by J. H. Croix
Without another word, he handed me the cash box and gathered up the other items on the table. “Where does everything go?”
“Oh, in the storage area in the back of the kitchen. Follow me.”
He was quiet as we crossed the parking area. After we put away what we had in our hands, he helped with the table and folding chairs while I organized the receipts for Eloise so she could tally everything up tomorrow when she came in.
I thought I would be able to feed the animals in peace. It was work, technically, but it relaxed me, especially after a busy day like today. My nerves were on high alert with Jasper around. The entire situation was making me feel slightly insane.
The past year had stretched my coping mechanisms to their limit between dealing with my grief from Gram’s death and facing the unsettling financial situation she’d left behind. I didn’t like talking about it. I’d already been scrambling to find a way out of the mess before he showed up.
Jasper with his clear preference to persuade me to let him sell. Jasper with his ridiculously handsome self. I wanted to blame him for my attraction to him, but that didn’t seem exactly fair.
Then I’d set my nerves on scramble when I kissed him. Now, I didn’t know if my nerves would ever return to normal as long as he was around. I’d like to think that maybe we’d dampened the flaming conflagration between us after last night. But in my case, not even a little. I flushed all over just thinking about him. Add in his magic fingers, lips, and tongue and my body hummed. I thought his cock was even magic.
With that thought, I snorted to myself as I crossed over to check on the chickens behind the barn. Sex had never really blown me away, but sex with Jasper blew me away.
“Hey, girls,” I called as I stepped in through the gate.
I heard footsteps and turned to see Jasper walking toward me. “I said I was going to help,” he called.
“Oh, okay. Do you want to check on the goats?”
He caught my eyes, his lips teasing with a grin. “Sure, I’d love to check on the goats, Anna. Can you promise me Jasper’s not going to shove me into a puddle?”
Heat flashed through me with my laughter and the naughty glint in his eyes. “I can’t make any promises as far as the goats. You know where their feed is. I’ll be right in to help.”
After scattering the chicken feed for the girls, I made sure their water was fresh, then even took the extra time to change out the hay in their nesting spots. Of course, it was good for the chickens, but it also bought me some time. I didn’t quite know what to do with myself around him.
After they were all settled in, I made my way into the barn to find Jasper nowhere in sight. The goats were long gone too.
Uh-oh. Jasper and Tinker Bell could be mischievous.
I hurried out to the parking lot to find Jasper running, actually running, through one of the flower fields. I couldn’t see Tinker Bell and Jasper the goat, but I could guess where they were based on the motion of the flowers.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jasper
“You…” I paused, trying to choose the best word. “Goat,” I finally said with a hand on my hip.
I wasn’t out of breath, but my heart rate was humming along after that little jog chasing these two imps out of the barn.
Tinker Bell eyed me and then lowered her head and bumped her forehead into my ankle. Today, she was wearing a pink sweater. Never one to be left out of the fun, my namesake—whether he was or not was beside the point—burst out of the tall grass and rammed me in the back of the knee just enough to make my knees buckle, and I stumbled.
“Jasper! Tinker Bell!” Anna was on the way to handle this.
I had no idea why, but I didn’t like the idea of her thinking I couldn’t deal with two small goats. They were just goats, one of which was wearing a pink sweater, and the other a navy sweater with white polka dots.
“All right, goats,” I began, using my sternest voice. “We’re going back to the barn. Who likes food?”
Tinker Bell bit the toe of my shoe in response.
Anna arrived beside me, breathlessly cute. “I’m so sorry,” she said quickly, brushing her hair out of her face.
I didn’t know where her straw hat went, but Anna sent a sizzle of lust through me with her curls rumpled, her cheeks flushed, and her lips parted as she caught her breath. Bloody hell. We were in the middle of a field, and there were two goats running amok, and all I could think about was how much I wanted her.
She held up two leads. “They won’t follow you back.”
“I got it,” I said when she moved to walk past me. I took the two leads from her, ignoring her curious gaze. When I leaned over to clip Tinker Bell on her lead, she dodged me at the last minute, running right back into the grass.
“All right then,” I said to Jasper. “We share a name. You’re reasonable. Now let’s get you back to get some food.” I didn’t let myself think about how ridiculous it was that I was carrying on a conversation with a goat in a polka-dotted sweater.
Jasper stood docilely beside me as I leaned over to clip on the lead. I experienced a flash of victory, but then he took off, so fast the lead slapped against my legs with a hard snap.
I bit back a sigh. Anna snorted, and when I looked over, she was biting her bottom lip to keep from laughing too hard. I straightened and shrugged. “Go ahead and laugh.”
She threw her head back with a throaty laugh, and that lust, inconvenient and entirely out of place, surged through me again. She ended with a giggle.
“Please do tell me how you capture miniature goats.”
Anna let out a whistle and reached into the pocket of her skirt to pull out two treats. In another moment, the tall grass rustled nearby, and the two naughty goats appeared, trotting right over and taking the treats. She handed me the lead belonging to Jasper, clipped the other lead on Tinker Bell, and we walked back together.
