The Alpha Prince's Mate (Book 7 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 3

The makeup wasn't doing it's job. Not really. She reached over to her bag and opened it, looking for some better concealer. She had to have something inside that would decently cover her black eye.

It took a bit of work, but finally, she was presentable, her makeup flawless. The two bruises were invisible and she looked fairly normal. Well, not really. She usually didn't wear this much makeup to work, but she'd rather answer questions about her makeup instead of questions about the bruises.

She lifted her top, looking at the ones on her torso. There were several and some of them were very nasty looking. Much worse than her face. She'd have to be careful to make sure no one saw them. They were sore and would be for a while. She pulled her t-shirt back down.

She was sore. Perhaps tonight she could relax in a hot epsom salt bath. Hopefully that would help to ease the ache some and help aid in some healing.

She grabbed her phone and glanced at the time, then squeaked when she saw how late it was getting. She'd spent way too much time on her makeup. She needed to leave for work.

Mila Whitlock grabbed her coffee cup and her bag, wincing as she tossed it over her shoulder. She slipped on her shoes and hurried out the door, climbing into her car. She started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

Ten minutes later, she pulled up in front of the huge garden center and got out, hurrying inside. She tossed her bag down and clocked in. She had a minute to spare. She breathed out slowly, then headed out to the front counter.

"Morning, Mila. Big date today?" Riley, the owner's daughter, and Mila's cousin asked.

"Um no?" Mila frowned at her. She was definitely not dressed for a date. Not in jeans and a T-shirt.

"Okay. I've just never seen you made up like that. You look really good though," Riley complimented her.

Crap. She'd already forgotten how heavily she'd made up her face. "Thanks. I just wanted to try something new," Mila lied to her.

"You did a good job," Riley smiled back, making Mila feel a bit guilty.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" She needed to change the subject. She hated lying, but she also didn't want to worry Riley.

"Um... We should be getting two deliveries and we have three plant order pick ups and two mulch order pick ups," Riley read off from the appointment book that sat behind the front counter.

"Okay." In other words, today was going to suck for her. She was already sore enough. She was going to be miserable before the end of the day with all of the lifting.

"Do you want to water the house plants?" Riley asked her.

"Sure." That was an easy job and one she loved to do. She loved plants and had more than her fair share in her own apartment. She liked that she got to be the first to see the new shipment each week, and had first dibs on the new plants. She'd spent more money on them than she cared to admit to, but she loved them all. She wasn't even quite sure how many she had right now. Not enough.

She prepped a cart for herself, filling watering cans, and tossed on some snips, among other things and headed over to the large house plant section. She could see herself easily spending the morning over here, and that was perfectly fine with her.

Riley liked for her to do the job because Mila took her time. She checked each plant, pruning if needed, and only watering when necessary. The plants were nice and healthy when they left the garden center. Hopefully they stayed that way and didn't go to someone's house to die a slow, agonizing death.

She worked her way slowly through the plants, making mental notes of which ones she wanted to add to her collection. Not that she needed them. One day, she wanted a huge house with lots of windows and lots of plants. One day.