Page 43 of Taken With You
She and Garrick danced beautifully together.
They looked happy.
She sucked in the damp scent of old oak and ancient vintages to force her feet back to earth. Garrick did appear happy, but he’d seemed happy in those other pictures she’d seen online, of Garrick the billionaire withotherwomen, the pictures she’d revisited in an attempt to parse the subtleties of his expression. She might as well be trying to read tea leaves. What the hell was she doing, obsessing like this? Trying to guess what feelings Garrick might possibly have for her? Even if she knew, she’d still be confused.
She didn’t mean for this to happen. She thought she’d been handling everything well, juggling their working relationship, thrilled with the bonus of mind-blowing sex. It was risky enough to mix business with pleasure, but she’d been convinced she could manage it, handle it…control it. A relationship wasn’t possible. As she was reminded again, when she noticed Garrick’s packed suitcase by the door, Garrick didn’t live here.
After the launch party, he would return to his home in New York.
“Amanda?”
She stilled as the man at the center of her obsession strode under the stone arch of the cave entrance, passing through the circles of light thrown by the strung lanterns. She’d been avoiding him since their late-afternoon discovery of the photo, burying herself here in the cave to think. Her heart squeezed to see him in sweats and a T-shirt, bedtime wear, but the constriction also brought a sharp stab of pain. Coming toward her was the kicked-back Garrick, the man she could pretend for a while was just an athletic enthusiast with time on his hands, not an international investor, a CEO, who spent his life on a plane and whose interests spread to every corner of the world.
He bent his head forward as he approached, his face full of concern. “Everything okay?”
No.
“I’m checking for leaks.” If only she could plug her own weaknesses so he wouldn’t perceive the mad direction of her thoughts. “You can never tell with these old barrels, or the new ones, either.”
“It’s past midnight, Amanda.”
Yikes. Was it really that late? She hadn’t paid attention to the time. No way to dodge the obvious truth, then, that she was ducking him. She dropped her gaze and glimpsed a picture frame in his hand.
She recognized it with a hitch of breath.
“I saw this on your desk back there.” He jerked his head toward the equipment end of the winery. “It was in plain view, so I figured you wanted people to see it.”
He lifted it toward her, but she knew what it depicted. The picture was taken during the crush at her family farm. She and her sisters stood knee-deep in a vat, splattered to their chins with grape juice. Mom and Dad stood on either side. Dad wore a pair of overalls that hung on his strong shoulders, his familiar eyes crinkled in laughter. Her mother, kerchief tied over her hair, was in motion, caught turning away from the barrel, one knee raised, holding her hands up, mouth open in laughter.
It was the last picture taken of her family, back when it was whole.
She said, “I’m the ugly duckling on the right.”
He lifted a brow. “That’s unkind.”
“Braces. Acne.” She shrugged. “And those ridiculous bangs.”
“It’s still you, emerging.”
She crossed her arms as goose bumps rose on her skin.
“It’s a great picture,” he said, glancing up. “You look happy.”
You’re not happy now,he seemed to suggest, but she pretended not to hear what he implied. Because, really, shewashappy. She loved this winery, loved the work, but she hadn’t counted on loving him. If she did. Did she? She kept dancing over that idea like a bed of hot coals.
“Don’t wait up for me,” she said, her voice high again. “You’ve got an early flight.”
“It’s easier to sleep with you beside me.”
His mouth tilted in a half smile, a gentle coaxing. If she was reading it right. Her brain circuits were too crossed to trust.
He sighed and slid a warm hand over her cheek. “You’re still upset by that picture of us online.”
Yes…but not in the way you think.
“I wish I didn’t have to go to New York tomorrow.” A muscle flexed in his cheek. “I’d rather be here, working this out with you.”
But you can’t, because you’re a billionaire owner of a multinational company who has hundreds of employees depending on you. And I’m just realizing I never should have been so easy with my heart.
