by Maisey Yates
“Well, if you’re who I think you are, you’re incredibly privileged. Why wouldn’t you feel that way?”
“Just because it’s true in my life doesn’t mean it’s not a tacky thing to say.”
“Well, I can think of several tacky things to say right back that might make you feel a little bit better.”
She laughed. “Try me.”
“If you’re not careful, Little Red, wandering through the wilderness like this, a Big Bad Wolf might gobble you up.”
It was an incredibly obvious and overtly sexual thing to say. And the little princess, with her engagement ring glittering on her left hand, should have drawn up in full umbrage.
But she didn’t. Instead, her body seemed to melt slightly, and she looked away. “Was that supposed to be tacky?”
“It was,” he said.
“I guess it didn’t feel that way to me.”
“You should head back to that party,” he said.
“Why? Am I in danger out here?”
“Depends on what you consider danger.”
There was nothing wrong—he told himself—with building a rapport with her. In fact, it would be a damned useful thing in many ways.
“Possibly talking to strange men in vineyards.”
“Depends on whether or not you consider me strange.”
“I don’t know you well enough to have that figured out yet.” A crackle of interest moved over his skin, and he didn’t know what the hell was wrong with him that the first time he’d felt anything remotely like interest in a hell of a long time was happening now.
With Emerson Maxfield.
But she was the one who took a step back. She was the one whose eyes widened in fear, and he had to wonder if his hatred for the blood that ran through her veins was as evident to her as it was to him.
“I have to go,” she said. “I’m... The party.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
He took a step toward her, almost without thinking.
And then she retreated, as quickly as she could on those impractical stiletto heels.
“You better run, Little Red,” he said under his breath.
And then he rocked back on his heels, surveying the grapevines and the house up on the hill. “The Big Bad Wolf is going to gobble all of this up.”
Two
“Emerson,” her dad said. “I have a job for you.”
Emerson was tired and feeling off balance after last night. She had done something that was so out of character she still couldn’t figure out what she’d been thinking.
She had left the party, left her post. She had chased after a strange man out in the grapevines. And then...
He had reminded her of a wolf. She’d gone to a wolf sanctuary once when she was in high school, and she’d been mesmerized by the powerful pack alpha. So beautiful. So much leashed strength.
She’d been afraid. But utterly fascinated all at once. Unable to look away...
He worked on the property.
And that should have been a red light to her all the way down. An absolute stop, don’t go any further. If the diamond on her finger couldn’t serve as that warning, then his status as an employee should have.
But she had felt drawn to him. And then he’d taken a step toward her. And it was like suddenly the correct instincts had woken up inside of her and she had run away.
But she didn’t know why it had taken that long for her to run. What was wrong with her?
“A job,” she said blankly, in response to her father.
“I’ve been watching the profits of Grassroots Winery down in town,” he said. “They’re really building a name for themselves as a destination. Not just a brand that people drink when they’re out, but a place people want to visit. We’ve proved this is an incredibly successful location for weddings and other large events. The party you threw last night was superb.”
Emerson basked in the praise. But only for a moment. Because if there was praise, then a request couldn’t be far behind.
“One of the things they’re offering is rides through the vineyard on horseback. They’re also doing sort of a rustic partnership with the neighboring dude ranch, which sounds more like the bastion of Cowboy Wines. Nothing I want to get involved with. We don’t want to lower the value of our brand by associating with anything down-market. But horse rides through the vineyards, picnics, things like that—I think those could be profitable.”
Emerson had met the owner of Grassroots Winery, Lindy Dodge, on a couple of occasions, and she liked the other woman quite a lot. Emerson had a moment of compunction about stepping on what had clearly been Lindy’s idea, but then dismissed it.
It wasn’t uncommon at all for similar companies to try comparable ventures. They often borrowed from each other, and given the number of wineries beginning to crop up in the area, it was inevitable there would be crossover.
Plus, to the best of her ability Emerson tried not to look at the others as competition. They were creating a robust wine trail that was a draw in and of itself.
Tourists could visit several wineries when they came to Logan County, traveling from Copper Ridge through Gold Valley and up into the surrounding mountains. That the area was a destination for wine enthusiasts was good for everyone.
The only vineyard that Maxfield Vineyards really viewed as competition was Cowboy Wines. Which Emerson thought was funny in a way, since their brand could not be more disparate from Maxfield’s if they tried.
And she suspected they did try.
She also suspected there was something darker at the root of the rivalry, but if so, James never said.
And neither had Wren, the middle sister. Wren’s role in the company often saw her clashing with Creed Cooper, who worked in the same capacity for his family winery, and Wren hated him with every fiber of her being. Loudly and often.
