“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Lily said past the lump in her throat and turned to look for Rhett, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyelids.
Out in the narthex near the door, Rhett stood straight and handsome and tall, and nothing had ever looked so wonderful in all her life. He caught her eye and motioned for them to go, and she knew that was the moment she fell head over heels in love with Rhett Buchanan.
She sighed deeply and glanced around the tastefully decorated lobby of the BDC headquarters. Did Rhett come through the front door of his office building and ride the elevators each morning, or did the brilliant CEO have a private back entrance? Was his secretary drop-dead gorgeous? Probably. Yet Rhett didn’t seem the type to dabble with his direct reports.
At the thought of dabbling, Lily’s mind swung back to cursed Delia. Did the witch visit here like her father upstairs? And how often? Lily crushed her eyes shut to force out the painful images flitting across her brain.
Concentrate on your work.
The elevator dinged, and the doors parted to let Garrett and Rob exit with their cart. Garrett checked his watch and followed Rob and the cart to the remaining staged plants.
“We’re through on the fourth floor,” Garrett said.
“Was he up there?” Lily couldn’t help asking, and her stomach did a little flip-flop.
“No, I told you he wasn’t expected back for a couple hours.”
For some inexplicable reason, Lily felt a splash of disappointment, which was ludicrous. If Rhett showed up during this delivery, he would no doubt explode like he had at his mansion. Why would she want to live through that again?
“What’s so funny?” Garrett asked when she suddenly smiled.
“I was just wondering where Rhett would throw my plants if he walked in. There’s no pool.”
Both Rob and Garrett barked with laughter.
Lily filled the last vacant spots on her cart. “I’m headed to the third floor. I’m finished on two.”
“Great. We’ll take care of the Admin area down here, then pack up the last of the plants and meet you up on three,” Garrett said. “Those Chamedoria palms would look good in the finance reception area.”
“Sure thing,” she said and turned her cart for the elevators.
“Oh, and Lily?”
She glanced back.
“No plants go in the finance division executive offices at the end of the hall, especially Lucas Van Dorn’s office. That damn bean counter keeps cutting my landscape budget, and it’s payback time.”
She laughed and headed for the elevators. At the third floor, she tugged her cart out and pushed it off to one side. The reception desk on this floor was occupied by a young and very beautiful receptionist who beamed when Lily explained who she was and what she was doing.
“I already heard. My friends on the first floor called me. This is great.”
“Glad you’re happy,” Lily said and pulled the two largest Chamedoria palms off her cart, then set one at each end of the lobby. “These are to go in here,” she told the still beaming receptionist.
“Mr. Buchanan is so sweet to bring me plants,” the girl said, with a wistful expression.
Lily recognized that look, and she felt a sharp pain on the right side of her heart, right next to the stress tear the perfidious organ suffered last week at Rhett’s mansion. The beautiful receptionist had an obvious crush on her CEO. How often did he visit down here to create such blind adoration?
Lily removed the heavy brown-paper sleeves from the Chamedoria palms and immediately spotted some dried yellow fronds she hadn’t noticed when selecting the makeup stock back at the nursery to fill in for the drowned palms at Rhett’s mansion. Unwilling to leave any plants less than perfect at BDC for Rhett to complain about, she started peeling the spent fronds from the stalks of both palms. Several more dried fronds were visible at the top of the palms, and Lily groaned when she couldn’t reach them.
The elevator suddenly dinged, and Lily spun around to see who had arrived. Garrett and Rob pushed their full cart out into the reception area, and she blew out a sigh of relief.
The young receptionist turned her radiant smile on Garrett and waited to be noticed. Fickle little thing, wasn’t she? Lily couldn’t imagine why, but she felt an inexplicable stab of irritation at the young woman for her sudden disloyalty to Rhett.
“Why the scowl, Lily?” Rob asked.
“I need a stepladder or step stool to reach the dried fronds at the top of these palms,” she said.
“I’ll go down to the truck and get the stepladder for you,” Rob offered.
Garrett glanced at his watch, then over at Rob. “No, you take the cart down that left hall and start unloading these plants we brought up. I’ll get Lily a stepladder and then unload the rest of her plants down the hall to the right. This is taking longer than I thought.”
“Sure thing,” Rob said and guided his cart down the left hall lined with more anterooms and doored offices.
Lily felt a wave of panic at Garrett’s urgency. “Please hurry,” she said as Garrett headed down the opposite hall.
He was back in a few minutes with a three-step ladder. “Here you go,” he said and placed it in front of her, then maneuvered her cart away from the wall.
“I’m so sorry about these palms,” she told Garrett. “I could have sworn I checked every one before I pulled the stock.”
He held up a hand. “It’s okay, Lily. I’m a landscaper, remember? There’s nothing wrong with the Chamedorias.”
She hoped he was right and climbed up the ladder to strip the miscreant fronds at the top.
Garrett’s cell phone rang. He checked the readout and answered, “Hey.” He smiled. “Like clockwork.” He glanced at Lily, then away. “Peeling dry fronds off the top of two palms.”
