Seduce Me Sweetly (Heron's Landing Book 1) (13 page)

Chapter Ten

When Adam woke up just before dawn the following morning, it took him only a nanosecond to realize where he was and what had happened only hours earlier. Plus, the light snoring coming from the woman next to him happened to be a fairly large clue.

Turning over, he gazed at Joy as she slept on, her bright purple hair rumpled and her cheeks flushed with sleep. Her face, softened in repose, made his heart contract in a way he didn’t want to examine too closely. He brushed the hair from her forehead and kissed her in the spot between her eyebrows before getting up. At first he’d considered waking her, but she seemed so at peace that he hated to force her out of her deep sleep.

Not to mention, he didn’t know what he would do if she woke up and smiled at him like she had last night. She had become a bigger weakness than he could’ve ever imagined. But what could come of their relationship? The ghost of his wife haunted him, and he had a difficult time seeing Joy happy in a place like Heron’s Landing for long. He knew she was running from something—someone—and once she figured things out, she’d bolt for brighter, busier places. While he’d stay here, tending the failing vineyard, and wondering if the blood, sweat and tears he put into those vines would ever yield fruit.

He drove home and took a quick shower and changed. He had to be at River’s Bend in a couple of hours to begin events planning, and he needed to be as focused as possible. He couldn’t be seen mooning over a woman. Going to the kitchen, he stopped and gazed at a photo of Carolyn, one taken only a few months before the accident. He picked up the frame, stroking her face.
What am I doing?
he asked her—asked himself.
What should I do, Caro?

Carolyn only smiled back, her eyes creased with happiness. Adam had taken the photo himself, and it’d been the day his dad had given over River’s Bend to him officially, three years prior. He and Carolyn had been so elated that day. She’d also looked so beautiful amongst the crop that he took some photos of her in the sunlight, smiling and beaming.

But those days were long past, even though they didn’t seem like that long ago. Carolyn was gone, the vineyard was failing, and he had slept with—almost slept with, he supposed—another woman who was simultaneously a thorn in his side and a beacon in the darkness.

Arriving at the vineyard, Jaime drove up about the same time as he did. Getting out of his red SUV, Jaime muttered good morning as he made his way inside to begin planning for the day’s menu. Adam’s chef had never been a morning person, preferring to wake up after the sun had long arisen and working well into the night. But that didn’t work with River’s Bend’s schedule; thus, he got to work cranky and tired for a few hours before he perked up and was his usual, charming, sarcastic self.

Seeing Jaime made Adam think of his remarks to Grace, and he winced. What had gotten into him, to mess with his younger sister’s emotions like that? He knew he’d wanted to deflect his problems and move them onto her. That didn’t make it fair or right, and he knew he owed her a real apology. He also wondered if Grace would ever act on her infatuation, or would she stand in the shadows, longing but never touching? Adam shook his head. For one, his sister’s love life was not anything he wanted to think about, and two, he had much bigger problems to tackle. Grace was a big girl; she could handle herself.

The entire team got together—Jaime, Leah, Kerry, and Chris—and began a strategy for planning their first event. Kerry had already put together various social media pages, not yet launched, while Leah had actually put out feelers for anyone potentially interested in doing events at the vineyard. “We’d be better off starting with someone local,” Leah said in her usual flat tones. “Someone who doesn’t expect bells and whistles.”

Adam would’ve rather gone outside the community, as Heron’s Landing was too insular to begin with, but it was a start. Leah gave him some names, including Sadie Parsons and Tanya Eckhart, both recently engaged and looking around for potential wedding venues. Adam knew Sadie somewhat, as she’d gone to school with Grace, while he had only met Tanya a few times, as she’d moved out of town after high school before returning recently. Both, he knew, were good, country kinds of girls. But would they even have the funds to pay what River’s Bend would need to be successful? Tension roiled in Adam’s gut, and a headache threatened to build in his temples.

He also knew that he had to reach out to potential candidates himself. Calling both Sadie and Tanya, he spoke to them about their ideas regarding their weddings and their interest in doing it at River’s Bend. Both were excited and happy to talk all day about their weddings and their fiancés, and their happiness couldn’t help but rub off on Adam somewhat. By the end of the day, he felt more optimistic about the entire venture—and couldn’t wait to talk to Joy about it, either.

As Adam was about to leave, though, he saw Jaime staring at his phone, his brow furrowed.

“Bad news?” Adam asked.

Jaime glanced up, and then shook his head. “No, just…frustrating news. You know my parents are working on becoming citizens? Well, there’s always some other fee to pay, some other hoop to jump through.” He rubbed his forehead. “Their English is good, but sometimes the legalese goes over their heads and they need me to translate. Too bad I’m just a chef, not a lawyer.”

“Any way I can help?”

Jaime smiled a little. “Not really, but thanks for the offer. Unless you can reform the entire shit-tastic citizenship process, that is. You’d think having a son who’s an American citizen would help, but no. Of course not.”

Adam didn’t reply to that, but he knew Jaime’s parents’ situation weighed on him. His father worked as a professor of biochemistry at the University of Iowa, while his mom had run her own small retail business for decades. They’d emigrated from El Salvador before Jaime had been born, luckily able to come to the United States legally with the university sponsoring Jaime’s father for a work visa. But that didn’t mean becoming citizens was any easier, and it had been such an arduous, lengthy process that Adam couldn’t imagine how stressful it had been for the entire Martínez family.

As the two men were about to get into their separate cars, another car showed up and parked. Adam watched as Grace stepped out, a bag in hand, humming underneath her breath. When she saw Adam, she waved; when she saw, Jaime, she froze and looked so much like a deer in headlights that Adam wanted to take her home and give her a drink.

