Chapter 2
2
JACK
A flower delivery girl. Standing in my office, uninvited. Telling me I need to redecorate with a wall of plants.
If it were anyone else, I would have pointed at the door and waited until they marched out. But this girl is… I have no words. Or rather, the only words that come to mind are incoherent babbling: springtime, fairy, sweet, light, sassy, breathtaking. With earrings that are silver leaves, and bangles on her wrist that look like small flowers captured in acrylic.
Her lovely navy-blue eyes stare at me curiously, and I realize I’m frozen in place. Surely a woman this beautiful should be accustomed to men staring at her open-mouthed? Her dark green shirt and black pants are not particularly form-fitting, simply hinting at the exquisite curves underneath.
I want her. The thought is a lightning bolt that doesn’t so much zip up my spine as it does take hold of it and begin to shake.
Dammit. I need to keep her talking before she realizes I’m tongue-tied for the first time in my life. “Is it normal for office staff to want to work in a jungle?”
She laughs lightly, the sound breathing life into a dead zone. “Definitely! Sometimes people are so busy they don’t have time to go for a walk at lunch. A green wall gives them somewhere to go to just take a breath. Clear their mind. Or something to focus on while they’re on the phone.”
“You seem to know a lot about this.”
She shrugs. “Hey, I work at a plant store.”
I’ve stepped even closer to her, probably too close, but the urge to be near her is overwhelming. To cover any awkwardness, I stick out my hand. “Jack English.”
“Violet Palmer.”
Her hand is warm and soft in mine, and the light green nail polish is adorable. Standing shoulder to shoulder with her, I turn back to look at the wall. “So, you’re telling me that glueing a bunch of plants to this wall will make employees happier?”
She actually laughs at me. Nobody has dared to do that in years.
“We don’t use glue.” Her fingertips lightly swat my forearm. “We build a framework, with rows of long…well, more like trenches than shelves, really. Then we put plant pots in the trenches, and the greenery hides the framework.”
I certainly don’t have a green thumb, but I do know that plants need water and care. Which means that someone – hopefully Violet? – would come on a regular basis to do that.
Suddenly, I think the office has never needed a green wall more.
There’s movement to my right as a few curious faces peek out at us. Gently taking Violet’s arm, I guide her back into my office and shut the door.
“Listen. I don’t know why, but I trust you. Jerry, my office manager, has been telling me to take more of an interest in the staff. We’ve had higher than usual employee turnover in the past few years, and he’s nervous. He wants to hire a designer to ‘re- envision the space’…whatever the hell that means. But it would be incredibly intrusive, which we just do not have time for right now.”
“A green wall would take some time to plan. Then we’d have to collect all the plants.” Violet’s eyes are so bright. She’s genuinely excited about this idea. “The actual installation would probably only take a day, though. We could do it on a weekend, even. Then we’d have someone come in weekly to water and check on everything.”
“And you’re positive people like this sort of thing?”
She nods eagerly. “I can show you some research about how plants add life to spaces and increase employee satisfaction.”
“It will make the company seem more approachable? As in, softer and friendlier? Jerry was yapping about that, too.”
Violet laughs again, and this time I join her, chuckling deeply. “It actually pained you to say that, didn’t it?” she giggles. “I can tell this is clearly a bit woo-woo for you, Mr. No-Nonsense. But I can pretty much guarantee that adding a load of plants will bring fresh energy into the space. It’s a lot easier than tearing down walls, or repainting and recarpeting.”
I stride to my desk to grab a business card. When I turn back, her eyes snap up quickly. Wait… Was she checking out my ass? I hope so.
Note to self: Work harder at the gym, in case she checks me out again.
I hand her the card. “Could you please call me, and we’ll set up a time for you to come in with outlines and an estimate?” Sure, her idea might work for my employee retention problem. But more importantly, I just need an excuse to be near her again while I figure out whether it’s appropriate to ask her out.
“Sure. Thanks!” Violet goes back into the hallway, pulling out her phone to take photos of the wall. “Oh, do you happen to know how tall the ceilings are?”
“No.”
She looks around quickly. “Okay, how tall are you?”
“Six foot three.”
Suddenly I’m being shoved unceremoniously up against the wall. Violet steps back quickly, taking more photos. “I’ll use your height as a reference for the estimate. Our team will come in to measure more exactly if you decide to proceed.”
I clear my throat, not wanting her to leave. But I’m already way behind on the calls I need to make this morning. “Good. Thank you. Keep me posted.”
I step toward my office, then turn back to watch Violet walk away down the hallway. There’s a spring to her step. She’s happy. Genuinely excited about this project. And… those hips. Damn .
I’ve never been rattled like this. Never been thrown off my game. It’s simply not in my nature.
The second I am sitting at my desk, Jerry sticks his head in. “New corporate photos? She didn’t look like our usual photographer.”
“Very funny. That was our new greenery expert. We have some ideas on how to… How did you put it last week? ‘Infuse the entire company with new energy’?”
He blinks in shock. “Seriously?”
“Yep. I’ll fill you in later.” I snap my laptop open to cue him to leave, but my eyes are unfocused as they gaze at the screen.
Violet. A gorgeous dream-girl with hips I need to grip in my hands. Perfect pouty lips I need to kiss. And a sparkling, whimsical personality that I need to understand.
I am definitely asking her out the next time I see her.