“What’s going on here?” Chloe realized, too late, that she sounded like a bad fifties movie come to life, the matron walking in on a scene she couldn’t comprehend.
“I’m a photographer. We’re shooting a magazine spread here for the next few days.”
Oh. Now things were starting to make sense. Feeling suddenly awkward, she said, “I was just coming out for a walk. It’s so beautiful.”
“Lovely,” he murmured, and she was instantly reminded of the way he’d said, “My God, you’re lovely,” the previous night.
Feeling her cheeks go hot again, she dropped her gaze to the dirt. “Thanks for setting out breakfast.”
She watched his feet move closer, until he was standing close enough that she had no choice but to lift her head to face him. “I’m glad you liked it,” he said softly, and then he was brushing his fingertips across her cheek to the corner of her mouth. “You’ve just got a little bit of chocolate right here.”
There was nothing for it but to stop breathing entirely while he was touching her. She couldn’t remember a man ever being this gentle with her before.
And then he moved his finger the slightest bit, so that it was in front of her lips, and some previously latent devil inside of her—the same one that had convinced her that masturbating in the tub last night would be a good thing—had her opening up her mouth and licking the chocolate off.
She heard a groan come from way down deep in his chest. “Chloe.”
Oh God, she was this close to kissing him, a man who was still a stranger despite the fact that he’d seen her naked and provided her a warm, safe place to spend the night.
No!
Stumbling back, the branches from a tall grapevine lancing her between the shoulders, she said, “You should get back to work. They’re probably waiting for you.”
But he didn’t move, didn’t so much as shift his weight. Instead, he simply smiled at her, that intense heat still in his eyes. Along with something that truly had her shivering in her shoes.
Determination.
Focus.
“I’m sure they’re still working on Amanda’s makeup,” he told her, but she heard what he was really saying loud and clear. I’m not going anywhere. So why don’t you stop trying to run and just give in to what we both want? It’ll be good. I promise.
Wanting desperately to negate the hot, pulsating desire between them, she said, “All caps is a bit much, don’t you think?”
He frowned for a split second before he caught on and grinned again. “I figure if I’m going to have a nickname like Hotstuff, I might as well own it.”
How could she do anything but grin back at him? He was just so darn likeable. It wasn’t his fault that he was sexier than sin. She shouldn’t keep holding that against him.
“Come with me.” He held his hand out. “I’ll introduce you to the crew.”
She looked down at his hand. She badly, so badly, wanted to take it. But she couldn’t.
Telling herself he’d understand if he knew her reasons—and that he probably already understood due to the bruise on her cheek—she simply stepped beside him and started walking. She didn’t have to look at him to sense his disappointment that she hadn’t reached out for him, too. But he didn’t say anything as he fell into step beside her.
“This is such an incredible part of the country,” she said. “How long has your brother owned the winery?”
“Nearly a decade. We all thought he was crazy, at first, taking all those farming classes at UC Davis. Now we’re all wishing we’d thought of it first.”
She turned to him in surprise. “Don’t you love what you do?”
That moment when his eyes connected with hers shocked her every single time. He should be the one in front of the camera, knocking down female hearts like dominoes with that incredibly potent gaze.
“I do,” he agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t sometimes think about cutting down on the traveling and settling down with a pretty wife and a backyard full of cute kids.”
“Are there cameras following us?” she joked, making a show of looking over her shoulder.
“No, why?”
“Because you just said pretty much what every single, thirty-year-old woman on the planet wants to hear. And actually sounded like you meant it.”
“What about you?” When she frowned, he said, “Is that what you want to hear?”
Refusing to acknowledge the pang of longing, she shrugged. “Just thinking about making it through the next day, right about now,” she said in as offhand a manner as she could manage.
She could see the models and crew waiting for him, but instead of hurrying over, he stopped walking and turned his back to everyone else. She had no choice but to stop, too.
“I took care of your car.” He gave her a small smile. “It's been towed off to a better place.”
Working to fight down the panic at being completely without a vehicle she said, “It didn't have many miles left on it anyway.” She tried to smile back. “Thank you for dealing with it. I'll pay you b—”
He cut her off before she could finish her sentence. “Stay, Chloe. Stay here at the winery while we’re shooting for the next few days.”
She licked her lips, shook her head. “You’re busy. And I need to…” She paused, knowing all she had ahead of her were problems, at least for a while.