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“Fletcher,” he growled.
She felt rather than saw his gaze on her wet mouth when he whispered, “Damn him.”
“Let me finish, please…before I lose my nerve completely.”
Draining his glass, he swiftly poured himself more wine. He was as flushed with high color as she probably was. He sat up taller and shrugged out of his black jacket even though the night air was cool and damp.
“I—I told you that my life is dull back in America, that I own a second-hand store and that my boyfriend says—”
“To hell with him. He’s wrong. I should know.”
She felt her skin grow even hotter. “Maybe not with you. Not that once. Which brings me to the point I’m trying to make…”
In an agony of embarrassment, she stared down at her sandal-clad feet, which were cocked in a childish, pigeon-toed angle. Quickly she straightened them.
He smiled. “Go on.”
“I need more practice…with an expert. According to all those newspapers, you’re a very experienced lover. So, I—I want you to teach me to be sexy.”
“Don’t you know that those damn papers make up lies and use sex just to sell more newspapers?”
“But what if London was a fluke? What if I’m a dud the next time?”
He took a deep breath. Leaning back, his bleak, dark eyes stripped her. Then he frowned. “You aren’t listening!”
“I know you usually date all those beautiful, wealthy women—”
“You don’t know a damn thing!” He sat up abruptly. Seizing her hands, he stared deeply into her eyes. “You are a dazzling woman. Would you stop selling yourself short? Believe in yourself!”
“If you’d do this one little thing for me, maybe I could.”
“This one little thing, as you call it, would compound the mistake I made in London—which was to deceive and sleep with a sweet, innocent girl!”
“If you’ll make me your mistress for a month, I’ll sign your contract for the price your agents have offered and not a penny more.”
Shaking, she pulled her trembling hands from his and brought a fingernail to her mouth, but since she was wearing tips, there was no way she could chew on it.
Gently he pulled her hand from her lips.
“Don’t! I hate that habit,” he said, kissing the offending fingertip before letting her hand go. Then he shot to his feet. “No! Hell no!”
She stood, too. “Because I’m not sexy enough? Because I’m too dull?”
“Dammit, don’t put another man’s words into my mouth!”
The valley was thick with swirling mist and the sky was nearly black, holding the promise of rain. She stomped through wild thyme and made her way toward the grove of wet pines behind the pool, anyway. The damp wind moaned, tearing through her hair. Not that she cared.
Embarrassment and hurt at his rejection made her bend at the waist and hug herself as if in unbearable physical pain.
“Amy…” His voice and footsteps were cautious as he approached through the crackly thyme.
“Amy!”
In the next instant she felt the heat of his hand against her spine. She tried to jump away, but very gently he pulled her back.
“London was wonderful for me, too. I was afraid I’d hurt you. That’s why I came over this afternoon. I’ve thought about you all week. I didn’t want to obsess. But I couldn’t stop myself.”
“Don’t say things you don’t mean.”
“Okay. Let me repeat myself—the best thing for you is to stay as far away from me as possible. Name your price, sell the vineyard and go home!”
Her hands curled, fake tips digging into her palms. “I named my price—you for a month. You’re the perfect person to teach me what I need to know. All my life my mother and sister and Aunt Tate saw themselves as beautiful adventuresses who deserved grand lives. My mother failed, and I opted out of their game because growing up with such a beautiful, elegant sister made me too insecure to try to compete. So I never became the woman I could be, the woman you showed me I might be—if I ever dared to let myself…dare. I want to be good at sex, the way I was with you.”
“Good with other men, you mean?”
“Yes!”
His fingers wrapped around her upper arm. “You little fool! Sex isn’t a skill like playing the piano. When a woman gives herself to a man, she gives more than her body. You don’t just hire a teacher because you read he’s slept with a lot of beautiful women.”
“I don’t see why not. Especially since I know from experience just how good you are.”
His grip tightened, and he turned her so that she faced him. “Amy, Amy. I like you just the way you are. I don’t want to be the one to change or corrupt you.”
