Passionate Harvest (7 page)

“I’m sure you’ll prefer having your own transport. I erm, I’m sorry if I made you feel awkward at all this afternoon.”

Heat sizzled through her skin, “No, it’s fine, honestly. I think we were both emotionally rather stressed out by the whole will thing.”

Way to go, Luce, she thought, now you sound like a complete ninny. The worst thing was that she didn’t know if she wanted more of Dominic’s kisses or if she wished it had never happened. After all she knew nothing about him, if he had a girlfriend already or anything. She’d thought she’d known everything about Christopher and she’d still been wrong to the point where both her heart and her trust in men had been completely broken.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, ten o’clock.”

Lucy’s hands trembled as she rested the phone down on the bed after he’d rung off. She should have said she’d make her own way over to see the car. Frowning, she wondered where the car was, Nick’s parking space outside the offices had been empty. She hadn’t even asked what kind of vehicle it was. It would serve her right if it was a big 4X4, the same as Dominic’s.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and sunny once more. Lucy slipped on one of her new pretty floral sundresses and her new sandals in readiness for Dominic’s arrival. If the car turned out to be suitable she intended making the most of the sunshine to get out and about reacquainting herself with the town and surrounding countryside. Her resignation email had been sent from her Uncle Nick’s computer and Anna, her flatmate had agreed to pack up her few belongings to send back to the UK.

She danced happily around the kitchen singing along to the radio while she waited for Dominic. Maggie had gone out early on an outing with her friends from her church group and Lucy was revelling in having a little time on her own. With the sun pouring in through the open windows and her favourite song blasting away on the radio she was oblivious to Dominic’s presence in the kitchen until she heard a cough by the open back door.

Lucy froze in mid shimmy from where she’d been cleaning the crumbs from the counter top.

“I rang the bell but you didn’t hear me so I came around the back.” Dominic leaned against the door jamb, his eyes twinkling with amusement at her discomfiture.

She walked across to the sink to rinse out her dishcloth. “You frightened the life out of me,” she said, as she turned off the radio.

“I did knock and I rang the bell.” He didn’t look apologetic as she finished drying her damp hands on the towel.

“I’ll get my bag.” She shot him a glance designed to quell the amusement that still sparked in his eyes.

He waited, his hands jammed into the front pockets of his jeans while she collected her things and checked she’d turned everything off. Satisfied she’d got everything she locked the back door behind them and they crunched along the gravel path that led around the side of the house to where he’d parked his car on the road.

“It’s a beautiful day today.” She stepped up into her seat and smoothed down the floaty cotton fabric of her sundress.

“You look very beautiful and summery too.” 

Her cheeks warmed. “Thank you.” She couldn’t read his thoughts as he’d slipped on sunglasses ready for the drive to the vineyard, but the curve at the corner of his mouth told her he was still amused.

“I didn’t ask you what kind of car it was?” She settled back into her seat.

“It’s only a small hatchback. Nick didn’t use it all that much. You know how fond he was of cycling. He used to use his car mainly to take samples out to some of the wine merchants when he was on a sales trip.”

“Sounds ideal for me then.” The kind of car she’d choose for herself anyway. Maybe when she’d picked up enough knowledge about the business then she’d be able to do those trips to the wine merchants and stockists.

 “Did you have a car on Tenerife?” Dominic asked.

She shook her head. “No, my apartment is, or rather was, in the centre of the resort so it was easy to walk to work and to the shops.”

“Will you miss your work out there?”

“I love the children, and of course the weather, but it was long hours and this bequest from Uncle Nick kind of came at a good time for me.” She focused her attention on the passing scenery.

“Do you have a lot of belongings out there to pack up and ship home?”

Lucy laughed. “No, it was a rented apartment which I shared with another children’s rep. I have some shoes and clothes, CD’s and books and that’s it really. I’d only been there for a couple of months. Before then I’d been in Cyprus, you soon learn not to accumulate tons of stuff when you’re always moving around.”

“Rolling stones gathering no moss kind of thing, huh?”

