Rebecca Winters - The Vineyards Of Calanetti

Time to start acting like Angelo Amatucci, the man in charge. “Sure. I’ll have a look.”

He strode over to the couch and took a seat. Kayla handed over the laptop and their fingers brushed. Hers were soft, smooth and warm. A jolt of awareness zinged up his arm and the air hitched in his lungs. Stay focused. He didn’t dare turn to look at her. Instead, he focused his gaze on the computer monitor.

He read over her ideas for the new fragrance campaign and was truly impressed. Not only had she taken his ideas and expanded upon them, but she’d also inserted some of her own. He loved her initiative. Kayla was exactly the kind of innovative person that he wanted at Amatucci & Associates. Talented people like Kayla were the assets that would keep his company one of the most sought-after advertising agencies in the world.

“This is really good.” He turned to her. When her green gaze met his, the rest of his thoughts scattered.

“You really like it?”

He nodded. His line of vision momentarily dipped to her pink frosted lips before meeting her gaze again. He struggled for a nonchalant expression. “I think you’ve captured a touching nostalgic note with a forward-thinking view. This should capture both the new and old consumer.”

Her tempting lips lifted into a broad smile that lit up her eyes. “Now we just have to hope the client will approve.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Send this along to the art department and have them start working on some mock-ups.”

Her smile dimmed a bit. “You’re sure about this?”

“Of course I am. Don’t look so surprised. You don’t think you got the position as my assistant just because you’re beautiful, do you?”

Now why in the world had he gone and said that? But it was the truth. She was stunning. In fact, he was considering changing the dress code at the office. He really enjoyed this different look on her. Then again, if she looked this way in the office, he’d never get any work done.

Color bloomed on her creamy cheeks. “You think I’m beautiful?”

He stared back into her eyes longer than was necessary. In that moment, his ability to speak intelligently was debatable. He merely nodded.

“No man has ever called me that.”

At last finding his voice, Angelo said, “I’m having a hard time believing that.”

“Steven was more matter-of-fact and sparing on compliments. It wasn’t that he was a bad man. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. He was really good to me. He just wasn’t good with flowery words.”

“This Steven, he’s from Paradise, too?”

She nodded. “High-school sweethearts.”

“The man must need glasses badly to have missed your beauty. Both inside and out. Is he still your boyfriend?” Part of Angelo wanted her to say yes to put a swift end to this surreal moment, but a much stronger part wanted her to be free.

“We...we broke up before I moved to New York.”

The field was wide-open. Exhilaration flooded through Angelo. His hand reached out, stroking the smooth, silky skin of her cheek. The backs of his fingers skimmed down over her jaw, and then his thumb ran over the plumpness of her bottom lip. Her sudden inhale drew air over his fingers.

In her eyes, he noted the flames of desire had been ignited. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. And in that moment, he didn’t want to think—he just wanted to act. He wanted to forget everything and enjoy this moment with the girl with wavy red hair.

His heart pounded as he leaned forward. He needed her and her understanding ways more than he imagined possible. Their lips met. He was a man who knew what he wanted and he wanted Kayla. Yet he fought back the urge to let loose with his mounting need. Instead, his touch was tentative and gentle. He didn’t want to do anything to scare her away—not now that he had her exactly where he wanted her.

Kayla’s lips were rose-petal soft. And when she opened them up to him, a moan grew deep in his throat. She tasted sweet like chocolate. He’d never been a fan of candy until this moment. Now he couldn’t get enough of her sugary sweetness.

His arms wrapped round her curvy form, pulling her close. The gentle scent of perfume wrapped around them—the teasing scent that he hadn’t been able to forget since that day in the office. It was as though she’d cast some sort of magical spell over him.

In the next instant, his phone vibrated in his pocket, zapping him back to his senses. He pulled back and Kayla’s confused gaze met his. He couldn’t blame her. He was just as confused by what had happened.

He held up a finger to silence her inevitable questions—questions for which he had no answers. Because there was no way he was falling for her. Getting involved with her—with anyone—meant dealing with a bunch of messy emotions. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was end up like his parents. Just the memory of their turbulent life had Angelo immediately working to rebuild the wall between him and Kayla. He just couldn’t—wouldn’t—subject anyone to such miserable instability.

Angelo glanced down at the screen to see his brother’s name pop up. Hopefully his sister had confessed all. Angelo couldn’t wait to confront the man who’d walked away from his responsibilities.

Angelo lifted the phone to his ear. “Nico, do you have a name yet?”

There was a distinct sigh. “Is this how you answer your phone these days? Too important for a friendly greeting before diving into the heart of the matter?”

Angelo’s back teeth ground together. He quickly counted to ten, okay maybe only to five, before addressing his sibling. “Hello, Nico. What did Marianna say?”

“Nothing.”

He was losing his patience. “But why did you call?”

“You and Kayla need to return to the villa. Now. I’ll explain everything when you both get here.” The line went dead.

Angelo slipped the phone back into his pocket. He turned to Kayla, whose face was still filled with color. “We have to go.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. That was Nico and he summoned us back to the villa. It must be Marianna. I just pray there aren’t complications with the baby.” Before they left he needed to clear the air about their kiss that never should have happened. “Listen, about the kiss, I crossed a line. I...I don’t know what I was thinking.”

A myriad of expressions crossed over her face. “It’s forgotten.”

He didn’t believe her. “Can we talk about it later?”

“I’d rather not. There’s nothing to say. Besides, you have more important things to deal with.” She jumped to her feet and moved away from him. “You should get going. I’ll be fine here.”

“Nico requested you, too.” Angelo held back the startling fact that he’d feel better facing this crisis with her next to him.

Kayla pressed a hand to her chest. “But why me?”

“I don’t know. But we have to go.”

“Okay. Just let me grab my shoes and purse.” She rushed back to her room.

Angelo got to his feet and paced back and forth. Of course he was worried about his sister, but there was something else fueling his inability to sit still—Kayla’s off-the-cuff dismissal of his kiss.

The women he was used to spending time with never brushed off his advances, though each of them knew his rules in advance—nothing serious. So why did that rule not apply here? Probably because Kayla was off-limits. She was his assistant. He couldn’t forget that going forward—no matter how much his personal life spun out of control while in Italy.

From this point forward, Kayla was off-limits.

CHAPTER SEVEN

HER THOUGHTS RACED so fast that it unsettled her stomach.

Kayla stared out of the passenger window as she clasped her hands tightly together. Angelo expertly guided the rented sports car along the narrow, tree-lined road. How in the world had she lost control of the situation?