Judy Duarte – Triplets Found: The Virgin's Makeover / Take a Chance on Me / And Then There Were Three (страница 3)
She wasn’t comfortable at all. Not with him or this meeting.
“Your father mentioned you’ve developed a new wine,” he said.
“Actually, it’s a new blend of varietals.” Lissa clasped her hands on top of the desk, glad to steer the conversation and her thoughts away from the Scottish highlands and back on Valencia Vineyards, where they belonged.
Men like Sullivan Grayson didn’t take a second look at women like her. And if he did? Good grief. She wouldn’t know which way to run.
Sullivan studied his new client’s daughter. Lissa Cartwright was an attractive woman, even though she didn’t seem to know it. Or maybe she preferred a plain-Jane image, intentionally downplaying her looks by wearing her hair in a bulky, spinster-type bun and hiding her figure behind baggy gray slacks and a lackluster blouse.
She wasn’t a beauty, but he’d still felt a spark of attraction when he’d first spotted her behind that desk. Maybe it was those mesmerizing green eyes that held his attention and made him want to tease a smile from her, just to see them come alive.
He figured she’d felt something for him, too. At least her nervousness suggested she had.
But Lissa Cartwright was definitely off-limits. After all, Sullivan never mixed business with pleasure. And since he was working for her father on a family-owned vineyard, he’d put his interest on permanent hold.
Besides, she had business savvy. And from what he’d learned after researching Valencia Vineyards, she was too serious-minded to be considered dating material, especially for a man who’d learned the hard way to keep his relationships light and meaningless.
Since his divorce at the ripe old age of twenty-five, Sullivan preferred his women to have nothing more going for them than a pretty face, a great body and an impressive rung on the social ladder.
The door opened, and Ken Cartwright entered the office. He extended a hand to Sullivan. “Forgive me for being late. My daughter, Eileen, just announced she’s expecting a baby. And, needless to say, I couldn’t disappear until my wife stopped bouncing off the walls.”
Sullivan smiled. “I take it that she’s settled down now.”
“She’s still a bit giddy.” Ken chuckled. “You have no idea how much my wife loves babies.”
“And you don’t?” Lissa elbowed him, her lively green eyes taunting her father.
“Okay,” Ken said. “I admit it. My wife and I are both suckers for toothless grins.”
“I wonder how they’d fare in an old folks’ home?” Lissa asked, flashing a smile at Sullivan that sliced right through him.
He couldn’t seem to escape her gaze. She had the most amazing eyes he’d ever seen. And when she smiled, her face lit up.
“Shall we get down to business?” Ken asked.
“Yes,” Sullivan answered, a bit too quickly. He needed to focus on what he’d been hired to do, and not on a fascinating pair of verdant green eyes that were more than a little distracting.
At lunchtime, Lissa’s mother, Donna, and her sister, Eileen, brought a tray of sandwiches and a pitcher of iced tea for them to eat in the office. Eileen kept making goofy, isn’the-perfect-for-you faces, mouthing things like,
Lissa wanted to clobber her sister. For goodness’ sake, it didn’t take a brain surgeon to see that the man was a looker. But she also knew he wouldn’t be the slightest bit interested in her.
Of course, she’d gotten used to Eileen’s efforts to help. In high school, Lissa had become a bookworm and an honor student, but she’d had very few friends. And no dates to speak of, other than Milt Preston, the guy who played Ichabod Crane in the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” play.
Eileen had talked Milt into asking Lissa to the Christmas formal. As awkward as the experience had been, Lissa had appreciated her sister taking on a matchmaker role back then, but she didn’t really appreciate those same efforts now.
When her mother—thank goodness—finally managed to drag Eileen back to the house, Lissa blew out the breath she’d been holding.
For Pete’s sake. She was nervous enough. She certainly didn’t need a cheering section at a game that was lost before it even began.
Fortunately, her dad and Sullivan had been oblivious to the girl talk, or so Lissa hoped. And the three of them had eaten lunch while talking over business strategy.
By four in the afternoon, the initial meeting finally ended.
