Love in the Vineyard (The Tavonesi Series Book 7) (17 page)

“They’ll have fun.” Monica sounded like she meant it. Maybe she wasn’t the dragon lady her reputation made her out to be.

“I’ll pick him up at eight thirty tomorrow,” Natasha heard herself say.

The boys cheered their approval, and Monica practically ran back into her house. Maybe a day without a child around was a rare chance for Monica to have a romantic connection with her husband. Imagining Monica and erotic energy in the same sentence had Natasha smiling. The world was a mysterious place sometimes. Lately, too darned much of the time.

Luckily for her, Brandon and Tyler yammered about baseball stats and players and team standings as they passed through the rolling hills leading out to the coast.

Her thoughts turned to the meeting ahead and to the carefully rehearsed speech she’d prepared for Adrian. He’d invited them by leaving a phone message, or she would’ve given him a piece of her mind over the phone. But he deserved face to face even though she wasn’t sure she could trust herself to deliver her speech with any conviction.

Part of her wished she were less of a realist and could ignore the facts—just enjoy the man and the moment. That part of her made it hard to string her thoughts and arguments together and make them sound convincing. But she needed her job. And any further romantic involvement with her boss could jeopardize that. Laws or no laws, she couldn’t work at Casa del Sole if she dreaded seeing him. Okay, so maybe he and Blair really were just friends. But there’d be more gorgeous, wealthy women coming through the place. On his arm. In his bed.

Caught up in the anxiety of her rehearsal, she missed the turnoff for Ryan Rea’s ranch. She drove on, looking for a safe place to pull off and do a U-turn.

“That’s the town that has the great boogie-boarding beach,” Tyler said.

The vast Pacific Ocean spread out in the distance, its water sparkling in the late-morning light. A small town hugged the coastline, looking every inch like a photo out of a tourist bureau postcard.

“Albion Bay has rad waves,” Brandon said, leaning to peer out the window. “But we can go boogie boarding anytime. We might
never
get another chance to hit in a real player’s batting cage. Your mom rocks.”

“Ryan hit three thirty last season,” Tyler said.

Natasha caught the happy smile on Tyler’s face. She’d never had much of an opportunity to provide him with special experiences. That a chance meeting at a masked ball had made this one possible only added to her growing sense of discomfort. By the time she reached the drive to Ryan’s ranch, her stomach was in knots.

Two enormous barns and several fenced fields flanked the ranch house. She saw lots of animals in the fields. She squinted into the sun and made out the shapes. Donkeys. Adrian had told Tyler that Ryan had donkeys. Why anyone would have that many donkeys was beyond her.

They pulled into a drive at the west side of the house.

Tyler whistled. “A Bugatti,” he said almost prayerfully.

“Red,” Brandon said. “If I had one, it’d be yellow.”

“Bet it can hit eighty in six seconds.”

The thought of Tyler hitting eighty miles an hour in any vehicle stopped Natasha’s heart. But she had years before she had to add that worry to her list.

She didn’t expect to see Adrian riding up on a horse with a woman who could’ve been his twin. In tight-fitting riding pants and gleaming black boots, he looked like a hero out of a period film.
Pride and Prejudice
came to mind. But he was cheerier than Mr. Darcy. Maybe Heathcliff from
Wuthering Heights
. But it’d been years since she’d seen that film and didn’t remember the hero too clearly. No, Adrian looked like the hero of his own story. A story that all the wishing in the world couldn’t make her fit into with any more than a bit part.

And though she’d battled with her feelings in the early morning hours, she’d made up her mind—he was going to have to find another heroine to chase down.

Not that she didn’t want to be his heroine. It was just that she knew that nothing ever turned out as it did in movies and books, and she wasn’t going to subject Tyler to another of her bad decisions. He’d already asked way too many questions about Adrian. And Adrian had led her son on with his promises of a fun-packed outing. They’d enjoy the day and then part ways.

Except for when she had to see him at work.

