Page 53 of Love on the Vine
“I haven’t spoken toyou?” He glared at me. “You’re the one who’s been giving me the silent treatment.”
“What?” I crossed my arms. How dare he make this my fault? “I havenotbeen giving you the silent treatment. You’ve been out with your clients. And when youarehere, you’re huddled away in the office. You’ve made it pretty clear that you’d prefer I wasn’t around. In fact, I’ve been thinking I should just go back to Paris. I’m more of a liability than a help to you anyway.”
“What are you talking about? You’re not leaving.” He said it like there was no point in debating the subject.
“I’m sorry? Did you just forbid me to leave?”
“You said you’d stay until the end of next week. Are you just going to quit when things don’t go your way?”
“I’m not a quitter.”
“Oh yeah?”
I marched over to him and heaved up a box, my muscles trembling under the weight. “Yeah, I don’t quit.”
We finished unloading all the boxes in silence and then collapsed on the bench in the shade. He passed me a bottle of Evian. “It’s so fucking hot.”
“There’s no air,” I complained, trying ineffectually to fan myself with the delivery notice. “The heat makes me grumpy.”
“I noticed,” he chuckled, raking his fingers through the lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead. Then he stood up like he’d had a sudden burst of energy. “Go get your swimsuit. I know where we can get some air.”
Chapter 17
OLIVIA
Ididn’t know if I was more surprised that Jake admitted he didn’t want me to leave or that he had suggested we cool off at the beach, but I certainly wasn’t going to argue. After throwing on a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a tank top over my bikini and hastily stashing sunscreen in my raffia bag, I raced back out to the car.
He’d changed even faster than I had and was leaning against the car waiting for me in a pair of dark swim trunks and a short-sleeved linen shirt. I wondered what he would do if I walked up to him and pressed my body into his. But imagining him pushing me away again, my courage deserted me. Besides, I wasn’t ready to let him off the hook for ignoring me just yet.
We drove in silence through town, the hot air blowing through the open window. I tried not to get distracted by the wind in his wavy hair, his long fingers as he scratched at his scruff, and the maze of veins on his forearm in the open window. But it made me realize how much time I’d spent in Burgundy stealing glances at him.
The most popular beach was already teeming with sunbathers; when we continued past it, I shot him a confused look. “We aren’t going to the beach?”
“Not that one,” he answered. “Too many people.”
We drove on, eventually pulling over onto a narrow dirt path that led into a copse of tall umbrella pines. After we parked in the shade, I wordlessly followed Jake through the trees, stepping over ochre rocks out to a crescent-shaped beach.
“There’s sand!” I cried, happy at last to discover a beach that wasn’t entirely covered in pebbles. “And a breeze.”
I turned my head up to the cloudless sky and greedily let the sea breeze roll over me.
“I told you we’d breathe easier here,” Jake said as he came up next to me to gaze out at the sun dancing on the turquoise water. “Where do you want to sit?”
There weren’t many people around, just a few older couples and sunburned tourists at the other end of the beach. I pointed to the area almost hidden behind the curve of the jutting red rocks. If I had wanted to paint a picture of a secret Mediterranean beach, I couldn’t have chosen a better spot. We laid our towels under the shade of a sloping pine tree, and I stretched out with a lung-filling breath of the salt air. Surely, there was no better view than this.
Then Jake tossed his shirt to the ground.
Although I’d imagined it a thousand times, I’d never seen him without a shirt. Oh, I’d caught the sharp-cut lines of hips when his T-shirt rode up as he worked on the car. But that had not prepared me for the broad expanse of golden skin over the taut muscles of his back, or the sexy smattering of hair over his pecs, or the alluring V-line of his abdomen that disappeared into the waistband of his shorts. I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t drag my eyes away from him. My whole body had dissolved in a hot puddle of yearning.
I quickly tossed my own clothes aside, glad that I’d chosen the sexier of my two bikinis—a dark green triangle top with tiny bottoms that tied on the side. Jake, however, didn’t seemto notice. He lounged on his towel and kept his eyes averted, looking out toward the sea.
I wasn’t about to let him get away with that. Taking out my sunscreen, I planted myself in front of him, hiding my smile of satisfaction as his eyes roamed up my body. “Do you want any?”
“Sure.” Feigning disinterest, he slid his sunglasses back on and held his hand out.
Not so quick, buddy. I clutched the sunscreen to me. My fingers ached to touch him, and I was determined not to let him avoid me. “I’ll do your back if you want.”
He sat up hesitantly as I positioned myself behind him. His muscles jumped as I massaged the lotion into his skin, and I couldn’t help but notice how tense he was. I drew my thumbs down the column of his spine in a sensual circular pattern, mesmerized by the trail they left. There was something so intimate about touching him this way, and my breathing grew heavier.
