A Slave to Love, Broken Hearts, and Everything In Between

Chapter 23: A Helping Hand

Kiana

"I distinctly remember you saying you'd love to come give me a hand with the greenhouse today," Blade said, hauling bags of dirt across the greenhouse over his shoulder.

"Did I? That doesn't sound like me," I said, crossing to where strawberries were hanging, red and juicy, perfectly plump and practically begging to be picked and eaten.

It was evening, so the sun wasn't beaming too strongly in the greenhouse, though it remained warm and humid inside like a summer day's even if we were still in the rainy part of spring. Everything was awash in the gold of sunset where it peeked through the clouds, long shadows of plants, trees, and the bars of the greenhouse painted abstract shapes across everything like a patchwork blanket.

After spending the day finishing up mountains of homework, I'd been going stir crazy and was happy for the excuse to join Blade in the greenhouse and get some fresh air and nature vibes in.

Also, the yummy fruit was a major plus.

"I'm pretty damn sure actually," he said, pulling the bags down to drop at his feet before going to get the rest by the massive glass door. Watching him work was one of my favorite hobbies, especially right now seeing the way his t-shirt hugged the muscles of his flexing arms, his strong back and chest...

I was more than happy to give him a hand, just not when it came to the manual labor of plant care, partially because I was lazy but mostly because watching him work was a gift meant just for me. I fully intended to help him out in other ways, which was why I'd come from doing homework in my sweats to joining him in the greenhouse in a sundress.

Not a practical choice for gardening nor was it my favorite fashion choice, but it did have its uses in other ways.

I bit into a strawberry, lips wrapped around its plump shape, and his gaze lingered on my mouth as he crossed me with more bags.

"You seem to be doing just fine on your own," I said, chewing the sweet juicy strawberry. There was something about Blade's greenhouse that made all the fruits and vegetables taste a million times better than any others I'd ever had before; be it magic or just exceptional skill, I didn't care when it was all here for me to enjoy along with his company.

"So you're just going to stand there and ogle me instead?"

I plucked another strawberry. "I'm harvesting strawberries, you're just ungrateful."

"I should have known you wouldn't help. A sundress isn't a practical outfit for gardening," he said, though the way his eyes kept catching on my legs and short hemline, he didn't really seem to mind all that much. "It might get ruined."

That was exactly what I was hoping for.

"I don't mind." I brushed some imaginary dirt off the pristine white fabric of my skirt, baby blue flowers decorating the dress in a pretty summer pattern. It was lucky the greenhouse was so warm, otherwise this totally wouldn't have worked. Already the trek over here had me jogging to keep warm since it was a far enough distance from the house for the chill of spring to set in. "If it gets ruined that means I'm doing this right."

I didn't love short skirts, mostly because I always felt too exposed and worried that a single gust of wind would show the entire world my underwear, then a chorus of kids would sing "I see London, I see France, I see Kiana's flamingo underpants!" but I did like how confident they made me feel when I wore them somewhere I was comfortable. And while I found them to be an impractical article on clothing in almost every situation, there was one area where they did excel at practicality.

However, Blade did not know my dirty little secret yet and I was waiting for him to discover it.

"How do the strawberries taste?" he asked as he came over and plucked one from the stem, examining it. It was the one I'd been eyeing; big and juicy looking, perfectly ripe and it was so mean for him to have stolen it from me. Punishment for not helping him garden, I guess.