Free Tangled Bliss by Rebecca Airies Page A

even more.
    The soft tone of an email popping into her inbox caught her
attention. With a sigh, she let herself be distracted from the entry of yet
more data. She popped up the interoffice email and glanced at the unread
messages.
    There were several that she hadn’t yet opened, because a few
were memos sent out to the entire staff. She ignored those once again in favor
of the one addressed to her. She recognized her sister’s address.
    Come see the new hybrids we’ve created. Joy
    She knew Joy had been working with a few others to create a
new hybrid orchid as well as new marigolds. They also experimented on a rose
hybrid, but she knew they weren’t satisfied with the color on that one yet.
    Chelsea looked around her office. A trip down to the
greenhouse couldn’t hurt. She’d still be in the building. Well, technically,
since the greenhouse attached to the office. She’d be with her sister and a
couple of the other people on hybrid team, even if they were in one of the
sectioned off areas of the greenhouse.
    She sent a quick response to her sister. Be there in a
few. Chels
    Chelsea put her computer to sleep so that it would require a
password to activate it again. She didn’t want just anybody to be able to
access her email or the programs she’d been using. With a lighter step, she
headed down toward the greenhouse connected to the building. The thought of
being among even the plants in the experimental greenhouse made her feel
lighter.
    She longed to hear the buzz of the insects out in the fields
and feel the sun warming her skin. With a groan, she pushed open the heavy door
connecting the greenhouse the office building. Anticipation at perhaps getting
her hands into some soil bubbled through her.
    They needed to catch that stalker. She craved the freedom of
going where she wanted without having to worry.
    The smell of the flowers and the rich soil hit her first.
She inhaled, savoring both the sweet and the underlying earthy smells hanging
in the air. Rows of tables were filled with plants. She expected to see people
working among the flowers even out here in the area reserved for those plants
ready or almost ready to be put into normal planting.
    She checked her watch. Not even lunch yet. People should still
be working. A person could always find something to do here.
    In some areas, moisture and temperature were monitored in
minute detail.  Almost every day, workers needed to place ready plants into box
containers so that they could be taken to either another greenhouse or the
field.
    The situation began to feel distinctly strange. None of the
normal sounds greeted her. No quiet murmur of conversation, no whirr of
misters. Tools lay on the long planting tables, left there as if someone
expected to be back quickly.
    She moved deeper into the greenhouse, closer to the walled
sections where the fertilization and first stage hybrids were kept. As she
walked, she swept her eyes over the rows of plants. Her muscles tightened. The
silence in the big building began to stretch her nerves taut. Maybe this hadn’t
been such a good idea.
    “Chelsea, I’m surprised to see you here. Especially alone. I
don’t think I’ve seen you anywhere without someone with you over the last week
or so.” The male voice behind her caused her to jump and hold back a scream.
    She took a deep breath before she turned around to calm her
racing heart. He’d scared her. She didn’t want to snap at the man just because
he’d managed to startle her. She hadn’t noticed Jeremy Deek’s among the plants.
The man probably didn’t realize that.
    She frowned. Where had he come from? The door from
the office building made a loud noise regardless of how carefully someone
opened or closed it. Since it didn’t make noise, he came from somewhere in the
green house. Where could he have been in the open building that she didn’t see
him when she came in?
    “Hello, Jeremy, you know how it is. Busy with work, busy
with life.” She shrugged. Her