*~*~*~*~*
A pair of warm hands covered my eyes as I leaned over the landscaping plans to assimilate the next move on the garden with Nic. An immediate spark of electricity awakened every cell in my body and my lavender rose heart floated on the bright rays of its sun. I smiled, straightened up and lifted my hands to his arms. ‘Ben,’ I breathed.
He pushed my hair away from my neck and kissed me just below my ear, sending tingles scattering throughout me. I turned to him and wrapped my arms around him. He smelled like jasmine, musk, oak moss and sandalwood—my favourite Ben scent—full of masculinity.
‘Hi,’ he whispered into my ear.
I stepped back and smiled at him. He had changed into shorts and a polo shirt that stretched across his chest, accentuating his sculptured muscular form.
‘Where are we up to with the landscaping?’ he asked me, but was looking at Nic, piercing his eyes in an act of dominance.
I looked from Ben to Nic, and back to Ben again. Neither of them were breaking the eye contract, so I spoke up, ‘We’re about to start positioning the plants before we sink them into the soil. Here’s the plan.’
Ben finally looked away from Nic and studied the landscape design. He turned to look at the plants, walked away a little, stripped off his shirt and headed over to move the plants to their resting place.
Nic followed suit.
They walked together with a matching pace; two dark haired guys with athletic physiques.
Nic glanced at Ben as though he wanted to say something, but he didn’t.
There was no need for me to carry any of the plants. Ben and Nic did that. I just fine tuned them into the position where I wanted them to have their final resting place to adorn the garden.
Halfway through the mission I overheard Nic as he spoke to Ben. ‘When I first met her, I thought she was sweet and calm.’
‘And what do you think of her now that you know her a little better, over the two days you have spent with her?’ he asked with a smile.
How does he know we have spent two days together when he hasn’t been here?
‘I was lulled into a false sense of security … Cate is competitive and challenging. I find her hard to predict at times,’ Nic answered and looked at Ben. ‘What did you think when you first met her?’
‘I saw her before I met her. She was playing beach volleyball and she was highly competitive, determined … skilled. I stayed away from her for two years because she changed the colour of my world,’ he said, lowered his head and smiled.
I had never heard the elaborated details about when he first saw me. Perhaps I shouldn’t be eavesdropping?
‘She will never be a damsel in distress, Nic. If you ever think she is, you have been conned,’ Ben added.
Nic nodded, as if agreeing, then bowed his head forward. The frown on his face told otherwise. He looked at Ben. ‘Then ... why was it me who wiped her tear away in the middle of the night as I lay beside her on the floor in front of the fireplace, on her first night in her Gran’s house, when she had no power … where were you, Ben? It should have been you wiping away her tear, not me!’
Ben lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment in time.
‘She needs you. This house is not easy for her to be in. Don’t ever think she is so strong she doesn’t need you—she will always need you. If you are not here she will find someone else,’ Nic added, then moved away from Ben.
Ben caught up to him. He put his hand on Nic’s shoulder. ‘Thanks Nic—for looking out for her—when you didn’t have to…’
Nic kept a stern look on his face but did not respond to Ben at first. ‘You should put your shirt on, in case there’s a solar flare!’ he commented, repeating Ben’s words from earlier today with an abruptness that made me jump.
Ben took a deep breath and looked up at the cloudless sky. ‘Nope. I have seen the solar activity report data, and we’re safe today!’ Ben looked at Nic and smiled. Nic returned the smile. I think they were standing on the territory of a truce.
With three pairs of hands on deck the final pieces of the landscaping came together quickly.
While Ben entered Gran’s house to prepare some drinks and a couple of tasty morsels, Nic sprinkled the forget-me-not flower seeds along the garden pathway to the front door. He retrieved the hose and started watering the newly housed plants; camellias, lavender, roses, and the hidden forget-me-not seeds. We stood together and admired the great change that had occurred to Gran’s once dead front garden.
Ben returned then.
‘Cheers!’ I said, and raised my glass.
‘It looks amazing, Cate,’ added Nic with a lopsided smile.
I tried to squash the orange rose in my heart.
‘To Gran,’ added Ben. I nodded to him. He always knew exactly what to say.
Nic finished his drink, looked at his watch and handed the hose over to me. ‘5pm. Time to go. Nice to meet you, Ben, and Cate … thanks for letting me get my “brownie points”,’ he said, shaking Ben’s hand and looking at me, then headed off towards Katie’s Gate.
