Who's the Boss Now?

by Susannah Erwin

  “Once I sign this document, I’m your employee. But until then—”

  “You’re not.” His slow smile made the breath catch in her throat.

  “I’m not.” She used her foot to spin his chair so he faced away from her.

  He leaned his head back, and his upturned gaze caught hers. “That wasn’t what I was expecting.”

  She hopped off the desk. “Told you I’m being impulsive.”

  Then she held his head steady with her hands. And lowered her mouth to his.

  Embers exploded into fire.

  He made a sound and disengaged his mouth from hers, shrugging free from her light grip. But before she could register the loss of his heat against her, he was on his feet, tugging her to him, his grasp firm as he held her hips tight against him. Then it was his turn for his mouth to crash down on hers, demanding, insistent.

  * * *

  Who’s the Boss Now? by Susannah Erwin

  is part of the Titans of Tech series.

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome back to Northern California! My third book is set among the rolling hills of Napa Valley, where Evan Fletcher discovers grapevines aren’t the only things that tangle. His feelings for Marguerite Delacroix, whom he meets when she breaks in to his newly acquired home, have him tied up in knots.

  Marguerite was prepared to dislike the new owner of her family’s ancestral winery but quickly falls for his charms. But when Evan offers her the job of her dreams, they both agree romance in the workplace is off-limits.

  But what if it’s after work hours? And who is the real boss, anyway?

  I hope you enjoy Evan and Marguerite’s story! It takes place concurrently with my previous novel for Harlequin Desire, Cinderella Unmasked, and I had a lot of fun making the events match up. And please feel free to contact me! I’d love to know what you think. You can find me on Twitter @susannaherwin, on Facebook at susannaherwinauthor, on BookBub @susannaherwin or at my website, www.susannaherwin.com.

  Happy reading!

  xoxo

  Susannah

  Susannah Erwin

  Who’s the Boss Now?

  A former Hollywood studio executive who gladly traded in her high heels and corner office for yoga pants and the local coffee shop, Susannah Erwin loves writing about ambitious, strong-willed people who can’t help falling in love—whether they want to or not. Her first novel won the Golden Heart® Award from Romance Writers of America, and she is hard at work in her Northern California home on her next. She would be over the moon if you signed up for her newsletter via www.susannaherwin.com.

  Books by Susannah Erwin

  Harlequin Desire

  Titans of Tech

  Wanted: Billionaire’s Wife

  Cinderella Unmasked

  Who’s the Boss Now?

  Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or susannaherwin.com, for more titles.

  You can also find Susannah Erwin on Facebook, along with other Harlequin Desire authors, at Facebook.com/harlequindesireauthors!

  For Nia, Isabel and Marie—the best critique group (and group of friends) a writer can have!

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Excerpt from One More Second Chance by Nicki Night

  One

  Breaking into the owner’s private wine cellar at St. Isadore Winery was easy. The side door at the rear of the house stuck a little from disuse, but it led directly to the service stairs and Marguerite Delacroix’s destination several flights below. Getting out, on the other hand...

  Marguerite tried to lift the two full cases of wine at her feet and gave up, rubbing her aching arms as she considered the best way to make a quick exit. What had seemed like an excellent plan at 11:00 p.m. over a bottle—or two—of Carménère shared with her best friend, Aracely Contreras, turned out to have several flaws in its execution at one in the morning. To start, the bottles were heavy. Too heavy to carry up the stairs except a few at a time, which would take the rest of the night.

  She held up her phone, with the flashlight app on, and did a slow, albeit unsteady, 360-degree pirouette, shining the light around the dark, chilly cellar with its dozens of wine racks lining the walls. But this just confirmed what she already knew. Her only other option was the elevator, but it was riskier.

  She sighed. Of course, this wasn’t going to be simple. Things never were at St. Isadore.

  Marguerite grew up on stories about the fabled exploits of her Delacroix ancestors, legendary for their winemaking prowess. She was descended from the branch of the family that immigrated to California during the gold rush, producing wine for the state’s fast-growing population. One vineyard turned into five and St. Isadore was established shortly after, built to resemble a Loire Valley castle. Now it was one of the few remaining original wineries in Napa.

  The winery had survived the phylloxera virus, which had destroyed most of Napa’s grapevines by the turn of the last century, and sailed through Prohibition thanks to savvy packaging and not a little smuggling. However, St. Isadore had almost gone under when two brothers inherited the estate after World War II and fought bitterly over how to run the business. Eventually, one brother had kept control of the winery while the other took the vineyards to manage for himself.

  The two branches of the family had remained at odds until Marguerite’s father, who had inherited the vineyards and then sold them ten years ago to the late Linus Chappell, who owned the winery. Marguerite had begged her parents to keep the land until she could take over its management, but neither of her parents had much interest in viticulture, and early retirement in Arizona had beckoned. She’d returned home after her junior year at UC Davis to find that the vineyards, for the first time in their history, no longer had an owner named Delacroix.

