Rebecca Winters - The Vineyards Of Calanetti

Angelo used his practiced professional voice, the one that let people know that he meant business. “How’s the Van Holsen account coming?”

“Uh, good. Dino was just asking about the royal wedding.”

“He was?” Angelo stepped between Kayla and the young man. “What do you want to know?”

The young man glanced down, not meeting Angelo’s direct gaze. “I...I was just curious if the rumor was true that they might pick Monte Calanetti for the wedding.”

“It is. Is there anything else?”

Dino shrugged his shoulders. “I guess not.”

“Good. Kayla has work to do now. If you’ll excuse us.”

“Uh, sure.” Dino leaned to the side to look at Kayla. “I’ll see you around.”

“Bye.”

Angelo took a seat next to Kayla. “It seems you’ve found yourself an admirer.”

“Who? Dino?” She shook her head. “He was just interested in what I knew about the royal wedding, which wasn’t anything more than he’s heard through the grapevine. How’s the pitch for the wedding coming?”

“Good.” Liar.

He wasn’t about to admit that he, Angelo Amatucci, couldn’t come up with a dynamic pitch that would turn the prince’s and his bride’s heads. No way. What would Kayla think of him? No. Scratch that. He didn’t want to know what she’d think. She’d probably laugh at him.

“I’m glad to hear it’s going well. I know that I’m not the only one who’s anxious for the pitch. Imagine a royal wedding. The whole world will be watching it and you’ll have played a big part in it.”

“Not a big part.”

“You’re too modest. You’re like the village hero now.”

Just what he needed was more pressure. He swallowed down his uneasiness. “You’re assuming that the prince will choose this village, and that’s a big leap.”

“But why wouldn’t they pick Monte Calanetti? From the little I’ve seen, I think it’s a lovely village.”

“That’s just because you didn’t grow up here.”

Her green eyes widened. “You really didn’t like living here?”

He shook his head, but he wasn’t going to get into the details of his childhood or his strained relationship with his parents. Kayla had already been privy to more about his private life than anyone else ever. But something told him that his family secrets were safe with her.

Not in the mood to talk anymore about this village or dwell on the fact that he’d wasted two days without coming up with anything striking or fascinating, he decided to turn the conversation around. “How is the work going?”

CHAPTER NINE

COULD SHE PRETEND she hadn’t heard Angelo?

Kayla had spent a large chunk of time at this poolside table. With most of the guests either off sightseeing or attending other engagements, it was a peaceful place for her to jot out more ideas for the Van Holsen account. But after going back and forth between the art department and the very demanding client, they were still missing the mark.

It didn’t help that her ideas for the Van Holsen account had stalled. For the past half hour or so, she’d been jotting out ideas for the fund-raiser back in New York. The event was their last hope to keep the after-school program going for so many at-risk kids and it was weighing heavy on her mind. There were still so many details to iron out.

And as exciting as it was to be working with Angelo Amatucci on what could be the project to catapult her career, she couldn’t forget the children. They were relying on her to make their lives a little better by raising money to keep their facility open.

“Kayla, did you hear me?”

The sound of Angelo’s voice startled her back to the here and now. “Sorry. I just had a thought.”

“About the account?”

She nodded. “It’s coming along.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you have so far and we can work on it together?”

She glanced down at her closed notebook. “That’s okay. I know you have more important things to concentrate on. I’ve got this.”

Angelo’s dark brows drew together. “Listen, I know that things haven’t exactly been right between us since, well, you know...the kiss. If that’s still bothering you—?”

“It’s not.” Yes, it was. But not the way he was thinking. The kiss had been better than she’d ever imagined. And she knew that it could never happen again. She had too much on the line to risk it all by fooling around with her boss.

The truth of the matter was the pad of paper also contained her thoughts for the benefit concert. Angelo had a strict policy about not taking on charity accounts—he believed there were too many good causes and not enough time to help them all. Kayla couldn’t understand his stance, but then again she’d never been in charge of a large company. Maybe there was more to it than what she knew.

The one thing she did know was that she couldn’t let Angelo find out that she was organizing a fund-raiser while on this trip. She didn’t want him to have a reason not to consider her for a promotion or worse yet to have her replaced as his assistant. She wasn’t sure how he would handle the situation. In all of her time at Amatucci & Associates, she’d never witnessed anyone going against company policy. Angelo was a man no one wanted to cross.

“I’m just jotting out some ideas. Nothing specific yet.” She caught herself worrying her bottom lip, hoping he wouldn’t take exception to her not coming up with something more concrete. After all, they were on a timetable and the clock was ticking. “I spent the morning on the phone with the art department and Mrs. Van Holsen—”

His brows drew together into a formidable line. “Why didn’t you get me?”

“I...I didn’t want to disturb you. I’m supposed to be here to lighten your load.”

He shook his head. “I can’t spend all of my time on one campaign. That isn’t fair to the other clients. I have to stay on top of everything. Next time you speak with a client, I expect to be in on the call. Understood?”

“Yes.”

He let the subject go as he continued on with some other business items. “By the way, while I was on the phone with the office I mentioned that we’d been unavoidably detained in Italy, but I didn’t go into specifics. I don’t want any rumors starting up that we put off longtime clients in favor of this royal wedding pitch. I won’t risk my company’s reputation for something that is never going to happen.”

Kayla’s mouth gaped before she caught it and forced her lips together. “Is that really what you think?”

He nodded. “Pretty much.”

“But why?”

“Well, I can’t see what a royal couple would find so endearing about Monte Calanetti. I think everyone, including my brother and sister, are getting worked up over something that will never happen.”

“I don’t understand. If that’s truly what you think then why go to all of the bother to delay your return to New York and work on a campaign that you’re certain will fail?”

He shrugged. “It’s an obligation that I owe them.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “I owe it to Nico and Marianna—you know, for skipping out on them. For letting them fend for themselves with parents who were more wrapped up in their marital drama than worrying about their children.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be. I didn’t tell you any of that so you’d feel sorry for me. In fact, I don’t know why I mentioned it at all.”

“I’m glad you did. I’d like to think that we’ve become more than coworkers.” When she met his drawn brows, she realized that she’d said more than she should have. “I...I don’t mean about the kiss. I just thought we might be friends, too.”

A wave of relief washed over his face easing the stress lines. “I would like that.”