Harlequin Romance April 2015 Box Set

by Michelle Douglas, Jessica Gilmore, Jennifer Faye

  “Let me just pull up my calendar.” The woman had a friendly smile and a bouncy ponytail. She typed in the information. “Any particular date?”

  Jules read off the date as the woman’s fingers clicked over the keyboard. Then an ominous silence came over the showroom. Jules’s chest tightened as she waited for the verdict. The woman said nothing, and then she typed a little more. Behind her dark-rimmed glasses, her eyes narrowed and her forehead creased.

  “This summer is so busy. It seems like everyone is getting married.”

  Jules wanted to press her for an answer, but she used every bit of willpower not to sound overbearing and pushy. “Yes, it’s a great summer for a wedding.”

  Was that a sigh she heard from Stefano? She glanced his way, but he was still wearing that stoic expression as he pretended to be totally absorbed in the array of cupcakes in the display case.

  The silence was unnerving. If this place couldn’t help them, she didn’t know what they were going to do. Chances were really good that at this late date every bakery was booked. Lizzie would be crushed. After waiting all this time to find her soul mate, this wedding had to go on without a hitch—or at least go on.

  “We’ll take anything you can do.” Jules didn’t care at this point if she sounded desperate. She was desperate.

  When Stefano flexed his fingers, she realized that she had a death grip on him. She loosened her hold and lifted onto her tiptoes to peer over the counter, but she was at the wrong angle to read the computer monitor.

  The woman glanced over at her. “I know you’re anxious for an answer, but I have a bit of a conflict. I’m checking to see if there is a way around it. If you just give me one more minute.”

  “Sure. Whatever it takes. I know this is short notice, but it’s so important.”

  The saleswoman smiled. “I understand. You two are a cute couple.”

  Jules felt Stefano’s gaze on her. He wanted her to correct the woman, and she would, just not yet. They needed a spot on the calendar before Jules would risk rocking the boat.

  “Okay, I can make this work. It just took a bit of juggling.”

  Jules released Stefano’s hand and clapped her hands together. She was more wound up about this than she’d realized.

  “If you could just give me your name, I’ll add you to the calendar.”

  Jules supplied the necessary information. The last part that might mess up this arrangement was the location of the wedding. She hesitantly informed her that the wedding and reception would be outside the city at the vineyard, but the woman barely batted an eye except to tell her that there’d be an additional delivery fee. Jules told her that would be perfectly fine.

  They now had dresses, flowers and a cake, of sorts. This wedding was going to come together. And Jules had already figured out what to do about the food. Dante’s family had been anxious to help; they could do covered dishes. From what she’d learned in her short time in Rome, the DeFiore family was a group of accomplished cooks. She couldn’t imagine buying anything that tasted anywhere as good as the dishes they made in the restaurant.

  Right now was Jules’s favorite part of the wedding preparations—a chance to sample mouthwatering cakes from dark chocolate to angelic white. Or in this case, sample the wide array of cupcakes. Jules grinned like a little kid as she eyed the display case filled with cupcakes decorated in every imaginable color.

  “Relax.” The woman smiled at Stefano. “I promise this won’t hurt at all. In fact, you might enjoy it. If you two would just have a seat at the table over there, I’ll grab some samples.”

  “Thank you.” Jules took Stefano’s hand and led him to the table. Once they were seated, Jules turned to him. “Would you relax? You’re making everyone uncomfortable.”

  “What?” Stefano glanced across the little white café-style table at her.

  “Cheer up. This won’t take long, and you get to taste some delicious cupcakes.”

  “Sorry. I was thinking about something else.”

  “I’m sure you were,” she mumbled.

  “I was.” His gaze narrowed in on her. “I was thinking about the vineyard.”

  Apparently she hadn’t spoken quite as softly as she’d thought. “Are you that bored that you’d rather be working?”

  “Why must you jump to conclusions?”

  She shrugged. Was she wrong? Was it possible he wasn’t wishing he was anywhere but here with her?

  “Then why were you thinking about the vineyard?”

  He leaned the little chair back on its two rear legs and crossed his arms as though trying to decide if he should take her into his confidence. That bothered her. After everything she’d told him about her past, he really had to decide if she was trustworthy?

  Before she could say a word, he spoke up. “It was brought to my attention that I’ve been cutting my father out of the business side of things at the vineyard. I guess I was so intent on keeping busy after Gianna died that I hadn’t noticed that he felt cut out. That was never my intention.”

  “And you think your father wants more responsibility.”

  Stefano nodded. “He’s succeeded in keeping everything under control while I’ve been helping you with the wedding. And he seems happier. But then again, I don’t know if it’s the winery or if he’s falling in love.”

  “What? With whom?”

  Before Stefano could answer, the saleswoman returned with a tray full of cupcakes. Jules’s mouth started to water just looking at the beautiful little cakes. With a knife they cut the cupcakes in half. The flavors ranged from lemon with buttercream frosting to red velvet with cream cheese frosting to banana crème. All in all there were eight flavors to choose from.

