Page 10 of Taken With You
Sparks danced across her skin. Her thoughts raced in a wrong, wrong direction. Mentally, she willed herself back to clarity. Evidence would suggest Garrickwasn’ta patient man. He’d offered her a partnership within an hour. He’d bought a winery and wanted it online immediately. It would seem Garrick took what he wanted, when he wanted it. He knew how to make her want it, too.
What was she thinking about?
“Patience is a good thing,” She took a sip from her glass and let the cool water spread inside her, dousing those distracting sparks. “I can make this place profitable, eventually, but a lot depends on factors out of my control. The harvest, the grapes, and the weather.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
“If it makes any difference,” he said, scraping his fork against his plate, “I bought the winery for sentimental reasons. If that’s what you’re wondering.”
She waited for him to elaborate. He kept eating as if there wasn’t a mystery in the air. When he gave no indication that he’d reveal anything else, she ate a few more bites of an omelet she couldn’t taste. She’d definitely touched a nerve. She supposed it wasn’t her place to probe. They were business partners, nothing more.
Or they would be, once she signed.
Laying her fork aside, she pulled the two copies of the partnership agreement toward her. She sensed his shift of attention as she flipped the pages to the sticky arrows indicating where she should sign. Picking up a light-up pen, she clicked it a couple of times just to see the flashing red light, then signed, again and again. When she finished, she raised her chin.
His smile was slow, his eyes unreadable. “Thank you,” he said.
“I should be thanking you.”
“We’re in this together now.” He held out his hand. “Partner.”
She slid her hand into his warm one. So smooth, so strong. He squeezed and she felt the pressure in her chest.
She dropped her grip and stood up. “I should get back to the cellar. I still have another tank to clean. It might take most of the night.”
The smile ebbed from his face. “Is that why there’s a cot down there?”
“Yes.” She swept up her plate. “There’ll be a lot of late nights during the crush. I don’t want to be driving back and forth to my apartment in San Francisco when I could be sleeping.”
He planted his hands on his thighs as his brow furrowed. “I forgot that you live in San Francisco. That’s two hours away.”
“It’s a heck of a commute.”
“Then ditch the cot. This cabin has five bedrooms. Pick one and sleep here with me.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Amanda’s flash of panic shot a shaft of guilt through Garrick.
Had he slipped? He’d labored to keep his gaze above her neck as she’d signed the partnership papers. Butdamn.Those cutoff shorts. Those flushed thighs. He was no saint.
But he could make amends.
“Come.” He strode toward the stairs that led to the upper floor of the cabin. “I’ll show you your choices.”
He knew better than to turn back to make sure she followed. Sheer will was an effective tactic in all negotiations. If he just kept walking, she would eventually follow. He intended to use every possible skill to persuade Amanda to sleep in the cabin rather than on that ratty old cot. Bad enough that he’d shifted the burden of a broken-down business upon her. If the stiffness of her shoulders and paleness of her skin were any indication, that burden was already taking a toll.
His cock would just have to calm the hell down at the idea of this gorgeous woman sleeping under his roof.
“My room is at the end of the hall.” He opened the door of the first bedroom, closest to the stairs. “This is the biggest room of the rest.”
She perched at the top of the stairs like a bird about to be startled away. Inwardly grunting, he stepped back from the open doorway and spread his hand in invitation. Her chin lifted a fraction as she swept by him, leaving in her wake the scent of cave cold, sweet grapes, and motor oil.
It wasn’t Chanel No. 5, but a hell of a lot more intriguing.
He didn’t join her in the room, where the bed loomed large. He watched from the doorway as she took in the paneled walls, the rag rugs, the fringed shades on the matching bedside lamps decorated with gamboling unicorns. Her gaze finally settled on the bed, covered with a purple duvet.
