A/N - Always said I'd never write Ari, but thanks to my brain here we are. This is an AU, still set in the 80's. Apologies for the shortness but I'm testing the water with this one ;)
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It hadn't been on Bryony's agenda for the summer to fuck her grandmother's gardener - far from it in fact. At the request of her mother (and protest of her grandmother), she had travelled to Cape Cod to spend the summer at the elder woman's beck and call, to keep her company.
Marjorie Alcott had lived a life of privilege, a New York socialite who had dominated the social scene during the golden age of film, she had five husbands under her belt, all rich of course - and with a couple of high payout divorces, she had been the last one laughing. Her final husband. Ralph Alcott had been the founder of The Alcott hotel, the legacy passing down to Bryony's uncle who still was at the helm of the brand to this very day.
The luxurious Cape Cod mansion where Marjorie now resided had been the summer retreat when Bryony had been growing up. Manicured gardens surrounded the home and beyond that? A private beach and the sea. A good place to live out the rest of her days - even if the old woman insisted that she wouldn't be going anywhere for some time despite having suffered with various illness' over the last couple of years.
It had been this very summer that Bryony had met the man her grandmother had hired to oversee that the gardens were kept in perfect condition.
Ari Levinson.
Tall, muscular with shaggy hair and a beard - Ari was not the kind of man who her mother had wanted her daughter to notice. There were expectations to uphold in a prestigious family such as the Alcott's, however he had caught Bryony's eye straight away.
It wasn't hard to considering the man had pulled his shirt off whilst trimming some hydrangea bushes, causing both Marjorie and Bryony to lower their sunglasses to check him out while he worked and they sat on the terrace. "Secretly I hired him because he also has a nice ass", the older woman had chuckled into her magazine.
Bryony smirked, turning back to her own book but all the while feeling the gardener's burning gaze on her.
It wasn't until later on as she was outside alone that he passed her, stopping and taking off his gloves. "Don't think I didn't see you checking my ass out earlier..."
She looked up and removed her sunglasses so as he could get a better look at her. "It was your muscles actually. You keep on taking your shirt off while working and my grandmother may die from a heart attack brought on by the excitement".
He grinned and extended his hand for her to shake. "Ari".
"Bryony - how long have you worked here?"
"Since the end of last year, needed a new start and this was it". He said, hands on hips.
"Do you enjoy it?"
"Wouldn't be here if I didn't...plus, I'm the kinda guy who knows that things need to be nurtured properly in order to grow..."
And that was all it took.
One look and both of them knew they were playing with fire.
But it would be worth the burn.