  Jules didn’t know how she was going to make such a truly difficult decision. All of them tasted divine except maybe the vanilla. It was good, but in comparison to the others, it was a bit boring.

  “Well, did you make a decision?” the woman asked after returning from helping some other customers.

  “I don’t know. They’re all so good.” Needing some help, she turned to Stefano. “What do you think?”

  She didn’t normally turn to a man for advice. Typically the men she’d dated never wanted to involve themselves in decision making of any form. It was easier to stand on the sidelines and let someone else do the problem solving. And she wouldn’t bother asking for Stefano’s input, but this decision was a big one. She didn’t want to get it wrong.

  Who was she trying to kid? She valued Stefano’s opinion a lot. He had good taste and...she liked him. Even though he wasn’t crazy about weddings, he’d turned his life upside down to help her out. Someday when he was ready to get on with his life, he’d make somebody a good husband.

  She glanced across the table at him. He smiled at her, and her heart gave off a fluttering sensation. What were they talking about?

  His gaze moved to the tray, now littered with crumbs. “I think I like the espresso with buttercream.”

  “You do? Really?” He was a man after her own tastes. When he nodded to confirm his choice, she countered with, “But what if not everyone cares for coffee flavor?”

  The young woman spoke up. “That’s not a problem. You know that we can do two flavors.”

  “That would be great.” Since he’d stepped up and picked out one flavor, now it was her turn. “I think the other should be strawberry with the cream cheese.”

  The woman started typing in the information. She paused and looked at Stefano. “And the groom’s name?”

  Jules wasn’t about to let him mess this up. “The thing is he isn’t exactly the groom.”

  “Really?” The woman’s brows rose beneath her bangs. “But you two look so perfect together. I would have sworn—oh, never mind. It’s none of my business. If you’ll just tell me your groom’s name, I’ll put
it in the computer.”

  She didn’t want the woman to get the wrong idea. “I’m not the bride. We—” Jules pointed back and forth between her and Stefano “—are the maid of honor and the best man.”

  The woman’s eyes lit up and the worry lines left her face. “That makes sense, because I could sense that you two are a couple. And quite in love with each other. I can always tell these things.”

  Stefano leaned forward and opened his mouth. Before he could utter a single syllable, Jules kicked him under the table. His mouth snapped shut, and his brows drew together as he glared at her. She smiled broadly back at him, hoping to soothe his ruffled feathers.

  “Now that we have that straightened out, if you’ll just give me the name of the bride and the groom, we’ll get this order in the system.”

  When they finally walked out the door, Jules was amazed at how laid-back and easygoing the woman was about the wedding. She had actually been sympathetic about Lizzie having to work instead of getting the chance to do the actual planning of her wedding.

  Now if only everything else would fall into place. And Jules didn’t just mean for the wedding. No, she had something else in mind. A chance for people to see her as something more than a scarred-up goth chick.

  But to do that, she’d have to let her guard down. She’d have to do away with the things that after all these years were inherently her. Could she do it? And would it make a difference to Stefano?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  WHAT WAS UP with Jules?

  More importantly, what was up with him?

  Stefano stared blindly at the blinking cursor on the computer monitor. Ever since they’d kissed, things had shifted between them. He’d lost his footing where Jules was concerned. And try as he might to get back to that solid ground of casual acquaintances, he couldn’t quite reach that plateau.

  Instead, he’d tried losing himself in his work, like he’d done ever since Gianna’s tragic death, but that wasn’t working, either. His father was quite productive. By the time Stefano got back from his excursions to Rome with Jules, there wasn’t much for him to do, certainly nothing comprehensive requiring his full attention. And time on his hands at this point was not a good thing. All he could think about was kissing Jules. A definite no-no.

  Resisting her was getting harder and harder, especially when she slipped her soft hand in his. Did she have any clue what her touch did to him? And then she’d lift her chin and smile up at him, and his heart would careen into his ribs. His common sense fizzled and shorted out. His only saving grace had been that she always pulled away before he could act on his impulses.

  With a frustrated sigh, he glanced at the clock, finding it was almost lunchtime. He shut down the computer. It’d been a waste of a morning as he’d barely gotten a thing done for thinking about his beautiful houseguest.

  Yesterday after they’d left the bakery, Jules had wanted some time to do a little shopping. He hadn’t minded. He’d needed some time alone before sharing the small confines of the auto with her. He especially needed a break after that lady at the bakery kept going on and on about them being a couple. And it didn’t help that sometimes when Jules turned her green gaze on him, it was as though she was trying to tell him something—as if she wanted more from him than what he could offer her...or anyone.

  Or was he seeing what he wanted to see? That thought stopped him in his tracks as he made his way from the barn to the house. Was it possible Jules, with her outrageous makeup and hip clothes, had somehow gotten to him? His steps faltered. After all this time telling himself that he’d had it with love, was he starting to fall for the girl from New York?

  He gave his head a shake. Wasn’t going to happen. He resumed his trek to the villa. Suddenly his appetite for lunch had disappeared. All he could think about was Jules and how her green eyes spoke to him—telling him of her past emotional wounds. His gut reaction was to protect her and show her that life didn’t have to be so hard. But how could he do that when he knew for a fact that life was unpredictable and quite unfair?

