Page 26 of The Vineyard Crush

There was something so primally arousing about watching this rugged, muscular man turn tender and gentle, channeling pure paternal concern for his little girl’s happiness. Ridge was fully in control, radiating quiet strength and authority, yet completely focused on soothing away any hurt or distress with tenderness and care.

Unconsciously, my mind conjured up a brief, dizzying fantasy of what it might feel like to have that same indulgent warmth, that velvety cajoling tone directed at me. To be on the receiving end of Ridge’s gentle ministrations and coaxing reassurances, perhaps cradled in the safety of his powerful embrace after a stressful day while he soothed away any lingering worries or hurts with soft words and trailing caresses…

The vivid images, fueled by tantalizing snippets of his husky murmurs, made me feel molten and unraveled inside, swaying on my feet as if in a trance. Ridge was so close I could drink in the warm, distinctly male scent of him surrounding me, all burnished cedar and earthy spice. He smelled like sin and safety all at once, an utterly bewitching combination.

But I barely registered it over the ringing in my ears and the thunderous pounding of my own heart.

Because in that moment, with Ridge bent over me tenderly, bracketing me in with the sheer power of his body, my brain had whited out into a hazy spiral of longing. All I could focus on was the exquisite sensations sparking along my nerve endings everywhere his skin brushed mine.

Wild, half-formed fantasies flickered through my mind’s eye, providing flashes of vivid imagery. Ridge’s hands roaming over my body, his touch is possessive yet infinitely gentle, as those cinnamon-colored eyes smoldered with molten warmth. That wicked mouth finding the sensitive pulsepoint below my ear, tongue flickering out to taste my thundering pulse before his lips parted to coo indecent praise and reassurance against my flushed skin.

A strangled whimper very nearly escaped my parted lips before I felt the scorching weight of an unmistakably heavy stare that I jolted back to awareness, my cheeks going up in flames. Ethan was watching the entire scene unfold with narrowed eyes, his brows hyper wing into an unmistakable scowl as he witnessed the intimacy between me, Ridge. My eyes flew open to find Ethan’s steely gaze locked onto me and Ridge, his expression dark with unveiled masculine disapproval.

I could only imagine what conclusions he must be leaping to, what assumptions he was making about the tender moment he’d just witnessed. No doubt my hopelessly overprotective big brother saw the whole thing as Ridge working some sort of seductive angle to charm his innocent baby sister.

There was no mistaking the accusation and challenge in his stony features. And the clear, unmistakable message they conveyed: get your hands off my little sister before this gets ugly.

Suddenly desperate to escape, to put distance between myself and those smoldering emerald eyes that seemed to see straight through to my deepest fantasies, I went rigid in Ridge’s grasp.

“Please, Avey, you gotta let go now,” I whispered hoarsely, wincing as the movement tugged sharply on her fists still tangled in my hair. “Emma needs to go take care of grown-up stuff, okay? But I’ll be back later to see you and your daddy, I promise.”

Whether it was the slight hint of distress in my voice or simply the persuasive words themselves, Avery immediately unraveled her grasp on my hair, tilting her head back to blink up at me with those big, impossibly blue eyes. Her plump little rosebud mouth turned down in a trembling pucker of dismay.

Quickly, before either of us could dissolve into tears, Ridge smoothly took over. “Hey, what’s that look for, sugar pie? Emma said she’ll be back,”

Scooping Avery up onto his hip, Ridge dropped a loud smacking kiss on her cheek that set her giggling through her distress. “Why don’t we go get your mega ultra chocolatey chocolate ice cream, I hear those fudgy brownies of hers make the greatest ice cream sundaes.”

At the mention of her favorite treat, Avery instantly perked up, little face shining with hope and joy. As relieved as I was by her brightened demeanor, I felt oddly bereft at the loss of her cuddling warmth from my arms. Part of me longed for Ridge to hand her back over so I could covet her softness and sweetness for just a little longer.

Giving myself a mental shake, I focused on putting as much distance between us as possible before I said or did something unforgivably idiotic in front of my ultra-judgmental brother.

“Bye,” I mumbled thickly in their direction, unwilling to make eye contact with anyone and have my lingering, foolishly sappy feelings exposed any further.

Turning on a wobbly heel, I fled for the sanctuary of the front hallway before anymore lines could be blurred or boundaries crossed between Ridge and I. This… whatever this explosive chemistry was that kept blindsiding me needed a major dose of distance and some clear air ASAP.

Outside, the crisp spring evening enveloped me in an embrace scented with fresh greenery and sweet clover blooms. It felt like a dousing of ice water after the suffocating heat that had enveloped me, pressing in from all sides, during my interlude with Ridge and Avery. Greedily, I sucked in one deep lungful of cleansing air after another, heart thundering and skin still tingling with both embarrassment and arousal.

What was wrong with me? How could I let some innocent hair-grabbing and reassuring words from Ridge reduce me to a quivering, lovesick wreck like that? I was a grown woman, for heaven’s sake, not one of the love-addled milkmaids in one of mom’s silly romance novels.

Shaking my head sharply to dislodge the floaty, dreamlike images still drifting behind my eyes, I started off down the long drive leading away from Ridge’s sprawling ranch house. With each brisk step, I could feel the foolish romantic haze dissipating and my common sense beginning to reassert itself.

This was ridiculous! Having a harmless crush on our devastatingly handsome, charming neighbor was one thing. But actually entertaining wistful little fantasies where I cast myself into the role of his romantic partner, fantasies that put me into inappropriate situations with Avery’s swoon-worthy single father. - that crossed so many lines!

What kind of respectable, self-possessed woman let herself devolve into such a slobbering, weak-willed puddle over a hot guy and some silky words? I was better than that. I was the level-headed realist in my friend group, the one who kept things grounded and sane when the rest of the girls went off into lovestruck flights of fancy.

Yet here I was, unraveled in the span of just a few potent, heated gazes and deliciously honeyed endearments rumbled in that rich, smoky baritone of Ridge’s.

My feet couldn’t carry me away swiftly enough as heat blazed hotter across my cheeks. Ethan’s silent reprimand still scorched the back of my neck, making me want to melt into the hardwood floor from mortification. Only when I was safely outside, the cool evening air kissing my overheated skin, did I finally begin to breathe again.

I made it all of six steps towards the welcoming solitude of the shed where I live when a familiar voice called out, halting me in my tracks.

“Hey Em? Wait up a sec.”

It was Ethan jogging to catch up with me, expression unreadable. I braced myself for the inevitable lecture about making googly eyes at his best friend and our next door neighbor, the notoriously handsome single dad rancher, Ridge Monroe.

But to my surprise, when Ethan reached me, there was no scolding or big brother warnings. Instead, he drew me off towards a stairs on the shed framed by thick jasmine vines, their sweetly exotic scent perfuming the air around us.

“Yeah?” I prompted when he still hadn’t spoken, arching one questioning brow.

---