Because growing grapes to make wine is, at its heart, farmer’s work. Not billionaire’s work. Not movie star’s work. Not something glamorous you do in your spare time in between sipping chardonnay on your patio. Running a successful vineyard takes stamina and grit combined with intimate knowledge of the land.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Blondie is missing at least two of the three. She’s clearly stubborn as hell, but junior college agriculture classes are only going to take her so far. Sooner or later, she’s going to run into a wall too high for her petite self to climb, and I’ll be there, ready to make the most of her moment of weakness.
“Damn,” Rafe murmurs as we settle onto our stools and I signal Sophie for two coffees. “That the new neighbor? The one who bought the Parker place?”
“Yep.” I fold my arms on top of the bar, keeping my gaze out the window where the morning sun paints the vineyards hazy shades of pink and gold, determined not to give Ms. Haverford another second of my attention. “That’s the one.”
“She doesn’t look like Satan’s little sister,” Rafe observes, clearly amused. “In fact, she’s pretty damned cute. Petite, but curvy, and those eyes…” He hums appreciatively. “I’ve never seen eyes that big and blue in real life. Almost like a cartoon, but sexy. Is that crazy?”
I shake my head, determined to shut this down before it goes any further. “Yes. It’s crazy. Don’t even start with her. She’s the enemy. Stroker had all but signed over the deed to that property. Then she swooped in, offered ten grand over the asking price, and now suddenly he’s got to think things over.”
Rafe shrugs. “Ten grand is a lot of money.”
“I’ve been helping him bring in his harvest every October since I was twelve years old. I’m like a grandson to him—his words—and that’s not how you’re supposed to treat family.” I let out a long breath and drop my volume, making sure my next words are for Rafe’s ears only. “And she doesn’t date, anyway. Word through the grapevine is she’s turned down every guy who’s asked her out. Prefers staying home alone with a book.”
A book she probably looks really hot reading in those sexy glasses…
“That may be so,” Rafe says, a wicked grin curving his lips. “But she hasn’t had a Hunter man ask her out, has she?” His smile widens. “Or is that really why you can’t stand her, bro? Did you ask and she said no?”
I make a just-drank-lemon-juice-straight face that I hope expresses how much offense I take to his suggestion. “Hell, no. All I want from that woman is for her to stop interfering with this deal, stop complaining when I rip out blackberry bushes along the shared property line, stop riding her bicycle through town and slowing down traffic, and quit taking up a stool at my coffee shop and ruining my favorite half hour of the day.”
“Two coffees, extra cream and just a little sugar,” Sophie says, setting down two heavy white mugs on the scarred bar. “What else can I get you? Biscuit? Cinnamon roll? I’ve also got oatmeal with almonds and honey this morning.”
Rafe orders a cinnamon roll, and I opt for the oatmeal. Sophie shouts the order to the two younger women working the kitchen and then turns back to Rafe with a warm smile. “What’re you doing in town so early, doll? When was the last time you were in for morning coffee? A year ago, maybe two?”
From there, the conversation turns to the fire that consumed Rafe’s shop/apartment in downtown Santa Rosa, as well as a trendy restaurant, a tattoo parlor, and several other shops. Sophie—who has always had a soft spot for Rafe—clucks and fusses over him, repeating what everyone in our family’s said at least a dozen times since we got the call from him yesterday letting us know he was safe.
“Well, at least you’re okay. You’re the only thing that can’t be replaced.” She lays a freckled hand on his forearm and gives it a squeeze. “And it’s good to have you back in town. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
“I won’t,” Rafe promises, nodding my way. “This one has to have the good stuff every morning, so I expect I’m going to be a regular.”
Sophie nods seriously, setting the red-and-gray bun atop her head bobbing. “Good. Life’s too short to drink shitty coffee. Dylan gets it. Learn from him. He’s a smart kid.”
Rafe laughs. “Smarter than he looks, anyway.”
