His eyes narrowed. “How? Do you run a soil test? Or is there a colour you look for? Do you keep a chart with dates and stuff? How do you optimise production?”
I blinked. “It’s rot, Thaddeus, not rocket science. You wait, and you know. That’s it.”
“Buthowdo you know?” He frowned and raised his hands. “Sorry, but I can’t help it. I see a process and I want to make it better. It’s what I do.”
I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. “And I appreciate your concern, but I’ve been making compost for twenty years. Trust me. I’ve got this.”
“Of course. Sorry.” He looked at his hands, which were still in the air. “You know I can’t remember the last time I had dirt under my nails, let alone animal shit.” He paused, rolling his eyes. “Oh no, that’s right. It was last night. I’m definitely gonna need therapy.”
I took his hands and studied the impressive array of chipped and broken nails. “It’s a dangerous business stepping away from your computer screen, Thaddeus Grey. If you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing what you might find yourself doing.”
Thaddeus narrowed his eyes. “Are you quoting Bilbo at me?”
I grinned back at him. “Paraphrasing, actually. Why? Is that too nerdy for a landscaper?”
He gave me a side-eye. “Like I’m gonna fall into that trap. But I can see I have to keep an eye on you.”
“You do that.” The words were out before I could check myself, and yep, we were flirting again. I schooled my expression, adding, “For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you getting those lily-white hands dirty communing with the soil.”
He laughed. “Well, that makes one of us. I’ll send you the manicurist bill. Now get into that shower before whatever it is you’ve been rolling in today, puts me off my dinner.”
An hour later,with a belly full of ginger chicken stir-fry and rice, I handed Thaddeus a beer and herded him out of the kitchen and onto the deck, leaving me to clean up. It didn’t take long since he’d done most of the prep dishes beforehand. Standing at the sink and wiping it down for the last time, I saw him sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs, watching the orange sunset fade behind the forest canopy.
I stopped what I was doing and just observed him for a moment. He looked a lot younger than his twenty-nine years, his expression open and unguarded for perhaps the first time since we’d met. Wearing my old baggy clothes, he still managed to look chic and put together, like he’d spent an hour at the mirror perfecting that slightly rumpled look.
Some guys were like that.
Not me.
The only time I’d ever looked chic was the day I’d given my youngest sister away at her wedding, and that was because she’d paid someone to dress and badger all of the bridal partyinto some semblance of style. Most of the time, I looked like someone had thrown me in a pile of topsoil and then buried me in concrete dust for good measure.
Not that I wasn’t happy with my obvious lack of panache, but in Thaddeus’s company, I felt acutely aware of it for the first time since James had left. Then again, anyone short of Calvin Klein himself would have felt plain standing next to James. As obsessive as he was about his looks, I was never sure what he’d seen in me. And here I was again. A gorgeous guy on my deck and me feeling the scruff pit that I was. Some things never changed.
Before I could look away, Thaddeus turned and caught me staring... again.
He beckoned me with his hand. “Get out here before you miss the final act.”
I grabbed a beer and joined him on the deck, pulling a second chair close to his. I sank into the cushions and crossed my legs out in front. “Cheers.” I held up my bottle, and Thaddeus tapped it with his. “That was an awesome meal, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He returned to staring at the sky.
I shifted a little onto one hip, the new angle affording me a better view of both Thaddeusandthe sunset. He was slouched low in his chair, arms to the side, his beer bottle hanging from his fingers. His legs rested apart, loose-limbed and relaxed. The tips of his hair burned a fiery orange, his tawny eyes a deep umber in the reflected glow. He turned toward me, that same tousled lock of hair falling back over his eyes. “It’s so pretty.”
Yes, you are.It took all my will not to say the actual words, settling for, “It is, isn’t it? This is my favourite time of day and my favourite thing to do, if the weather’s right.”
Thaddeus’s gaze lingered a beat too long before he sank back in his chair and tipped his face back up to the slowly shadowingsky. “Yeah, I’m not sure I’d get anything done if I had this to look at every evening.”
I chuckled. “Tell me about it. But there are also plenty of evenings when sitting out here is the last thing you want to do. All that green out there needs a ton of rain to keep looking good.”
Thaddeus considered the tree line, and a slow smile spread over his face. “To have all this, I think I could live with that.”
I raised a brow. “Mud, Thaddeus. In this place, rain means mud... everywhere.”
His smile dissolved. “Oh.”
I snorted. “Oh, indeed.”
The deck fell silent as the last remnants of the sunset sank into the shadows. A morepork called from somewhere to my right. Thaddeus tracked the sound with his eyes but didn’t ask. Ziggy appeared from nowhere and walked to the steps, surveying the dark garden for intruders. Satisfied, he trotted over and jumped on my lap.
