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“Evaporation,” he said in an astonished tone. “You see, a small portion of the wine evaporated during the aging process and escaped through the roof, producing the growth of moss on the tiles.”
“Fascinating,” she said, as though this were the first time he’d ever told her of this phenomenon.
“Indeed,” Rogen said with a nod. “And because the monks were so blessed with their sacrament, they made amends with each other and agreed that the angels in heaven deserved their share of the wine.”
“Aw.” Jewel fanned her face with a hand as mist covered her eyes. A genuine response. “I just love a happy ending.”
“I love how you still get emotional when you’ve heard this story your entire life.”
“It’s sweet.”
“Mm.” He slipped from his stool and stepped toward hers. He uncrossed her legs. Spread them to accommodate his hard body in the V created, the high slit in her skirt working to his advantage. “I think those lips of yours are sweet.”
A thrill ribboned through Jewel.
Rogen’s gaze landed on her slowly rising and falling chest. Then lifted to meet hers. The blue pools were hypnotic … and Jewel found herself drowning in them.
“I came back to River Cross six months ago, Jewel. After years in Manhattan, then Yale, then the Tuscany headquarters. Every day that I’ve been home, I’ve thought of you. Hell.” He let out a sharp laugh. “I’ve thought of you every day no matter where I was.”
“Rogen.” They couldn’t start something that couldn’t be finished. Regardless of how much she wanted him. Jewel had plans that might adversely affect Rogen. And what about Vin? She’d never shared with Rogen things he really ought to know about her past with his best friend.
Still, she felt the intensity of the moment, the yearning that enveloped them both.
Rogen’s head lowered to hers and he whispered, “I’ll never claim we were fated in a good way, because of all the bullshit we’ve endured. But you can’t deny our current destiny.”
His lips brushed hers. The warmest, most sensual kiss. One that made her heart soar.
He said, “We naturally gravitate to each other. We naturally find ourselves in each other’s arms. Doesn’t matter where we are or how long we’ve been apart. We need each other, Jewel.”
His mouth sealed with hers, his tongue sweeping over hers, then delving deeper, twisting and tangling until she was captured, enrapt, lost.
Rogen’s arms slipped around her waist. Her breasts pressed below the hard ledge of his pectoral muscles. She let the sensations consume her. The sexy ones, the sentimental ones.
A part of her wanted to swing from the chandeliers as pleasure raced through her. The other part wanted to cry a river for the years gone by—and the uncertainty of everything that stretched beyond this one night.
But she clung to Rogen, her arms around his neck, holding him tight. He owned half her heart, half her soul. Always had. Always would.
And he was right—there was no denying their powerful connection. Or the fiery sensations he so easily invoked.
Breaking their kiss, she simply said, “Take me someplace where we can get naked.”
FOUR
Rogen had temporarily forgotten there were surveillance cameras everywhere. He’d been too caught up in the heat of the moment with Jewel. Too wrapped up in her.
Damn, it was crazy how she ensnared him so completely that nothing registered in his mind except her.
He stepped away. Collected the silver satin clutch she’d had tucked under her arm for most of the evening but set on the table when they’d settled in. With his other hand, he cupped her elbow and helped her off the stool.
Her expression was a complicated one to decipher. There were questions in her eyes. Uncertainty. And blatant arousal. No mistaking it.
He wound an arm about her waist and led her back to the stairs. The staff would clean the remnants of their samplings in the morning. Jewel didn’t say a word as they left the Angels’ Share Room and took the Rhino on more cobblestone pathways winding through the vast property to his house. He guided her inside, through the great room, and toward the wall of glass doors where the patio lay beyond.
Snatching the remote from an end table they passed, Rogen hit a button that made the doors slide apart and into pockets along the edges, so that the entire wall opened onto the patio. He then selected the dim setting of accent lamps. Flipped the switch for the huge planters filled with chunks of lava and drilled-holes for copper tubing underneath that allowed the gas flames to illuminate the rocks in the decorative pots that sat atop the half wall surrounding the terrace. There was also a fireplace in the corner and a lit pool. Chaise longue chairs and other furniture and table settings covered the pavered area.
“Nice setup,” Jewel said as she surveyed it all. “Quite beautiful under a diamond-studded night sky and a crescent moon. The vineyard in the backdrop.”
Rogen turned on music at a low level.