I narrow my eyes, but that only makes the bastard laugh harder. He’s in excellent spirits for a man who just lost half a million dollars in vintage Harleys and parts. But they were insured, and Rafe has never been the kind to sweat the small stuff.
Or the big stuff. He doesn’t sweat much, in fact. He just jumps on his chopper and heads for the hills when things get hairy.
If anyone’s going to be learning lessons around here, it should be me. Rafe would never have let himself get so tangled up in a web of obligation that it’s going to require surgical extraction to get my life back on a track of my own choosing.
But I’ll manage. This is my year.
Mine. And no one, certainly not a perky blonde from the city who has no idea what it’s like to work her ass off to cultivate every acre under her care, is going to get in my way.
I shift my glare in Emma’s direction, but she’s already gone.
Which is good. I’ve been doing my best to keep the ribbing between us light. I don’t want her to realize how much she truly gets to me, or how many hours I lie awake at night trying to figure out how to convince Stroker to choose me without my having to go deeper into debt. I could get an extra ten or fifteen grand, but it would cost me more precious months of freedom to earn it back.
And I’m afraid if I don’t start making my aspirations reality soon, I never will. And then that brewery with my name on it will be just another dream I put aside to do what was best for the Hunter clan.
I love my family and our farm, but it’s time my life belonged to me.
By the time Rafe and I have finished turning the hops in the drying kiln late in the afternoon—passing back and forth from the kiln to the barn at least a dozen times, taking in the view of the orange-speckled pumpkin patch below—my mind is made up. I’ll talk to Stroker tomorrow and convince him we should put our heads together until we come up with an acceptable counteroffer that doesn’t include more cash up front. I can promise him the twins as harvest slaves for this year—my older brother, Deacon, is deployed with his unit until spring, so the boys are at my mercy until then—and maybe let Stroker stay on at his farmhouse after the sale. The man is eighty-five years old and probably not thrilled about moving at his age.
Yes. This is going to work. I can feel it. Optimism fizzes in my bloodstream, promising that things are starting to look up.
And then it happens.
That life-changing thing.
It wrenches me out of bed in the dead of night and sets me on a collision course with destiny.
Destiny that comes in an unexpected perky blond package…
THE BABY MAKER
is Available Now!
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Lili Valente has slept under the stars in Greece, eaten dinner at midnight with French men who couldn’t be trusted to keep their mouths on their food, and walked alone through Munich’s red light district after dark and lived to tell the tale.
Find Lili on the web at
www.lilivalente.com
Also by Lili Valente
Fall hard for Lili’s SEXY flirty dirty
romantic comedies!
Magnificent Bastard
Spectacular Rascal
Incredible You
Meant for You
Learn more here
Bad Motherpuckers
Hockey Romance
Hot as Puck
Sexy Motherpucker
Puck-Aholic
Puck me Baby
Pucked Up Love
Puck Buddies
Learn more here
The Hunter Brothers Series
Super romantic Standalones:
The Baby Maker
The Trou
blemaker
The Heartbreaker
Standalone Romances:
The V Card -co-written with Lauren Blakely
a USA Today Bestseller
Falling for the Boss -co-written
with Sylvia Pierce
Master Me Series
Snowbound with the Billionaire
Snowed in with the Boss
Masquerade with the Master
Learn more here
To the Bone Series
A Love so Dangerous
A Love so Deadly
A Love so Deep
Learn more here
Under His Command Series
Controlling Her Pleasure (Free!)
Commanding Her Trust
Claiming Her Heart
Learn more here
Bought by the Billionaire Series
Dark Domination (Free!)
Deep Domination
Desperate Domination
Divine Domination
Learn more here
Kidnapped by the Billionaire Series
Dirty Twisted Love (Free!)
Filthy Wicked Love
Crazy Beautiful Love
One More Shameless Night
Learn more here
Bedding the Bad Boy Series
The Bad Boy’s Temptation (Free!)
The Bad Boy’s Seduction
The Bad Boy’s Redemption
Learn more here
Puck Buddies Page 19