggage, was not the woman gazing back at her.

Her face looked rested, some of the lines of strain eased. Her lips that spent two years in a perpetual frown were turned up gently at each corner.

She’d gained a few pounds from the stress of the divorce, but they only enhanced her curves in the bikini.

Her gaze traveled down her full breasts bulging the triangles of the top, down her stomach. Pink traces of beard burn streaked her torso—a mark of the love she’d received from both her men. When she twisted, she spotted the darker hickey on her side and clamped her thighs on the memory of Piers’s sucking bites.

Then her gaze darted back to her stomach. Could it be? Could a child be growing inside her right now?

She couldn’t get her hopes up only to be shattered again. If it wasn’t meant to be, she’d just have to find a way to live without her dream, to dissolve the desire to be a mother and learn to live with the life she had—and live it to the fullest.

That’s with Piers and Ash.

She couldn’t have them either, though, could she?

Striding to the clothes hanging on the luggage rack, she plucked off the kimono that would cover her swimwear. People walked around naked on the ranch, but she wasn’t quite that adventurous, so she donned the garment, slid on some shoes and headed outside.

As she walked, she turned her face up to the pale sunlight. The rich scent of pine sap hung in the air, along with a few smoky wisps from a campfire that was dying down somewhere on the ranch.

The walk to the greenhouse only took a couple minutes, and she didn’t pass anybody on the way there. Lucky for her—she didn’t feel able to speak yet after that video call. The emotions her client brought to the surface in Sylvee were still too real and raw. Now she could see the benefit of handing over her cell phone.

The instant she stepped into the greenhouse, her thoughts about her personal life slammed to a halt.

This place…was enchanting.

Like walking into another world, and one far, far away from the cold of Alaska.

The heat from the pool was trapped within the glass walls and a ceiling that showcased the beauty of the sky. And it did not smell like chlorine, but rather earthy plants.

What a brilliant design. The heat and moisture fed the plants, which in turn purified the air. What they grew here fed the residents of the ranch and the clients who visited.

She wandered around the perimeter, looking at the varieties of plants. Was that a…banana tree? In Alaska?

It was.

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