Gina wished that Josh would stop staring at her. Had he done that in round one, the Mr. Moneybags show? If he had, he hadn’t been so obvious about it.
“Where was I?” she said to herself.
“Getting me a glass of wine,” Josh reminded her.
“Oh, of course.” She took a bottle of wine off the shelf.
Josh studied the label. “It’s not a Vineyard Oaks wine?”
“Nope, but it’s excellent. Made by friends of our family’s, and it tastes great with pasta.” She’d chosen a zinfandel with a high acid content, the perfect complement to lasagna.
“I’ll do the honors,” Josh said.
She handed him a corkscrew, and he proficiently uncorked the wine while she cut several large slices of bread from a fresh-baked loaf.
“Looks good,” Josh said when she began to sprinkle the bread with chopped marjoram and parmesan cheese.
“Most people like garlic bread with pasta. I prefer this,” she said.
“Did you grow that herb in your garden?”
“Yes, it’s marjoram.” She arranged the bread on a cookie sheet and put it in the toaster oven.
By this time, Josh had uncorked the bottle. He held it out to her. “Want to sniff?”
She sniffed, but her nose was distracted by a whiff of Josh’s after-shave. She couldn’t identify the brand, but it was surely something expensive.
“It’s fine,” she said, though she wasn’t referring solely to the wine.
“Glasses?”
“In there.” She pointed to a cabinet to Josh’s right.
He poured each of them a glass and saluted her with his. “Cheers,” he said.
“Cheers,” Gina replied automatically. She sipped her wine.
They drifted into the living room, where Gina perched on a chair and Josh sat down across from her on the couch.
“Assuming that you didn’t come here merely to annoy me, why are you in Rio Robles?” she asked.
Did she catch a moment’s hesitation, or was it her imagination? “I’m writing an article,” he said. “About the wine industry.”
In response to her questioning look, he said, “It’s not my usual. It’s an assignment from my family business that gave me an opportunity to travel to the West Coast.”
“Which made it possible for you to show up in my shop?”
“Yes, and to visit an old college buddy who lives in San Francisco. I haven’t caught up with him yet, unfortunately. He’s out of the country on business, and I’m not sure when he’ll be back.”
“And that’s why you have all this extra time on your hands,” Gina supplied.
“You might say that. You might also say that I would have wanted to spend time with you even if I’d connected with Brian. He might like to meet you.”
“Not interested,” she said, much too quickly. “Although my cousin Emily is available. She broke up with her boy-friend a few weeks ago. If Brian isn’t married, I mean.”
“Brian’s a bachelor, like me.”
“In that case, bring him around. I’ll sign him up to participate in our annual bachelor auction.” She could have bitten her tongue when Josh’s eyes lit up.
“Bachelor auction? You mean you have so many eligible guys around here that you have to auction them off?”
“Not exactly. The auction benefits the proposed teen center in town, and it’s my pet project.” She couldn’t imagine Josh Corbett being auctioned off to the highest bidder, but she would never discourage him. The teen center was too close to her heart.
“What happens?”
“It’s a big fancy affair that we have every year. Everyone dresses up, and women bid for a date with the most eligible bachelors we can find. The auction is carried on the town’s public service cable TV channel, and volunteers answer phones to take the bids.” She glanced at her watch. “I’d better check the lasagna,” she said.
She stood and hurried into the kitchen, where she looked in through the glass in the oven door and saw that the lasagna was bubbly around the edges.
“This is done,” she said. She slipped her hand into an oven mitt and removed it from the oven.
“Is dinner ready?” Mia asked, popping out of the bedroom.
“It will be as soon as you toss the salad.”
“Can I make the dressing?”
“If you’re careful not to spill,” Gina said. She had taught Mia how to make a simple oil-and-vinegar dressing a couple of months ago.
“Oh, goody!”
Gina took the oil and vinegar out of the kitchen cabinet. “Don’t put too much vinegar in,” she cautioned.
