ReWined Vol I ~ Kim Karr

by Karr, Kim

  He gave a casual shrug. “I knew you’d like it.”

  I grasped for the right words. “But what if I were on a diet and wanted fish?”

  Glancing up, he asked, “Are you?”

  “No, but that isn’t the point.”

  He stopped, food halfway to his mouth. “Then what is?”

  Frustrated at this alpha male, I just sighed. “Never mind.”

  With that panty-dropping smile of his, he set his silverware down and picked up mine. Slicing into my meat, he lifted the fork to my mouth. “Try this before it gets cold,” he said in a low voice.

  I opened for him, feeling that guard I had up slipping away again. “Ummm,” I moaned as I chewed, taking a sip of my wine, which coupled with the meat perfectly.

  His voice was a husky growl. “I told you I know what you like.”

  Tyler Holiday was lethal.

  With every touch, every word, every look, he seduced me more and more.

  We finished our meal in comfortable silence, sharing glances and looks filled with lust and temptation.

  My words came back to haunt me.

  No more sex.

  Why had I said that?

  The waiter cleared our plates and I found myself staring at Tyler with only our glasses between us. My eyes scanned him. He was wearing charcoal slacks and a white collared shirt, no tie.

  The sophisticated look suited him.

  Hot.

  Arrogant.

  Crazy sexy.

  His lazy gaze drifted over me, warming me as if he’d touched me. “Now that you’re relaxed,” he smirked, “I have something to discuss with you that might change your mind about merging with California Jane.”

  I lifted my glass. “I’ll give you until I finish this wine, but then I have to go.”

  Leaning back in his chair, he put his hands behind his head and gave me that amused grin that set my blood on fire. “Then I guess I better hurry.”

  Butterflies took wing in my belly, and lower, until I found myself squeezing my thighs together to make them stop.

  He looked cool and aloof as he spoke. “My grandfather left me a letter . . .”

  Time slipped by as he told me about the friendship between my father and his grandfather. The partnership with Vince Gable. The resulting feud over land. And finally about his efforts over the past few days that had resulted in nothing.

  Engrossed in the history of our families, I eased closer, listening with a keenness I remembered from our teen years. The way he would tell me stories that captured my attention every time.

  A half smile curved his lips upwards when he glanced down at his thighs and found my palms on them. Not even realizing that I was touching him, I quickly lurched back. “Sorry.”

  He scooted his chair closer. “Never be sorry for touching me.”

  His scent taunted me, reminding me he had grown-up. The cologne he wore was a good match to his personality. Fresh. Clean. Rugged. And sophisticated. “Still, I shouldn’t have done that.”

  For a long moment, he simply stared at me as if he was trying to decipher my thoughts. I wanted to tell him that was impossible. I wasn’t even sure what they were.

  “Now that you understand the necessity of this merger,” he said, pushing a folder my way that he’d lifted from the chair beside him. “You can sign on the dotted line.”

  I cocked my head in question. “What’s this?”

  “The contract. Everything is spelled out in black and white. I think you’ll find it agreeable. If you have any questions, just ask. Once you’ve reviewed it and signed it, it will become legally binding.”

  Tyler Holiday, the attorney, what a turn on. I nodded, taking the folder and slipping it into my purse. “I’ll take a look.”

  “I meant, now.”

  “I can’t do that. I have to read it through first.”

  Something came alive in his voice. “That’s fine, but know, if you agree to this, Paris, together we will find the one place Vince fucked up, and then we’re going to take back what belongs to us.”

  Together.

  Warmth traveled through my veins, sending pleasure into my chest.

  Together.

  The word made me feel giddy.

  It was on the tip of my tongue to say yes, but my mind wasn’t clear. “I’ll seriously consider everything you’ve said,” I told him in a quiet voice.

  He nodded.

  “I won’t take long,” I said. “Just give me some time to read through the details.”

  A small smile graced that gorgeous mouth of his. “That’s fine. Now, come on, let me walk you to your car, or rather mine.”