I passed the hose to Ben and ran after him, ‘Nic … wait,’ I said.
He stopped outside Katie’s Gate.
I stepped close to him and wrapped my arms around him. He hesitated before he placed his arms around me. My orange rose heart smiled. ‘Thank-you a million times for helping me, and for being stubborn when I kept telling you I could do the landscaping by myself. I hope we can stay in touch.’
Nic pulled me in close and held me for longer than he should. Ben would not be happy. Then he stepped back, held my hand in his and leaned forward and kissed my forehead. ‘The three days I spent with you made me the happiest I have been in a long while. I would love to stay in touch, literally, but I don’t think your scary boyfriend would like it, and I … ah … don’t like to dice with death. Be assured though, if I see any of the plants dying that we planted together, I will be back.’ Nic held my hand in his and looked down.
‘So—if I want to see you again … all I have to do is kill off a plant or two?’ I said to him with a smile on my face, looking into his dark blue eyes.
He smiled and looked away from me for a moment, but returned his eyes to mine. ‘Yes, my beautiful, Cate.’ His voice was gentle. He dropped my hand from his then, and left.
I turned towards Ben. His lips were pressed together in a hard line. Trouble was brewing.
Katie’s Gate creaked when I opened it and I entered Gran’s new garden. Ben was watering the hidden forget-me-not flowers without knowing. I smiled at him and nodded my head a little as I got closer to him, feeling my lavender rose heart stretch towards him, my sun.
‘What?’ he asked, looking at me with suspicion.
‘Nothing,’ I said. I took the hose from his hand and continued watering the new garden. I stepped in front of him while I watered. He stood close behind and folded his arms around me, my back to his deliciously warm naked chest.
I closed my eyes and bathed in his closeness, my lavender rose heart growing new rose buds and soaking in all of the rays from its sun that it could absorb. I inhaled the strong fruity fragrance my lavender rose heart infused with my life force, sending a love note that floated in the deliciousness of the spring breeze.
‘Mine,’ he whispered into my ear, ‘and I don’t share,’ he added before he kissed me just below my ear.
I dropped the hose and turned to him. ‘Mine,’ I whispered, ‘and I don’t sh—’ I didn’t finish my words. He had captured them in his mouth when his lips devoured mine. I moaned as a warmth entered every cell of my being and a feeling of need for him made me aware of my strong physical attraction to him. My lavender rose heart became a red rose of desire, flowing with affection that was forever riding high on true love, infusing a scent of strawberry with shades of vanilla, orange and lemon blended with a scent of musk, raspberry and nectarines—intoxicating.
‘I’ve been away from you for too long,’ he said in a rough voic
e as he held me in his arms.
‘Will you always be taken away from me?’ I asked.
‘I don’t want to be. It tortures me to be away from you. I love you, Cate,’ he said.
‘I love that you love me, Ben…’ I responded, unable to say the words he so longed to hear. ‘How do you know Nic and I had spent two days together?’ I asked.
Ben stepped back from me then, looked into my eyes and ran his hand through his hair. ‘I … I have surveillance on your house…’ Ben winced as he spoke.
‘What! You are watching me when you are not here?’ I was fuming. My anger flared. ‘That is such a psychopathic stalker tendency, Ben—what are you thinking?’ A tear slipped from my eye.
He stepped forward and wiped it away with his finger, furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. ‘I … want you to be safe … and when I can’t be with you, I want to know that my buddies will come to help you when I can’t.’
‘So … today … you turned up in your combat gear because Nic was here again? And then you returned to help after two more hours?’ I questioned.
He tried to pull me into his arms but I pushed him away.
‘Why do you think Nic volunteered to help you, Cate?’ he said without humor.
‘Because he is a nice guy!’ I spat at him.
‘And?’ He raised an eyebrow at me.
‘And … and … nothing!’ I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I was angry about being watched. I folded my arms across my chest.
‘He wants what is mine, Cate. And he can’t have you!’ he said. His face was anguished. He looked at me with a vulnerability a tough guy isn’t supposed to show. I closed my eyes, then felt Ben’s arms around me. ‘He can’t have you,’ he repeated, his voice cracking.
‘How long have you got until you return to Earth Sphere?’ I asked, changing the subject.
‘Two days…’ he answered.
‘Stay with me,’ I whispered. A tear trickled down my cheek. ‘Stay.’