Romancing the Wine: A Boxed Set of 9 Newest Novellas from Award-Winning Authors

by Jan Moran

  “Like I said, that was something I approached your old man about, but he wasn’t interested. I’d love to have local wines on the menu. Hale Enterprises is also working to open a local Coop in town to sell locally made products. We’ve got honey, maple syrup, quilts and blankets and all kinds of other crafts from the women’s club. I know you have your own store here, but it’s another option for you. We’re looking to open on Black Friday.”

  “Sounds great.” Could it be this easy? “I’ll draft an agreement and after the harvest, we can get together to discuss.”

  “The harvest, right. I heard you needed help with that. Jill, Erik, and I are planning to be here Friday, but we have a wedding to attend in North Carolina on Saturday.”

  “Oh, well, that’s great. Thanks, man.” Aiden shook Austin’s hand again, receiving a clap on the shoulder.

  “We’re happy to help. Don’t be afraid to holler if you need anything. Listen, I’ll let you get back to it.” He eyed his watch and smiled. “With any luck, I can catch my wife on a lunch break.”

  Aiden wondered if that’s where Courtney was. He walked Austin out, finding Courtney was still missing from the reception desk. He headed to his office, only to find her in there with his mother. Humphrey sprinted across the large space, jumping up on Aiden’s leg, but luckily not having a go at it. Aiden scratched the dog’s head and headed across the room.

  Everything in his office was packed up, the wall to wall cherry-finished hardwood shelves empty, the matching desk cleared off. “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “We need this room for functions, Aiden. You said you were going to clear out, but I can’t keep waiting. Austin Hale booked a meeting here for next week, catered for twenty people, so we need to start getting ready.”

  “Austin just left. He didn’t mention it.”

  “You put me in charge of events,” Vanessa pointed out.

  “Yes, Mom, I did, and I told you I would clear out. I didn’t realize how pressing it was.” She had yet to give him the break-down of events and prices he’d asked for, so he didn’t think she was in any hurry for the space.

  “Well, you keep complaining that the winery isn’t making any money. I’d think you’d be a little more grateful that one of us is doing something to generate some revenue here.”

  “Vanessa, why don’t we finish this after lunch,” Courtney suggested, standing between Aiden and his mother.

  Vanessa smiled at Courtney and walked out, her thick heels echoing off the marble floor before she slammed the door.

  “She has no clue how much I have on my plate,” Aiden complained.

  “She does,” Courtney assured him, stepping up to him. She was in a pair of those spiky high heels, her usual work footwear, which made kissing her a little easier even though he fought the urge. Before Aiden forgot his to do list, he stepped back. “Please don’t make appointments for me. I told you I’d get in touch with Austin Hale.”

  Her affectionate smile faded, the feisty attitude she’d had her first week making a show. “Sadie called to book the function room, so I mentioned it to her because I know how busy you are. I thought I was helping.”

  “When I need your help, I’ll ask for it,” Aiden said.

  “No, you won’t. You think you can do everything on your own, but you can’t, Aiden. This is an extensive business, it requires a lot of cogs in the wheel.”

  “And I’ll decide who those cogs are.” He turned in two full circles, noting all the boxes. The corner office he had planned to move into wouldn’t accommodate all of this crap. He wasn’t even sure what he was dealing with and had hoped to get it all organized when he packed it up. Par for the course, Courtney and his mother disrupted his plans. “Where am I supposed to put all this shit?” he muttered.

  Courtney stood with her arms crossed, a scowl in place. “Are you asking or ranting?” she demanded.

  God, she was adorable when she was pissed off. Things had been so good between them the last couple weeks, he’d forgotten how much he liked her riled up. “Both,” he responded.

  “I organized everything and labeled the boxes with the contents. It’s not a perfect system, but it should help you decide what to do with it all. I have some ideas, so when you decide to stop being an ass and be receptive to that sort of thing, you can ask me what those ideas are and I’ll be happy to share them.” She spun on her heels, stomping across the large room much the way his mother had, Humphrey padding along beside her.

