Page 68 of Hello Handsome
“What are you working on now?” I asked, gesturing at the plot.
He set his jug back down. “I’m about to plant the trap plants.”
My eyebrows drew together as I looked around for Venus flytraps. “Don’t you have to buy those from the store?” I asked.
Shaking his head, he explained that trap plants were typically flowers that would attract bugs away from the fruits and vegetables. “Keeps me from battling bugs all summer,” he explained.
The way he talked about it made me want to learn more. “I thought gardening was just putting seeds in the ground and watering them,” I admitted.
But he shook his head, grabbing a packet of marigold seeds. “These flowers repel so many things–aphids, squash beetles, even root knot nematodes.”
I glanced at the package, amazed a little flower could do all that.
“What’s your favorite flower?” he asked, picking out several other packets from his rusted metal basket on the ground near the fence.
“Mine?” I asked, racking my brain.
“Yeah, if you have one?” He straightened up, holding the seed packets.
“I like cosmos,” I said, thinking of the cheerful pink flowers. “I know they’re not anything special, but they’re my favorite.”
Gray shrugged. “Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, right?”
I nodded, and we got to work planting different types of flowers in the corners of the garden and by certain plants.Working most of my life, it was easy for me to fall into the rhythm of a task. While we dipped the seeds under the soil, he asked how my kids were doing.
His interest in Isa and Enzo warmed my heart right back up. Especially when I could announce that I was finally going to see Enzo in Hawaii.
“Aggie!” The joy for me was clear in his eyes. “Oh my gosh!” He crossed the garden to me and pulled me into a hug. It shouldn’t have been so easy for me to melt into his touch, but I did, savoring the feel of his body close to me.
Here he was, all hard muscles against the softness of my chest. My body reacted stronger than ever, nipples growing tight, skin alert to the pressure. Even my heart rate kicked up.
His hand ran over my back, settling on the spot where my waist dipped in. His breath was deep, like he might have been savoring this moment too. And the realization had me tilting my head back, mentally begging him to kiss me.
An engine gunned on the road, loud, like Hayes’s new motorcycle, and we jumped apart.
My face felt flushed, shocked and embarrassed by how desperate I felt for more of his touch.
“That must be Hayes,” Gray said. “Let me see what he wants.” He stepped over the garden fence and walked backward a few steps, saying, “Remind me to send you with a gift for Enzo, okay?”
My heart grew just as warm as the sun. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”
He dipped his head like it was no big deal and turned to greet Hayes and his roaring motorcycle, but it was a big deal to me.
More and more I was starting to wonder… Had Gray changed anything since the gala? When he was done with Hayes, I would ask him. Because I loved him as a friend, but my heart wouldn’t let go of the idea of having him as more.
42
GRAY
As I walked backtoward the garden bed, I saw Aggie holding her cell phone to her ear, a devastated look on her face. “How did that happen?”
She waited silently, eyes filling with tears, shoulders hunching in as she listened.
“Which hospital is he being sent to?” she asked. After a beat, she said, “When he wakes up, will you tell him his mom is on the way?” Her voice shook.
Her eyes closed as she nodded. “Thank you.”
Then she lowered her phone to her side.