“So what is the new venture exactly?” Emerson asked.
“I just told you. Trail rides and picnics, but we need a way to make it feel like a Maxfield endeavor. And that, I give over to you.”
“That sounds like it would be more Wren’s thing.” Wren was responsible for events at the winery, while Emerson dealt more globally with brand representation.
“I think ultimately this will be about the way you influence people. I want you to find the best routes, the prime views for the trips, take some photos, put it up on your social media. Use the appropriate pound signs.”
“It’s a... It’s a hashtag.”
“I’m not interested in learning what it is, Emerson. That’s why I have you.”
“Okay. I can do that.”
She did have a massive online reach, and she could see how she might position some photos, which would garner media interest, and possibly generate a story in Sip and Savor magazine. And really, it would benefit the entire area. The more that Maxfield Vineyards—with its vast reach in the world of wine—brought people into the area, the more the other vineyards benefited too.
“That sounds good to me,” she said.
“That’s why I hired a manager for the ranching portion of the facility. I need him to oversee some new construction, because if we’re going to have guests in the stables, everything needs to be updated. I need for him to oversee the acquisition of a few horses. Plus, the rides, etc.”
“Oh,” she said. “This...person. This man you hired. He’s...tall?”
James shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t consider his height. Did you?”
“No,” she said, her face flaming. She felt like a child with her hand caught in the cookie jar. “I just... I think I saw him last night. Down in the vineyard. I left the party to check and see what was happening.” Total honesty with her father came as second nature to her.
She tried to be good. She tried to be the daughter he had raised her to be, always.
/> “You left the party?”
“Everything was well in hand. I left Cricket in charge.”
That might be a stretch. But while she was as honest with her father as possible, she tended to leave out some things like...her feelings. And this would be one of those times.
“I met him briefly, then I went back to the house. That’s all. He told me he worked on the property.”
“You have to be careful,” her father said. “You don’t want any photographs taken of you alone with a man who’s not Donovan. You don’t need anything to compromise your engagement.”
Sometimes she wondered if her father realized they didn’t live in the Victorian era.
“Nothing is going to compromise my engagement to Donovan.”
“I’m glad you’re certain about it.”
She was, in spite of her occasional doubts. Her father might not understand that times had changed, but she did. She felt certain Donovan was carrying on with other women in the absence of a physical relationship with her. Why would she assume anything else? He was a man, after all.
She knew why her father was so invested in her marriage to Donovan. As part of his planned retirement, her father was giving ownership stakes in the winery to each of his daughters’ husbands.
He felt Donovan would be an asset to the winery, and Emerson agreed. But she wasn’t sure how that fit into a marriage.
Clearly, Donovan didn’t much care about how that fit into a marriage either.
And she doubted he would be able to muster up any jealousy over her behavior.
“Image,” her father said, bringing her back to the moment. “It isn’t what you do that matters, Emerson, it’s what the world thinks you’re doing.”
There was something about the way her father said it, so smooth and cold, that made her feel chilled. It shouldn’t chill her, because she agreed that image was important in their business.
Still, it did chill her.
Emerson shifted. “Right. Well, no worries there. Image is my expertise.”
“It’s all about the brand,” he said.
“I tell you that,” she said.
“And you’ve done it well.”
“Thank you,” she said, nearly flushed with pleasure. Compliments from James Maxfield were rare, and she clung to them when she got them.
“You should head down to the stables. He’ll be waiting for you.”
And if that made her stomach tighten, she ignored the sensation. She had a job to do. And that job had nothing to do with how tall the new ranch manager was.
* * *
She was as pretty in the ridiculously trendy outfit she was wearing now as she’d been in that red dress.
She was wearing high-cut black pants that went up past her belly button, loose fitted through the leg, with a cuff around the ankle, paired with a matching black top that was cropped to just beneath her breasts and showed a wedge of stomach. Her dark hair was in a high bun, and she was wearing the same red lipstick she’d had on the night before, along with round sunglasses that covered her eyes.
He wished he could see her eyes. And as she approached, she pushed the glasses up to the top of her head.
He hadn’t been prepared for how beautiful she was.
He thought he’d seen her beauty in the moonlight, thought he’d seen it in photographs, but they didn’t do her justice. He’d been convinced that the blue of her eyes was accomplished with some kind of a filter. But it was clear to him now, out in the bright sun with the green mountains surrounding them, and her eyes reflecting that particular blue from the center of the sky, that if anything, her eyes had been downplayed in those photographs.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Good morning to you too. I take it you spoke with your father?”
It took all of his self-control for that word to come out smoothly.
“Yes,” she said. “I did.”
“And what do you think of his proposition?”
