Up close he could see that her eyes shimmered with a delicate green that reminded him of fresh moss. The soft dewiness of her complexion gave him the strongest urge to caress her face with the tips of his fingers. He wanted to pull her face in for a long kiss that would allow each of them to enjoy the other’s flavor.
She shot him a strange look before he finally realized that he still held her hand. Jeez, how long had that been? He couldn’t believe how easily he got lost in her presence and how pleasant each distracted moment felt.
“Oh, excuse me,” Wes grinned sheepishly. “I’m from Stone Vineyards.”
“I see that.” Lena smiled and gestured toward the case of wine on the floor. “So, how can I help you today?”
Wes’s gaze locked on her tongue as it peeked out of her mouth and ran over her lips. Did he imagine it or did her tongue slyly appear for his benefit? He prayed it was the latter.
“I brought this wine from my family’s vineyard as both a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift and as a sample in case you wanted to offer your clients some of the area’s finest local wines.”
He projected his most brilliant smile, hoping to dazzle her with his charm. Normally, he never needed to even lift a finger for girls to swoon over him, but somehow, with Lena, he just didn’t feel quite as cool and collected as usual.
“Oh, how nice of you. I don’t really know anything about wine, but I’m sure it’s wonderful. I’ll just put it in the kitchen.”
“No, allow me. It’s pretty heavy.”
Lena bent down a split-second before Wes did and their heads collided as she came back up. Wes briefly saw stars after her head smashed into his nose, but just before contact, he got a lingering whiff of her hair. Her silky locks smelled like citrus and honey. Her scent was so alluring, his cock jumped in his pants as it infiltrated his senses. With her bent over, he momentarily questioned the wisdom of allowing her to see how strongly she affected him, but then decided that kind of visual statement was best left for after the first date. He quickly shifted his body, hoping the folds of his pants would hide his growing arousal.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” Lena grabbed the back of her head with one hand and covered her mouth with the other as if in horror.
She looked so completely adorable, Wes easily got over the pain and the embarrassment.
“Don’t be sorry, sweetheart. This nose has seen much worse than your pretty little head. Plus, it’s not broken.” He wiggled his nose around as proof. “And even if it were, you wouldn’t have been the first to break it.” Wes hoped to prevent her from feeling bad.
“Still, jeez, I can be such a klutz.” Lena smiled as her rosy cheeks brightened to red.
“I can see that.” Wes gestured to the splint on her wrist.
“Just a little cleaning accident. Anyway, let’s try this again. Why don’t you grab the crate while I stand far away, and I’ll show you to the kitchen?”
“Sounds like a plan to me. So, when are you supposed to be open for business?”
He grabbed the crate and walked into her kitchen where the mouthwatering smell of butter, peaches, and cinnamon assailed his bruised nose.
“We had planned on opening tomorrow, but thanks to this, it probably won’t be for another few days.” Lena held up her injured wrist. “The doctor said I should rest for a few days, but I can’t help but stay busy. There’s so much to do around here.”
“Like baking?”
“Yeah, there’s a cobbler in the oven. I wanted to make a pie, but couldn’t roll out the dough with just one arm. You are welcome to have a piece when it’s ready. Would you like something to drink?”
“No thanks. I should be on my way. You should really visit the vineyard to get to know our product better. Plus, are you from around here?”
“I’m not. We, my best friend and I, moved here from Austin a few weeks ago. We’ve been really busy with getting this place ready and haven’t had a chance to venture out too much. Well, except for the doctor’s visit.” She giggled awkwardly.
“Great, you should come by tomorrow morning and I’ll take you around the property. It’s beautiful out there and it’ll give you a good chance to see what the Hill Country is all about.”
Please say yes, please say yes…
“That sounds wonderful, but I’m really busy still.” Wes panicked, realizing she was about to turn him down. As he feared, he overestimated the effect his charms would have on this woman. Thus far, no girl ever said no to him, no matter the request. What could he say? Wes knew he had a way with the ladies except, apparently, not with this one. Luckily, he thought quickly on his feet.
“I think it would help you get to know the area better and in turn your potential clientele as well. We get out-of-town visitors at the vineyard, but we don’t have accommodations for them so maybe this is where your business and ours intersect? And anyway, it wouldn’t take very long, just a couple hours.”
Lena paused for a moment and Wes could see the gears ticking in her head. He held his breath and waited for her response.
“You know, you probably have a point. You’ve lived here a lot longer than I have and know the people better. Okay, sure. Why not? It’ll be nice to get out of here for a while. I can’t do that much anyway with my wrist hurt.”
Wes scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to her, the person whom he hoped might someday be his future woman.
Wes left the house feeling re-energized and alive. A new sense of purpose invigorated him and surged through his body along with heaviness in his groin that desperately needed sating. He went straight to his studio where he could channel his sexual tensions into his art, letting the seductive smoothness of clay between his fingers be his release.
Chapter 3
Lena drove down the long stretch of dirt road, her head craning out the window as she searched for the winery’s sign.