  Something about the ease in which he agreed to give me time calmed the erratic racing of my heart, and I felt myself smiling in return. Maybe he had changed. “Yes, it’s late and I have to get up early to meet with some eager attorney to sign a promissory note for my father’s care.”

  He rose to his full height, retrieved my coat that the maître d’ had hung, and offered his hand. “You know,” he tempted, “you could save me a trip to your place and just let me spend the night.”

  As I placed my palm in his, a flush torched my cheeks, and I bit my bottom lip. Everything about him was so much more genuine than I wanted to admit. “Nice try.”

  “I won’t stop trying, Paris. So get used to it.”

  Different words but said in the same context that he’d vowed ten years ago before everything fell apart.

  Coincidence or bad omen?

  Only time would tell.

  Paris

  THE DRIVE TO the city didn’t take nearly as long as it had earlier, then again it was much later and traffic was a lot lighter.

  I should have gone home, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep without checking on him.

  Slipping into my father’s room, everything was dark except the glow from the monitoring equipment.

  With light steps, I walked over to him. The big, boisterous man I had known my entire life seemed so frail laying there.

  So helpless.

  In such need of my help.

  Yes, I would send him to Senior Living. It was the best place for him. And yes, I would pay back every cent to Tyler, even if it took me a lifetime.

  I leaned down to kiss my father on his forehead, and as I stood straight, my eyes went to the card stuck in the flowers.

  It had my name scrolled across it but I hadn’t noticed it earlier when I was here.

  The flowers were for me. I found myself smiling at that. He’d sent them to me, and that was what the nursing director was going on about.

  Sitting in the chair beside the bed, I opened the envelope with trembling fingers and pulled the heavy stock paper from it. Written on the card were three words, “I have changed.”

  And I wanted to believe him.

  God, how I wanted to.

  I closed my eyes, heavy with regret and indecision. Believing wasn’t the only thing I had to worry about, though.

  There was Henri and my father and Highway 128, and then there was me and my already bleeding heart and what would happen if I let myself fall for Tyler again and he didn’t catch me.

  Fall again?

  Had I even ever stopped falling?

  Somehow amidst all my confusion, I must have fallen asleep. The pattering sound of raindrops splattering the window was what woke me. I glanced outside to see the weather had changed from grave to dismal.

  I needed to get going.

  After putting my coat on, I kissed my father on the forward. “Bye, Daddy,” I whispered. “You’re going to be fine at Senior Living. Happy, maybe, who knows.”

  God knew I had never made him happy.

  Swiping a tear from my eye, I quickly left. The corridor was quiet as I made my way to the parking lot.

  Since I had the Rover and not my small Audi, which, it turned out, was beyond repair, I figured I’d take the shorter way home to avoid any possible traffic on the highway.

  The roads were slick. The cold and ra
in mixing making it difficult to drive more than fifty miles per hour.

  Just outside of San Francisco, but still a good distance from St. Helena, I rounded a curve in the narrowing road and felt myself lose control of the vehicle. My windshield wipers were barely making a dent in the rain, and the view of the road was obscured. When a bolt of lightning suddenly lit up the sky and blinded me, I drove straight into a ditch.

  Damn it.

  With my hands shaking on the wheel, I immediately shifted the Range Rover in to reverse, but the only thing that happened was the tires spun and spun and spun. Still, I kept trying, over and over, willing the car to roll back up the hill.

  Come on.

  Finally, I had to give it up. There was no use. I wasn’t going anywhere. Just sinking further and further into the mud.

  Pulling my cell from my purse, I hovered my finger over the name of the one person I knew would come.

  And then I pressed call.

  Tyler

  I DROVE AS fast as I could.

  The two-lane country road was dark and nearly washed out. I peered forward in my windshield to get a better view.

  Rain poured down in buckets and I almost missed the flickering taillights on the other side of the road.

