www.BellaBooks.com
When you shop at Bella, more of your dollars reach the women who write and produce the books you love. Thanks from all of the authors & staff at Bella!
Table of Contents
Cover
Synopsis
Title Page
Copyright Page
Other Books by Jaime Clevenger
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Part One: Rebound
Part Two: Sacramento, California
Part Three: Wagers
Part Four: Denver, Colorado
Part Five: Omissions
Part Six: Truth or Dare
Bella Books
Synopsis
Flood waters aren’t the only dangerous current in the Rockies—Riley Robinson’s attraction to the just-passing-through Ana Potrero is immediate and mutual. Some wine, some laughs, some passion—and no strings. Perfect, right?
When Ana proves to be far more complicated, amusing and appealing than one night could ever fully explore, Riley can’t believe she let Ana slip through her fingers. A second chance brings all the intense pleasures of their first encounter, but the realities of dating, distance, ex-lovers and family could turn sweet, sweet wine into bitter dregs.
Can love ripen in a world so sour on love? Find out in this sexy, modern romance from Jaime Clevenger (The Unknown Mile, Whiskey and Oak Leaves).
Copyright © 2014 by Jaime Clevenger
Bella Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 10543
Tallahassee, FL 32302
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First Bella Books Edition 2014
eBook released 2014
Editor: Medora MacDougall
Cover Designer: Judith Fellows
ISBN: 978-1-59493-431-5
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Other Books by Jaime Clevenger
Bella Books
The Unknown Mile
Call Shotgun
Whiskey and Oak Leaves
Sign on the Line
Spinsters Ink
All Bets Off
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my editor. Your patience and tender loving care pushed me to make this little story shine a bit brighter. Thank you also to my first-pass readers, Corina and Carla. I made the sexy parts sexier because of you.
About the Author
Jaime Clevenger lives with her wife and two kids in Colorado. She spends her days working as a veterinarian and playing with her family. Her dog and cats would all like a little more attention but every evening, much to their dismay, she settles in at the computer to write.
Part One
Rebound
Riley dropped her backpack on the nightstand and sank down on the bed. The red plaid blanket was rough against her hands and smelled of wood smoke but was thick enough to keep out the chill. Sharon had pulled back the curtains to show off the view of the courtyard. There was a gazebo painted dark purple with white trim, wicker chairs pulled out onto the grass to catch the last of the afternoon sun and, beyond this, a flagstone path leading to the hot tub and the main house. Aspen were grouped at the edge of the manicured grass and these held their green leaves but the maples were already beginning to turn a golden yellow.
A man came out of the back door of the main house. He stepped off the porch and lit up a cigarette, then strode down the path, eyeing the hot tub and the cottage. He tried one of the wicker chairs positioned with the best view of the garden, but the chair wobbled under his weight or, more likely, wobbled because the seats had all been arranged on the slanting hillside. He changed seats twice before settling on one with the least wobble.
Riley kicked off her shoes and leaned back on the bed. She had left Denver at rush hour and then sat in traffic for over an hour before even reaching the highway to the mountains. It was too late for a hike and she had no plans for dinner. She glanced at her watch. Lisa’s plane was due to leave in twenty minutes. Jen was likely already seated next to her, in the seat Riley had reserved for herself. Riley pulled the blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes.
The sound of rushing water awoke Riley with a start. She was certain a pipe had burst behind her head, but as soon as she realized she was dry, she recalled Sharon’s warning about the loud plumbing. She rubbed her head and fell back on the overstuffed pillow. She was in the same clothes she’d worn to work. She thought of changing but made no move to get out of bed. After some time, Riley realized the water in the pipes was battling with the noise of rain pattering on the shingles overhead. She stared at the sliver of light beneath the bathroom doorway, waiting for it to disappear.
Several minutes passed, possibly more, but there was no clock in the room. Riley wondered if the other guest had already left the bathroom and had accidentally left the light on or if it now served as a nightlight. She tried unsuccessfully to close her eyes and ignore it, but the light seemed to draw her attention like a beacon. Time dragged with only the sound of the rain to occupy her thoughts. After what seemed close to an hour had passed, she threw back the wool blanket and crossed the three steps from the bed to the bathroom door. She knocked lightly. No one answered. The door was unlocked and the fluorescent light within was blaringly bright. Her reflection in the mirror was that of a squinting stranger with wrinkled clothing and short, tousled hair. Cursing, she slapped the switch and hurried back to the warmth of the wool blanket.
* * *
“Go early, if you’re hiking today,” Sharon began, setting a steaming mug of coffee on the counter in front of Riley. “Last night was only a taste of the rain we’re due. Do you want one or two slices of French toast?”
“One slice, thank you.”
Sharon passed her a plate with a single piece on which a pat of butter was melting. “Enjoy. There’s more syrup in the dining room if you want it.”
“You’ve got a full crowd out there. Want help serving?”
