with a plant rocketed him to idol level.
Her emotions hovered between let’s get back between the sheets and run for the hills. For well over a month she’d kept a lid on her emotions, thought she’d conquered her weakness for irritating transplant surgeons. When she’d lobbed those words at him earlier she’d believed there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d actually rise to the bait.
She should have known better. He was a Maitland, after all—they always played to win. ‘And you have to go one better, don’t you? A small plant would have sufficed. A bunch of flowers? Chocolates?’
The bush wobbled as branches edged their way through the door. ‘Give me a break, will you? Walking a tree down the road is harder than you think. And it’s got teeth.’
‘It’s a cordyline bush, not a tree, and, no, it hasn’t.’
He laughed. ‘You know way too much about plants and all that.’
How could she take a talking cordyline seriously? ‘I was brought up on a lifestyle block. We did outdoorsy things.’ Too many. Then stuff had happened. Isaac had happened. And now she had to live with the fallout. They all did.
Sucking in a big breath, she closed that door in her mind. Some decisions she’d have to live with, but she was determined to move on. She’d been destined for great things, her nonna had said—so Gabby was going to make sure they happened. ‘Come on, let’s take it through to the garden.’
Max stopped short as he squeezed out the back door and gaped. ‘Garden? Garden? This is worse than mine.’
‘I’m working on it. The landlord has the audacity to describe it as an oasis. But, look, I have herbs and a flower bed.’ Kicking the dry earth, she sighed. ‘It’s very different from the soil in Wellington.’
‘Okay, so you’re from Wellington.’ His words were muffled slightly by foliage.
‘Yes. Well, we live in a small township just north.’ They truly knew little about each other yet had been so intimate. Talking to him now, without the pressure of work or sex, was easy. Her words just tumbled out, unguarded. She’d have to be careful of that. ‘It’s a farming community with people trying to scratch out a living. We have a few hectares.’
Land that had depended on her being there to help tend it in what little spare time she’d had. God knew what state it was in now. Her mother would have to cope without her. That would be a first. ‘There were only three of us— Mum, my grandmother and me—so I had to help out a lot around my studies and work. We sold our produce at the local farmers’ markets.’
‘Sounds fun.’
‘Sounds stifling.’ With her dominating grandmother and manipulating mother, it sounded very much like the prison it had become.
A dull ache squeezed in her abdomen and she ran her hand over her belly as a wave of nausea rippled through her. Memories affected her in too many ways these days.
‘Not a lot of fun, then?’
She breathed away the pain. ‘Hardly living life on the edge, no.’
Late-afternoon sun filled the dusty courtyard, giving the place a feeling of summer, although they were far from that. But the sunshine warmed her, gave her a sense of optimism. She was here in Auckland with a fabulous job and a gorgeous man.
Gabby leaned against the doorframe, watching Max bend to put the plant on the ground. Maybe she could get over her anxieties about spending time with him, maybe they could work on the friends thing. That would be nice. She’d been working so hard she’d barely had time to make friends. Maybe…just maybe the benefits could come later. Once she’d got her head around her emotions.
But watching him straighten up and turn to face her, his eyes squinting in the sun, hair mussed up from plant-carrying, her breath was stripped from her lungs. God, he was gorgeous. Getting her head around her emotions might take a little time. ‘So, you came here for...? A reason? Surely not just to bring gifts?’
He stepped forward, his mouth curling into a smile. ‘I came to apologise. Seems to me we’ve gone about this all the wrong way: sex first then trying to learn about each other afterwards.’
‘Isn’t that your mojo? You should be used to it, surely?’
‘Kind of. But I really do think we should clear the air. Let’s go out.’
Her heart began to hammer against her rib-cage. She was scared that the more she learnt about him, the more she’d like.