Mia wrinkled her nose. “Last time I put too much in and we both became sourpusses,” she said to Josh, who laughed.
Gina set the lasagna on the table. “We’re ready to eat,” she said. “Gather around.”
Josh made her nervous in her small kitchen, watching her as she arranged the parmesan-marjoram toast on a small platter.
“Josh, you sit there,” Mia said as she sat down across from Gina. “That’s the company chair. When Frankie or Stacey come, they sit there.” She pointed to the chair across from her.
“Mia, you may say grace,” Gina said as she sat down.
They bowed their heads, and Mia offered a brief blessing. When Gina raised her head again, Josh was studying her.
“Do you have much company?” Josh asked, and Gina slanted a keen look at him. He was clearly fishing.
“Once Craig Altman came,” Mia said. “He and Aunt Gina had a date.”
“Is that so?” Josh said, shooting a speculative glance in Gina’s direction.
“Mia, pass Josh the salad,” Gina said, flustered to see how Josh took this information. Craig Altman had been the deejay at the local radio station, and she’d gone out with him a few times before he’d accepted a job in Arizona.
Josh spooned salad into his bowl. “I don’t suppose I could be considered one of your dates,” he said, causing her to almost drop her fork.
“You were her date in Scotland,” Mia said seriously. “You could be her date again if you like.”
“Do you like?” Josh asked impishly, turning to Gina.
“No,” she said. “You’re here due to Mia’s perseverance.”
“What’s perseverance?” asked Mia.
“I’ll let Josh explain.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Gina.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Well, what is it?” Mia piped, apparently intrigued by this conversation, though it was unclear whether she was more fascinated by the byplay between Gina and Josh or the possibility of learning a new word to impress Frankie.
“Perseverance is persistence,” Josh said, but Mia only seemed confused. “It’s keeping on and keeping on, trying to get your way.”
“Oh, like Frankie when he wanted me to give him my last stick of gum. He kept on talking about it until I gave in.”
“Exactly,” Josh said. “It can be a good thing, this persistence.”
“Like when?” asked Mia.
“Like when you really, really want something.” He eyed Gina. “And you don’t give up.”
Gina had heard enough. “New topic,” she said. “Miss Tess and Miss Dora stopped by the shop, Mia. Miss Tess said to say hello to you. She wants you to come over and play with Felix sometime.”
“He’s a good cat,” Mia said. “He doesn’t play much anymore, only with me.”
“They bought a fresh supply of catnip today,” Gina said. “That should pep him up.”
“It’s too bad they don’t have catnip for people,” Josh said. “There are some of us who need to play more.” He skewered Gina with a meaningful look.
Mia dissolved in giggles. “Catnip for people! That’s funny.”
“It depends what you consider ‘play,’” Gina said, doing her best to ignore Mia.
“Play for grown-ups is anything that allows them to have a good time. I could suggest some things if you don’t have any ideas
of your own.” The roguish tilt of Josh’s eyebrows didn’t leave room to doubt his meaning.
“I have plenty of ideas of my own,” she retorted. “It’s just that I prefer to choose my playmates. And I usually don’t select those that haven’t chosen me.”
“Touché,” muttered Josh.
Mia, oblivious to the undercurrent of meaning, spoke up. “I think wine makes people play more. I noticed it at crush. All the grown-ups who normally look so-o-o serious were dancing around in the grape barrels. Like you and Aunt Gina.”
“Would you care for more lasagna, Josh?” Gina asked, wanting to head the conversation in a different direction.
“Yes, it’s wonderful. Absolutely the best lasagna I’ve ever had, and that’s saying something. I like to go to the Italian restaurants in the north end of Boston, and their lasagna can’t match yours, trust me.”
“That is the problem,” Gina said. “I can’t trust you.” She got up and began to fill their water glasses from the pitcher.
She felt Josh’s gaze boring into her back. “Truth in jest, right?”
