Chapter Nine
Lily glanced over at Rob and wondered what he thought about delivering the resold plants gathered up from Buchanan’s estate.
He hadn’t said anything on the ride over, other than telling her she looked nice today and then mumbling something about her wearing makeup, which naturally caused her to flush with embarrassment.
As warm as her cheeks felt, she knew they had to be good and pink.
So now Rob knew she had put on makeup to deliver plants to the office of the ex-boyfriend who had thrown her out of his mansion last week. How pitiful was that? But no way would she risk going to BDC and looking disheveled in case she did run into Rhett. So, how pitiful was that?
They pulled the nursery truck into a loading zone out front of Buchanan’s luxurious four-story office building on Peruvian Way in Palm Beach. She could see the street corner on Worth Avenue from the front steps and didn’t want to think about what this building must have cost.
Rob made good time in morning traffic, and they arrived almost ten minutes early.
Garrett had said he would meet them downstairs at ten.
Lily forgot the paper with Garrett’s phone numbers that Tammy had given her, so she had no choice but to run inside and call upstairs to Garrett’s office while Rob idled the truck at the curb.
As she started to climb from the cab, Rob put a hand out to stop her. “Will you be okay if there’s another ugly scene with Buchanan?” he asked pointedly.
“Probably not, but I don’t think he’ll lose his temper at his own headquarters. Bad show and all.” She smiled. “But if he does, I guess I’ll know one way or the other how he really feels.”
“Lily, this has disaster written all over it,” he protested, “and I don’t want to see you get hurt.
You are marching into his office building, for crying out loud, and a guy has his pride.
You wandered around the nursery like a zombie for days after that last scene at his mansion, and I don’t want to see you hurt like that again.
The nursery needs you to be a hundred percent, especially with the new annuals and interiors lines. ”
“I know. I’ll be fine. This was your idea, so stop worrying.”
“I can’t stop worrying. You’re strolling right into his private headquarters.”
“Yep.”
“What if he shows up and accuses you of chasing after him?” He shook his head. “Do you want to end up looking like a fool?”
Her gaze shot to his. “I won’t.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’ll only look like a fool if I let myself, and I don’t intend to. I intend to look like the trained professional I am, and I intend to do the job I was hired to do. If he can’t take that, I can’t help him.”
Rob scrubbed a palm down his face. “Lily, let it go before it’s too late. Don’t let him break your heart.”
“I can’t let it go,” she cried, hating that her voice trembled, “and it’s already too late.”
He gaped at her incredulously, and that was all it took.
Tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.
He frowned and held out his arms, and she went into them.
She let herself shed a few tears because it felt so good after bottling up her emotions for the last week, but she quickly stifled them.
Garrett was meeting her, and she couldn’t let him see her upset.
She swiped at both cheeks and pulled away from Rob.
“You really are in love with him, aren’t you?” he asked quietly.
The tears threatened a resurgence. She bit the inside of her cheek and nodded.
“I was afraid of that.”
“I was afraid to tell you.” She turned away. “I was afraid to admit it to myself.”
“Hank made me promise if anything ever happened to him, I’d look after you.”
Lily spun around and stared. “He did?”
Rob nodded. “Several years ago in fact, and I promised I would, though I’d have done it without him asking. Looks like I’ve done a lousy job.”
She frowned. “No, you haven’t. You’ve always watched out for me.”
“I let you go play Cinderella and fall in love and get hurt,” he grumbled.
“That wasn’t your fault.”
“Sure it was. That was all part of looking after you. Now, I just have to fix the problem.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked warily.
“You mean what are we going to do?” he said and grinned.
“What are we going to do?”
“You and I are going into BDC together to deliver plants. At the worst, I’ll be there to protect you if he tries to throw you out.” His grin broadened. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll even make him jealous.”
Her stomach tied up in knots, Lily hopped out of the truck cab and scampered up the front steps into the lobby.
A cheap imitation of the Incredible Hulk in a suit—sans green makeup—lounged behind a long reception counter.
Obviously, a security guard of some sort.
The sleeves of his navy blazer pulled tight across his shoulders when he swiveled the sign-in sheet to face her.
“Sign in,” Hulk said curtly.
“But I’m just here to deliver plants,” she said softly, trying to keep her voice from carrying in the cavernous white-marble lobby.
Garrett was right. The place needed plants.
She smiled at the guard.
And Buchanan deserves to have these particular plants.
“Doesn’t matter. Everyone signs in, Mr. Buchanan’s orders,” Hulk said, not returning her smile.