In Holden’s opinion, it was a good one. And when he was through ruining James and sinking his brand, Holden might well buy the entire property and continue making wine himself. He was good at selling things, making money. He could make more money here.
“It’s good. I think a few well-placed selfies will drum up interest.”
“You’re probably right. Though, I can’t say I’m real up on selfies.”
That was a lie. His younger sister was a pretty powerful influencer. A model, who had met James Maxfield at one of the parties that had brought their type together. He was angry at himself for the part his own money had played in all of this.
Because Soraya had been innocent. A sweet girl from a small town who had been catapulted into a lifestyle she hadn’t been prepared to handle.
Holden could relate well enough.
He certainly hadn’t known how to handle money in the beginning.
But he’d been helping his family dig out of the hole they’d found themselves in. The first thing he’d done was buy his mother a house. Up on a hill, fancy and safe from the men who had used her all throughout Holden’s childhood.
And his sweet, younger half sister... She’d tumbled headfirst into fame. She was beautiful, that much had always been apparent, but she had that lean, hungry kind of beauty, honed by years of poverty, her backstory lending even more interest to her sharp cheekbones and unerring sense of style.
She had millions of people following her, waiting to see her next picture. Waiting to see which party she would attend.
And she attended the wrong one when she met James Maxfield.
He’d pounced on her before Holden could say “daddy issues.” And James had left her devastated. Holden would never forget having to admit his sister for a psychiatric hold. Soraya’s suicide attempt, the miscarriage... The devastation.
It was burned in him.
Along with the reality that his money hadn’t protected her. His money had opened her up to this.
Now all that was left was revenge, because he couldn’t make it right. He couldn’t take her pain away.
But he could take everything away from the Maxfield family.
And that was what he intended to do.
“I don’t think we’ve officially met,” she said. She stuck her hand out—the one that didn’t have the ring on it. That one angled at her side, the gem sparkling in the sunlight. “I’m Emerson Maxfield.”
“Holden Brown,” he said, extending his own hand.
If James Maxfield weren’t a raging narcissist, Holden might have worried about using his real first name.
But he doubted the older man would ever connect the younger model he’d used for a couple of months and then discarded with Holden. Why would he? James probably barely remembered Soraya’s first name, much less any of her family connections. Holden himself wasn’t famous. And that was how he liked it. He’d always thought it would be handy to have anonymity. He hadn’t imagined it would be for reasons of revenge.
He closed his hand around hers. It was soft, desperately so. The hand of a woman who had never done hard labor in her life, and something in him suddenly felt desperate to make this little princess do some down and dirty work.
Preferably on his body.
He pulled his hand away.
“It’s nice to meet you, Holden,” she said.
“Nice to meet you too.” He bit the pleasantry off at the end, because anything more and he might make a mistake.
“I have some routes in mind for this new venture. Let’s go for a ride.”
Three
Let’s go for a ride was not sexual.
Not in the context of the ranch. Not to a woman who was so used to being exposed to horses. As she was.
Except, she kept replaying that line over and over in her head. Kept imagining herself saying it to him.
Let’s go for a ride.
And then she would imagine herself saying it to him in bed.
She had never, ever felt like this in her entire life.
Her first time had been fine. Painless, which was nice, she supposed, but not exactly exciting.
It had been with her boyfriend at the time, who she’d known very well, and who had been extraordinarily careful and considerate.
Though, he’d cared more about keeping her comfortable than keeping her impassioned. But they had been young. So that seemed fair enough.
Her boyfriend after that had been smooth, urbane and fascinating to her. A world traveler before she had done any traveling of her own. She had enjoyed conversations with him, but she hadn’t been consumed by passion or lust or anything like that.
She had just sort of thought she was that way. And she was fine with it. She had a lot of excitement in her life. She wasn’t hurting for lack of passion.
But Holden made her feel like she might actually be missing something.
Like there was a part of herself that had been dormant for a very long time.
Right. You’ve been in the man’s presence for...a combined total of forty minutes.
Well, that made an even stronger case for the idea of exploring the thing between them. Because in that combined forty minutes, she had imagined him naked at least six times.
Had thought about closing the distance between them and kissing him on the mouth no less than seven times.
And that was insane.
He was working on the ranch, working for her father. Working for her, in essence, as she was part of the winery and had a stake in the business.
And somehow, that aroused her even more.
A man like her fiancé, Donovan, knew a whole lot about the world.
He knew advertising, and there was a heck of a lot of human psychology involved in that. And it was interesting.
But she had a feeling that a man like Holden could teach her about her own body, and that was more than interesting. It was a strange and intoxicating thought.
Also, totally unrealistic and nothing you’re going to act on.