“Adam, Jaime,” she said, glancing at Jaime but focusing solely on Adam. “I was just dropping off Kerry’s sweater. She left it at my place this weekend, and the vineyard’s closer than her house, so…”

Grace was so pointedly ignoring Jaime that Adam winced inwardly, but he only said, “She’s just inside.”

“Okay, great. I was afraid I was going to miss her. Thanks.” She turned, blushing, and said, “How are you, Jaime?”

Jaime had been looking off into the distance, and it took him a second to realize Grace was speaking to him. “Oh, fine. You still painting?”

She nodded, her chin tucked into her chest. She clutched her bag to her stomach like a shield.

When she still said nothing, Jaime just raised a dark eyebrow and said, “Well, I gotta go.” He chucked Grace under the chin. “You be good, huh, kid?”

The sound of Jaime driving off was the only one for a moment as Grace and Adam stood next to each other. Adam heard Grace’s breath hiccup, and he was terrified she’d start crying.

“That was so bad,” she whispered.

“It wasn’t…not really.” He was lying—so he stopped talking.

“He sees me as a little kid. Oh God, and I act like one too!” She whirled on Adam, saying in a harsh whisper, “Do not tell anyone about this, you got it? No. One.” She stalked into the building behind them, Adam at a loss for words.

He hated seeing his sister unhappy, but he also couldn’t encourage a romance between her and his employee. He rubbed his temples. Maybe Joy would know how to handle this. At the thought of her, he perked up—in more places than one.

If he drove faster than usual as a result to get to her place, he would never, ever admit it.

***

“So how was work today?” Joy asked as she poured Adam a glass of wine from the bottle he’d brought over yesterday. She seemed in good spirits, smiling as she opened the door for him and even kissing him before he entered. He’d taken that as a good sign, and they may have kissed in the doorway longer than necessary.

“We’re going forward with the events. I still don’t love the idea, but it’s pretty much all we have right now.” He swirled the wine, inhaling its notes before sipping it. “I even talked to potential brides.”

Joy raised her eyebrows. “You did? You didn’t make them cry, did you?”

“No, they were very happy to consider my services.”

“Look at you, charming women left and right. Next you’ll be blogging about weddings and talking about the best dresses for the season.”

“There are seasons for dresses?” At her look, he grinned. He couldn’t help it: she brought something out in him that no one had in a long time. Even Carolyn. Reaching for Joy, he took her into his arms, nuzzling her neck. She smelled heavenly, and had the softest skin. “Are you wearing perfume?” he asked, curious suddenly.

“Mmmm, yes. I bought a new kind before I left Chicago—Chloé by Chloé. Very original, no?”

“You smell like flowers.” He inhaled. He’d been trained to detect subtle notes of fragrance in wines, and found himself able to do so similarly for perfumes. “I smell rose, maybe a layer of cedarwood? And amber.”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “How did you—? That’s impressive. I think there’s also honey and peony, if I remember correctly.”

He kissed up her throat, no longer caring about the various notes of the perfume. “You also taste like sugar.”

“That’s probably the Dial soap I bought from Mike’s.”

When he pinched her, she giggled.

Although he could’ve taken her on the counter right then—just like last night—he backed away. Brushing her hair behind her ear, he asked, “How long did you live in Chicago?”

Her expression became shuttered. She looked away, suddenly invested in the plate of crackers she’d set out. “For about seven years,” she finally said. “I grew up in Springfield, Illinois, as a kid but moved to Chicago after college.”

“And you were a journalist in Chicago, too?”

“Freelance writer, journalist, barista, dog walker, you name it, I did it. When you’re young, you think the world’s your oyster and that even if a city is expensive, you’ll figure it out.” She smiled a little. “I was poor, but happy. I think that’s the best part of your twenties, you know? Figuring out shit and doing whatever, never knowing what the next day will bring.”

Adam couldn’t really agree, as he’d known since he was a kid that he’d take over River’s Bend and run the family business. He’d also known he’d marry a good woman like Carolyn, stay in Heron’s Landing, and have a few kids. The usual kind of thing—just like his father. But now Carolyn was gone, he had no children, and the vineyard was failing as he stood here with Joy in his arms. Maybe if he’d been as free as Joy had been in his early twenties, he wouldn’t feel so at sea when things hadn’t gone exactly as planned.

“And then I met Jeremy,” she continued, “and I thought we’d stay in Chicago forever. But that didn’t happen.”

Adam stopped himself from asking more. Grace had mentioned that Joy had had a boyfriend—fiancé?—but Adam knew nothing more than that. He wondered if this Jeremy had something to do with her moving away from Chicago to a tiny town like Heron’s Landing. Gently, he asked, “What happened after that?”

She shrugged, but he could see the tension in her face. “Things didn’t work out, I guess. And now here I am.” She tried to smile, but he could tell this wasn’t something she wanted to talk about.

Adam touched her arm. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s over and done with.” She sipped her wine, and then asked, “What about you? What was your wife like?”

For some reason, he hadn’t expected her to ask about Carolyn. It felt so strange, talking about his wife with the woman he’d kissed and pleasured last night. Strange, yet…not. His family had a tendency to avoid the subject of Carolyn, and he found himself wanting to talk about her. She’d always be part of his life; acting like she hadn’t existed wouldn't make his grief over her death disappear.

“Carolyn was one of those people who everyone liked. Kind, funny, generous. She was about your height, but with blond hair.”

Joy smiled. “Where did you meet?”