Forever Branded (Billionaire Love Series #1) by Jessa Eden Page A

halfway with Marla.
    Even when I was in high school.
    When I sensed she was wavering in her resistance to tutor me, I made sure to strike while the iron of her kindness was hot. I tracked her down during lunch a couple of days after I took her home. I got the scoop from a friend of hers and headed out to the school’s greenhouse.
    I smelled the wet dirt, which seemed to be everywhere, as I walked through the thin screen door of the greenhouse. Thousands of plants were all over the cheap looking green dome.
    Why the hell would Marla be out here?
    I found her standing over a table, drip feeding a dying plant.
    “Come on, little guy. I know you can make it,” she encouraged as she put him back down on the crude wood top holding a bunch of other small plants.
    “Do you talk to all the plants?” I asked from behind her.
    “Aah!” She let out a frightened gasp as she shot up and turned toward me.
    “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” I offered apologetically.
    “How did you find me?” she asked, her eyes still wide.
    “I’ve got my spies. I knew who to talk to.”
    “You mean Stacy?” she asked as she grinned, finally relaxing.
    “Maybe. Why are you out here?”
    “Sometimes I like to spend my lunch out among the plants,” she offered, pointing to a brown sack lunch.
    “Why?”
    “It’s relaxing. The plants are always glad to see me. Unlike some people, they like the time and attention I give to them.”
    “That’s kinda weird.”
    She cocked her head defensively as she put her hands on her hips. “Why is that? Plants are living things that have a special job. They give us oxygen, share their bounty, and give us something beautiful to look at. What’s weird is that you don’t get how important Mother Nature is to our well-being.”
    I grinned, enjoying her feisty explanation. “I hadn’t thought of it like that before. Show me.”
    She furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms. “I’m not sure I want to.”
    I shot her a coaxing grin. “Come on. You see things so differently than any other girl I’ve ever known.”
    “Really?” She studied me suspiciously.
    “Yeah, really.”
    She uncrossed her arms as she sized me up. “All right,” she finally said. “Follow me.”
    She pointed to a large table full of individual plants which were beginning to bud. “Over here, we keep the vegetables and herbs. Can you smell that?” she asked as we both took a big whiff of the air.
    Over the dirt, I did smell traces of mint, rosemary, and one of my favorite spices.
    “Do I smell oregano?” I loved Italian food.
    “Yep.” She reached over to a little plant and ran her hand up and down its budding green leaves. “Smell it.” She offered her hand and sure enough, it smelled of fresh oregano.
    “Nice.”
    From there, she took me around, introducing me to a completely new world of nature. I had no idea plants did so much for us.
    “These are pansies.” Her face lit up, her voice soothing as she tenderly caressed a curved leaf.
    The sun glinted off her long, dark hair and I had the sudden urge to wrap her glossy locks around my fingers just to feel its silkiness.
    At the time, I didn’t know how attracted I was to her. I thought this was how it was with most girls. The insatiable lust, which ran through my blood beating out her name repeatedly.
    But I have never felt that way again. No matter what hot model or bimbo I had beneath me, no one ever came close to making my blood run hot like Marla Matthews.
    She glanced at me then, her big doe brown eyes suddenly soft. “This was my mom’s favorite flower.” She held up a pot of yellow daisies.
    “Was? Is your mom not around anymore?”
    She hung her head. “No, she isn’t.”
    My heart went out to her. “Ah, Sunshine. That’s rough.”
    Her eyes filled with unshed tears. “Yeah, it happened about a year ago. She died from brain cancer. It’s just me and Emma, now,” her voice was laced with grief.
    Damn, I didn’t like hearing that.
    I