fast. I like these little flowers. Why did you alternate the varieties?”
“They bloom at different times. It gives us color all year round. I like to provide that for customers if possible.”
Blaise sank back on his heels and sent her a quick grin. “They’re both doing great. These two really don’t need anyone watching over them. Although this isn’t Etienne’s dream job, he does excellent work.”
Rory was very interested in the landscaping business. Like Flambé, he liked the plants and the soil. He enjoyed figuring out designs and what looked good where. He was genuinely trying to learn from her. Etienne did the work, but he wanted to build things. The minute she needed something that required construction, he was the first to volunteer. He never shirked work, but it was clear his love was in wood. Flambé hoped Sevastyan would find him a job with whoever was going to transform the massive garages into their indoor gardens.
Both men flashed Blaise a quick smile. Etienne shrugged, not bothering to deny Blaise’s assessment of him. After all, it was the truth.
“I’ve been studying all the different plants, trying to learn about them,” Rory confessed. “There are so many. You’re like a walking computer program.”
She laughed. “I have to look them up all the time. I might have an idea of what I want but can’t remember the name. It’s easier when you’re working with local plants rather than exotics. You get so you know all the locals not only by sight, but by name.”
Rory sat back on his heels and wiped his gloved hand across his forehead, smearing dirt, making Blaise, Etienne and Flambé laugh even more. He just grinned and shrugged, in no way perturbed. They were used to having dirt all over them by the end of the day.
“When is the newcomer being brought in?” Blaise asked.
“She’s supposed to get in next week,” Flambé said. “Her name’s Shanty. She has three young ones. The team managed to get them out as well. That was a miracle because the cameras picked them up and they were seen on the national news. Poachers went after them immediately. I couldn’t go, although at first, she wouldn’t leave South Africa because I wasn’t there. She said she didn’t trust anyone but me.”
“Had she ever met you?” Rory asked.
“No, I saw those pictures of her for the first time the same as everyone else, when the news reported her. Clearly, she came from a different region. No one recognized her or knew her.” Flambé pulled her gloves off. Her hands were beginning to itch. She rubbed at her skin, finding the sensation disturbing. “That was the first time I realized there might be strawberry leopards anywhere besides where our lair was. I wanted to get to her first if for no other reason than to get a few answers—like where did she come from? Is her lair large? That sort of thing.”
She sank down between Rory and Etienne, pulling her legs up tailor fashion. Blaise frowned and moved close in front of her to form a tight circle, his gaze moving over her, inspecting her carefully. “Are you all right? You look very flushed. You did wear sun protection, didn’t you?”
She was hot. “Yes. I always do.” Her skin burned easily. And marked easily. She wiped at the sweat forming on her forehead.
She’d been a little out of sorts since yesterday evening when Sevastyan had come to take her home. No, it was even before that. She felt moody and on edge. She really wanted to jump all over him, thinking that might help her strange mood, but when they got in the close confines of the car, his scent was very off-putting. She couldn’t get that out of her mind, no matter how much she tried.
They hadn’t been together but a few weeks and already Sevastyan was back at the club. Cheating. Lying. Showing that he was just exactly like every other shifter male. She knew he was going to be like that, but it still hurt. Did he think she wouldn’t smell it all over him? She’d know the smell of sex and sin anywhere. She worked at the club all the time. He was such a lying bastard, just like all of them. Exactly like them. Following the pattern of every shifter male she had ever known. Her skin burned and something moved through her, hot like a furnace, something she couldn’t control. She tried to sit very still, breathing, hoping