  No, the best thing he could do for both of them was to back away. He’d been wrong to get so invested in this wedding. He might be the groom’s brother and best man, but he didn’t do wedding planning. By now Jules should know how to get into the city on her own and with all the electronic wizardry on her phone, she’d find her way around.

  Yes, that’s what he’d do. He’d back out of this wedding froufrou and submerge himself in work. After all, there was a tour and wine-tasting event on the calendar. He could think of ways to expand it, perhaps by adding some tales from his family’s colorful history. He didn’t have anything specific in mind, but he’d think on it.

  He’d just neared the house when Jules stepped outside. His thoughts screeched to a halt as he took in her appearance. Her very different appearance. He blinked to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

  She was wearing a pale blue cotton dress. It was short, just above the knee, and the skirt flared out a bit. The waist was snug and hinted at her curves. Her very fine curves. He struggled to keep his mouth from gaping open. His gaze traveled up over the white stripes of the bodice and stopped at her bare shoulders and arms. The only things holding up that scrap of a dress were two thin straps. A lump formed in his throat.

  She smiled at him, and the whole world seemed to glow. “Do you like my new purchase?”

  “It’s um...very nice.” He forced his gaze to meet hers.

  “Walk with me.”

  Her request wasn’t a question, but rather a honeyed command—one he wasn’t about to disobey. She passed by him, and all he could do was stare. It was then that he noticed her hair. There were no ponytails. Instead her dark wavy hair was loose and flowing down her back. What in the world? She’d never worn it like that before, but he certainly approved.

  He took long strides to catch up to her. “Where are we going?”

  “To the barn. I still haven’t seen it, and I thought...well, I hoped that you might have a few minutes to show me around.”

  She wanted to see the winery? And she wanted him to show her around? What could it hurt? Maybe this would be a good prelude to him letting her know that he’d changed his mind about working on the wedding planning with her.

  “Sure. Is there anything in particular that you want to see?”

  Her sun-kissed shoulders rose and fell. “Whatever you want to show me will be fine.”

  She was actually interested in his work—in his heritage. That was an area where Gianna had never showed any interest. The only thing that she had to say about the vineyard was that it took up all his time and that it kept them from moving to the city. He hadn’t realized when they’d married that she expected a different sort of life. He figured that marrying a local girl would ensure that they both wanted a quiet way of life. He’d been so wrong.

  He gave Jules the grand tour, starting at the office, and then they moved on to the processing room, where during the harvest the grapes were hand sorted. He showed her the barrel room where the wine was aged. The tour concluded in the spacious wine-tasting room with its long, thin table for the guests.

  “We should head back for lunch.” He guided her outside.

  “Thank you for the personal tour. I really enjoyed it. I’m just sorry I’ll miss seeing all of the activity during the harvest.”

  “You always have an open invitation to return anytime.”

  She peered deeply into his eyes, and his heart thumped hard and fast. When she glanced away, her butterfly tattoo caught his attention. Just the tips of the wings peeked out of the dress’s neckline. He longed to see all of it. He’d never seen anything so captivating. A struggle warred within him—common sense versus his raging testosterone. And the testosterone was taking the lead.

  Jules turned away and started to walk. “This estate is so big. You certainly do
n’t have to worry about bothering any of your neighbors.”

  The land was the last thing on his mind, but he struggled to make intelligent conversation. “Over the generations, it has grown. Buying more of the surrounding properties was a priority.”

  “Are you still looking into expanding?”

  “If the opportunity presents itself, sure. But it isn’t my focus.” His only interest now was finding out if her lips were as sweet as the finest brachetto grape.

  “What is your priority?”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to say that it was her—that making her deliriously happy was his priority. But he bit back the ridiculous words before he could utter them. What in the world was getting into him?

  He cleared his throat as he searched for a reasonable answer. “The quality of the wine. And broadening our interaction with the public.”

  Her footsteps were muffled by the grass. “Sounds exciting.”

  “You think so?”

  “I do. I love the vineyard. I’m sure others will love it, too. It’s so peaceful and relaxing. I can see why you stayed on and continue to work with your father.”

  “But surely you wouldn’t do the same thing if roles were reversed.” She was a city girl, born and bred. The tranquility was just a novelty thing. Sooner or later she’d want to move on...just like his late wife.

  “I could definitely see me living here. In another world, I’d have a big family with lots of room for the kids to play. And cats. And dogs. And maybe a horse or two.”

  “Talk about a menagerie. Are you sure you’d be up for all of that?”

  She shrugged. “It isn’t like it’s ever going to happen. I don’t live here, and as you well know I’m not exactly the poster girl for motherhood. But sometimes it’s nice to dream.”

  “I don’t see why you have to dream when you can make it a reality. Well, at least the part of being a mother and having a menagerie of cats and dogs.”

  She stopped and stared up at him. “Look at me.”

  He did as she asked. His heart started to pound again. He held his body rigid, resisting the urge to pull her close. He recalled vividly how soft her curves were, and his resolve wavered.