Susan Mallery - Seductive One

She’d been so sure he was going to loan her the money, but as time passed, she became less confident. Without him, there wasn’t going to be a Four Sisters Winery. Without his money she was completely on her own. Her current checking-account balance hovered around twelve thousand dollars. Since she and Jeff had split, she’d been able to save most of her paycheck. Unfortunately combining that with the money her ex would soon be sending her wasn’t close to enough.

The long row of plants stretched out in front of her. Brenna continued to cut the clusters, ignoring those that weren’t ripe enough, working methodically, wondering how much worse her shoulders were going to hurt by the end of the day when her cell phone rang.

Her youngest sister, Mia, was heading back from six weeks at a Japanese language school in Washington, D.C. Delayed at Dulles Airport by a canceled flight, Mia passed the morning by phoning her siblings and telling them about her adventures. She’d already called Brenna twice in two hours. Each time Brenna had been so sure it was Nic, that she’d barely been able to breathe. Now she knew better and didn’t bother to glance at the caller ID.

“I’m busy,” she said as she straightened slightly. “So stop calling me.”

“Is this a bad time?”

The low male voice sounded nothing like eighteen-year-old Mia. Instead it sounded intimate, familiar, and too sexy for comfort.

“Nic?”

“I can call back.”

She glanced around to make sure she wasn’t likely to be overheard. The regular crew had long moved past her and was nearly halfway down the row. She shifted so she could plop down on her butt.

Her breathing hadn’t stopped, but there was a tightness in her chest. Tension filled her. Was he going to tell her yes?

“This is fine. I’m helping with harvest and I could use a break.”

“You’re out in the fields?”

“Uh-huh. I’m hot and sweaty. I’m a real fashion statement.”

“Why aren’t you in the winery? Shouldn’t you be worrying about the fermenting?”

“My grandfather and I had a disagreement, as usual. I’m in a snit, so I thought I’d come out here and sulk.”

“His loss.”

“That’s my feeling.” She wiped the sweat from her face. Her heart felt as if it were beating so hard it was going to jump into another dimension. “So, um, did you come to any decisions?”

“Yeah. I’m thinking about getting a dog.”

Brenna glanced up at the bright sun. Had she been out for too long? Was her brain being poached?

“Okay,” she said slowly. “Dogs are nice. Did you have a particular breed in mind?”

“A golden retriever. Not exactly an untraditional choice, but I want something big and friendly.”

“They qualify.”

“There’s a breeder up in Ojai. I was thinking of heading out there this afternoon and taking a look. I already called and they have a litter of puppies that are just weaned. A couple are spoken for, but there are five or six available.”

Okay-one of them was crazy. Why did Nic think she cared about him getting a dog? Was he telling her about the puppy so that she would think he was a swell guy even though he was going to turn her down?

“That sounds just peachy. I hope you have fun.”

She’d blinked several times before she realized her eyes were burning. There was no way she was going to cry over this, she told herself even as her throat got all tight. Dammit, she’d been so sure he was going to say yes that she hadn’t bothered with a fall-back plan…mostly because he was her fall-back plan.

The loss of her dream made her feel sick to her stomach. She wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

“Look Nic, I really need to get back to-”

“I thought you might like to come with me.”

“I’m not in the market for a puppy.”

“It would give us a chance to talk.”

The sick feeling went away. Hope blossomed and grew until it pushed out every other emotion. “Do we have something to talk about?”

“I have a few questions. If I like the answers, then yes, I would say we do.”

If Brenna hadn’t been sitting she would have fallen down. “Are you going to loan me the money?”

“Like I said, I still need convincing, but I’m about seventy percent there. It’s nearly eleven. Why don’t you get cleaned up and head over to my place? Be here by noon and we’ll go to Ojai. On the way to the breeder, we can talk about your proposal.”

“Th-that sounds great. I’ll be there.”

“See ya.”

She heard a click in her ear. She pushed the Off button on her cell phone, then flopped on her back on the dirt and burst out laughing.

“Holy shit!” she yelled to the heavens. “He’s going to say yes!”

Thirty minutes later Brenna stood in front of her bathroom mirror and tried to manipulate the blow-dryer and a fat, round brush. Normally she simply let her hair air dry. Since the unfortunate incident of the haircut she’d impulsively indulged in after Jeff had dumped her, she hadn’t bothered much with style. As her entire world had been reduced to the hacienda and the winery, there wasn’t anyone to impress, so she’d let her morning routine slide to a quick shower followed by body lotion.

Right now she wanted to look dazzling. Not dressed up but attractive and confident. But what exactly did one wear when one wanted to be considered worthy of a million-dollar loan?

As she fumbled with the brush and tried to add a little volume and shine to her hair, she considered her options. Suit, dress, jeans, shorts. Nothing.

The latter made her both wince and smile. It had been ten years and fifteen pounds since Nic had seen her naked. She didn’t think she should expose her more rounded self without some kind of warning. Besides, this wasn’t about sex, it was about business. So a suit?

But it was August, damn hot, and they were going puppy shopping. Not exactly an itinerary for a skirt and pumps.

When her hair was somewhat styled and nearly dry, she tossed down the brush and blow-dryer, then lunged for her makeup case. At least she had decent skin with medium olive coloring that meant she didn’t need much in the way of base or concealer. She smudged on a little eye shadow, applied mascara and lip gloss, then headed for her closet.

Three minutes later she’d settled on what she hoped was suitable puppy-shopping attire: khaki shorts, a teal polo shirt, and sandals. She slipped on a watch, simple hoop earrings, and ran the brush through her hair one last time before grabbing her purse and car keys and ducking out the door.

It was 11:58 when she pulled up in front of the Wild Sea Vineyards winery. The building facades hadn’t changed in a generation, but a half dozen new structures had been added in the past few years. She could see the tasting building about a half mile away and all the tourists’ cars parked in front. To her left and right were acres of grapes; behind her was the house.

She stepped out into the warm afternoon and pulled off her sunglasses. In the past hour she’d been too busy getting ready to think about being nervous, but suddenly the butterflies migrated to her stomach and began dive-bombing her pancreas. She felt hot, thirsty, tense, and apprehensive. If her emotions were a liquid, they would be thick, green, and bubbling.

The brew got worse when Nic stepped out of the winery. He wore jeans and a T-shirt. Dark sunglasses hid his eyes.

She’d seen him dressed like this hundreds of times, maybe more. So he was tall, muscular, and good-looking. She was only interested in his money. Nothing about the man appealed to her. Really.

Brenna shoved her car keys into her jeans pocket and sighed. She wasn’t a very good liar, not even to herself. It might have been ten years and a lot of miles since she and Nic had been a whole lot more than friends, but some part of her remembered every detail of their time together. Especially the time they’d spent in bed.