Page 19 of Trouble Me
“I did. Lindsey showed me around, got me everything I needed.”
Shane nodded. “Good. If you need anything at all, just let her know. She'll take care of it for you.”
“Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
There was a light rap at the door before Lindsey walked through, a steaming cup of coffee in one hand. She set it next to Emma and dropped a couple of sugar packets and creamer next to it. “I wasn’t sure how you took your coffee, so I brought you a little bit of everything.”
“Thank you, Lindsey.” Emma looked up at the younger woman and sent her a genuine smile that made Shane want to do whatever he needed to do to keep the smile on her face all the time. The smiles she’d given him so far were guarded, and her eyes held shadows.
They were similar to shadows he’d seen in the mirror every day for the last eighteen months.
“Shall we get started?” He slid a packet of papers across the table to her. “This is the current year budget for the winery and vineyard. Let’s start there.”
She picked up the papers and clicked her pen. “You’re the boss.”
He expected to see the nerves in her eyes that had shone through at times during her interview. But this time, her eyes were clear, bright, and held a determination he admired. His gaze traveled down to her lips, where she tapped her pen as she read over the numbers. Shane tore his gaze away, his jaw tightening until it ached.
Blowing out a breath, he focused on the numbers. “Let’s start at the top. Revenue...”
For the next hour and a half, they went over every line of the budget, adjusting numbers here and there until Shane wanted to jab a pen in his eye. Emma, on the other hand, had a calculator for a brain. A confidence exuded from her that he found sexy as hell. He really wanted to know what made her tick. How many facets were there to the lovely Emmaline and which one was the real her?
“I think if we can cut some of the office expenses, there will be more room in the budget for marketing. That brings in business directly affecting revenue.” When he didn’t respond, she looked up and frowned. “Do you not agree?”
Shane leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, I do. Let’s throw more dollars at marketing. We’re going to need as much advertising as we can get when we open the place.”
“Okay.” She scribbled something in her notebook. “I’ll start looking for a marketing manager. The sooner we get someone in, the sooner we can start on an advertising strategy.”
He smiled while he rocked in his chair. Oh yeah, she was good. “That’s why I hired you. I need someone to jump in and take this on. I’m here now, but once this place opens, it’ll be all yours.”
She bit her lip as some sort of shadow crossed her face and then disappeared. Nodding, she sat up straighter. “Right. Okay, I’ll dig into seeing what we can do with cutting costs.” She scribbled some notes in her notebook, her handwriting a collection of looping, feminine curves.
He glanced out the window while she took more notes. Shane was twitchy, and he found the way to tame the restlessness was to walk the land. He figured it was as good a time as any to show her the vines, and he could walk off the agitation that seemed to consume him.
“Come with me.” He pushed his chair back and stood, his hand clenched in a fist to keep from holding it out to her. When she raised her eyes to his, he said, “I want to show you the vines. It’s important for employees to know how the business works, starting with the land.”
“Okay.” Emma stood, and the scent of vanilla surrounded him as she moved closer to follow. The smell was warm, fragrant, and tugged at something deep in his gut.
He led Emma downstairs and through the open space once used as a combined lobby and sitting area. When Emma’s steps slowed, Shane glanced behind him to find her gazing at her surroundings. “This is a really beautiful space. Large and open. It feels like you’re in the home of a friend.”
She walked farther into the space and turned in a slow circle, nodding her head. “I can see where this has the potential to be a world-class wine facility, with a restaurant, and various tasting rooms. All you’re missing for the ultimate wine connoisseur experience is lodging. And, to my knowledge, there isn’t a winery around here offering that.”
“At least, not yet,” Shane stated. When she glanced over her shoulder with a raised brow, he continued. “We have a total of six rooms upstairs on the back side of the house we plan to renovate into guest rooms. But we want more. A main house, so to speak. There’s a lead on some property in the area we may be able to buy for that purpose.”
He followed her into the room, mesmerized by the way she moved as though flowing through it, owning it. She crossed to the wall of windows, her hand running across the long, wide window sill. The clicking of her heels echoed off the walls, made louder by the emptiness of the room.
“When do the renovations start?”
“Next week, if the weather holds. Rumor has it there could be a weather system coming in.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I heard we may get some snow.”
“Does that happen often?”
She shrugged a slim shoulder. “Winters in Georgia can be tricky. It feels like spring one day, the dead of winter the next. But we haven’t seen snow the last couple of years up here in the Ridge. Being in the mountains usually ensures we’ll get something. It’s the ice that kills us here.”
When she stopped at the wall of windows, he joined her. “Does KVN have their own building contractors they use in the wineries?” she asked.
