He was handsome in a way that made me resent him. Rich hair, sharp eyes. The low sun honeyed his bare chest.
"You like the garden?"
"Yeah, love it. I love flowers," I looked at my shoes, "just love them."
He clapped his gloves together, then threw them on an oak stump, "That's why you're here," his gaze swam over me- my too-long arms, my too-warm shirt, buttoned to the neck, "you want to see the garden again?"
"Yes," I lied, "exactly."
He speared his long shovel into the dirt and flashed me a look, "Take off your tie."
I turned. The house was just visible through the trees, gables peeking through the lavender.
"Here?"
He said nothing.
I rolled my tie- Italian silk, gift from my mother- and slipped it into my pocket. Cicada song walled around us.
He walked to me. Closer, closer, till his heat filled my head. He traced a calloused index over my collarbone, my neck, my earlobe.
"You haven't shaved. I like it."
"Thankyou," I blushed. My politeness felt like an artefact. Like another tie, or cuff links.
He smirked, a tiny quirk at the corner of his mouth, "Would you like to get on your knees, now?"
We locked eyes. I fell, slowly. The dirt gave beneath me- soft and smelling of petrichor.
He wore thick cotton trousers. I leant towards him and pressed my cheeks, mouth, nose against the fabric. I wet my open mouth on him, swirled my tongue against his outline. He was hard.