The staff had informed her that Adrian rarely came down into the kitchen garden area. Her heart would break, but she’d stop the damage and get on with the business of reestablishing a life for her and Tyler. That much she could control.

She had little confidence in her ability to shut down the yearnings of her heart, but fortunately she was better at ignoring the wanting he’d fired in her body. She’d had years of practice denying all that. Years when she’d sworn off men and focused on being the best mom she could be.

She’d manage.

Maybe.

Adrian waved as he leaped down off the horse. The boys ran to greet him and he introduced the woman as his sister Zoe. She dismounted with the same power and grace as her brother had. Natasha had no experience with horses. Or any animals for that matter. Over staff lunches Natasha had heard of Zoe’s prowess on the polo field, of her love of horses, but seeing the woman in action was like watching a creature from another world. Adrian handed over his reins to her, and Natasha reminded herself that they
were
from another world. An astonishing and intimidating world.

Adrian strode over, the shine on his riding boots near blinding in the noonday sun. But not nearly as blinding as his smile.

“Natasha, meet my sister Zoe.”

“Adrian’s told me so much about you,” Zoe said as she extended her hand.

She had the same charming Italian accent that Adrian did. It made simple phrases sound like invitations to unknown realms. Natasha clasped her hand, wondering what Adrian could have told her. He knew few facts of her life. And she planned to keep it that way.

“This is my son, Tyler, and his friend, Brandon. I hope we aren’t interrupting your ride.”

“Heavens no,” Zoe said. The woman’s smile was as beguiling and transporting as her brother’s. Their sister Coco was also a charming beauty. Maybe the whole family was charmed.

Zoe dangled the reins toward the boys. “Want to help me take them into the barn and brush them down?” She turned back to Natasha. “Ryan and Cara had to run into town. They’ll be back in half an hour.”

Tyler looked to Natasha.

“It’s okay, honey. I’ll wait here.”

With Adrian.

To have
the
conversation. It was the perfect opportunity to speak with him before her nerves betrayed her and she got pulled into the delicious feeling she had whenever she was near him.

The boys practically grabbed the reins out of Zoe’s hands.

“But do what she says, okay?” Natasha added.

Adrian laughed. “They won’t have a choice in that—Zoe is a taskmaster when it comes to animals. Animals come first with her.
Way
in front of brothers.”

Zoe grinned. “Animals offer unconditional love. Unlike brothers.”

Natasha watched as Tyler and Brandon walked toward the barn, chattering and gesturing to Zoe. “The boys look like miniatures next to those huge horses.”

Adrian must’ve read the alarm in her eyes. “She’s a safety-first master, or perhaps the word in English is mistress,” he told her. “They’ll be fine.”

Mistress
. It wasn’t a word anyone used anymore. Did men still have those sorts of relationships? And what would Adrian think of such a relationship? She shook her head. What was she doing? She must have listened to one too many historical romance audiobooks and her imagination was running away with her. It didn’t matter since she wasn’t going to be any sort of woman except a gardener.
That
she could handle.

“They won’t be small for long. Children grow up so fast,” she said in a wistful voice that surprised her.

She’d had to grow up way too fast. Her irresponsible foster parents had robbed her of her childhood. That wasn’t going to happen to Tyler.

“You’d think that with lots of younger sisters and brothers I’d have noticed how fast children grow. But I was too busy growing up myself, I suppose. I have little experience with children these days.”

He motioned toward the fenced field behind the ranch house, and the corners of his mouth lifted in a sexy irresistible grin. “Want to see Ryan’s pride and joy?”

How could she refuse? She nodded and felt the sand of certainty begin to slip out from under her.

Adrian noticed that Natasha wore the same soft white cotton shirt and jeans that she’d worn the day they’d hiked Mount Saint Helena. And the same too-small tennis shoes. And the same rush of carnal desire whipped through him as it had that day. He talked it down.

Slow
, Coco had said. Go slow.

