“Don’t sweat that.” I peered up with a small smile. “It gave me a chance to be a righteous bitch, and I do enjoy being right.”

Miles cleared his throat and coughed into his hand.

He was so trying not to smile.

“Well, I’m glad that made you feel better.” He met my eyes. “I don’t think you’re a horrible person, Gabriella. Nor do I dislike you. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I think you’re a wonderful person, and I like you very much.”

Oh.

Oh.

I swallowed. “You do?”

“Yes.” Miles hesitated. “And I would like it if we could be friends.”

I fought back a smile as something flipped in my stomach. “I would like that.”

“Good.” He cleared his throat again. “And if you need help with your project, I’d be happy to help you. To make up for how I’ve treated you.”

“That might be cheating, don’t you think?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I suppose it might be considered cheating.”

“If you really want to make it up to me, you can let me play in your greenhouse for an hour.”

“Absolutely not. That’s a sacred space.”

“Oh, my God!” I threw my arms out. “What does a girl have to do to go in your greenhouse? Do they have to be your mother? Your sister? Your girlfriend? I just want to go in there! I want to see your growing process! Your propagation process! I’m not asking to move into your spare bloody bedroom!”

Miles stared at me for a moment, his eyes widening, and then…

He laughed.

He actually laughed.

A full-blown laugh. Complete with wrinkled eyes, a hand pressed against his stomach, and… a smile.

A wide, bright, glorious flipping smile that made my stomach do somersaults.

I stared at him, lips parted, unable to move.

“What?” His laughter petered out into a small chuckle, but his smile stayed fixed on his face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’ve never laughed at me before.” I licked my lips. “And you’ve never smiled at me, either.”

He frowned. “I’ve smiled at you.”

I shook my head emphatically. “No, you haven’t. Never. Even when you have been nice to me, you’ve never smiled. You’ve stopped yourself at least twice since we got out of the car!”

“I smile!”

“Not at me!” I stepped forwards and jabbed my finger into his chest, then froze.

What was I doing?

Oh, my gosh.

That was a silly, silly thing to do.

Darn it, Gabriella!

Miles looked down at me and reached up at the same time, wrapping his hand around mine. His fingertips brushed against my palm, and I drew in a sharp breath as the tickle sent goosebumps erupting up my arm.

My mouth was dry. Why was it dry? Where was my saliva? Oh, gosh. What was happening here?

I moved my tongue across my teeth in a desperate attempt to alleviate the dryness, but it was no good. Instead, I bit down on my lower lip and dragged it between my teeth—something that worked surprisingly well.