  Courtney didn’t slam the door when she left. “Good job, man. Nothing like being a dick for no reason.”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face, wishing like hell he could rewind the last ten minutes and be thankful instead of taking the defensive. For all the blood and sweat he’d put into his family’s failing business since he returned to Lilac Ridge a couple months ago, his mother still didn’t think him capable of running the business. Aiden was beginning to think there was nothing he could do to make her believe otherwise.

  It didn’t help that Courtney seemed to like his mother, helping her every time he turned around. She should have been at the reception desk, handling the phones, not packing up his office. Except, she was so much more capable than that.

  Since they were closed for two more days, she didn’t need to man the desk. He could use her help in moving his office.

  He made his way down the hall, ready to apologize when he found her with heels propped up on the desk, the dog in her lap, nail file scraping across her fingers, chewing gum like a cow chewing cud.

  Aiden chuckled. Courtney wasn’t the passive aggressive type, but he recognized her behavior as just that. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Manning the desk, like I’m supposed to. I could be on the computer helping in other areas, but I wouldn’t want to step on your toes and further bruise your delicate ego.”

  Okay, not so passive aggressive. “I deserve that.”

  “Damn straight you do,” she said, continuing to file her nails and chomp on the gum.

  “I’m sorry, Courtney.”

  “Sorry for what?” she demanded.

  He chuckled again, but knowing she wouldn’t back down, he offered the apology she deserved. “I’m sorry for being an ass. I do appreciate everything you do here and if you don’t mind, I’d like you to help me get the corner office organized.”

  “Do you think I can handle that and the ever-ringing phones?”

  “Okay, now you’re just being catty.”

  She tossed the file on the desk and removed her feet, careful not to let Humphrey slide off her lap. “If you’re going to be an ass, I get to be catty.”

  “I apologized,” he said.

  She turned the pup to face her. “What do you think, Humphrey? Should we help him?” Humphrey licked her chin and Courtney giggled, the sound echoing in Aiden’s chest. He liked her sass, but he loved her happy.

  Loved her…happy.

  Well, damn, if that wasn’t a kick in the gut.

  “Humphrey and I would be happy to help you organize your new office.”

  She put the dog on the floor and they started down the hall, past what would now be the function room to the office where he had spent countless hours with his grandfather, learning about wine and business.

  The office had been cleared, probably due to Courtney’s initiative. “Where’s all the stuff that was in here?” he asked.

  “I found a couple empty file cabinets stacked next to each other in a closet down the hall. I organized all the papers in there, though I think a lot of it can be tossed out, but I didn’t want to make that decision for you. Everything else was moved to the storage room in the basement, but you are going to have to sort through it. Your mother said a lot of the trinkets were your grandfather’s, things he’d collected. She said not to throw any of it away, that you would want it.”

  Aiden found it difficult to believe that his mother would support him keeping his grandfather’s collectibles, suspecting it was Courtney’s persuasion th
at had convinced Vanessa not to toss it all out.

  Chapter 12

  Courtney understood Aiden’s angst, but she didn’t appreciate being the target. She’d been trying to smooth things out between him and his mother, something his mother seemed receptive too, until Aiden acted like an idiot. Now Courtney would be back at ground zero with Vanessa.

  As soon as they walked into the musty office, though, his entire demeanor changed. The confident man was gone, someone a whole lot less sure standing in front of her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, placing her hand on his strong arm.

  “I haven’t been in here. I mean, I peeked in when I first got back, but I didn’t have time to deal with a decade’s worth of dust covering up a lifetime of memories.”

  The dust was gone. Once the room was cleared, she raided the utility closet for wood cleaner. It took half the bottle and an entire roll of paper towels to get rid of the dust, but not even leaving the corner windows open had eradicated the musty smell.