“Fine.” She scrawled their names on his sign-in sheet. “Can we prop the door open to bring the carts in and out?”
“No,” Hulk said bluntly. “Mr. Buchanan says the doors are to remain shut at all times.”
“Can we stage the plants in the lobby then?”
“Mr. Buchanan says—”
Lily held up a hand to silence the guard and tried not to explode. If she heard one more Mr. Buchanan says, she would scream.
“Look, I know you have your rules, but we need to get a truckload of plants into this building in a hurry. So, I’m going to stage them in the lobby, and if you need permission, then you go ahead and call—”
“Me,” a cheerful voice called from behind her.
The grouchy guard broke into a smile. “Good morning, Mr. Tucker.”
Garrett nodded at the guard and smiled at Lily. “Sorry I’m late. Hope you didn’t have any trouble.”
Lily eyed the guard and whispered to Garrett, “Too much Mr. Buchanan says no and Mr. Buchanan won’t allow . . .”
Garrett laughed. “Rhett runs a tight ship. Doesn’t want folks sneaking in and finding out what we’re working on before he’s ready to unveil his next masterpiece.”
“He’s not here, is he?” she asked warily.
“No, and he isn’t due back from his investor meeting for a couple hours.” He took her elbow and guided her to the entrance, then called back to the guard, “I’m going to prop the door open, Gerald, and we’re going to stage plants in the lobby for a while.”
“Sure thing, Mr. Tucker,” Gerald said, agreeably. When Garrett turned back to Lily, the guard gave her a smirk.
Lily’s eyes narrowed.
“Is he smirking at you?” Garrett asked softly, his eyes on her.
“Yes,” she hissed.
He chuckled again. “Rhett hired the guy personally, and thus Gerald is loyal to a fault. Now let’s get your plants in here, so you can get moving.”
Lily stifled the urge to stick her tongue out at the guard and followed Garrett through the now-propped-open door. At the truck, Rob had already started loading plants onto one of the cage carts.
“You don’t have to help, Garrett,” Lily protested when he hopped into the back of the truck and grabbed a sleeved palm.
“Sure I do.” He winked at her. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
They loaded up the first metal cage cart, and Rob started for the ramp at the front door.
“Why are you so worried about running into Rhett while you’re here?” Garrett asked nonchalantly as he pulled more plants from the back of the truck.
“I’m not.”
He straightened and stared at her.
“Okay, I am. I just don’t want another confrontation with the ogre. That’s all.”
“You know, you two have way more in common than you think. You’re two peas in a pod.”
“What do you mean?” Did Garrett think she was an ogre too?
“You’re both driven to succeed at everything you try—business and pleasure—and if you don’t succeed, you take it personally.”
Lily was aghast.
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s true. Rhett had to be number one in school. He killed himself studying at the sake of any kind of social life, taking full class loads and getting straight A’s.”
“I didn’t—”
“Tammy says you were the same way,” he said, arching a brow.
Lily grimaced.
“Both of you are now driven at your jobs at the sake of all else,” he went happily on to prove his point. “Working long hours and no social life.”
She frowned at him. “I have a social—”
“No, you don’t,” he shot back. “Not according to Tammy, you don’t. Hell, Rhett doesn’t need any more money, and your nursery can’t get any bigger. You’ve developed every square foot or almost.”
She just stared at him.
He grinned. “Like I said, two peas in a pod. Made for each other. Now, will you take a chance? Take the risk with me?”
Tammy’s words came back to haunt again. You’ll have to at least take the risk or you’ll never find Mr. Right.
Tempted, she asked, “What kind of risk?”
“Give me a shot at patching you guys up without getting mad at me or more importantly, at Rhett. What do you say?”
What did she say? Though she had tried to convince herself she hated Rhett Buchanan for what he had done—or at the very least, disliked him—she was only lying to herself. If Rhett showed up here today, her heart would race and her palms would sweat.
Face it, Lily. You’re not over Rhett Buchanan—not by a long shot.
“Well, what do you say?” Garrett repeated, his expression earnest.
“I say, okay. Maybe.”
“Good enough.” He grinned and passed her a sleeved Spathiphyllum.
In a very short time, the three had all the interior plants staged in the lobby and grouped by variety.
“We’ve got four floors,” Garrett told them. “The back half of the first floor, behind this lobby, is all clerical and administrative support. I want a third of the plants in there. I need to keep those folks happy.”
Lily smiled.