“No, this is the best part of my job.” Sharon pointed to a stool. “Sit down and enjoy your breakfast. There’s milk in the fridge for the coffee.” Sharon placed two pieces of French toast on each of three plates, garnished them with fat slabs of butter and a smattering of powdered sugar and then sliced orange slices onto the side. Balancing all three plates, she smiled at Riley and scooted through the swinging door into the dining room.
Riley found the milk, pulled the stool over to the counter and sat down with her mug. Sharon had left the newspaper open to the section on local news, and Riley flipped the pages until she found the world news. After scanning the first few headlines and being hit with a wave of gloom, she folded the paper and resolved to ignore the news for the next several days. She ate the French toast, thinking she should have had two slices when the first disappeared quickly. She took her plate over to the sink, already half full with other plates. The window above the sink framed a view of the mountains, which were cloaked this morning with mist so thick that the highest peaks were entirely concealed.
Sharon reappeared with empty hands. “They like the toast.”
“It was delicious.” Riley held up her empty plate. “You really do enjoy this, don’t you?”
“Amazing, isn’t it, considering this whole thing never was my idea? In fact, I distinctly rem
ember standing right here in this kitchen and telling Cherie she was crazy if she thought I’d be able to cook breakfast for a dozen guests—or more—seven days a week. But, yes, I really do. Tomorrow I’m making breakfast frittatas from my favorite cookbook. I make it even better than the book with a little green chile sauce on the side.”
“You won’t mind if I help with the cleanup? I want to do something in exchange for room and board if you won’t let me pay you.” Riley rinsed off her plate and set it in the dishwasher.
“Deal. But sit down and finish your coffee first. I’ll have that sink filled in a half hour and then you can really get to work. Sometimes I dream that I’ve made enough money to hire a year-round kitchen elf. I barely break even as it is through the slow winter months, though, so it doesn’t make sense to have another hand. Still, I wish I could…Meredith comes at noon to clean the rooms, but I don’t pay her enough to do the kitchen as well. In the busy summer season, I pay her daughter to help with the cleanup, but then she goes back to school and I’m left with all of this.” She sighed and found a towel to wipe a puddle of spilled orange juice off the counter tiles. “But you can’t beat September in the mountains. You’ve picked the best time to visit.”
An attractive woman pushed the door halfway open and glanced from Sharon to Riley and then back to Sharon. Sharon quickly motioned her into the kitchen. “What is it, sweetie?”
“Any more coffee? We’re empty out here.”
Riley guessed that the woman in the doorway was in her early thirties, but she showed no sign that she minded being called sweetie. Only a grandmother could get away with calling their customers terms of endearment like “sweetie,” Riley thought. Sharon had three grandchildren, in fact. Riley had seen all of their baby pictures. Sharon had been married once, years ago, but she never talked about the marriage except to say that the one good thing she got out of it was her son, Max. Max was twenty-nine, same as Riley, but he had already managed to father three kids.
“Of course.” Sharon reached for the carafe she’d filled earlier and then set another pot on to brew. As she filled the woman’s cup, she said, “Ana, meet Riley. You two are sharing the cottage.”
Ana held up her hand. She had manicured nails and a gold bracelet that caught the light when she moved her hand. “She might not actually want to meet me this morning,” she said, this time pointedly looking at Riley, “I think I may have woken you up last night. I needed a shower and forgot I was sharing the cottage.”
Sharon shook her head. “Don’t worry about Riley. She’s a sound sleeper. Her ex was a snorer.”
Riley laughed. “How’d you know Lisa was a snorer?”
“Oh, I know more secrets than that, honey.” Sharon winked. She excused herself and went out to serve the coffee.
Ana set her mug down and opened the fridge door to get the milk. She had a trim but curvy figure that was noticeably attractive even in loose pants and a sweatshirt. The rest of her was easy to appreciate as well, Riley thought. Ana seemed to know her way around the place. Riley guessed this wasn’t her first time staying at Sharon’s.
“Mind if I join you? I like the kitchen seating better than the dining room. It’s stuffy out there.” Ana pulled the second stool up to the counter. “I had an ex who snored. I always tried to convince him to stay up late so I could get to bed first.”
“I used that trick once or twice,” Riley agreed.
“But it’s hell if you wake up in the middle of the night to go pee, right? And earplugs drove me crazy. The sound of my own breathing isn’t something I ever want to hear in stereo.” She shook her head. “Anyway, that relationship lasted too long.”
“Yeah? So did mine,” Riley said. Ana flashed a smile, and Riley felt her heart skip a beat. She nearly laughed at her body’s eager response. Easy does it, she thought.
“Here on business?” Ana asked.
“No, this is my week of vacation,” Riley said. “I decided it was time for me to climb a mountain. I came here when my Alaska plans didn’t pan out.”
“Too bad. Alaska has some nice mountains.”
“And I bet my ex is enjoying the view.”
“Newly ex?”