  “Are you sure you want help? Maybe this is something you need to do alone.”

  Whenever Aiden spoke of his grandfather, it was with respect and reverence. Courtney wished she’d been able to meet the man who had been more than just a grandfather to Aiden.

  “I can’t do this alone,” he said, turning to her. “I need you.”

  As if he hadn’t acted like an ass just minutes before, she went into his arms, pressing her ear to his chest to hear his racing heart. He was so warm, his strong body making Courtney wish they could escape back to his island cabin.

  “I don’t appreciate you enough,” he said, “and I wish I could pay you more, but I barely have enough money to pay the staff as it is. I’m lucky the wine contracts my father retained are bringing in money, otherwise I’d be screwed.”

  “It’s going to take time,” she said. “You’re working hard. It’ll pay off.” She wasn’t all that concerned with money at the moment. Her GI Bill paid for schooling and offered a housing allowance, plus she had the scholarship from her volunteer time at the shelter. School would be done soon, though, and she’d need a job that paid more than a receptionist position. That’s why she had an interview tomorrow with Austin Hale. He was looking for someone to handle the marketing for the new coop opening in a couple months. Since Aiden seemed intent on handling the marketing for the winery, Courtney needed to find something more suited to her skills and career plans.

  Given how their relationship was growing, it was best for her to find a new job. She wanted Aiden in her life, but striking a balance between work and everything else was a challenge, especially on days when he had a hair across his ass.

  His hands moved up and down her back, one weaving into her hair, the other moving over butt. He angled her face up, his mouth claiming hers. They’d managed to keep their hands off each other while at the office for the past couple weeks, but for Courtney it was a difficult exercise in restraint.

  With his lips moving over hers, his tongue seeking and needy, she didn’t have an ounce of restraint to exercise. Her hands moved under his shirt, his skin hot and tight under her fingers. “I need you,” he whispered against her neck, both hands moving to her butt and lifting her onto the desk.

  After jumping into the deep end head first, they’d slowed things down to a speed that didn’t have Courtney panicking at every turn, and now she was ready to swim in the deep end again, to pursue that spark that always flickered between them.

  When her hands moved to his belt buckle, Aiden groaned and lifted his head to tug his shirt off. Not wasting a moment, he tugged her shirt over her head, tossing it on the floor with his.

  “You were stunning in the candlelight,” he said, tracing his finger along her bra strap and over the curve of her breast until he found the front clasp. “I don’t have words for how beautiful you are now.”

  He flicked the clasp, groaning again when he released her breasts from the cups of the bra. The cool September breeze wafted through the open windows, making her nipples pucker and beg for attention.

  Aiden stepped back and flipped the lock on the door, retrieving his wallet and handing it to Courtney before he shed his pants.

  She hadn’t gotten the full visual of him in the candlelight either, so standing there, naked and fully aroused, took her breath away.

  “You’re overdressed,” he drawled. “As much as I’d love to hike that little skirt up around your waist, I’d rather have you naked.”

  Courtney slid off the desk and made a production of wiggling out of the skirt. For fun, she left the shoes on.

  “Tell me you want this, Courtney.”

  “I do,” she said. “More than anything.”

  “Thank God,” he said, pressing against her. She was aware of every inch where they touched, from the scrape of his hair against her nipples, to the erection pressed against her belly, to his hands tangling in her hair.

  While kissing her with the ferocity of the need pulsing through her too, he lifted her onto the desk again, then fumbled with the wallet and condom.

  “Lie back so I can see you,” he said and Courtney followed his command, not caring how hard the desk was beneath her. She’d never done anything like this. Sex had always been in a bed or a back seat, never on a desk in the middle of the day with a man who constantly challenged her to break all the rules.

  “The shoes are a nice touch,” he said, grabbing her ankles and placing them on his shoulders. “Are you comfortable?”

  “Yes,” she lied, desperate for him to push inside her.

