Page 11 of My Orc (Secret) Boss

My gaze drifted to his forearms, highlighted by the way they were crossed. Hewasstrong. I could finish the whole project in a few weeks with him at my side. Heck, as long as his leg held up, maybe even faster.

“Do you…” I hesitated. Did I really want to know the answer to this question? I cringed and blurted it all out at once. “Do you have any landscaping experience?”

“Nope,” he said for a third time. But before I could sigh in disappointment, he glanced around the store, landing on the bin of digging implements I kept along the rear. “But I think I know enough to pick it up.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You didn’t just make a joke about a shovel, did you?” I mimed picking up a shovel and using it. “Or a pitchfork?”

To my surprise, something sparkled in Memnon’s dark gaze and his lips twitched before he looked away.

Was that…was that asmile? I wanted to see it again. I wanted to see him smile forreal.

I knew then that I was going to hire him. Sleeping on a cot in the back room was worth it if it meant I could hire my hot reclusive neighbor. Who happened to be an orc.

Oooh, girl, you’re going to be thinking about him tonight when you use your toy, aren’t you?

I saw his nostrils flare again as his gaze slammed back into mine, and Ifeltit. As if his gaze was some kind of physical force, I stepped back, my own eyes widening. Had he somehow guessed my thoughts?

Embarrassed now, I fumbled for a distraction. “You’re not going to be a very good landscaper if you don’t know your plants. Any idea what that is?” I pointed.

He glanced at where my finger directed, then back to me with a raised brow. “A watering can.” Before I could sputter a correction, he continued, “But behind it is a rosebush.”

My eyes narrowed again. “You recognized it?”

“Nope.” Damn, he was good at the whole impassive thing, wasn’t he? “But there’s a big-ass sign right above it that saysRosebushes 10% off.”

Hmm. So there was. “How about that?” I pointed toward the herbs along the front window.

He glanced over and said, “I don’t—” too quickly, then stopped and looked again. To my surprise, he unfolded his arms and moved closer to the yarrow, and even bent over to inhale.

When he straightened, there was something in his expression I couldn’t identify, something I hadn’t expected. A wistfulness, maybe? “I don’t know what it’s called in English,” he finally said, “but at home it wasslakonna. It was used for wounds, poultices to stop bleeding and inflammation, that sort of thing.”

My mouth dropped open.

He wasright.

I mean, not about the name, I had no idea what he’d said, although it had been beautiful. But…

Mainly I sold yarrow to people who wanted the fluffy white flowers in their gardens for decoration, but it was amongthe herbs because itdidhave medicinal and even ceremonial purposes. At least to my family.

My grandfather, for instance, used to drink a tea made from the leaves, to keep him regular. And if that’s notceremonial, then I don’t know what is.

Memnon had been able to identify yarrowandwhat it was used for, after just a quick examination?

I was still staring at him in shock when that harsh mask of his slid into place once more. “And I’m not a total idiot, Blossom.” One long green finger pointed toward the vegetable seedlings. “You’ve got a tomato in with the peppers, third row up.”

He’d called meBlossom? It was… I felt as if my breath had been knocked from my chest. He’d known what yarrow was used for, and he called me Blossom…just likeTatiused to.

“You’re hired,” I said in a hoarse voice, still amazed by what he’d recognized. WhatI’drecognized as a connection we shared. “I can give you the new hire paperwork to fill out now, or you can come back on Monday.”

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but then closed it carefully and cocked his head to study me.

Finally he asked, “Sakkara said the landscaping job would start a week from Monday.”

We couldn’t start on the park until after the Festival, but I shrugged. “If you’re available, we could start on the boardwalk at the nature reserve. Not the structure itself, but the retaining wall around it needs attention.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’m available. Want me to fill out whatever you need now?”

I mean, I wanted him to stick around, if that’s what he was asking, but I winced when I remembered that Ilivedin my back room now and couldn’t invite him to hang around back there while I printed out everything I needed him to sign.

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