“I suppose.” She didn’t like to think too much about that. It concerned her sometimes that she might have inherited her parent’s wanderlust.

To her relief he didn’t ask anything else and before long they were pulling into the vineyard car park. A combination of sunshine and the weekend meant it was much busier than it had been the day before. Dominic pulled into his space and in the place reserved for Nick stood a small dark green hatchback with the vineyard logo painted on the doors and tailgate. Lucy was sure that it hadn’t been there yesterday. 

Dominic opened her door for her to climb out. “What do you think?”

“It looks lovely.” She tried to ignore the heat from his touch as his hand held hers to help her down.

He released her and dug in his jeans pocket to pull out the key. “You’d better take it for a run and see if you feel okay with it. When did you last drive?”

“About a year ago.” She accepted the key from him. It might even have been longer than that. A wave of panic washed through her when she realised how long it had been since she’d driven.

“Do you want me to come with you for this first run?” He seemed to sense her uncertainty.

“If you like. Just so I can get the hang of driving again. I suppose it’s like riding a bike, you never really forget when you’ve learned.” She forced a smile. She was being stupid; of course she could drive this car.

Dominic appeared to fill the front passenger seat, his long legs were still bent under the dashboard, even with the seat pushed right the way back. Lucy inserted the key and adjusted the mirrors before selecting reverse gear.

To her relief once the car started moving, she only clashed the gears a couple of times before her confidence picked up and she had the hang of driving once more. She followed Dominic’s directions to drive them around the quiet country lanes before re-entering the vineyard car park.

“Thanks, Dominic.” She turned off the engine, delighted with the way the drive had gone.

“My pleasure. The car is all yours to use now.” He released his seat belt.

“I’m really grateful, it’ll make a huge difference being able to get around without begging lifts or using the bus.” Lucy smiled warmly at him.

“I’d better go and take Mutley for his walk.” Dominic pushed his glasses up onto the top of his head. “Ring me and let me know when you’re ready to start work.”

His eyes locked with hers for an instant before his lips connected with her mouth. This time the kiss lasted longer, sending heat rushing around her body, leaving her breathless. Instinctively, she raised her hand to caress the hair in the nape of his neck as her body moulded against his. Almost as soon as she did so he moved away from her.

“Speak to you soon.” He was out of the car and striding away across the car park before she had time to muster her scattered thoughts into order.

Damn it, he’d kissed her again. After he’d sworn he wouldn’t. One time he could pass off as some kind of aberration, an emotionally charged error due to the strain they were under following Nick’s death. Twice was sheer idiocy. The trouble was Lucy was extremely kissable. A few minutes more in the car and he would have wanted to do much more than kiss her.

When he’d arrived at the house earlier and received no answer to his ring and knock at the front door, he’d followed the faint sounds of music to the rear of the house. Lucy had been wiggling her hips and singing along to the radio. Her honey blonde hair had shone in the sunshine and the pastel floral fabric of her dress had been semi-transparent in the bright light, revealing long and shapely legs.

He’d wanted to kiss her right then. If he were honest with himself he’d wanted to do more than kiss her. He’d wanted to slide his hands under her dress to explore the soft length of her legs. To touch her in all the intimate places that would make her whimper with passion. Frustrated with where his thought processes were leading he kicked out at a clump of turf and growled to himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this about someone. Maybe this was how his brother, Jake had felt when he’d met Sasha.

From the moment Jake had first set eyes on Sasha he’d fallen head over heels for her. She’d taken a weekend job at his parent’s winery taking people on tours and tastings. A typical Californian girl with long blond hair, honey tan and wide smile, she’d soon had him under her spell. It had only been later, when she’d been sure of Jake’s heart that the real Sasha had emerged.

He unlatched the back gate of his cottage and whistled for Mutley. The big dog bounded happily towards him knowing that Dominic’s return meant he would get a walk. Dominic fished a lead from his pocket and attached it to Mutley’s collar before re-latching the back gate.

