Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 101399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101399 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 507(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Good. He needs to go after girls his own age and leave the women to me.” He smiled, the perfect Abercrombie smile that drew women to him like groupies. “Do you like the flowers?”
“Of course. Plants are my jam.” I didn’t particularly enjoy daisies, but they were pretty enough.
“Good. Coming to the city this weekend, right?”
“Yes.” Maybe having dinner with Link and hanging with Veronica would help me cut through my mixed feelings.
“Maybe we could watch a movie and you could…” He ran his finger down my jawline and stared at my lips. “Sleep over?”
I forced a smile. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask.” He kissed me again, more gently this time, then pulled away as the bell rang. “See you in a few days.”
The door opened, and students trickled in for my next class.
Link grinned and spoke far more loudly than necessary. “Good talking with you about those plants and all, Ms. Briarlane.”
I laughed. He was fooling no one, but at least he was amusing in his attempt. Waving, he stepped out of the classroom and disappeared down the hallway.
“Is he your boyfriend?” Taylor asked in between blowing bubbles with her gum. “He is, isn’t he? He’s cute.”
“Let’s focus on science.” I turned my back to her and fiddled with my laptop. But she was right. Link was my boyfriend. Not Sebastian. Maybe I’d been wrong to try and put more space between Link and me.
My phone buzzed. A number I didn’t recognize had sent me a text.
You’re welcome. –S
And just like that, Sebastian had once again placed himself at the forefront of my thoughts.
When I arrived home from the first day of spring semester, I found a collection of boxes sitting on my front porch. There were no shipping labels, nothing to give me any hints about what was inside. But I didn’t have to guess about who they were from. He may not have been watching me anymore, but I could feel his signature on the mysterious packages.
I hauled each one inside and arranged them on my kitchen table.
Armed with scissors, I attacked the first one. Inside, I found a rare orchid, Coleman’s Coral Root. I’d never seen one in person, especially not in bloom. A gorgeous purple bloom highlighted the tip of the longest stem with additional buds radiating down the stalk. I put one hand to my chest, my rapid heartbeat thundering against my palm.
With a quick cut along the seam, I opened the next box. I had to sit down when I found a Ghost Orchid, one of the rarest varieties in the world. Given the complexity of the bloom, scientists still had no idea how the plants were pollinated. My students and I could work on a breakthrough worthy of a scientific journal based solely on this one plant.
I opened the rest, each box containing rare orchids. The contents of these boxes were worth well over the market value of my house. The sun had long since fallen beyond the horizon as I sat and stared at the beautiful plants. I glanced to the already-wilting daisies I’d placed in the sink and then back to the orchids. There was no comparison. But that wasn’t fair. Link didn’t have the means to give me a garden of rare orchids. But he could at least make an attempt to know your favorite flower. I swatted the thought away and started collecting the empty boxes. An envelope dropped from one, and I recognized Sebastian’s sloping script along the front. My name.
I dropped to the floor and sat cross-legged while ripping the envelope open with shaking hands.
Camille,
I apologize for not being in the office to accept your call earlier today. The greenhouse is yours. I’ve instructed the foreman to report to you instead of the headmistress, and I’ve also provided a discretionary budget for you to make whatever changes or additions to the design you see fit.
As you know, emotions aren’t my strong suit. But I want you to know that you’ve been in my thoughts every second you’ve been gone. I went about wooing you the wrong way. I see that now.
With that said, I need you to know that I wouldn’t trade our time together for anything. You taught me more about myself than even my father.
Do you remember when you said I was the villain of this story? I think you were onto something. The actions I took to get you were wrong. But I don’t regret them. I never will. I’d do them over again in a heartbeat. But the second time around, I might kill Link and whisk you away from here. Take you to the Amazon and set you free in the trees while I wait for you on the ground. Give you everything you ever wanted. Build you a school, burn down a city, design you a greenhouse, destroy an enemy—they’re all the same to me as long as they lead to you. And I think that’s why you were right. I think that’s what makes me the bad guy—that I’d kill or build, destroy or create for you. If you wished it, I’d do it. All that would matter to me is that you wanted it.