AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She pursed her lips.
“Chelsea?”
Eventually, she nodded.
“Good, then we’re all settled,” said Mr. Hamilton with a smile. “I have an appointment.” He checked his watch. “So, I’ll leave you two to get started.”
Chelsea looked up at him. “What? You’re leaving? You’re not going to stay and tell us what you want and don’t want?”
Mr. Hamilton smiled. “No. I’m going to leave the two of you to get to know each other and to figure out how you’re going to work together.” He smiled at Grant then turned back to her. “I know I’m leaving you in good hands. We can all meet here on Friday, and you can update me then.” He nodded at Grant on his way out.
Once the door had closed behind him, Grant held his breath and waited.
Chelsea stared at him.
He’d expected some kind of outburst, maybe accusations of setting this up somehow, but she just stared. He stared back. She was beautiful. He’d never have guessed that the girl in the red dress on Saturday would look just as hot in a sharp suit on Monday morning. Eventually, he smiled. “So much for goodbye, huh?”
She let out a small chuckle. “Yeah. I wasn’t expecting to ever see you again.”
“Me neither, but I’m glad.”
Her smile faded. “No. That was a one off. This is business, purely and strictly business.”
Disappointment settled in the pit of his stomach, though it had no reason to—he’d already known there could be no repeat performances of Saturday night if they were going to be working together. “I know. I don’t mix the two, but still, I’m glad that you weren’t the girl who walked out of my life after one magical night and left me forever wondering.” Why in the hell had he just said that?
She stared at him. “Wondering what?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? I don’t need to wonder. I know. You’re the girl who is doing a pretty good job of running a winery as a start-up boutique label.”
She smiled. “You get it?!”
He smiled back. “I get it. I see what you’re doing, and I understand why.” His smile faded. “Unfortunately, I also see where your father’s coming from.”
She blew out a sigh. “So do I. I’m not stupid.”
“I didn’t for one second think you were. Tell me how you see this working out.”
She shrugged. “I see me trying to keep you off my back while I spend the next three months trying to figure out how I buy the place.”
Grant nodded slowly.
She met his gaze. “Don’t look at me like that. I know what you’re thinking.”
“Enlighten me?”
“You’re thinking that Daddy will just give me the winery and it’ll all be taken care of. The spoilt little rich girl will get what she wants and run it into the ground. Well, let me tell you, it doesn’t work that way around here. We have to work for everything—earn it, just like anyone else. Granted, we get opportunities that most people don’t, but as you can tell, given the situation, if we don’t earn it, we don’t get to keep it.”
Grant held up both hands. “Hey, don’t go off-loading your issues on me. I wasn’t thinking any of that, though it does help me to understand what we’re doing here.”
He was relieved when she sighed. “I apologize. I may be a little tense.”
He smiled. “I think that’s understandable.” He was proud of himself for not offering a massage to help her relax. “I know you don’t believe it, but I’m here to help you.”
She shook her head. “Nope. Dad brought you in to help him prove that I’m not fit to run Zosca.”
“I think you know that’s not true. Even I know it’s not, so let’s not go down that road?” He wondered how she’d react to being called out and was pleasantly surprised when she nodded grudgingly.
“Yeah, sorry. But you’re not here to help me. You’re here to help Zosca. It can be a great winery.”
