Seeds of Desire (5 page)

Jared nodded and polished off the first cup of coffee.
“True.” He gave her an appraising look. “You must be pretty damn sexy with your
hair all messy, before you get up and make yourself presentable.”

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the tingle in her belly at his
implied compliment. He’d come just a bit too close to a reminder of their
encounter and she definitely didn’t want to let him—or herself—continue that
train of thought. “Drink more coffee, because I don’t think you’d have said
that if you’d had enough caffeine.”

He grinned and picked up his second cup. “Probably not. My
internal censor goes on the blink when I’m tired. If I’d had more coffee, I
would have just thought that instead of saying it.”

The man was incorrigible. Not only had she insulted him the
night before, she’d gone to his room and fucked him silly, all the while
ordering him around and being pretty much a bitch. And yet here he sat flirting
with her.

Of course, getting off twice the night before had probably
put him in a pretty damn good mood.

He took another swig of coffee. “So what time does the
planting fun start?”

Thank god. Back to business.
“Nine o’clock.” Cassidy
checked her watch. “We have about an hour to finish our breakfasts and drive
out to the site.”

“Think any of the people who signed up will actually show?”

None of them had seemed especially thrilled with the idea.
However, curiosity went a long way, and she knew the townspeople were curious
about their motives. “Some of them, probably,” she said noncommittally. “Maybe
even most of them. They’ll want to know exactly what we’re doing, and you may
have convinced a few that they actually have a chance to find jobs with JaBro.”

“A few of them do, if they have any experience,” he replied
firmly. “I didn’t lie to them, Cass. Dad said if anyone seemed to have a good
work ethic and had worked in construction in the past, he’d take their
applications, at least.” He paused. “We have a couple road repair projects
coming up in the area, and it’s cheaper to hire local labor than to find
housing for our regular employees.”

Confused, she said, “I thought you only worked in the
southern part of the state.”

“We’re expanding.” He didn’t sound impressed about it. “A
couple companies around here have gone out of business, and Dad and the uncles
are taking up the slack. You should know all this. You do work for us, after
all.”

“I don’t work for you.” She found the idea offensive. Maybe
JaBro helped her pay her bills, but she didn’t consider herself their employee.
That would give them a level of power over her that she didn’t want anyone to
have. “I consult for you. I work for myself. Unless the road repairs impact the
environment, which they shouldn’t since the roads already exist, I don’t need
to know where you’re taking over next.”

“All right, all right. Nitpick much?” He finished off the
second cup and stared glumly at the dregs at the bottom. “At any rate, yeah,
anyone who shows up can fill out an application, and anyone who has the
experience JaBro is looking for might end up with a job. At least a temporary
one. So hopefully we’ll have some kind of turnout.”

“You’d better hope so.” She nodded toward his shirt, a
button-down blue oxford that augmented his blue eyes perfectly. With it he wore
slacks similar to what he’d had on for their town meeting the night before.
Even on a day like this, the man had to show off his wardrobe. Maybe she would
teach him how to dress properly for planting, since they would have to do this
in other towns too. She could take him back to his room right now and unbutton
his shirt, slip it off and let it fall to the floor. His slacks would come off
next, revealing— She stopped herself before she could picture him in boxers or
briefs, whichever he wore today. “Otherwise that nice shirt and pants of yours
will be ruined, because you’ll end up having to do some of the planting. You
have jeans with you, right?”

He looked down at himself. “I’m the rep, not the heavy
labor. I have to look professional.”

“If you expect these people to take you seriously, you need
to be both,” she countered. “Think about it. They’re all blue-collar,
down-to-earth people who are used to working hard for a living.” Okay, she
might be stereotyping. But having grown up in a town like this, she had a
pretty good sense of the people around here. “You waltz out there in a suit and
tie and their first instinct is going to be to brush you off. You’re nothing
like them, and they know that.”

“You wore a suit last night too,” he argued.

“Yes, and I’m a woman.” She chuckled. “That’s different.
Women are seen as foreign anyway. Besides, look at me today. Do I look all
citified and stuff?”