The dry warmth of the Texas summer morning radiated against her skin, as if she were a toasty pastry baking in the sun. Still, she felt inexplicably nervous, unable to completely fess up that her nerves resulted from her attraction to the boyishly handsome and fresh-faced man with golden-blond hair.
When they bumped heads, she felt like such a dork. He played it off so casually as if assuring her there was no need for embarrassment, as if she should never feel embarrassed in his presence. She had a feeling, though, that despite her best efforts, she would do something that would leave her red in the face that day anyway, especially if she couldn’t get her feelings under control.
She realized that just thinking about him made her ache between her legs. Moisture dampened her panties and she didn’t know if it came from her desire or the heat and her vinyl seats. She took a deep breath and fought the urge to take her hands off the wheel and put them underneath her clothing to satisfy the hunger in her core.
She let the breeze blow over her face and through her hair, deeply inhaling the fresh, country air, cooling her down as she concentrated on being calm, collected, and professional.
Just as her body began to return to her normal calm state, she saw the sign for Stone Vineyards on the horizon and then Wes on the side of the road waving enthusiastically.
Damn, he is so cute. Double-damn, there’s that ache again.
She pulled over thinking Wes would just tell her which way to drive, but instead he hopped right in her car, plunked down beside her, and took off his cowboy hat, setting it in his lap.
Her heart pounded and the throbbing inside her became almost painful.
“Hey, Lena! You look great. Thanks so much for coming.” He leaned in and gave her a friendly air peck on the cheek, then looked down at his watch. “And right on time, too.”
He smelled like a comforting mixture of freshly mowed grass and air-dried laundry. Even though his cheek and the side of his lips barely touched her skin, it felt as if it permanently seared her. Her skin thrilled at the brief moment of rough stubble. The way her body responded to this man, whom she’d only just met, made her feel
ridiculous and out of control. She hadn’t been with a man in a while and that occasion certainly wasn’t anything memorable. Perhaps this sexual drought explained why she reacted so strongly to him. Her body starved for attention. That’s all.
Wes touched her arm and shook it gently. “Lena? Hey, you ready to go? It’s just down the road.” He pointed with a silly smirk on his face, as if he heard every one of her dirty thoughts while she sat paralyzed from his littlest touch.
“Right, of course. Sorry.” She took another deep breath and conceded it was going to be a long, hard day.
“I want you to see the highest point of our property. It looks over everything and from there you can see for miles. We put a small, canopied rest stop there so it’s the perfect place for you to try a few of our wines.”
“That sounds really nice,” she responded dryly. Lena focused on the road, fearing that if she looked Wes in the eye, he would read how nervous she was.
“The problem is it’s kinda far so we’ll have to take a horse and since your wrist is still a little banged up, you’ll have to ride with me.”
She swallowed hard and looked right at him, her eyes probably big as saucers. “Wh–wh–what do you mean with you? Like, on the same horse?” She drove over a large rock that jolted her little car.
“Whoa, there. Maybe you should keep your eyes on the road.” He offered her a kind smile, but Lena sensed a tension in his body as he braced himself in his seat.
“But yeah, on the same horse. You’ll ride in front.” He looked her up and down. “I think you’re little enough I can still easily reach the reins from behind and that way you’ll be able to see everything as we ride. It’ll be a lot of fun and could be something you could tell your clients about.”
“Riding on horses with you? You want me to tell my clients about riding on a horse with you?” Lena mumbled as she tried to absorb what she was about to do with this Hill Country Adonis.
“Not with me. I just mean horseback riding on the property. I think it would be something they might like. It’s not every day you can ride a horse through a vineyard, right? And led by a real cowboy, too.” He looked at her and winked. She might have melted if she hadn’t been using every ounce of her will power to look unfazed.
“No, I guess not.”
“Pull up over there and we’ll get going. You’re gonna have the ride of your life, I promise.” He smiled at her, and she saw a familiar twinkle in his eyes.
Ride of my life? Boy, you have no idea.
* * * *
“Hey, are you okay? You keep stiffening your body like that and you’ll be sore in the morning. You got to go with it, hon, and relax a little,” Wes drawled into her ear.
Despite the summer heat that surrounded them, she could still feel his warm breath against her skin and goose bumps prickled over her arms.
“Sorry, I just haven’t been on a horse in a while. I used to ride a little when I was a kid before I moved to Austin. Just a little out of practice, I guess.” Lena shifted uncomfortably, but tried to loosen up to pass herself off as easygoing.
“You’ve got goose bumps on your arms. Is the breeze making you catch a chill? We’ll be there soon and I’m sure a glass of wine will warm you right up.” Wes’s arms tightened around her, wrapping her as if he were a human blanket.
She could swear he rested his chin against her head now and then, but decided the intimate gesture resulted only from their height difference and the bumpiness of the ride. Nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence that made her entire body flush with need.
