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The thrill that gave me, knowing I was the only one who could elicit that sort of reaction, was unmatched.
“So, about California,” I began.
Liam crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a side-eyed glance. “What about it?”
“You don’t think she’s sending you on a wild goose chase, making you go all the way out there for potentially nothing?”
Liam shrugged. “No, why would I? She trusts my opinion, and I like being busy. It’s not like I’d be doing anything else that time of year but staring longingly at the fields, waiting for the snow to melt.”
I snorted, but the expression on his face said he was serious, and I quickly schooled my expression.
“Just seems like a lot of work is all.”
“Amara is my boss,” he said. “I do what she tells me. If she wants me to drive from here to California on thepossibilityof bringing back some new grapes…then I drive to California. It’s pretty simple.”
After giving me a long look, he walked away then, leaving me to mull his words over. I suppose his comment meant he thoughtIshouldadopt his school of thought. But the idea of submitting to her, of throwing in the towel and fully accepting her role within this company just…didn’t sit right with me. Plus, I was beginning to get addicted to our antagonistic repartee.
When we returned to the winery and Liam parked by the back door, I practically ran inside, unable to get away from Amara fast enough.
Thankfully, it was late on a Friday, so most of the staff—in fact, everyone but me and Amara—had cleared out of the offices. No one was around to see me power walk down the halls with a boner the size of Texas.
I’d never understand what it was about that girl that got me going so easily, and I was afraid of what it might mean for the last of my self-control. It had been easy to walk away five years ago. I didn’t know her then. I only cared about saving my own ass, about making sure I didn’t lose my dream job before I even started.
And even five months ago, I wasn’t all that impressed with her. As I’d told her, I’d seen the credit card statements from her adventures across the globe. The bar tabs at London pubs, the orders from the hottest—and most expensive—restaurants in Paris and Rome, the endless string of penthouse suites in the most luxurious hotels in every major European city.
The day I met her, she’d been a fresh-faced twenty-three year old girl who knew every eye in the room was on her, no matter where she went. She knew with her face and her body, she could get anyone—man or woman—to fall at her feet, begging to do whatever they could to make her happy.
And what Amara Delatou wanted, she got.
Except me.
I’d be damned if I hadn’t been one kiss, one swipe of her tongue, one breathy moan into my mouth away from ripping every shred of clothing off her body and fucking her into the next week that night. It was pure luck—and Herculean self-control—that had me kicking her out instead of sinking into her body.
Still, I could admit, in the five months since she’d taken over, I found myself unwillingly impressed by her. On occasion, she proved to be a shrewd and competent business woman.
But she still wasn’t right for the job.
Her outburst during the board meeting today? Strike one.
Her complete and utter distraction with the growers out in the vineyards this afternoon, not to mention that grossly inappropriate conversation with Liam about her tits? Strike two.
Amara Delatou was walking a very fine line, and one more wrong move would have me snipping that tight rope and sending her to her doom.
Yeah, Amara losing her job would solve a lot of my problems.
When I slipped back into my office, I closed the door behind me and heaved a deep breath, willing the blood away from my groin and back into my head. If I was going to survive working with Amara, I needed to keep my wits about me.
Unfortunately, my cock had other ideas.
Traveling over the grounds with the entire left side of my body pressed against her, the warmth of her skin seeping into mine, the blend of her fucking sexy, spicy perfume sticking up my nose…I was in a bad way.
And guilt clawed at my insides over the things I’d said to her today. I hadn’t missed the flash of hurt in her eyes when I didn’t have any particularly flattering thoughts about her. It didn’t help that she took my words at face value, refusing to look too closely at the admission I’d made moments before.
I think of you plenty.
Too much, in fact.
I imagined what the long, silky strands of her hair would feel like wrapped around my fist as I tugged her head back to suck on her neck.