He snorted. “Yeah, you’re definitely foreign. And far from
citified.” He scanned her outfit.

She blinked.
Is he putting me down or checking me out?
She wasn’t sure what to think.

“Okay, so we’ll finish eating and head over to the site. Our
prep people are probably there already anyway.”

“I hope the nursery people are too.” She took her cell phone
out of her pocket, though she didn’t dial the nursery’s number. She didn’t want
to seem too paranoid. “It wouldn’t work out too well if we had people there to
plant trees that haven’t shown up yet.”

They’d arranged with a nursery an hour south to bring up as
many saplings as they could load onto their own delivery truck and a few of
JaBro’s flatbeds. The nursery owner hadn’t seemed confident of his ability to
provide so many saplings. The amount of money JaBro had offered him had
convinced him to try.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Jared assured her. “The guy
positively drooled when we quoted him a price. And he knows if he does well
this time, we’ll hire him on for the other tree-planting gigs.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Is that all the planting is to you,
a gig?”

He sighed. “Don’t even start, Miss Consultant.” He stood and
tossed the empty coffee cups into a nearby trashcan. “Come on, let’s go.”

They arrived at the planting site at quarter past eight.
Small spots of green where the plants encouraged by JaBro’s people’s work had
begun to grow broke up the monotony of the bare brown earth. A few straggly
bushes lined the perimeter. Inside the space, the ground waited to accept the
saplings and seeds.

Several trucks had lined up around the outside of the area
and two had parked within the boundaries of the planting range, heavy tires
denting the soil.

Cassidy jumped out of the car before Jared shut it off and
ran to those trucks, fists clenched. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
she yelled.

“Easy, lady,” one of the drivers said. “We’re helping with
the trees, obviously.”

“You’re parked where the trees are supposed to go,” she
snarled through gritted teeth. “Get these things out of here!”

He gave her a “you can’t be serious” look. “Last time I
checked, we worked for JaBro,” he snapped. “Who the hell are you?”

“She’s in charge here.” Jared came up beside her, eyes
flashing. “If she tells you to move your trucks, you move the goddamn trucks.
Planting all the trees in the world won’t do any good if you ruin the ground
where we’re supposed to plant them.”

“All right,” the driver muttered. He started the truck and
ground it into gear. “Christ.”

“Watch your language. There’s a lady present.” Jared winked
at Cassidy.

Ignoring him, the driver motioned to his buddy and the two
of them pulled their trucks into line with the rest.

“Thanks,” Cassidy said to Jared.

He gave her a half bow. “No problem. I have to keep my
consultant happy.”

Their eyes met and a sudden current shot through her from
her cunt straight up to her heart. A connection she’d never felt to Jared
before. For the first time, she and Jared were on the same page. She judged
from his frown that he’d felt it too.

Before she could let her bewilderment show, Cassidy turned
away. “Let’s get to work.”

Within the next hour, many more vehicles showed up, mostly
four-wheel-drive pickups and SUVs, with a few old backyard clunkers thrown in.
Most belonged to the townspeople who’d signed up to volunteer or who had
decided to help out because their neighbors had signed up. A couple of trucks
from local TV stations joined them. No surprise there. Of course Jared would
have alerted the media to this grand display of altruism on the part of JaBro
Corporation.

At nine-fifteen, on a signal from Jared, one of the dump
truck drivers blew his truck’s horn, attracting everyone’s attention and
silencing some of the chatter.

“Welcome!” Jared climbed up onto a flatbed, disregarding his
dress slacks, and raised his voice to be heard above the crowd. “If we can just
have your attention for a few minutes, we’ll be able to start.”

Gradually everyone quieted. Respectful hands helped Cassidy
up onto the flatbed.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, trying to make her voice
as loud as Jared’s and not quite succeeding. She scanned the crowd, the men,
women and few children from the town and the JaBro employees, and wished she’d
taken time to prepare another speech. She sucked at improvisation. She gulped
and went on, “This is going to be a wonderful day for your town and for JaBro.
Together we can counter the damage done by the ice storm and bring a little
more green to the area.”