Lily’s head snapped up. Who was Garrett talking to?
“You bet. I’ll call you and let you know.” He clicked off, pocketed the phone, and reached for the cart.
“Garrett?” Lily called.
He turned.
She hesitated, embarrassed now to ask him who was on the phone.
He grinned. “That was Tammy checking up on you.” He pushed the laden cart toward the opposite hallway from the one Rob had pedaled through.
“Oh,” Lily said, mostly to herself since the receptionist had gone back to her typing.
Why had Tammy called Garrett and not her, she wondered and watched him push the cart across the lobby. She pivoted on the top step to resume her manicuring when the elevator dinged and the doors parted. She jerked at the sound, only this time she felt a small wave of panic. Garrett was here in the lobby with her, so who had just arrived?
Her peripheral vision caught Garrett turning toward the elevator—looking nervous—and that only fueled Lily’s anxiety. She refused to be caught staring at the elevator occupant and pivoted on the top step to reach for a dried frond in one continuous motion. Her shifting weight bobbled the miniature ladder, and she felt the stubby legs lift off the tile. Grabbing for the tall palm to steady herself, she missed and clawed only air as the little ladder tilted up and over.
Lily flailed in midair and awaited the inevitable crushing contact with the marble floor, praying nothing would break. She heard Garrett yell, and her peripheral vision caught movement as her body was miraculously snatched up and crushed against a suited muscular frame. Her arms flew out to cling and hang on like a little rhesus monkey, ecstatic she hadn’t slammed into the marble floor and overwhelmed by an intoxicating scent of male and aftershave from where her face lay buried against a shirt collar and neck.
Neither she nor her savior moved for a several long moments. She opened her eyes and peered over a broad shoulder to see Garrett frozen in place and gaping at her. The little receptionist looked like
a goldfish with her mouth opening and closing repeatedly.
The adrenaline rush subsided, and Lily felt her savior slowly lower her to the ground without breaking contact with his torso. She felt every inch of her chest and abdomen slowly ease down her savior’s suit, and her eyes nearly rolled back in her head from the intoxicating scent and erogenous shifting of two perfectly aligned bodies.
Her feet touched the ground, and two strong hands cupped her elbows until she secured her balance and, more importantly, jumpstarted her lungs to normal oxygen-seeking mode. One large and embarrassingly noisy gulp of air did the trick. Two more deep breaths, just to be on the safe side, and she slowly tilted her gaze upward to see who had streaked to her rescue. She wanted to look, yet she didn’t want to look for fear of who was holding her at this moment.
First came a strong chin, then a sensual mouth, two intense green eyes, and Lily went deathly still.
Rhett.
Chapter 10
That damned Chester Armstead had called Rhett’s secretary and told her to have Rhett meet him in the finance offices at BDC to discuss a property trade, which annoyed Rhett to no end. He didn’t like Chester giving him orders, even if the old coot did hold several million dollars’ worth of construction loans for Rhett’s development properties around the state.
Chester had been getting too pushy of late and even teamed with Carstairs Whittenhurst a couple of times in direct opposition to an order given by Rhett. And then there was Chester’s recent pressure to push him together with Delia, another activity Rhett needed to curtail.
He made a mental note to begin a new search for banking partners. Not a good idea to give one facility more than minimal control. He had originally let Chester have the extra business as a favor to Delia and hadn’t taken the time to change the situation since Chester had done a good job early on in providing lucrative financing.
The elevator doors opened on the third floor, and Rhett quickly stepped into the reception area. A high-pitched yelp sounded, and everything slammed into slow motion.
A flash of movement to his immediate right.
A very tall figure.
No, a small figure—a woman?—on a stepladder.
The ladder wobbled and threatened to spill its rider onto the marble floor.
A very hard marble floor with skull-cracking capabilities.
At the first squeak of distress, Rhett’s body reacted. His long legs reached the ladder in two strides, and he stretched out his long arms to capture the teetering body out of mid-air. The added weight thrust him forward, and he rotated the body against his jacket front in case he lost his balance, too.
The stepladder whacked the marble tile at his feet, and the sound echoed loudly through the reception area.
Mission accomplished.
His mind reverted from emergency-default mode to coherent-thought processes, and he realized the body he had grabbed—and crushed to his chest to preserve his own balance—was indeed a very feminine body. His surroundings had blurred when he reacted to the accident in progress, and now bits and pieces began to clear.
A giant palm stood three feet away, and Garrett Tucker stood ten feet beyond the palm, frozen in place with his eyes wide and his mouth agape.
Palms . . .
Garrett with a cart of plants alongside . . .
A body on a ladder?
Who exactly had he plucked from thin air?
Who would be with Garrett and his cart of plants and standing on a ladder with the palm?
And why did he feel this strange tug and pull near his heart?
No, not strange. Familiar. As in, he’d felt it before. But when?
His mind fought him when he sought the logical answer. Maybe because he didn’t want to let the woman go. Adrenaline still pumped through him and forced a blank. He needed to let go, but the feminine body felt so good against his, a familiar kind of good.