  I slowed down and turned on my high beams to get a better view. Not only were the Rover’s wheels sunk deep into the mud, like she’d pressed the gas all the way to floor repeatedly, but Paris Fairchild wasn’t in the Rover. She was walking along the edge of the road about fifty yards ahead.

  Motherfucker.

  Beep. Beep.

  I honked my horn, and she turned to face me. In the haze of my headlights, she looked like a drowned rat.

  What the fuck?

  Her long, wet, red hair was whipping around her shoulders and her clothes were drenched.

  Pissed that she wasn’t just sitting in her car, dry and warm, and safe, and waiting for me to come save her, I slammed on the brakes, put the car in park, and bolted out of the Tesla.

  She was running my way.

  “Are you hurt?” I called from a distance.

  With one hand holding her forehead, she shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  Something, that felt like relief, clenched tightly in my heart. I moved closer and when I was right up on her, I framed her face with my hands to get a better look. “What the hell are you doing out here? Why didn’t you stay in the Rover?”

  Her teeth were chattering when she spoke. “I wasn’t sure you’d find me and I thought I saw a gas station a couple of miles back that I could use as a landmark.”

  The temperature was dropping fast, and the rain was rapidly turning into hard balls of ice. “I’m a knight in shining armor, remember?” I smirked. “And I always find a damsel in distress.”

  Slowly, she shook her head in amusement, but said nothing about my being her savior. Instead, she said, “I’m sorry about your car. I’ll pay for any of the damage.”

  A grin flitted at the corners of my mouth when I spoke. “It’s fine. There doesn’t appear to be any damage. I think it’s just stuck.”

  She nodded.

  “But, you know,” I paused for effect, “your I.O.U. is growing by the day. You might want to consider those fringe benefits as an alternate means of payment.”

  Biting her lips, she scrunched her nose, while at the same time, she brought her hand up and her fingers touched the gash on her forehead. “You don’t ever stop. Do you?”

  “Never.” I pulled her closer, examining her wound. The cut didn’t appear deep, and as far as I could tell in the rain, it had already stopped bleeding. “Does it hurt?”

  Wind pounded at our faces and the sudden band of rain that accompanied it caused her teeth to start to chatter. “Not really.”

  Over the sound of the storm, I shouted, “We should probably get it checked out.”

  As if I’d insulted her, she stepped back. “I’m fine, Tyler. Stop acting like a mother hen.”

  And . . . the smartass comments were back.

  A lightning bolt streaked across the sky and I swore it landed so close, I could hear a tree cracking in half. I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “Get in the car.”

  Looking toward the sound, she folded her arms like a stubborn child. I wasn’t quite sure, but I thought she might have muttered, “Arrogant prick.”

  In the distance, I could see smoke and knew that tree that had been struck was toast. We could be next. We needed to get out of the fucking rainstorm before another bolt crashed through the sky. “Paris, I swear,” I threatened and then I just fucking did it. I bent down and wrapped my arms around her thighs, hoisting her tight little body right over my shoulder.

  Kicking and screaming the entire way, she didn’t even stop when I tossed her in the front seat of the Tesla. Water and mud slid down the seat and dripped onto the floor. Fuck, I knew Gray was going to blow a gasket when he saw it, but I couldn’t give a shit about the car right then.

  Shivering, Paris clutched her purse tight in her lap and glared at me with those pouty lips that were begging to be kissed.

  Reaching over her, I started the car and cranked the heat all the way up.

  Her glare triggered something inside me.

  I yanked her seat belt over her lap. “You know what, Paris, you could show just an ounce of appreciation once in a while instead of always busting my balls for something that happened ten years. Something that wasn’t even completely my fault, I might add.”

  Her mouth fell open into that perfect “O”. Fuck, why did that always make my dick instantly hard? She stared at me for a long beat and then her gaze softened and she gave me the slightest nod. Maybe, just maybe, if there wasn’t already water dripping down her face, I could have said I saw regret pooling in her eyes.