“You might infer that.” Trouncing him didn’t give her any feeling of superiority, however. It only made her sad, because at one time, she’d thought he was totally trustworthy.
“The trouble with grown-ups is that half the time you don’t understand what they’re talking about,” Mia observed. “Like now.”
“That’s true,” Josh said soberly. “If it’s any consolation, Mia, when you’re an adult, you may not understand it, either. Also like now.”
Mia slid to the edge of her chair. “May I be excused? I’d like to go watch TV now.”
“Of course, but take off your shoes before you climb up on the bed, okay?”
“Okay.” Mia left the table and went into the bedroom, where they heard her turn on the television.
“Do you make all your visitors take off their shoes before they get in your bed?”
“That is a really nosy question,” she told him.
“If I were invited into your bed, I’d be glad to comply,” he answered quickly. “In case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.” Gina started to clear the table. There weren’t many dishes, and Josh immediately began to help.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
“I want to.”
Gina began to stack dishes in the dishwasher. Josh was whistling between his teeth annoyingly as he brought dishes over from the table, ignoring the fact that she had to scrunch into a corner to keep from brushing against him as she loaded the dishwasher.
For his part, he seemed maddeningly unaware of any problem. “Anything wrong?” he asked when she’d slammed the dishwasher door closed and was trying to figure out how to slide past him into the living room.
She decided the time had come to tell him what she really thought. “I’m not sure I appreciate how you weaseled your way in here tonight,” she said, feeling two spots of color beginning to burgeon on her cheeks.
“Weaseled? Please! I merely accepted the invitation that was offered.”
“That’s exactly what you did for crush. Do you think it’s fair to manipulate a nine-year-old to help you get what you want?”
He looked doubtful. “That’s not how I see it. Mia is a charming child, and I enjoy her company almost as much as yours. Certainly, she’s easier to get along with.”
“Which brings me to a question. If I’m so difficult, why do you want to hang out with me?” Gina took off her apron and slung it across a chair back.
“Let’s just say that I like a challenge, plus there’s not much else to do in this little town.”
“Oh, but there is. There are wine-tasting tours, and riding bikes, and gondola rides on the river, and—” Too late, she realized that she’d stepped into a trap of her own making. “And lots of things,” she finished lamely.
“Why don’t you show me how much fun those things can be?” Josh said, his eyes sparkling. “Why don’t we go wine-tasting someday?”
To cover her confusion, she called to Mia. “Mia, you’d better phone your house and see if your mom’s home from the winery.”
“All right,” Mia said.
She turned to Josh. “I’m really very busy with the bachelor auction and my shop. I don’t have time for frivolous pursuits.” He leaned toward her, one arm braced on the countertop behind her. He was so close that she could smell the sunshine in the cotton of his shirt, could sense the hair on her arms rising with the shiver of anticipation that swept through her.
“I should participate in whatever the Napa Valley offers for entertainment,” he said. “For the article I’m writing.”
She stood stiff and unmoving, her breathing suddenly labored and tense. “I could have my aunt Donna show you around. She works for the chamber of commerce.” Josh shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and she took advantage of the opportunity to edge away toward the blessedly fresh air at the window. Her face was hot, and not just because the kitchen was warm from the oven’s being on.
“I don’t want to see the Napa Valley with your aunt. She’s probably seventy years old and—”
“She’s only about forty. You’d like her a lot.” Beads of perspiration began to break out on her forehead, and with great difficulty, she managed to swallow.
“No doubt she’s charming, like all your relatives. Not as charming as you, however. I’m pretty certain of that.”
“She’s only five years older than you. I’m five years younger than you. You might have much more in common with her than with me. She’s been to Italy. She’s vacationed in Hawaii twice. She was married to my uncle Richard, who died. You could—”
“I couldn’t. Gina, I wish you’d look at me. And stop talking.” He reached for one of her hands and drew her closer. “Remember what it was like? On the moor that day?”
