Page 3 of Her Supermodel Stalker
"I'll see you soon." My new boss burns me with another smoldering look before walking past me, that deep, low, gravelly voice strumming a string between my legs.
I pinch my cheek after they're gone, and Susie giggles. "No, Lexi, you ain't dreaming!"
Susie knows my obsession with the man because I haven't been discreet. I use his photos for my screensavers on my computer and my phone. Damn. Now I’ll have to delete them.
Chapter 2
Devin
I can hardly keep calm or keep my boner from rising the moment my hand touches Lexi's. She's more beautiful than her pictures. Her curly hair is put into an adorable ponytail. She looks tanner, though, and her hazel eyes are more intense. A look is enough to send my blood south. I probably have the same effect on her, and that’s probably why she can’t speak and can’t take her eyes off me.
I've been obsessed with this angel of a girl for years. When I found out that the vineyard she worked for was for sale, I didn’t hesitate to make the purchase.
I know everything about her. She likes strawberries, dislikes beef, and is allergic to seafood. Her favorite color is green, and she prefers oldies to modern music.
She didn't get to college because she got pregnant and her dickhead of an ex-boyfriend disappeared before the baby was born. She's been working at Sun Oaks for five years, since high school. Two of the wines she helped created won the SF wine Festival Gold Medal.
My obsession with her started when I came across her post on FB by chance about two years ago. She was holding her three-year-old baby, kissing his cheek. The expression on her face was a content look of a woman who had everything she wanted right in front of her. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. I downloaded that picture and looked at it often.
I went on to check her other posts and found out she was an incredible girl. Despite what her ex-boyfriend did to her, she didn’t complain, but simply went on with her life, and quite cheerfully. There were times I envied her happiness. I know. It sounded crazy. I was a top-ten model in the world. Why would I envy an ordinary farm girl in the middle of nowhere? But it was what I felt. This girl hadn’t been treated fairly by life, and yet she was happy and loving. I had many things—money for one, women another. I owned a successful fashion line and real estate all over the world. But I wasn’t happy with what I had and I didn’t have the one thing I wanted the most: a loving family.
I didn’t grow up in one, at least not for long. My dad passed away when I was eight, and my mom remarried, but I never felt I belonged to her new family. I dated abundant beautiful women but didn’t fall for any, and none of them was interested in having a family with me, anyway. They were attracted to my appearance or my fame, and many couldn’t accept the real me, which could be moody and unpredictable.
Thus, Lexi Lane was a breath of fresh air in my life. Over the past two years, I read through all her posts and browsed and downloaded all her photos. Most of them were taken in the vineyard because she spent most of her life there, and she had her baby with her in almost every one of them. It looked as if they were inseparable.
“Sam is your winemaker. He’s responsible for every stage of the wine production, from choosing the right grape to grow to when to bottle the wine. Susie is the marketing manager, and she oversees the sales and distributions. Mike is the tasting room manager. Lexi is Sam’s assistant, and she knows every aspect of the vineyard operation. Ryan is the cellar master,” Mr. Fernandes rambles on.
The conference room is small and cozy. There are about eight of us. I do my best to listen and remember everyone’s name and duties, but my brain doesn’t cooperate. I have only one person on my mind, and my eyes seldom leave the angel. How can they? She’s so exquisite. Bright as the California sun and fresh like the vineyard air. Lexi, on the other hand, seldom even lifts her eyes, not to mention moving my way. She fixes her attention on her notebook computer, taking notes furiously as if she hasn’t known her coworkers already.
I give a brief self-introduction and express my excitement in working with the staff, promising them I will do my best to maintain the impressive business established by Mr. Fernandes. The meeting ends with a round of applause and cheers.
Mr. Fernandes grabs both of my arms and says with tears in his eyes. “Thank you, Mr. Gamble. I wish you all the best! Let me know if you have any questions. You can call or email me.”
“Thank you. I will.” While I’m saying goodbye to Fernandes, Lexi slips past me, but I call her back, “Stay for a minute, please, Miss Lane. I need a tour around the vineyard and the winery.”
Her eyes widen, and she takes a second to speak. “Haven’t you already had one?”
“Yes, I have, but I would like to have another one.”
“Sure,” she mumbles, her face turning red. “Why…me?”
I chuckle. “Mr. Fernandes says you know the vineyard well, and you give tours sometimes, don’t you?”
“Yeah, okay,” she says. “Just give me a sec.”
Chapter 3
Lexi
“So, here is the vineyard,” I say to my new boss.
Devin Gamble looks around him at the immense plantation, clearly impressed. “Nice!”
He looks as if he’s seeing it for the first time, which puzzles me. “What grapes are they picking already?”
“They’re picking the chardonnay,” I say. “The red ones are due in about a month, and we’ll be really busy because most of the grapes are due then.”
“You look as if you can’t wait for it to start,” he says with a grin.
