Wildflower Vineyardscreamed old money from its aged bricks and cobblestones to its elegant stained glass windows and pristine landscape. There were surprisingly few people present for their busy season, and the only people I did see were staff, minus the woman standing by the door grinning all too happily at me.
Sadie Clarke looked every bit the photographer she was, from the massive camera bag on her shoulder to the expensive equipment she had hanging around her neck. Her brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and her smile was too big for her face. Overall, the vibes were good on my first impression of the woman.
“Sariah?” she greeted with the kind of voice that could only be described as pleasantly warm. As soon as I was close enough, she extended a hand for me to shake. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!”
“Yes! Same. I’ve been looking forward to this,” I said, lying through my teeth and hoping to hell that I was convincing enough. Based on her enthusiastic nodding, I was. “I’ll admit, I was surprised when you said we were doing the shoot here—in a good way! I swear. I’ve always wanted to come here.”
“Oh, it’s a dream location,” she replied. “When you said sunflowers and I saw this place, I just knew. And then I sent it to the other participant, and she immediately rented it out for the night.”
“Rented it out?” I repeated stupidly.
“Yes,” Sadie affirmed.
“The whole thing?” My gaze shot back to the main building. The main building was huge in and of itself. That didn’t account for the distillery, the fields, and the restaurant. There was no way someone rented out the whole thing. “No fucking way.”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “She wanted the freedom to not have to deal with anyone else today.”
“That’s…”
“Amazing!” she finished for me.That was certainly one word for it.
I scanned the vineyard once more—I couldn’t help it. That was alotof money to shell out for a volunteer photoshoot. Who the hell had that kind of money lying around?
“Who the hell is this woman?” I murmured.
That big smile of Sadie’s was back as she gestured for me to follow her.
“Why don’t we go find out?”
CHAPTER 03
Soft fingertips brushed against my palm, sending sparks dancing over my skin. It was the barest of touches—the kind that whispered with the curiosity of the unknown. My whole body lit up in a cascade of sparks as if I’d touched a live wire. My skin prickled with anticipation, and I swallowed hard.
The sunflower field stretched endlessly in every direction. Their sunshine petals drank up the golden light, and their thick stalks stood tall around us. Sounds were muffled, dampened by the thickness of nature. It was perfect and peaceful.
At least it should’ve been.
“Perfect!” Sadie exclaimed from somewhere in front of us. Her voice was distracted as she fiddled with her equipment, double-checking everything. It left us standing back to back, blind to one another. Getting us here had been a careful feat of letting Sadie walk me through the sunflowers while keeping my eyes shut. To say I wasn’t a fan was an understatement. To make it worse, she’d just left me standing there, eyes closed, while she went to fetch the other woman. “Stay just like that…”
That was easy for her to say.
We stood back to back—my stranger match and me. Every little shift of her weight pressed us together for a fraction of a second, and the sheer warmth of her body had my brain short-circuiting. I didn’t know her name or her face. I had no idea if she was excited for this or just bordering on panic like I was.
All I could focus on was touch.Her touch.
Her hand was still near mine while my body itched to do some kind of recon as a way to figure her out. Unfortunately, all I could think about wasthe dainty scrape of her long nails. The sharp points against the delicate nerves in my palm had my pulse stumbling in my chest, the sensation both intriguing and overwhelming.
I hated not knowing. Not so long ago, the unknown meant roadside bombs, dark windows, and empty rooftops that had the potential to hide unimaginable danger. The unknown had once carried the potential to kill me, Rhodes, or anyone else I had served with. Knowing was survival. Knowing was control.
Knowing was everything.
And the not knowing was killing me a little bit on the inside.
“This might just be the craziest thing I’ve ever done,” the woman at my back whispered. I smiled to myself. The silky tones of her voice deliciously slid down my spine. The slight grit to it was sexy.
And all of that made me wonder who the hell she was that she could rent out an entire vineyard for a damn photoshoot. Elusive billionaire? Playboy bunny? Probably not, because I sure as hell didn’t have that kind of luck.I could handle a bossy woman.
Whatever she was, it definitely paled in comparison to the fact that I was a war veteran trying to figure out how to be a civilian again.