“That sounds nice. I’m pretty thirsty.” Her mouth felt parched and her entire body remained tense as she tried to keep from leaning back into his firm chest.
Every time she allowed her muscles to relax, every nerve in her body became attuned to the slow back and forth of the horse’s gait, which rocked her against him repeatedly. Every other clip clop, her ass would press into Wes’s groin. The longer they rode the more she became aware of the wetness pooling between her legs and the satisfying ache of her pussy grinding into the saddle through her underwear.
She thanked her lucky stars she had chosen to wear a longer skirt today that covered her legs as she straddled the horse, but part of her wished she had chosen jeans instead so all of her skin would’ve been covered and protected from Wes’s touch. It just felt too hot for jeans, too constricting. She liked her clothes to feel loose and free against her body, to get a little breeze between her skin and her clothing.
She only wished she could get a little more breeze between her and Wes. He invited her as a professional courtesy. As a budding entrepreneur, she needed to maintain her composure, especially if she wanted her business to prosper.
The horse finally came to a stop as Wes pulled on its reins and Lena hungrily eyed his cut biceps before admonishing herself again for crushing on a potential business associate. Wes dismounted first and then helped Lena down, though he practically lifted her. She felt as helpless as a rag doll in his arms.
“We’re here, Lena. Look around you. This is the Texas Hill Country at its best.” Wes gestured grandly.
He was right. The rows and rows of grapevines tied gracefully to their trellises were surrounded by rolling green hills despite the drought the state had been in for the past year.
“It’s simply beautiful up here, just gorgeous.” Lena felt fortunate as her gaze swept the scenic landscape. She had her best friend, her bed and breakfast, a breathtaking place to live, and plenty of handsome men for eye candy.
A small grin curled up her lips. A strong, lean arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close against a washboard body. She looked up and saw Wes seemingly lost in thought as he looked at the natural beauty around them.
“It’s great, isn’t it?” Wes smiled and looked at her as if to gauge whether she enjoyed the scenery as much as he did.
Then their eyes locked. A chill slipped down her spine and went straight to her aching clit. She couldn’t pull herself away. She swallowed and closed her eyes as she continued to lean into him, lost in the feeling of her body pressed into his. She thought she might faint and then her knees buckled, jarring her back to rational thought. She didn’t understand why her body refused to listen to her brain telling it to back off this man.
Wes cleared his throat and pulled away looking puzzled.
Shame washed over her. She lost her senses and acted like a fool in front of this nice man who only tried to show her around and sell some wine.
Her mind raced to come up with something to break the awkward silence. Her eye caught on a house in the distance, its stark whiteness brightly reflecting the late-morning sunlight. The house sat on the other side of a long, snaking river. She shaded her eyes as she pointed to it.
“What’s that over there? Is that part of your property, too?”
Wes paused a moment before he spoke. “No, that’s the Chisolms’s house on their ranch. Our families don’t really get along.”
“Why?”
“It’s a long story, but my great-grandpa and their great-grandpa were best friends and both bought about a thousand acres of land that they planned on working together, but the thing is, they couldn’t decide on what to do with it. Liam Chisholm was a traditional man and he wanted a traditional ranch. That’s what made money back then. He wanted cows, horses, chickens, the whole nine. But my great-grandpa Earl was more forward thinking. He heard about the German immigrants bringing in grapevines to make wine and he just thought that was a fine idea. Prohibition had just been repealed and it seemed like a great time to get back in the swing of things. People were ready to have a little fun again.
“The two of them fought and argued and finally they decided to split the land in two according to the river that runs straight through our properties, and I think both were so heartsick and stubborn over them not coming to a consensus that they just stopped talking altogether. In the beginning, the Chisholms made money hand over fist, while my family struggled.”
“No, they didn’t offer any help, which made their bad blood even worse and every year it just grew and grew between them. But we were doing okay. It just took us longer to get the winery off the ground. At first, we didn’t know the first thing about making wine. It was just one of Earl’s crazy ideas. But my family learned and kept at it and now we’re one of the best in the state,” Wes finished, obviously proud of his family’s accomplishments.
His pride in his family gave Lena a slight pang of jealousy. She wished she could feel the same way about her family, but didn’t really know too much about them and now they and all their stories were gone.
“So, that happened three generations ago. Are you still feuding?”
“Yes and no. We don’t do anything overt. We just don’t talk and don’t acknowledge each other when we pass in the street. It’s silly, but that’s just how it’s been. We’re both stubborn peoples. I think every generation that goes by, the feud loses its grip a little, but, you know, things take time.”
Wes looked solemn and then frantic as he looked around, opening and closing the insulated satchels tied to the horse.
“Wes, what’s the matter?”
He straightened, ran his fingers through his golden-blond hair, and let out an exasperated breath.
“I feel like a dunce. The wine I wanted you to try, I guess I left it behind.” He smiled sheepishly. “I guess I just got too excited about bringing you here and showing you around, I forgot to put it in my bags.”
A Perfect Fit For Three Page 3