  But even a reunited estate hadn’t restored St. Isadore to its former glory. The more Northern California’s wine country thrived off increased tourism and demand for its wines, the further St. Isadore seemed to fall behind.

  New equipment did on occasion make its way into the winery, but the elevator in the cellar dated to the mid-1930s. It was as beautiful in its art deco detail as it was rickety and noisy. The engine room was underneath the owner’s living quarters and could be heard—and felt—through several floors and walls. The family liked it that way. It served as another control on who accessed their private stash of rare and experimental wines and when.

  At least the elevator was reliable; Marguerite knew from long experience. Besides, who was around to hear her use it? Linus had died six months ago without a will, and his entire estate had gone to his closest relatives, two great-nephews who’d immediately put the winery and its vineyards on the market. The sale of St. Isadore to a Silicon Valley tech CEO had been completed last week, and according to local gossip, he hadn’t taken possession yet. And the local gossips would know. He was an object of intense interest, not the least because he was reputed to be ridiculously good-looking and single.

  But the detail most important to Marguerite was when escrow closed, the security guards the great-nephews had installed disappeared. Which left her this one small window of opportunity.

  She propped open the elevator’s wooden outer door with a nearby wedge, then pulled back the ornate steel security gate and began loading wine bottles into the small cab
. This was probably the last time she would set foot in the cellar. St. Isadore was targeted to be torn down and turned into a luxury housing development, if the rumors were correct.

  Her breath caught in renewed pain at the thought.

  But she could save the wine. Her wine. Wine that she hoped would be the first step to restoring the Delacroix name to winemaking prominence. Most of it was locked up in the winery and inaccessible, but Linus had asked for a sample bottle from each batch to store in the owner’s cellar. Now these bottles were all she had left after eight years. Eight years of putting her whole heart into working for Linus because they had a handshake deal: he would pay her fifteen percent of her negotiated salary. The other eighty-five percent went toward buying back the original vineyard that started it all, with its grapes to be made into wine by her and sold by St. Isadore. She would not let the Delacroix name down.

  And she had come so close! She’d finished paying off the vineyard on her last birthday, of all dates, and Linus had promised to transfer the deed. But then a stroke had suddenly taken his life. After his funeral the leather-bound ledger he’d used to record her steady progression toward ownership was nowhere to be found. When she’d tried to negotiate for the vineyard with Linus’s great-nephews, they’d laughed in her face before calling the sheriff to remove her from the property.

  The wine she’d made was all she had left and she’d be damned if she let it rot in the owner’s cellar or worse, be destroyed. She gathered up the last bottle. Beads of sweat formed on her brow despite the cold of the cellar, and she brushed them away with a swipe of her arm, the scent of old, spilled wine and damp stone clinging to the sleeve of her loose T-shirt. Dust covered her hands, and she wiped them on her jeans before pushing the button for the ground floor. From there, it would be a short walk to the main entrance. Aracely was somewhere nearby, waiting for Marguerite’s call. Together they would load the wine into Aracely’s SUV and then make their getaway.

  But to what? The only life Marguerite knew was here, at St. Isadore. All she’d ever wanted was to remain here. And she’d thought her agreement with Linus meant she would be able to stay forever.

  Marguerite blinked back tears. No matter how much pain St. Isadore had caused her, it was home. And now the new tech-CEO owner would destroy it.

  * * *

  Evan Fletcher rubbed his closed eyes. It didn’t help. When he opened them again, the numbers on his laptop screen remained the same: dismal.

  When he first authorized his business manager to buy St. Isadore lock, stock and multiple barrels of wine, he had been pleased to learn not only was the winery fully equipped but the owner’s residence came furnished. Then he arrived a few hours ago, finally able to inspect his purchase for himself, and learned that the photos so beautifully shot in the golden sunlight hid a myriad of imperfections and outright damage. But St. Isadore was still a working business and thus perfect for his needs. The rest was cosmetic.

  “I’d love to say I told you so, but not only is it late, I want to keep you as a client,” said his business manager from the speaker on Evan’s phone, followed by an audible yawn.

  “It’s okay, Pia. Rub it in all you want. It’s the least I deserve after calling at this hour. I thought I’d be leaving a voice mail.”

  “I’ve learned if I don’t pick up the phone when I see your number, by the time I call back you’ve dug an even bigger hole—like making an offer on a winery sight unseen.”

  “Next time I’ll call during business hours. This was the first quiet moment I had today, between getting things settled here and a new crisis erupting at work.”

  “I thought things were calming down on that front.”

  “Define calm.” Evan was the CEO and founder of Medevco, a fast-growing tech start-up in artificial intelligence-based medical devices that had hit a billion-dollar valuation a year ago, making it what Silicon Valley insiders liked to a call a “unicorn” because such companies were rare and exciting. But with growth came growing pains. Expensive ones. And lots of them.

  He shook his head to clear it. One potential disaster at a time. Right now, the winery took precedence. “Thanks for going through the St. Isadore numbers with me. And tell me how to best apologize to Luisa for keeping you so late.”

