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She swallowed hard against the sudden ache in her chest. This was the Adrian she had glimpsed on their ride in the rain...the man who’d refused to wait inside his car while she was outside in the storm.
But was this the real Adrian? Or was he merely being kind to her to ensure she followed through on her work instead of making trouble?
“Talk to me,” he said.
Those words broke through the strong wall she’d built around her heart. She’d never felt the urge to share her innermost thoughts, even with the men she’d dated. If they had zero interest in Fox, her greatest passion, why would they care about anything else that mattered to her?
But here, now, she wanted nothing more than to talk to Adrian.
She looked out over the gardens and the vineyards that stretched beyond. As soon as she talked she’d be opening a door. A door that would be extremely difficult to close. Was it worth it?
A hawk soared in the distance, its wings dark against the bright blue sky. Keeping her eyes trained on the bird, she started to speak.
“My life before my mom’s cancer was incredible. I grew up in a beautiful farmhouse... I had two parents who loved me. It was perfect.” A hard lump lodged in her throat. “Until it wasn’t.”
She withdrew her hand, hating the loss of his warmth and comfort, and stood. Distance would make her confession easier. Ignoring the pain in her foot, she hobbled to the edge of the balcony.
“When my mother got her diagnosis it didn’t seem real at first. Plus, you hear so many success stories—people beating it and going on to live even more amazing lives.” Her voice broke. “Except she didn’t. She died in the hospital right before my high school graduation. I still dream about my last night with her.” She swallowed hard past the lump. “My father didn’t handle her death well. The first couple of months after she died I was by myself. Fox was all I had. It became my lifeline. Eventually my father and I got back to a good place, but it was never quite the same.”
Her eyes fell upon the rows of grapevines, and the familiar sight calmed some of the ache in her chest.
“Fox is real. Physical. I can reach out and touch it. It’s always been there. My mom’s death, my dad’s diagnosis, the guys I dated who didn’t understand why I loved the winery so much...everything’s always changing. Fox is the one thing that has never changed.” She closed her eyes as that ever-persistent sense of loss crept over her—a darkness she couldn’t escape. “Now it’s going to. No matter what my role is at Fox, it’ll never be the same.”
A chair scraped against the pavestones. She opened her eyes and turned around just as Adrian stopped in front of her. The smell of cedar curled around her. The fragrance catapulted her back to their kisses, to how beautiful and sexy and safe she’d felt in his arms.
Don’t go there.
Just because he was being nice right now, it didn’t mean jumping into bed with him was the right thing to do. She’d waited years for the right man—for her Prince Charming. Adrian might have the wealth and status of a prince, but “charming” was not the first adjective that came to mind. Brooding, perhaps, or sensually forbidding...
“I know the sale is the right thing for the winery.” She looked up at him. “For the people who work for us. I’ve accepted that. But knowing that my dad is doing the right thing isn’t enough to take away the pain.”
Adrian stared at her for a long moment. She resisted squirming under his inquisitive gaze. Then something in the air changed between them. Made her forget all the reasons why she shouldn’t go there. Maybe it was her dark musings, or that horrid sense of loss, but she felt the charge between them even more acutely, felt their attraction all the way to her core.
She didn’t know whether he moved first or she did. But suddenly he was just a breath away. And then they were kissing, her hands on his face, his arms wrapped around her body as if he couldn’t bear to let her go. His lips moved over hers and coaxed from them a gasp, which he took advantage of to slide his tongue along her lower lip.
“Adrian...”
His lips left hers to trail kisses over her cheek and down her neck. Her fingers tangled in his hair, clutching tighter as he placed a soft kiss on the tops of her breasts swelling above her neckline.
“Yes,” she moaned. “Please, Adrian.”
He pulled back and clutched her face in his hands, his eyes glittering with passion. “Dios mío, novia.What are you doing to me?”
She stood on tiptoe and placed a soft, teasing kiss on his lips. “Exactly what you’re doing to me.”
A growl rumbled in his chest as he pulled her back against him. And if she had thought his first two kisses passionate, they didn’t compare to the carnal assault he now leveled on her body. His hands drifted over her, skillfully caressing her in places no other man had touched.
He lifted her off her feet, spun her around and pressed her against the wall. Her legs instinctively went around his waist, pressing her most intimate place flush against his hardness. A gasp escaped her at the sheer, sensual pleasure. Never had she felt such desire...such raw, aching need.
Her hips moved of their own accord, arching against him as he rained kisses down on her jaw, her neck, her chest. When she ground herself even harder against him, he captured her wrists in his grip and pinned them above her head.
“Are you trying to make me embarrass myself?” he demanded, his voice raw.
She stared at him for a moment, lust robbing her of the ability to think. But then realization hit and she couldn’t help herself; she laughed. To think that she, an inexperienced country girl, could bring someone like Adrian Cabrera to the edge. It was empowering and, oh, so delightful...
“What?”
The glower on his handsome features made her smile. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Adrian. I just want you.”