  Fuck, she was like a wild stallion. Taming her was going to take a shit-ton of patience on my side.

  “Give me the keys,” I told her gruffly.

  Opening her purse with the contract I’d given her soaking wet and unreadable, she dug inside and handed them to me.

  Another heavy gust of wind blew, and she blinked a few times. I swore those hypnotizing green eyes filled with so much anguish. I wanted to reach out and touch her cheek, reassure her everything would be okay, but this wasn’t the time or the place and she wasn’t the kind of girl who needed that.

  “Stay here,” I barked, slamming the door.

  My feet pounded against the road as I tore over to the Rover and jerked the door open.

  Hail crashed down on the windshield as I cranked the engine and shifted into four-wheel drive. Rocking the SUV back and forth, I tried to back her out, but after five minutes, I knew it useless. Paris had dug the tires in so deep, the only thing budging this piece of metal was a wench.

  After calling for a tow, and directing the company where to leave the vehicle, I shot out of the Rover and jetted over to the driver’s side of the Tesla. Jumping in behind the wheel, I took a moment to wipe the rain from my brow.

  Fuck, I was wet.

  Before putting the car in drive, I glanced over at her and said, “I’m taking you to my apartment in San Francisco for the night. And before you say anything, you don’t have to worry, I’ll sleep on the couch. But this weather is only getting worse and trying to make it all the way back to St. Helena would be a fucking ridiculous move on my part.”

  She leaned forward. “That’s fine,” she whispered. “And Tyler, thank you for coming to get me. I really am sorry about your car.”

  I nodded with a deep satisfaction and slapped my wet back against the seat. “What are you doing out here, anyway?”

  Even soaking wet, her scent was all around me. Sweet. Fruity. Vanilla. Clean. My mouth watered, and I clenched my fists in an effort to keep myself from mounting her right there and fucking her in the front seat of Gray’s car.

  Rubbing her hands together close to the heat vents, she looked over at me. “I had to see my father one last time before he goes into the nursing home.”

/>   Steam rose in thick waves from our clothes, and condensation quickly covered the inside of the windows, making the tension feel even thicker in the air. “It’s not a nursing home. It’s a rehabilitation center for the elderly.”

  She pushed the wet hair from her eyes. “Call it whatever fancy name you want, it’s a nursing home, and he’s going to die there. You know it and I know it.”

  She was right, of course.

  “Look,” she said, “you know my father and I never got along, but that doesn’t mean any of this is easy. This town. The winery. The land. The house. I’ve only ever thought about them as places I hated. Then, when I moved back to St. Helena,” she said, “something changed. At first, I had every intention of convincing my father to sell the winery but then I just couldn’t do it.”

  I took my foot from the brake and started to drive. “Oh yeah, what changed?”

  Her laughter didn’t hold an ounce of humor. “Not him. He was still the same grumpy old man, but the years had slowed him down, and I thought his old age had caused him to be careless. I spent most of the time cleaning up his messes—payroll issues, unpaid bills, debt collectors, meeting with the accountant to make sense of the books, and of course, opening the tasting room with the last of any money I’d saved to try to save what I wasn’t sure could be salvaged.”

  “A place to party,” I said low under my breath.

  “Sure, at first, yes, it was an outlet from this boring small town. But then, I don’t know. I started to love everything about Highway 128. A sense of pride I’d never felt began flowing in my veins. It was a feeling. A call to my spirit that I heard loud and clear. It was like one day, all of a sudden, I saw the beauty of everything that surrounded me, and not the hatred I’d always felt for it. I fell in love with Highway 128 for the first time, and I wanted it, so I kept doing whatever I had to in order to keep it going.”

  The roads were slick, and I accelerated with caution. “Yeah, I know that feeling.”

  She smiled then.

  Like really smiled.

  It was the first genuine one she’d given me in ten years. I wasn’t a dumbass. I wasn’t going to push my luck any further.

  Speeding off down the dirt road, I allowed the silence of this reality to sink in.