“Liza’s Ryan’s great love,” Adrian said. “Next to Cara, of course. But I think Liza’s more than a close second.”

Natasha knit her brows, and Adrian cursed his weak facility for English. And for women. They reached the back paddock, and he guided Natasha over to the shade of a large oak.

He pulled a carrot from the pocket of his shirt and whistled. The happy little donkey came trotting over.

“Liza, meet Natasha.” He turned and offered the carrot to Natasha. “Want to give it to her?”

Natasha looked uncertain.

He grasped her hand. And his thoughts stopped. Liza nudged him with her nose. How long he would have stood there with his thoughts stalled by the rush of energy shooting through him, he couldn’t have said.

“Open your palm flat, like this.” He unfolded Natasha’s fingers and laid the carrot across her palm. But she stepped back, away from him and away from Liza. The look in Liza’s eyes was likely mirrored in his own. But he saw fear in Natasha’s.

“She won’t hurt you. Here, watch.” He took the carrot from Natasha and snapped it into two pieces. He placed half in Natasha’s still outstretched hand and half in his. With his palm flattened, he offered the carrot to Liza. Her soft muzzle against his palm reminded him of the warmth that had shot through him when he’d taken Natasha’s hand in his.

He was really, really losing it.

“See? Completely harmless. You try it.”

Natasha might be safe from Liza, but if she had any inkling of the near-uncontrollable urges he was fighting down, she’d do more than raise her eyebrows.

Natasha stepped close to the fence and extended her hand. Liza gently took the carrot. But instead of chewing it, she leaned over the fence and gave Natasha a hard butt with her head. Natasha’s foot caught in the grass as she stumbled back.

Adrian caught her in his arms.

And though he shouldn’t—had told himself countless times he
wouldn’t
—he dipped his lips to hers.

She opened to him, and driving want turned into a soul-crushing kiss.

The loud bang of the back door to the ranch house had them separating. But the tremble in her lips had him wanting to dive back for more.

Adrian looked in the direction of the house and saw Ryan coming down the steps. Natasha smoothed a hand to her hair. He put a respectable distance of about two feet between him and Natasha, but two feet didn’t do a damn thing to diminish the pounding in his veins.

“I heard I have two prospective Major Leaguers on my property,” Ryan said in his smooth Texas drawl. “
If
I can trust my scouting reports.”

He looked from Natasha to Adrian. A man knew when sexual chemistry sizzled in the air.

“Ryan, this is Natasha,” Adrian said in the steadiest tone he could command. “Her son Tyler and his friend are down with Zoe in your barn. And as fascinating as your donkey refuge operation is, I think they’re dying to have a round in your batting cage.”

Ryan extended his hand and Natasha shook it, a full blush still blooming on her cheeks. Adrian liked it when she blushed. It promised that she didn’t have every emotion bottled up and under control.

“It was good of you to invite us,” she said.

Ryan’s lips curled up at the corners, and his eyes crinkled with his grin. “You’re not one of those overprotective mamas, are you?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Well, if you were, I’d have to dial down the speed on the pitching machine even more than I’d planned. How old are your boy and his friend?”

“Tyler’s ten. Brandon is maybe eleven.” She eyed Ryan. “It hadn’t occurred to me that there’d be a machine in the batting cage. I thought you might be pitching to them.”

“It’s Iron Mike all the way. Don’t worry, they’ll be fine. Let’s have a look at what these boys bring to the plate.”

Baseball lingo was still a foreign tongue to Adrian. Maybe it was to Natasha as well. She bit at her lip and nodded, and the three of them walked down to the barn.

Adrian held her back as the boys finished helping Zoe brush down one of the horses.

“I’d like to cook you dinner,” he said as casually as he could.

She gave him a look he couldn’t read. Maybe cooking a woman dinner in America was the equivalent of asking her into bed. Though that was what he wanted, he was determined to heed Coco’s advice and go slow. Cooking and sharing a dinner seemed plenty slow. Painstakingly slow.