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I clear my throat, feeling my shaft press uncomfortably against my trousers. “I am confident our wine will do well in the competition.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice.”
“I would not put my eight hundred years of winemaking reputation on the line if I did not feel it was worthy.”
Stella tilts her head to one side. “Eight hundred years?”
“I meant my family’s reputation. I come from a very long line of Romanian winemakers.”
“Oh wow. Is that where your family is originally from?”
The beating sound in my chest is so loud I can hardly hear her words, and the stiffness in my cock is not helping my listening abilities.
I nod. “Yes. We are from Romania, as is our wine. The vines we grow today are from the same seeds I planted—I mean my great-grandfather-many-times-over planted.”
“That’s fascinating. And it explains why your wines are so delicious.” She reaches out and sets her hand over mine, her lips dancing with a seductive smile. “Just like the winemaker.”
A jolt of electricity surges through me, and I jerk my hand away.
The look of shame on her face is instant. “Oh God. I’m so sorry. It’s just that Neli said—I just thought that—never mind.”
“No. Please do not misunderstand me.” I lower my voice so only she can hear. “You are a very beautiful woman. But I am a very complicated man with a very complicated life. I do not wish to embroil you in it.”
Stella gazes down at her nearly empty glass of wine. Why she is drinking the house wine, I do not know. “Allow me to get you another glass of wine, and then I shall see you to your—”
“No. I’m good.” She smiles, but I see the corners of her lips struggle to remain lifted. She is upset. “I should go.”
I catch her wrist as she stands, and the electricity that was just now buzzing through me gives her a jolt.
Her eyes go wide. “Ohmygod, Boz. What was that?”
My face contorts awkwardly. “Static electricity?”
I think my secret is out. She knows there is magic between us.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Stella
I stare at the spot on my wrist where Boz is touching me. My entire body hums with an odd current that amplifies right as it passes over my—
Whoa! I pull my wrist away. Did he just reach all the way down to my magic button? There’s a lingering tingle between my legs and a delicious ache.
I step back. Was I imagining it? Must be the jet lag and wine or something because his hand never left my wrist. Magical seduction. Probably all in my mind, except I definitely felt…something.
My mind quickly hops to the conversation I had earlier with Neli. I was looking for dirt and clarification about their romantic status, but what I got was a mile-long list as to why Boz and I would be perfect for each other.
If that’s not a green light from Neli, I don’t know what is.
She then assured me that Boz’s attraction was mutual and that all I had to do was make the first move, because his gentlemanly ways would prevent any action on his part until I make the “deepest desires of my timeless soul and fervently beating heart known to him.”
I swear, sometimes when Neli talks, I feel like I’m listening to an old woman from some classic romance novel. The part of our conversation that stuck with me most, however, was when Neli said, and I quote, “His supernatural gifts of seduction will leave you breathless. You will forget all other men until end of days are upon us.” What a weird thing to say. And how does she know about his “gifts” if they’ve never been together? She says it’s just what she heard, whispers over the years. Either way, I’m intrigued. And now, my entire body is trembling with need. I can’t help wondering if this is what Neli meant. His rep is so well deserved, and I’m dying to experience more.
“Boz,” I say in my firmest voice, “I know you’re old fashioned about certain things, so what I’m about to say might sound forward, but Neli said I have to make my intentions clear.” I lift my chin. “So that’s what I’m doing. I have intentions. And they are the sort that take place in private.” I swallow hard. “Naked,” I add, in case it wasn’t clear.
He looks up at me from where he’s still seated, stifling a smile, but the hungry look in his dark seductive eyes tells me Neli was right. He does want me. But then why the speech about him being complicated and pushing my hand away? And that spark when our hands touched? Phew! I always thought that “the spark” thing was a metaphor, not an actual physical reaction. I have to follow through.
“Are you truly prepared to be naked in my bed?” he asks, his voice gruff and low, for my ears only. At my sharp intake of breath, he continues, “Perhaps you are not ready for this experience.” That last word comes out gravelly, seductive and challenging at the same time.