Jared stepped up beside her. Thank goodness. He must have
realized how much she was struggling to find the right words to say.

“The folks from Killarney’s Greenhouses are here to help
with the planting,” he boomed. “We ask that you follow their instructions. Any
child under sixteen must have the direct supervision of an adult, and only
those over eighteen can use any power equipment. Don’t try to trick us, and
kids, don’t try to trick your parents. Adults are smarter than you think.” That
earned a cheerful laugh from the crowd, and once again Cassidy found herself
impressed by how well Jared handled the public.

His confidence was pretty damn hot.

“Please form an orderly line at one of Killarney’s trucks
and we’ll start handing out the saplings and shovels,” Jared instructed. “Once
you’re ready, our environmental consultant Cassidy Shelton will do the honors
of planting the first tree.”

Under the guidance of the greenhouse employees, people
picked up plants and equipment and spread out around the area. They looked
expectantly at Cassidy, who waited until everyone had their things and a spot
before she accepted a shovel and sapling from one of the JaBro men. Jared
helped her down from the flatbed and led her to a clear patch of ground.
Cassidy raised the shovel above her head and said loudly, “Here’s to a new
future for your town!” The crowd cheered and Cassidy blushed and dug the shovel
into the ground.

She and Jared took turns digging until they created a hole
deep enough for the sapling. One of the greenhouse workers helped them settle
the tree, then Cassidy replaced the dirt around it. More cheers went up from
the crowd and she grinned. Apparently, the trees meant a lot to these people,
who’d had nothing attractive to look at in the three years since the storm.
Despite her dislike of large groups, she couldn’t deny the pleasure their
approval brought her.

For the rest of the morning, she and Jared wandered the
site, checking in with townspeople and watching the new woods take shape.
Occasionally, their arms brushed against each other or she caught him glancing
at her, and each time she tingled.
What the hell is going on here?

Jared made small talk with some of the adults on the site,
while Cassidy admired the work the children showed off. As the workers set more
saplings in the ground, the area began to resemble the woods that had occupied
the space before the ice storm, albeit with much smaller trees. The greenhouse
workers had mapped out the site to avoid the chance of artificial rows, instead
ensuring that the scattering of trees looked natural.

The atmosphere became that of a celebration as the barren
site took on shades of green. Everyone cooperated with one another. Cassidy
even saw a few of the JaBro men sharing coffee and snacks with some of the
townspeople, since JaBro’s corporate headquarters hadn’t seen fit to provide
refreshments for the planting as they had for the meeting.

As she and Jared walked over to see a sapling a little girl
wanted to show them, Cassidy tripped. As the ground rushed up to meet her, her
heart pounded and she threw out her hands to catch herself.
Of all the
clumsy, stupid—
She didn’t react fast enough and landed flat on her stomach
with her face gashed on the sharp edge of a spade that had been left lying on
the ground.

Fuck, it hurts!
She groaned and tried to stand until
the pain sent a jolt of dizziness through her. “Cassidy, lie still,” Jared
urged her. “You’re bleeding. We’re calling 9-1-1.”

“No, we aren’t,” someone else contradicted. “Cell phones
don’t work out here.”

Cassidy became dimly aware of a child crying nearby. The
little girl who’d wanted to show her the sapling, probably. “Take the kid
away,” she mumbled, her words slurred by pain and her position.

Jared turned and relayed her order. “Take that kid out of
here. She doesn’t need to see this.”

“I’m sorry!” It sounded as if the child was standing right
beside Cassidy. Without being able to turn her head, Cassidy didn’t know for
sure. The child sobbed, “Daddy told me to pick up the shovel. I didn’t mean her
to get hurt.”

“It isn’t your fault, sweetheart,” Jared said gently.
“Accidents happen. I’m not telling you to go away because I’m mad at you. It’s
just that this is kind of scary and I think you probably shouldn’t see it.
Okay?” He kept his voice calm and soft.

It impressed Cassidy, even through the pain haze, and she
revised her belief that he didn’t like kids.