  Pia laughed. “Like time has any meaning since the baby arrived. And no need to apologize. She’ll thank you because I’ll be up for the two a.m. feeding and she can sleep. But if you truly feel bad, send us a case of Chardonnay...but maybe from another winery.”

  “Ha ha,” Evan deadpanned. “You’ll see. By this time next year, you’ll be begging me for a case of St. Isadore’s finest.”

  “This isn’t a tech company. It’s a completely different industry, and you purchased a small winery that didn’t produce up to its capacity even before the senior staff left. You can’t expect your usual Midas touch to kick in.”

  “That sounds like a challenge.”

  “Depends on how high your expectations are. And knowing you, they’re stratospheric.”

  Evan scratched the back of his head but stayed silent. New mothers didn’t need additional stress.

  “I heard that,” Pia said.

  “Heard what?”

  “The sound of you keeping something from me.”

  “The Global Leader Summit is being held in Napa this summer.”

  Pia’s exhale was audible through the speaker. “Please don’t tell me what you’re about to tell me.”

  “The organizers heard I was purchasing a winery and asked if I would be interested in hosting the kickoff social event. Of course, I said yes.”

  Pia groaned. “Evan, those are some of the world’s most important business leaders—”

  “It’ll be fine.”

  “This has nothing to do with Angus Horne blowing off your phone calls, does it? He always attends the summit. And he’s quite the wine connoisseur.”

  Evan laughed. “Would I buy an entire winery and the corresponding estate simply to corner an investor for Medevco?”

  Pia scoffed, “You’d buy the moon if you thought it would give you quality face time with Horne to work your magic. You forget, I watch over your accounts when you refuse to. Bottom line is this, Evan. With so much of your capital tied up in Medevco, the winery purchase put a strain on your liquid assets.”

  “The winery is revenue producing.”

  He heard her fingers tapping on her keyboard. “Revenue but not necessarily profit. And you’ll need to make several capital investments in the property. You can run it at a loss for a year without giving me gray hairs.”

  “I’ll do my best.” He’d hired Pia as his business manager for her cautious approach. But he hadn’t sold three companies before the age of thirty, then founded and become CEO of Medevco, without having the utmost confidence in his judgment and skills. Pia might call it his Midas touch, but he preferred to think of it as creative risk-taking combined with a ruthless ability to cut his losses. “Thanks again. And hey, try to get a nap in before the kid wakes up.”

  He disconnected the call and leaned back in his chair. At least the place was clean, the shower had plenty of hot water—his hair was still slightly damp from the one he’d taken before calling Pia back—and the new beds had been delivered that evening and made up with fresh linens.

  He rose and stretched, intending to discover if the mattress was as comfortable as it looked, and a low rumbling shook the scuffed parquet floor under his feet. “What the—?”

  His gaze whipped around the room. Years of living in California with the ever-present possibility of earthquakes had taught him how to seek the safest spot to wait out the tremors. But the rumbling didn’t get worse, nor did it stop. It stayed a steady hum. A machine-generated hum.

  Of course. The elevator. The one that led to the private cellars built deep underground. His pulse rate fell.

  Then it sped up aga
in. He was the only person awake in the house. The other occupant had gone to bed several hours ago.

  He didn’t believe in ghosts, despite the furniture in the residence resembling rejects from Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. But the elevator dated well into the last century. It was probably malfunctioning.

  He sighed. Better check it out. The last thing he needed was a fire caused by faulty wiring.

  He passed by the arched entrance to the kitchen on his way to investigate. Through the doorway, he spotted a heavy cast-iron frying pan sitting on top of the ancient stove. He grabbed it.

  Just in case he was wrong about ghosts. And they came armed.

  * * *

  The elevator ground to a halt. Marguerite hit the stop button and pulled back the steel gate. Bending down, she picked up and cradled three bottles in her arms, then used her back to push open the wooden door. Mission accomplished. And no one would ever know she’d been there. She straightened up and turned around—

  —and came face-to-face with a half-dressed man, his chest as bare as his feet, the cast-iron skillet in his hands aimed squarely at her head.

  She screamed. Two of the bottles slid out of her arms. They landed with a thud on the elevator cab’s worn linoleum floor. Pure instinct took over, her mind swallowed by a cloud of fear and panic. She grasped the third bottle by the neck, then pulled it back over her right shoulder like an extremely short baseball bat.

  And swung.

  The man brought the pan up to cover his face. The bottle met the heavy cast iron. The air rang with the cracking of glass.

  The cool liquid cascading over Marguerite’s hands caused her brain to come back online. She blinked in rapid succession, her adrenaline still surging. “Oh, no. Oh, no no no.”

  What was she doing? All her hard work, her last connection to St. Isadore, was now a spreading stain on the floor. She immediately brought the bottle to a vertical position, the cork end pointed at the floor. It was hard to tell in the darkened foyer, but it looked like she had lost a third of the wine.