CHAPTER ONE

Amara

I navigatedmy car onto the street of my new florist shop. It hasn’t even been built yet, but that’s beside the point. I knew it was going to be built here, on the newly cleared land in Appleridge, only a mile from town, picturesque mountains in the background.

I slowly drove past the open land, taking it all in, and wondering what shops or houses might pop up. But according to the website I found online of Stanton Construction, there were areas zoned for both residential and business. The company website instructed interested parties should contact the foreman, Thane Stanton. His company had purchased this stretch of land, and his team would be doing all the building.

Before calling him, I wanted to scope the area out, get a feel for it, maybe have an idea of where I’d like my shop to be ideally.

My eyes scanned the open land greedily, no longer on the road in front of me, my car barely going five miles per hour. When I looked back towards the road, a man stood mere feetfrom my car, watching as I drove directly at him. I screamed and slammed on my brakes.

Thank God I looked when I did! I could’ve just seriously hurt this guy.

Throwing my car into park, I hoped out, nervous energy radiating off me. “Oh my God, are you okay? I’m so sorry.”

The tall, sexy beast of a man took a step towards me and chuckled under his breath. “I’m fine. No harm done. I saw you coming.”

My mouth fell open. “If you saw me coming, why didn’t you move?” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared into his handsome face. For some reason he looked familiar, but I couldn’t place my finger on it.

He moved closer and my heart picked up in speed. “I wasn’t the one not watching the road.”

“And I wasn’t the one standing in the road like an idiot!” I sassed back and his sexy brown eyes darkened into deep pools of desire.

“A man can’t admire his land?”

“Sure, but not by standing in the middle…wait!” I snapped my fingers as it dawned on me who he was. “Yourland? Don’t tell me you’re Thane Stanton.”

He grinned. “The one and only.”

“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing we ran into each other.Literally. You’re the guy I was looking for.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“I want to buy a piece of your land and have you design and build a flower shop for me.”

Twinkles danced in his eyes, and he chewed on one side of his mouth. Even that was sexy.

Damn it girl, simmer down.

Who knew he’d be ten times hotter in person?

“Sounds like you know what you want.”

I placed my hands on my hips. “Yep. I always get it, too.”

“Oh, do you? Well not this time, pretty lady. All the land you see here is pending under a contract. We’re set to build homes here and it’s all been zoned for residential.”

“Your website said you had commercial property available, too.”

He chuckled and rubbed at his beard. “Did your research, hmm?”

“You bet I did. Where’s the commercial land, then?”

“It’s down the street some ways. Already have a few projects under contract. A few of my guys are down there right now. We could take a look if you’d like. Maybe ask one of them a few questions about what you’re looking for?”

“That all sounds great, but you’re not understanding what I’m saying. I don’t want someone else from your company to build my shop. I want you.”

“Me? Why?”