  As if sensing her need, he did, slow and long. Courtney bit down on her lip to keep from crying out. The winery wasn’t open, but it was still abuzz with preparations for the re-opening. Anyone could be outside the door. With luck, no one would come to the corner office looking for Aiden.

  “I love it when you bite your lip like that, but I love it even more when you let go.”

  The gravel in his voice was so thick, she almost came undone, but what little restraint she had, she grappled for.

  “I don’t want anyone to hear,” she whispered, as if someone might have an ear pressed to the door.

  “I don’t give a shit if anyone hears. You are the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I want to watch you come undone, hear you cry my name.”

  No one she’d ever been with talked to her during sex and she found it incredibly erotic. Her entire body tingled with approval, her breaths catching with the excitement of being like this with Aiden.

  Despite encouraging her to let go, she could tell he was holding back too, biting down on his lower lip, focused on where he was moving in and out of her.

  Grunting, he eased his shoulders from beneath her ankles, moving over her until he was ravishing her breasts with his mouth and hands.

  Courtney swallowed the cry desperate to escape, whispering his name over and over as she tumbled over the precipice, Aiden pounding harder and harder the longer her orgasm lingered until he was grunting her name with his own release.

  While she wanted to feel his raspy breaths and damp skin against her forever, the desk became too much to bear. “I need to get up,” she said.

  “I know, but damn, I hate not touching you.”

  “Well, you also have a winery to run,” she reminded him.

  “Right, the winery.”

  He kissed her one last time and pulled away, then eased her up. She kicked off the shoes and hopped off the desk, searching the room for her clothes.

  “Shit, where’s Humphrey?” she asked.

  “Shit,” Aiden muttered. They got dressed faster than they got undressed and Aiden opened the door slowly, but Humphrey didn’t bolt in.

  “Shit,” Aiden muttered again after he peered out the door.

  “Busted,” a voice echoed from the other side of the door.

  “Who is it?” Courtney whispered.

  “Pete. He has Humphrey.”

  She’d talked to Pete a few times since the night he’d dropped Aiden off at her hou
se. He was a relentless flirt, though he claimed he was harmless since she was Aiden’s girl. She’d learned enough to know he wouldn’t ever let this slide.

  “It’s fine. Open the door.”

  Aiden did and moments later, Humphrey bolted in, going straight for Aiden’s leg and pumping against it, letting Aiden know who was the alpha.

  “I’m going to get back to work,” Pete snickered.

  Lifting the dog up, Aiden held him nose to nose. “Sorry, pooch, but your mama and I needed some alone time.”

  Courtney wasn’t his mama, at least not forever. Tomorrow, she’d meet with a couple interested in adopting Humphrey. They were aware of his little fetish, but didn’t seem put-off by it like everyone else had. Courtney found it amusing and would miss the little guy who had been her partner in crime the past few weeks.

  “We should get to work, too,” she said, giving Humphrey a kiss on the head before turning to Aiden. “What?” she asked, surprised by the intensity in his eyes.

  “I…” he started before shaking his head. “Nothing. Let’s get to work. There’s a hand truck in the tool shed. I’ll grab that, it’ll save some hauling.”

  Courtney watched him walk down the hall, content to take a moment to revel in what they’d just done, but curious what he’d been about to say.

  If it was even an echo of what she was feeling, Courtney understood his hesitation. She’d fallen hard for him, something she hadn’t done since she was a teenager. Aiden had respected her wish to slow things down, but now she wanted to leap forward at the speed of light. She should be scared given how things had imploded the last time she’d fallen so hard for someone, but she wasn’t a kid anymore, wasn’t responsible for a couple of drunks who didn’t love her enough to let her be a kid.

  No, she wasn’t a scared or desperate little girl anymore. She was a woman who had fallen in love.

  There wasn’t a shadow of doubt in her heart except for how to say the words to the man who deserved to hear them.