Ken was the first to call it a day. “Lissa, I promised your mother I’d help her grill steaks this evening. Will you take Sullivan to the guest house and help him settle in?”
“I’d be glad to.” Lissa still felt uneasy around the man. But she’d best get used to it. Sullivan would be staying at the winery until they’d hammered out the details of the new marketing plan. Then his work at Valencia Vineyards would be finished. And he’d leave without a backward glance.
“You two may as well get to know each other,” Ken suggested. “I have some family obligations to take care of, so you’ll be spending a lot of time together.”
Don’t remind me about dealing with the consultant on my own, Lissa wanted to say. Instead, she offered a pleasant grin—the kind she’d practiced over the years when asked to do something she wasn’t comfortable doing and would prefer to delegate to someone else.
“My father’s favorite uncle fell and broke a hip,” Lissa explained to Sullivan. “And there were a few complications, so Dad will be going to San Diego soon, and you’ll be working with me.”
“Not a problem.” Sullivan flashed her another smile that accelerated her pulse.
She called Barney, who’d been chewing on the frayed edge of the throw rug that sat in front of the potbellied stove. When the pup continued to ignore her, she scooped him up, carried him outside and deposited him on the ground, where he immediately began to sniff around until a twig caught his attention.
Sullivan followed behind. “I need to get my bags out of the trunk. Is it a long walk? I can take my car, so it’ll be parked near the guest house.”
“No, it’s just ahead. And you really can’t park any closer than this. See the little suspension bridge that leads to the big house?”
“Yes.”
She pointed beyond the wooden structure that spanned the fishpond, toward the quaint guest house she’d always thought of as a cottage. “It’s just across the lawn.”
They stopped long enough for Sullivan to retrieve a suitcase from the trunk of a sporty, silver-gray Mercedes and for her to snap a leash on Barney.
“Lead the way,” Sullivan said, with that flirtatious grin that made her heart rate go bonkers.
Was it her imagination? Or did he keep sliding a glance her way?
No way. It had to be her imagination. Maybe he found her an oddity. Or a novelty of some kind. That had to be it, because she never harbored any unrealistic expectations when it came to men.
“It’s nice out here,” he said, scanning the lush lawns that surrounded the house.
“I can’t imagine living anywhere else.” And she couldn’t. Living on the vineyard, being a part of the land, was one of the best things about being adopted by the Cartwrights. Their love, of course, was another. Even if Lissa didn’t quite fit in, she never doubted their affection.
As they reached the wood-planked front porch of the guest house, she turned the antique brass knob and opened the door. “It’s not much, but it’s cozy.”
Actually, Lissa thought the little house was pretty special. She and her mom had decorated it in a country French decor, with café-style window coverings, a blue plaid sofa and a coordinating floral, overstuffed easy chair.
“It gets pretty chilly at night.” She pointed to the thermostat on the light-oak-paneled wall. “You can adjust the heat to your comfort.”
He nodded toward the stone hearth that boasted a stack of firewood, kindling and matches. “I’d rather have a fire.”
So would Lissa, if she were staying in the cottage. A fire was cozier. And more romantic.
Darn it. Those blasted romance books were getting to her again. And the sooner she could box them up and chuck them into a blazing fire, the better off she’d be.
“There’s a kitchenette,” she said, “in case you prefer to take your meals alone. But knowing my mom, she’ll insist that you join us.”
“I eat most of my meals in restaurants, so I’ll be looking forward to some home cooking.”
“Well, good. Mom will be pleased.” Lissa would be, too, but she battled the girlish rush of excitement. “I’ll show you the rest of the place.”
As she entered the hallway and glanced through the open doorway to the bedroom, her gaze landed upon the blue-and-white checkered comforter on the double bed she’d made up yesterday.
She caught a whiff of his musky, highland scent—mountain fresh and wild—and felt his presence close in on her, as though she might find him inches away, if she turned around.
Her pulse and her breathing seemed to escalate, but her feet remained rooted to the spot.
“Nice room,” he said.
Unable to help herself, she turned and caught him merely inches away.
Watching her.
And he wasn’t smiling—at least, not in a teasing sort of way.
Something passed between them, although she wasn’t sure what it was. