Page 19 of All of You

My eyes well with tears but I hold them back. “Thanks. I’d like that.” I hop out of the truck, shut the door, and wave Gramps goodbye.

With a pep in my step, I cross the sidewalk and push through the front door of RootBound. The bell chimes above my head and with the sound, the owner appears from the back. Her silver hair is wild and everywhere.

“Delia, hi.”

I tuck my hair behind my ears. “Hi.”

“Ready to get started? I thought we’d begin with a tour of the shop. Have you worked retail before?”

I nod. “Yes, I worked at an ice cream shop and a gift shop in the past so I know how to use a register and I’m good with customer service. Also, this is embarrassing but I didn’t get your name the other day.”

“Vivianna but most people call me Viv. Let’s skip the storefront for now and get you up to speed in the greenhouse.”

“You have a greenhouse?” I ask.

Vivianna grins. “Sure do. This way,” she says and starts hobbling toward the back.

We pass through the store, a small back room, and thenpush through a door into an expansive, sweltering glass greenhouse. It’s filled to the brim with plants and colors of all kinds and I am in awe. The scents alone make the corners of my mouth curl upward.

“Wow,” I breathe. “This is incredible.”

Viv plants her hands on her hips, taking it all in next to me. “It kind of is, isn’t it?”

I’m elbow deep in potting soil, sweating my tits off. My tank top is wet and stuck to me in uncomfortable ways. I lean over the tub of soil, arms still buried in it, and lurch down until my lips wrap around the nozzle of my water bottle for a long sip of water. It’s an awkward position, on my knees, teetering over a tub of soil, face down.

“What the hell are you doing?” A deep voice asks. The voice scares me and I lose my balance. Hands trapped in the soil tub, I can’t pull them out fast enough to catch myself and I end up face-planting on the dirt floor while my arms are tucked under my body now strewn over the tub of soil. An earnest laugh rings out.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Scrambling, I right myself and push back onto my knees, but now my wet tank is covered in dirt.

I look up to Langdon.

My forearms are covered in soil. My hands and fingers too. It sticks to my sweat and runs.Gross. “Langdon. What are you doing here?”

He stares at me, gaze trailing from my knees upward, hovering a beat too long on my chest before finally settling his eyes on mine. “I work here.”

I can feel my eyes go wide.Hell no.“What?”I squeak.

He smirks and stretches. His shirt tugs up revealing a tanned, toned stomach. I wipe my brow with the back of my hand before I realize it’s covered in dirt.

Shit.

“I said, I work here.”

Ten

Langdon

She’s elbow deep in soil, bent over and drinking— armless from her water bottle, and my god that ass is damn near perfect and directed right at me. At the sound of my voice, she startles and without the use of her arms, face plants on the floor, exposing an even better view of her ass.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” I can’t help but laugh. She’s so damn cute.

Scrambling, she tries to right herself as I approach and pushes back up onto her knees. When she looks up at me, irritation flares in her green eyes.

“Langdon. What are you doing here?” she asks. She is covered in soil.

I rake my gaze from her knees upward, lingering on her breasts before finally settling my eyes on hers. Brown smears her tank top and her arms are dirt-ridden.