Page 14 of Kylo
“Does he look like he’s even capable of running away?”
“Fair enough,” he agreed, walking up toward me with my dog in tow. “I’m Kylo, by the way,” he said as he reached above me to take the door from me.
Kylo.
Of course he had to have a hot name too.
“Rue.”
“Nice to meet you, Rue,” he said.
I swear he was towering over me, making me crane my neck up to look at him. Up close, his cologne filled the air around me. It was a good cologne too. There were hints of leather and cigar and maybe espresso.
Whatever it was, it was perfection.
I actually took a deeper breath than necessary just to breathe it in.
It was right then, too, that I realized I was just leaning against the door, staring up at him. Like a freak.
I ducked my head before he could see me flush, then moved outside, glad for the choking humidity that made it hard to catch another scent of his cologne.
“Oh, hey,” Traeger said when we walked around to catch him coming out of the greenhouse.
“Do you mind heading back inside?” I asked. “Kylo wants to check out the greenhouses.”
“Kylo,” Traeger repeated.
“This is Traeger, my right-hand man. And the potter who makes all the pots we sell in the shop.”
“Yeah? I’ll have to pick a few out to go with my plants.”
“You have to,” I agreed, always happy to push my friend’s talents on others.
“Ope, that’s me,” Traeg said when a car door slammed. “Take your time out here,” he added, giving me an eyebrow wiggle that I prayed Kylo couldn’t see before rushing off to meet the customer.
“Do you want to come in, bud?” Kylo asked as he once again reached over my head to take the door when I started to pull it open.
“Oh, no. He hates the greenhouses. He’s not meant for the heat. He’s a lover of all things air conditioning and box fans. We’re originally from Chicago,” I explained as we dipped into the greenhouse.
It was a solid twenty degrees warmer inside, even with the windows cracked and the fans blowing.
Traeg had just watered, so humidity clung to the air; condensation dripped down the walls.
“Chicago, huh? Big change coming down here.”
“It really was. I do kind of miss the snow and a real fall,” I admitted. “But I’ve gotten surprisingly comfortable with the heat. Maybe because I spend a lot of time in the greenhouses.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Just a few years. My grandmother ran this place for a long time, but she needed to retire. So she asked me to step in and take over for her.”
“Even though you had no experience with plants?”
“Even though,” I agreed.
“Are you the only grandchild?”
“No. She had three children. They all have kids. I have two siblings.”