After we fed the goats and began walking across the parking lot to the winery, I caught myself almost reaching to hold Anna’s hand. I’d gone from having no business to doing what I was doing with her to flat-out losing my mind. I’d been legitimately busy all day today, catching up on emails and documents related to business, yet I’d stolen glance after glance out the windows. Every time my eyes landed on Anna, I would get impatient for when we could be alone again.
I didn’t hold her hand. We headed upstairs, and she went to shower while I debated whether to barge in and join her. I didn’t do that, either. I had some sense, after all.
My phone rang while she was in the shower. When I saw Simon’s name on the screen, I answered, “Hello.”
“Hi, Jasper. I’m calling with an update. We have tickets. We’ll landing this weekend, and we’re getting a car rental. I found a bed and breakfast only a mile away from where you’re staying.”
“Well, that sounds great. I didn’t realize you’d be here that soon. I need to let Anna know you’re coming.”
“You don’t need to entertain us.” Simon paused and chuckled. “Actually, I expect you to entertain us but not your business partner. We’d love a tour of the winery because I’m sure it would be lovely, but we can find plenty of things to do.”
“I’ll make sure I’m available. It’s been a while, so it’ll be good to see you both.”
“Perfect. Bridget’s looking forward to it. It’ll be good. I think it’s been, what? A year since I saw you,” Simon replied just as Anna came out of the bathroom.
“Thereabouts. I was in New York last year for business, and we had dinner.”
“I hope you’re actually taking some time to relax.”
We said our goodbyes, and I turned the ringer off on my phone, setting it on the desk beside my laptop. Anna had gone into her bedroom to change, and I was fighting against the pull to go in there. It seemed no matter where she was, there was a magnetic force that was hard for me to ignore.
A moment later, she reappeared. Her hair was damp, and her skin was flushed from her shower. I wante
d to kiss her. She had this fresh, sun-kissed look to her.
“There’s some leftover pizza downstairs that I made at lunch,” she commented. “Would you like some for dinner?”
“Haven’t you figured out yet that I don’t turn down any food from you?”
That was how I found myself enjoying her delicious pizza—with fresh goat mozzarella cheese, tomatoes from the garden, and basil and spinach—in the front area of the winery where they held the wine tastings. The setting sun outside served as a lovely backdrop. Anna had turned on the lights above the bar. After we finished eating, she sat on the bar in a lightweight cotton skirt with a T-shirt. Her feet were bare, and her toenails painted purple.
My hips were resting against the counter beside her. I’d not spent one penny for this night, and it was one of the best nights I’d ever had. A main point of conversation: the goats.
“You have to find their favorite things, and that’s how you bribe them,” she said with a solemn nod as if imparting very important information.
Which I supposed it was. “Food then?” I asked
“Of course. They’re so cute, and they never fail to make me smile.”
“I have to agree there. It’s the goat-guaranteed smile.”
Anna giggled, and the sound spun round me, my heart tightening slightly before shifting into a rolling beat.
Her eyes caught mine, and in a flash, our humor had died. The air around us felt electric, the moment stretching tight. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to do that a lot.
As I finally gave in to the urge, it was pure relief the moment my lips met hers. Her hand lightly cupped my jaw with her fingertips trailing down my neck. Her mouth was warm and sweet, and I could taste the red wine we’d just shared.
With Anna, every touch was an experience in and of itself. I wasn’t so focused on a specific goal. I was utterly present in every moment along the way.
She let out a sigh when I broke free of her sweet mouth and dropped hot kisses on the side of her neck. When I cupped her breast through her cotton shirt and discovered she wasn’t wearing a bra, I murmured, “Fuck me, Anna.”
She giggled. “I think we’re on the way to that.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Anna
The wood of the counter was cool under my back while the rest of me was on fire. Jasper and his magic mouth had just brought me to orgasm. Right here. In the winery.
Now, he was driving into me with deep, purposeful strokes, and my next orgasm was already spiraling. Pleasure tightened to an almost unbearable pressure.
Although this encounter was slightly less rushed and insane than last night, we were both half-dressed. I could feel the abrasion of his jeans on the insides of my thighs. My skirt was bunched around my hips. I had managed to get his shirt off, which was freaking awesome because Jasper’s chest was all hard muscle pressed against me. His elbows were propped beside my shoulders.
“Anna,” he murmured, his gruff British whisper sending my belly into a series of flips, even in the middle of crazy hot sex.
Opening my eyes, I was immediately trapped in the beam of his intent gaze. He rocked inside me again, creating a teasing pressure over my clit. When I whimpered, he reached down and teased his fingers over my slippery sex.
Everything drew tight in my center and then snapped, sending shockwaves of pleasure through me. I heard Jasper growl my name and felt him shaking against me.
After that, there was nothing but the sound of our ragged breathing and me trying to find some dignity in the situation. I thought perhaps there was none. I’d just let a man I’d only known for less than two weeks take me in my own winery. I’d been so lost in the experience that we could’ve had an audience and I wouldn’t have cared.
Jasper kept surprising me, and he did so again. He eased me up and helped me set my clothes to rights. The cool tile of the floor under my bare feet anchored me as I looked up into his eyes.