She’d been wishing for the past two years that she didn’t remember. “It was cold, and I nearly froze.” She yanked her hand away, but he only recaptured it.
“We weren’t aware of how cold it was. We were all warm and snug in that abandoned stone croft where we sheltered from the wind. Our eyes met and my mind went blank. The only thing I could think of was you—the way your eyes light up from inside when you like something, your pleasure in simple things, like the birds winging overhead into the blue, blue sky.”
She gazed at him, spellbound. She remembered that day and those feelings with a stunning clarity. The shimmer of the heather on the hillside, the glassy silver surface of the pond in the distance. The sunlight warm upon her face. The easy companionship of walking hand in hand with Josh.
“We sheltered in the croft from a sudden shower. I saw raindrops glistening on your cheek, and I touched it. I brushed away the rain, like this,” and he demonstrated. “Your skin was so silky. I slid my arms around you, just this way, and pulled you closer.”
Lost in the memory, she let herself be drawn into the comfortable circle of his arms, oblivious to Mia chatting on the phone in the bedroom, to the insistent meowing of Timothy below in the garden.
“And I kissed you, Gina. Like I’m going to kiss you now.”
His words had taken her back to that magic place on the moor where she had first felt the stirrings of love for him. Her head tilted back, and she was holding her breath, as if doing so could freeze that special and very tender moment in time so that she could revisit it whenever she wanted.
“Like this,” Josh breathed, the words soft against her cheek, and he touched his lips to hers.
She knew she should have pushed him away, should have made him leave. Instead, she parted her lips and her eyes closed so she could experience the sensation even more deeply. His lips on hers were gentle, then demanding, testing, demanding even more. It was like that day in the abandoned croft, a time that she had replayed over and over again during many lonely nights, only this was better. It was real. She was kissing Josh Corbett himself, not a slowly fading memory of someone she’d been trying
desperately to forget.
She was crushed so close against him that she felt his heart beating against hers, and she could taste his hunger for her on his lips. She’d never forgotten the intensity of her feelings when she’d kissed him on that remote Scottish moor so far away from all that she held dear, but she had forgotten the sheer physicality of her response. The racing of her heart, the desire flooding her veins. The passion, and the surrender.
But she could not and would not surrender now. When at last he released her lips, she shakily pushed him away. “That’s enough, Josh.”
“I don’t think so,” he said. He started to pull her toward him again, but she sidestepped his grasp.
“Mia, did you talk to your mother?”
Mia came bouncing out of the bedroom, and Gina was thankful that she had managed to put a decent distance between her and Josh.
“Mom says she won’t be home until late, and is it okay for me to spend the night here? She says she talked to you about it earlier.”
“Yes, that’s fine,” she said, hoping that Mia couldn’t detect how aroused she still was. “I’ll call your mother and tell her.”
“Good,” Mia said. She turned to Josh. “Are you spending the night, too?”
“I wish,” Josh said ruefully, which earned him a warning look from Gina.
“I’d better go now,” Josh said.
“I’ll walk you downstairs,” Mia said.
Gina cleared her throat. “No, Mia, I’ll do it. I have to lock up. Why don’t you get your mother on the phone again so I can talk to her when I come back.”
Mia ran off to do her aunt’s bidding, and Gina turned to Josh, keeping her tone low. “I wanted to speak to you privately. That’s why I told her I’m going to walk down with you.”
“I’d like to speak to you, too. Privately.” He glanced toward the bedroom where they could see Mia sitting on the edge of the bed, punching numbers into the phone.
Before Gina could object, he had taken her hand and she was following him down the stairs. At the bottom, Josh pulled her roughly around to face him. When he spoke, his voice rasped with emotion, the same emotion that she read in his eyes. “Gina, that kiss we shared up there should prove to you that the two of us have unfinished business. I want to see you as often as possible. I want to get to know you without the intrusion of the television cameras and a bunch of other people.”
Heard It Through the Grapevine Page 8