“It’s a long story…Let’s just say I’m done with snorers.” Riley took a sip of her coffee, which had cooled to lukewarm, and felt her stomach grumble. Sharon had come back and started another batch of French toast, and the smell of it was intoxicating. She thought of helping herself to another slice. “It does feel good to be here alone. I think I need some time to climb mountains and forget about girlfriend issues. I’ve been talking about climbing one of the fourteeners for two years now. Decided I should either shut up or do it. What about you? Business or vacation?”
“Business.” Ana glanced at her watch. “In fact, I’ve got my first meeting this morning. But I am going to fit in a jog beforehand. Do you run? Want to join me?”
Riley considered the offer. She didn’t ever really feel like running, but with Ana’s company she thought it might be more entertaining than a solo jog. She glanced over at Sharon, who, she realized, was carefully listening in on their conversation despite her apparent concentration on the grill. “No, I think I’m hell-bent on climbing straight up a rock slab to get a good view.”
“You know, you can drive to the top of Pikes Peak. You don’t have to spend all that time hiking,” Sharon said, lifting slices of golden brown toast off the grill. “Anyway, I think you should start with the Grade. It’s a nice trail and a good test of your oxygen levels at elevation.”
“I live in Denver, Sharon. I think I’ll be fine.”
Sharon shook her head. “You’d be surprised.”
“Your day is going to be more interesting than mine no matter which hike you pick,” Ana said, carrying her mug over to the sink. “Thanks for breakfast, Sharon. Delicious as usual.” She left through the back door, glancing back once at Riley.
Riley followed her with her eyes until the cottage door closed behind her. “I know she said her ex was a guy, but she doesn’t seem all that straight to me.”
“I won’t remind you that you just broke up with Lisa this past week.”
“I’m just saying.”
“You’re ‘just saying’…uh, huh. I’ve heard that tone in your voice before and no one is ever, ‘just saying,’ when they say things that way. I don’t think you’re ready, Riley.”
“She was the one who came over to sit down with me. I was just sitting here drinking my coffee and she invited herself over.”
“What’s wrong with you butch women?” Sharon waved her spatula. “She’s friendly and talked to you for two minutes. That doesn’t mean she’s interested.”
“Well, not always. But in this case, I think she is.” Riley held up her hands when she saw Sharon’s skeptical gaze. “Look, I’m on vacation and could use a distraction. And she’s cute. Besides, you know everything with Lisa was a long time coming. If I’m not mistaken, I broke up with her in December and then again in April. I’m not freshly bruised.”
“And she still lives with you. ‘If I’m not mistaken,’” Sharon said, mimicking Riley’s tone, “a month ago when you were going to break up with her for the third or fourth time, you decided to work things out. What if that happens again?”
“It won’t,” Riley said. “Not after she and Jen have been to Alaska together.”
“Not ‘after Alaska’? How about ‘not after realizing that she’d been sleeping with her ex for months despite telling you and everyone otherwise’?” Sharon paused, then waved her spatula again at Riley, adding, “You deserve better.”
“Everyone says that. What you really mean, is, ‘you deserve someone who will be monogamous,’ right? But the thing is, Jen wasn’t the problem with our relationship.”
“No, the problem was that you decided to pretend the thing with Lisa and Jen wasn’t really happening,” Sharon broke in, raising a hand and cutting Riley off when she tried to speak. “You knew. You knew Jen was her girl on the side w
henever you two had a fight. But you didn’t want to be alone, so you let her hang on long after you should have locked the door.”
“I didn’t know the half of it,” Riley defended. “Not for a long time, anyway. She said nothing was going on and I believed her.”
Sharon picked up two French toast platters and a pitcher of water. “Lisa and Jen were more than just friends from the very beginning. I warned you last Christmas…You may have thought that she was going to forget about Jen eventually, but it never happened. And I think you still aren’t convinced that the relationship is over. You are still holding on.”
“Trust me, I am done. I’m done with all of the games, and Lisa knows it. And I don’t need an ‘I told you so’ right at the moment.” Riley’s stomach had tightened into a hard ball. She didn’t want to hash out the details of her breakup with anyone, even someone as well-intentioned as Sharon. And she had already admitted that Sharon had been right about more than a few things with Lisa.
“You are still letting her stay at your condo.”
“Should I have kicked her out the same day I broke up with her?”
“Yes. She could stay with Jen. Or go live with her mom.”
Sharon was close friends with Lisa’s mother, Jeanette. In fact, Riley had first met Sharon at Jeanette’s Christmas party two years ago. They didn’t see each other again until Jeanette’s next Christmas party, which was the same night Riley broke up with Lisa the first time. Jeanette was also the owner of the clinic where Riley worked, which had made the whole situation with Lisa muddy right from the start.
For some reason, Sharon and Riley had formed an unlikely friendship. Unlikely not because of the difference in their ages, but because most of their conversations had involved Sharon trying to convince Riley to forget Lisa and move home to Washington. Sharon had been a stranger at the time and Riley had decided to trust Lisa instead.
Sweet, Sweet Wine Page 1