The dog snuffled happily on ahead of him pulling out the cord on his extendable lead while Dominic attempted to sort out his thoughts. Sasha had been friendly towards everyone but had still managed to keep them at arms length. At the time he’d thought that was understandable, now he knew it had all been part of her plan. He hadn’t realised at first that she’d been trying to use him to make his brother jealous, so she could push Jake into placing an engagement ring on her finger. He’d been mildly flattered by her attention until he’d realised what she was doing. If he and Jake hadn’t been so close it could have torn their family apart.

It still didn’t explain his attraction to Lucy. What he felt for her was earthier, more dangerous. Lucy had to work with him for twelve months to inherit her shares. A relationship with her was out of bounds. If her year went well and she sold shares to him then he could be accused of influencing her. If it went badly and Lucy felt she had no choice but to leave then he could lose both her and the vineyard.

He shortened Mutley’s leash as they approached the fishing lakes. It was no use, he had to try and keep things strictly business between him and Lucy until her twelve months was up. And that meant no more kisses.  

* * *

Lucy muttered impolite curses under her breath as Dominic disappeared from view. She couldn’t decide if she was cross because he’d kissed her or cross because he’d stopped. For a moment she remained in the car still shaken by his sudden departure. The car park was almost full now and she wondered how Isabelle managed to cope on days like today.

Suddenly curious, she decided to pop into the café to get a couple of cakes to take home as a treat for tea. She scooped up her bag and made her way inside the tea room. There was a queue at the counter and a flustered looking teenager was busy attempting to clear tables so more people could be seated. Isabelle looked equally bothered attempting to take orders, money and prepare food all at the same time.

“Would you like a hand?” Lucy wriggled her way through the throng to the head of the queue to slip around the counter.

“Oh, Lucy! Um, can you work a till?” Isabelle asked.

“Yes, I’ve done all sorts of jobs before.”

Isabelle quickly showed her how the system worked and handed her an apron before vanishing into the kitchen to deal with the backlog of orders. Lucy soon found her rhythm and time fled by. She gave all the customers who’d been waiting for a while free tea and coffee top ups and, using all the skills she’d learned as a holiday rep, soon had even the grumpiest people looking happier.

She only became aware of how much her feet ached in her new sandals when the crowds finally died down.

“I can’t thank you enough for the last few hours, Lucy.” Isabelle emerged, rosy cheeked from the kitchen, having sent the teenage helper to have a lunch break.

“I couldn’t simply go and leave you. I wouldn’t be much of a co-owner if I did, would I?” Lucy smiled at Isabelle and accepted a mug of tea to sip.

Isabelle held a glass of juice and ice against her forehead. “I think today has been the first properly nice day of Spring since we’ve opened so I wasn’t expecting it to be this manic.”

“Well, I think we need to work out a way of getting you some more help on a weekend. I can see this getting busier as we have more nice days and with some extra help we can put additional tables outside.” Lucy wriggled her toes inside her sandals and wondered if she’d got a blister coming.

“Cheers, anyway. We couldn’t have coped without you today, that’s for sure.” Isabelle smiled as some new customers approached the counter to order tea and cakes.

“If you can manage I ought to get off home now. I’ll call in tomorrow to give you a hand if the weather is still as nice. Hopefully, we can get a solution sorted out by next weekend if it looks like we need more staff.”

“We’ll be fine now I think. Thanks again, Lucy,” Isabelle hesitated for a second as if she wasn’t sure she should say more, “You’re okay, you’ll fit right in here. Just watch out for Jo, she can be a bit, well awkward until you get to know her.” She bit her lip as if she’d said too much.

Lucy undid her apron and placed it down on the counter. “It’s okay. I’d gathered she wasn’t too pleased by my arrival. I’m sure we’ll work things out when we get to know one another better.”

She smiled at Isabelle and waved goodbye to the teenage helper before making her way outside into the late afternoon sunshine. Her sandals were really rubbing her feet now so she paused to check her toes. Sure enough each foot now sported a large blister.

“Never let a good deed go unrewarded.” She muttered, wincing as she carefully slid the leather back in place.

“Lucy?”

She gasped as Dominic suddenly appeared in front of her, all the nerve endings in her body snapping to attention.