Tangled Vines: An Australian Rural Romance

Avon, Massachusetts

Copyright © 2015 by Nicole Flockton.
All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

Published by

Crimson Romance

an imprint of F+W Media, Inc.

10151 Carver Road, Suite 200

Blue Ash, OH 45242. U.S.A.

www.crimsonromance.com

ISBN 10: 1-4405-9605-0

ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-9605-6

eISBN 10: 1-4405-9606-9

eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-9606-3

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, corporations, institutions, organizations, events, or locales in this novel are either the product of the author's imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. The resemblance of any character to actual persons (living or dead) is entirely coincidental.

Cover art © Wavebreak Media Ltd /123RF.

This book is dedicated to Dr. Chin and the doctors, nurses, and staff at Fiona Stanley Hospital and Mount Hospital in Perth, Western Australia. Thank you for ensuring my dad gets to see this book published.

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• Title Page
  
• Copyright Page
  
• Dedication
  
• Chapter 1
  
• Chapter 2
  
• Chapter 3
  
• Chapter 4
  
• Chapter 5
  
• Chapter 6
  
• Chapter 7
  
• Chapter 8
  
• Chapter 9
  
• Chapter 10
  
• Chapter 11
  
• Chapter 12
  
• Chapter 13
  
• Chapter 14
  
• Chapter 15
  
• Chapter 16
  
• Chapter 17
  
• Acknowledgments
  
• More from This Author
  
• Also Available
  

Laughter filtered through Kyle Davis’s closed door. He gave the New York stock market one last look, then shut down his computer. He would have to join the crowd.

With precise movements, he put his laptop in his bag and walked the short distance to his door. A loud chorus of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” greeted him as he opened it with a forced smile. Kyle didn’t mind going to any other office party the firm put on. Except this one—the annual Christmas party. If he could sneak out, he would. Unfortunately, his obligation as owner of the company forced him to attend.

“You okay, Kyle?” This voice he recognized. He’d heard it in all forms. Angry. Happy. Sad. Annoyed.

Smiling down at his assistant, he touched her arm briefly before putting his hand in his pants pocket. “Yes, Shey, I’m fine.”

“Thanks for hanging around. I know it’s hard.”

“Yes, you do.” He quirked his eyebrow at her. “Yet you continually arrange for this event to be held on the night I leave.”

Shey placed her hands on her hips. “That’s because this is your firm, Kyle. You have a responsibility to be here.” A waiter passed by carrying a tray full of drinks. She plucked a bottle of beer off the tray and handed it to him. “Now drink and be happy.”

Kyle took the cool bottle and brought it to his lips. He took a couple of swallows, welcoming the bitter taste of the beer. “Why do you always organize the party to be held in the office? Why not at a restaurant or private room at a club?”

“Because if I did that, you wouldn’t turn up. At least here, outside your office, you have no choice but to attend.”

“I might have to arrange for an interior designer to come in next year and change the layout of the office. I’ll make my office as far away as possible from everyone,” he grumbled.

Shey laughed and lightly punched him on his arm. “You wouldn’t. Any other time of the year you like to look out and see everyone working. The king surveying his kingdom.” She paused and took a sip of her own beer. “It’s only this time of year you act like a bear with a sore head.”

“I should fire you.”

“Not the first time you’ve said that. I imagine it won’t be the last. It’s lucky I know and love you.”

Kyle leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I know.” He lowered his voice so only Shey could hear what he had to say next. “Thanks, Shey. For being you.”

Twenty minutes later, after his obligatory thank-you-for-your-hard-work speech, he headed toward the door. The people who had been working with him for a few years knew his habit of cutting out early. They never questioned him. They knew better. His staff liked their jobs too much. He paid them handsomely for their loyalty.

“Kyle, wait.”

He stopped and glanced over his shoulder at Shey. “Yes?”

“Have a nice holiday.” She winked before she turned and headed back to the party.

The noise from the party faded as he made his way toward the bank of elevators. He glanced at his watch—it was close to ten p.m. The sensible part of him said he should wait until morning to set off for his Margaret River house. He ignored it. The car was packed. At this time of the evening traffic would be light. There would be no snarls slowing down his journey.

Solitude beckoned. He would answer her call.

• • •

Kyle inserted the key into the door that led from the garage into his kitchen. He placed his case on the ground, stretching his arms above his neck to loosen his tight muscles. The silence shrouded him. He welcomed the feeling of calm that always washed over him when he walked into this house.

He’d bought it a year ago from a couple no longer able to maintain the residence plus the ten acres of land surrounding it. He’d managed a few weekend trips during the year to enjoy the house and the Margaret River surf. But he had to admit he hadn’t managed a trip here for the last couple of months. While the house had been renovated in recent times, the vines and fruit trees had been neglected. The garden was a total mess. He’d hired a caretaker to look after the house when he wasn’t there and to do basic maintenance on the trees and vines. He had to make some decisions soon about what he was going to do with the area. Ripping it out and putting in a pool and pool house seemed a good option.