He was quiet, his eyes considering, before he began, “I didn’t plan for this.”
“Do you plan for everything?” I interjected.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jasper
There were many things I didn’t plan. Although if given the choice, I did like to plan for everything.
On that list of things I didn’t plan for: getting head butted by Jasper. “Dude,” I commented as I looked down at him.
The little goat looked up at me, blinking his eyes before dashing away and kicking his back feet up in the air while wearing goat pajamas. Today, he sported a lavender onesie with dark purple hearts.
Tinker Bell eyed me dispassionately and continued munching on her pile of hay. “Wow, this is not what I expected.”
Turning, I found my cousin Simon strolling into the barn. He stopped beside me, his brows hitching up. “Good to see you, cuz.” He burst out laughing and gave me a quick back-slapping hug. Stepping back, after he stopped laughing, he commented, “You forgot to mention the goats.”
I chuckled as I looked down at Jasper who had just returned to head butt me in the calves again. “Oh, did I forget to mention them? This is Jasper, and that’s Tinker Bell,” I explained, gesturing between them.
Simon started laughing again. When he finished, he asked, “Jasper? Is he named after you?”
“To my knowledge, no. He was named before Anna even met me. Where is Bridget?”
“In the winery talking to Anna, your business partner. Anna told me you were out here feeding the goats, and I couldn’t resist coming to see the spectacle.”
“Yes, I was feeding the goats. It’s not so bad. I’ll follow you back in.”
Simon fell into step beside me as we left the barn. I made sure the gate was firmly locked so Tinker Bell and Jasper didn’t escape from the small paddock just outside the barn.
“How was the trip?” I asked.
“Uneventful. We got on a plane in New York and landed in San Francisco. Beautiful drive here from San Francisco, though.”
“It is. You’ll have to make sure to take a trip along the coastal highway. It’s stunning.”
“We’re already planning on it. So how are things? What’s your plan?” Simon prompted.
I stopped just beyond the flower trellis that led to the path into the winery entrance. “I have no idea,” I said honestly.
Simon looked surprised, his alert gaze holding mine. “Not going to be the cutthroat businessman as usual? This,” he said, gesturing toward the winery, the flower fields, and the barn where the chickens and goats lived, “isn’t exactly your typical type of business.”
“I know.” I ran a hand through my hair. “The way grandfather set it up, I need Anna’s written permission to sell my half, and I need to spend a month here.”
“Here?” Simon pressed, his brows hitching up.
“Yes. I have to stay here on the premises.”
“Well, that’s interesting. Is Anna willing to let you sell?”
“I think she’d rather I didn’t. Actually, to be clear, I think she’d rather we weren’t in this situation. It’s complicated.”
Bridget appeared in the doorway to the winery, swinging it open. “Jasper!” she called.
Turning, I approached with Simon following beside me. “Hello, dear,” I said, pulling her into a quick hug. “How was your trip?”
“It was great. This place is awesome. Simon, you have to taste this wine.” She looped her hand through his elbow as she tugged him over to the counter where Anna was standing with several bottles of wine and glasses on the counter.
Closing the door behind us, I followed them over. “The wine here is amazing,” I offered.
“It’s incredible,” Bridget said, casting a warm smile to Anna.
Anna’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she smiled. “Thank you. We try.”
“Which one should I taste?” Simon asked, glancing from Anna to me.
“They’re all good. Consider this your personal wine tasting event,” I teased.
As Simon tasted severa
l of the wines, I had a hard time not thinking about what Anna and I had done last night on this very counter, with her skirt bunched around her hips and me sinking inside her clenching heat.
No, I didn’t plan any of this, especially not Anna. I felt as if my grandfather was playing a massive joke from the grave, and the joke was definitely on me. Because I couldn’t think straight when it came to Anna.
“Wow, this one is delicious. Do you all ship?” Simon asked.
He looked at me, as if somehow I would know the answer to that question. In turn, I looked toward Anna. “I don’t know. Do we ship?”
She cleared her throat. “Occasionally. That part of our business hasn’t really gotten off the ground for retail. We sell wholesale to distributors, but we don’t have a website for retail sales. That’s on my endless list of things to do.”
“I can set that up.” Three pairs of eyes swung in my direction. “I can,” I said with a light shrug. I didn’t want to contemplate what it meant that I was offering to do that.
“You have a stake in this business so you should. I’m telling you right now if you all sell online and formulate a strong marketing plan, this will rack up a profit for you,” Simon said firmly.
“Which one is your favorite?” Bridget asked Simon.
“I actually like this one best,” he replied, tapping his finger on a bottle without a label.
Anna smiled, her cheeks going pink and sending a hot bolt of need sizzling through me. Bloody hell. All the girl had to do was blush and I was a goner.
“That’s one of our new blends. It’s a sweet red, but it’s not too sweet,” she explained.
“What’s it called?” Bridget asked.
Anna wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure yet. Still thinking on that.”
“That’s my favorite too,” I offered. See, I could be polite. I could actually stay on topic even though my body was a low hum of electricity solely due to Anna’s presence.