Reluctantly, he lowered the smaller body to the ground and made no conscious effort to put space between them. He felt every sensual inch of her slide down his torso, and he fought his obvious physical response. Coherent thought eased into his mind, and what seemed like minutes since the whole ordeal had started probably flashed in one or two seconds.
As the smaller body slid down, he spotted blond hair, and he stilled. His rescuee had reached the floor, and still his hands cupped her elbows to steady her. Who? his mind asked, though his heart pounded so hard the organ had surely sensed the truth.
He felt the slender body hiccup loudly and then felt her take two deep breaths. He knew this because with each breath, her breasts pressed more firmly against his chest. The face tilted slowly, and two enormous blue eyes came into view. And for one brief moment, he regretted letting her go.
Lily.
He had saved his Lily.
This woman had wedged herself under his skin from the moment he’d met her and had turned him into a lovesick schoolboy in a matter of hours. Even made him consider the possibility of love at first sight. His only inclination at this moment was to pull her back into his arms and cuddle his Lily close, try to spin time backwards to the day they met and make the day turn out differently.
Except . . . She’s not my Lily any longer.
He had to say something. He couldn’t just stand here like a dolt.
His gaze shot to Garrett. “What’s going on here?”
He kept his tone far milder than warranted by the jangle of anger and lust warring within him. The receptionist’s eyes went wide as she followed every move in the lobby.
“I bought plants for the building,” Garrett said evenly and stepped forward, “to doll the place up. The ladies in admin have been asking for some.”
“Why didn’t I know about that?” He frowned and kept his gaze averted from Lily.
“You don’t do plants. I do.” Garrett didn’t back down.
“I want to see you in my office after our meeting here,” Rhett said flatly.
Garrett gave him a curt nod.
The elevator dinged loudly in the now-silent reception area, and all heads turned to see who had arrived.
Delia Armstead stepped off the elevator and immediately sashayed over to Rhett. “Hello, darling.”
Lily’s heart sank. She stepped back from Rhett as the witch approached.
He stared at Delia in obvious surprise. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I know,” she purred and sidled over to slip her arm through his. “I was on my way home from Worth Avenue and saw your car here, so I decided to stop in.”
“More like she saw the Bloom & Grow truck out front,” Garrett muttered from Lily’s left. He had eased up close when Delia appeared.
“I want to show you pictures of the centerpieces for the barbecue,” Delia said and skillfully guided Rhett back toward the elevators. “It won’t take long, darling.”
She glanced back and smirked nastily at Lily.
Feeling her cheeks burning, Lily watched Rhett hesitate in the middle of the lobby. “I was actually headed to a meeting with your father and Garrett,” he said to Delia.
Lily wanted to yell for him to get away from that witch.
“Oh, Daddy won’t mind,” the witch cooed and squeezed Rhett’s arm tight up against her breast.
Garrett shrugged and said, “Whatever,” when Rhett’s glance slid to him. “Chester and I can talk about the parcel deal till you get there.”
Rhett’s expression looked blank for a minute. “Which parcel deal?”
“Ponte Vedra,” Garrett told him. “Aidan Cross is coming in to talk to us. He knows you just locked up the deal for the Cypress Key parcel, and Aidan’s willing to trade his Ponte Vedra property for it, which you want even more. Chester is here to talk about the financing. The meeting’s been on your calendar for days.
”
Rhett’s neck and cheeks flushed red. Whether from anger or embarrassment, it was hard to tell. His gaze swung back to Lily.
She pulled in a halting breath and stared back. She saw no anger, only a question held in his eyes. A question for her? Was he asking if she wanted Aidan? She wanted to yell, No, only you. And even more.
Rhett turned toward the receptionist. “I’m meeting Chester Armstead here. Whose conference room is he in?”
Lily smothered an indignant gasp. Armstead was as slippery as his daughter.
The receptionist grinned at Rhett. “Mr. Armstead said he changed his mind. I was to send you up to your office on the fourth floor when you arrived.”
Delia gave a sultry chuckle and tugged Rhett toward the elevators.
He glared at Garrett. “You coming?”
Garrett shot a sideways glance at Lily and then nodded.
Lily watched Rhett walk toward the elevators. Delia present or not, every muscle in her body yearned to chase him down and beg for a chance to explain. She had wanted to stay furious with him, but when he’d grabbed her off the toppling ladder and crushed her to his chest, she had melted. Now he was walking away. Unshed tears filled her eyes, and she swallowed her ridiculous pride.
“Thank you, Rhett,” she called after him and had the momentary joy of seeing his step falter, but he walked on toward the bank of elevators with Delia and Garrett, and they entered one that seemingly opened on cue.
Garrett trailed after Rhett as he shuffled Delia into his private conference room on the fourth floor. Chester Armstead was already seated at the massive table with a smug smile on his face. Rhett merely grunted at the banker, then stalked out to the hall and roared for Garrett.
Garrett smothered a grin as he followed Rhett into his office suite. “I’m right behind you,” he said calmly.
Cinderella Busted (The Cinderella Romances #1) Page 18