He clamped down on thoughts about property maintenance. He was here to forget it was Christmas. He’d deal with the garden in the New Year when Ted, his caretaker, was back from sick and annual leave and Kyle had his mind firmly focused on the present. Not on the past.

Kyle wandered through the house with the familiarity of someone who always walked through it in the dark.

He stripped off his shirt and made his way to the French doors overlooking the back of his property. The moon cast a bright white glow over the yard. He blinked and then blinked again. He reached over to the wall and flipped the switch. Light flooded the outside of his house.

“What the hell?” Where once slightly overgrown rows of vines resided, now sleek, straight rows greeted him. Vines that looked as neat and organized as the ones on the neighboring property.

Kyle closed his eyes; surely tiredness was causing this hallucination. He opened them and the sight remained unchanged.

Was this why he’d been signing all those checks recently? Who gave permission to tend to the vines? He hadn’t, that’s for sure. What was happening here? What didn’t he know about? But he bet Shey knew. If it weren’t so late, he’d call her and ask what the hell was going on.

A yawn ripped through him. Tomorrow. He would sort it out tomorrow. With one last look, he doused the lights and made his way to his bedroom, shedding his trousers and tossing them into the laundry room as he passed. He should take a shower, but fatigue sank its claws into him.

Fighting off another yawn, he entered his bedroom and made his way to his bed. A thought tugged at the back of his mind, a thought that things weren’t quite right in the house. A thought he should take notice of, but was too tired to try to understand.

Tomorrow everything would make sense.

• • •

Jordan Hastings washed the shampoo out of her hair while listing all the things she needed to do that day. There was nothing more invigorating than getting up as the sun rose out of the sky to begin a brand new day.

She needed to check and make sure the new shoots were growing straight, obtaining maximum sunshine on the budding fruit stock. She also needed to make sure there was no sign of mildew on the vines. After being neglected for so long, she wasn’t expecting much from this year’s harvest. With the grapes she did manage to grow and harvest, she hoped to experiment and come up with new blends, new flavors infused into the wines.

Jordan couldn’t wait for her dad to recover from his broken leg so he could help her when it came to harvesting the grapes. Good thing she happened to be visiting him when he had his accident. She tried not to think his fall was caused by hearing about her broken engagement. Or how her former fiancé had won the Golden Wine award for “Most Innovative Wine” for the wine she’d created. She tried to convince herself none of those things was the reason her father lost his balance on the ladder, fell and broke his leg. But she couldn’t help but feel responsible.

Jordan forcefully shut off the water. She wasn’t going to think about her loser ex. The only important male person in her life was her father, and she planned to keep it that way for a long time. She wasn’t going to be fooled by a handsome face again.

She shoved the shower curtain aside and screamed.

“Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing in my house?”

“
Who
are you?” Jordan screeched back as she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. But she didn’t need to ask the question. She knew the bare-chested man standing in front of her.

Kyle Davis in the flesh.

She never expected the first time she met him she would be standing naked in the shower. She hated surprises and her temporary boss standing in the bathroom was one hell of a surprise.

“I asked you first.” He crossed his arms over his impressively muscled chest and widened his stance.

Jordan bristled at his aggressiveness. It was either that or step forward and lay her head on his chest.

Stop it.

Could she be any more hormonal? He’d scared the crap out of her and she wanted to feel his arms around her? Was she asking for trouble? His good looks weren’t going to keep her from doing what she wanted. No man was going to stop her from pursuing her dreams anymore.

His annoyance she could deal with. If she was truthful, she supposed he had a reason for it. It was his house after all. But it wasn’t like she was trespassing. She’d cleared it with Shey to stay in the main house instead of her dad’s apartment for the time being. However, having a conversation while wearing a towel, with him looking like he wanted to explode wasn’t a priority on her current to-do list.

“What is this? High school?” she fired back, cringing at how juvenile she sounded. She couldn’t help it. The whole situation was making her uncomfortable.

He took a couple of steps toward her, blocking her exit route out of the bathroom.

“No, this is
my
house and instead of finding it empty, I find
you
.” Kyle leaned forward fractionally. Her hand reached behind her for the tiled wall to steady herself against the fire sparking out from his eyes. “So I ask again. Who are you? And what are you doing in my house?”

At least this time he asked his questions a bit more politely.

“Do you think we can have this conversation when I’m dressed?”

A small smile broke out on Kyle’s face as his eyes lazily roamed over her towel-clad form. “Now why would I do that? Seems to me this is the perfect time for a chat.”

Great, just remind the sexiest guy you’ve seen in a long time you’re naked. Way to go, Jordan.

No. She wasn’t going to be swayed by his good looks or let the way he looked her up and down affect her. She was off men. Surely after Don she realized her man radar was way off. Her track record in picking a guy who genuinely cared about her was pretty dismal.