Page 26 of Taming the Beast (Fairy Tales of New York)

Wasn’t it? It seemed to her that it was precisely that, but maybe now she was the one overthinking things.

“So I think we can risk it,” he added. “I can, anyway.”

Well, when he put it like that… “All right,” she said, still a bit dazzled by the relief she felt that he wanted this thing they had to continue. “If you really want to know, I’m doing my MBA entirely and solely for me.”

“Really?”

“You sound surprised.”

“You don’t strike me as the selfish type.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The lengths you go to for your friends, for one thing.”

Mercy felt herself grow warm. “Yes, well, who doesn’t go to lengths for their friends?”

“Many people. Who stole that communion wine, Mercy?”

Huh? “My lips are sealed.”

“You see,” he murmured, with a faint smile that did something funny to her insides.

Hmm. Right. Well. Onwards to her MBA. “I don’t know if Zel told you,” said Mercy, folding her hands on the bed and resting her chin on them as she looked at him, “but after that episode at St. John’s I was hauled back to Argentina.”

“I think she did mention it at some point.”

“Every minute I wasn’t at high school I was put to work in the vineyard. Cleaning, harvesting, bottling. You name it, I did it.”

“Just like that? No complaints?”

If only. “Oh, I complained bitterly at first,” she said, remembering the many occasions she’d butted heads with her parents, especially her father. “But it didn’t make any difference and eventually I came to the conclusion that I might as well knuckle down and get on with it. I did everything my parents asked and more… I think I had something to prove.”

“Have you done that?”

“I hope so. The first thing I did with the modicum of responsibility I was eventually given was to bring in some new root stock and some good people. Then I set about expanding our operations, modernizing production and streamlining our processes. I travelled, attended conferences and met with distributors. As a result of all that networking and the increasing quality of our wines I built up our global brand and quadrupled our exports.” And now she was sounding like some kind of promotional video. “I think I’ve done OK,” she said with a tiny shrug.

“All that in ten years?”

“More or less.”

“Impressive.”

“Not really because actually I’ve loved every minute of it and it’s easy to do stuff when you love it. The vineyard is possibly my favorite place on earth.” Although his bed came a close second. “There’s something intoxicating about the smell of the soil at dawn. At least for me. And the view at sunset is heavenly. It’s impossible not to love it. My only regret is missing out on a proper education. This is my chance to experience that.”

“Why New York?”

“Because Stern’s one of the best and they accepted me.”

“Sensible of them.”

“I like to think so,” she said, ignoring the faint glow that bloomed inside her at his words because the only glow she was interested in was a post-orgasmic one.

“And how’s it going?”

“It’s tough. But I’m relishing the challenge.”

“You have admirable ambition.”

---