Mr. Reynolds scratched his chin. "Well, you've convinced me. I'm excited to see what you can do with this little patch of land, and I'll make sure the whole community knows."
I let Rainer do the rest of the hand-shaking and back-slapping as I carefully picked my way out of the rough dirt. He caught up to me at my car as I opened the passenger side door and sat down to rub the soles of my scuffed feet.
Rainer knelt in front of me. "Good work out there. This is really going to be something."
"Glad I
could be part of it," I snapped.
He grabbed my high heels out of my hands and held them out of my reach. "I was trying to be chivalrous. No one expected you to traipse through the garden in these."
I tried to refuse, but Rainer insisted on slipping my shoes back on my feet. All I could do was ignore his remark about chivalry and keep my eyes off his wide shoulders. Rainer's strong hands were gentle as he cupped my ankle and tucked my toes into one high heel. "Let me guess: you're just being nice because you're about to jet off early. Some party over in the city?"
Rainer paused, my second shoe still in his hands. He knelt on the ground and shook his head at me. "Not at all. In fact, I thought we still had enough time to check out this native plant nursery one of the crew guys mentioned. It might look good if we sourced plants from local businesses."
I let him slip on my other shoe without a fight. "The nursery's in my neighborhood."
"Good," Rainer said. "I'll follow you to your place."
"My place?" I asked sharply. I stood up, still only reaching his chin despite my high heels.
Rainer's eyes swept down me and back up before he smiled. "Just thought you might want to change your shoes."
I could have lost him in the curves and dead-end streets of my hilly neighborhood, but Rainer's new sports car was too fast. He popped out on the street in front of my condo and stood with his hands on his hips. "I can see the Golden Gate Bridge," he called.
He was still admiring the view when I came back down the steps. I'd switched out my pencil skirt for a brand new pair of dark jeans and dainty but comfortable leather moccasins. "I'll drive," I said. "My neighborhood can get a little confusing."
We wound down the tight little streets, past a rocky beach, and then over another crest to the corner by the bay where the native plant nursery lay. Rainer jumped out of my car and opened the door for me.
"I saw three bridges from the top of that crest," Rainer said. "I didn't know any of this was here."
I rolled my eyes. "No one ever thinks there's anything outside of San Francisco."
"Honestly," Rainer said. "I think I might like your view better than my own."
I had a flash of what he would look like standing in my living. The far-off city lights twinkling behind him. His shirt loose and open when he turned to gather me into his arms. I slammed the car door harder than I intended. "Let's just look at some plants," I said.
Rainer had no idea what any of the plants were, but he listened intently. Then he pulled out his phone and got caught up. I tried to enjoy the lush nursery, all the green growing plants and bright blossoms reminding me of the house where Barbie and I grew up, but Rainer's typing irritated me.
"It's past two o'clock. That counts as a full work day for you, doesn't it?" I asked.
Rainer looked up from his phone. "Are we done?"
"Yes," I said. "Go ahead and join up with your friends or whoever you're texting."
He laughed then turned his screen around so I could see. Rainer was sifting through GroGreen's extensive reference tool and marking all the native plants he saw were available. "All I have to do is take a photo of the leaves and GroGreen matches it to the plant index."
"I know," I said, not wanting to enjoy his pleased smile.
"And, all I have to do is click it, and the plant is automatically placed in our garden blueprint. This is really amazing," Rainer said.
"You can stop now," I said. I stopped by a colorful geranium and crossed my arms over my stomach. "I know you'd rather be heading back to San Francisco. Dinner at some exclusive restaurant. Drinks on some amazing rooftop. Whatever it is, you can go now. You don't have to pretend you want to stay."
Rainer's smile disappeared, and I saw his jaw go rigid. He slipped his phone into his pocket and in one step, loomed over me. "I'm not pretending. I had a great day. You know how wonderful it is to actually get out of the office and do more than shake hands? I can't wait to break ground and get down to planting."
I slipped around him, but the aisle was tight between two wide wooden tables of green plants. "So, you like all the hands-on work. I guess I'm the only one who likes the paperwork."
"You really do, don't you?" Rainer's smile returned, softer than before. "You know what that means, right?"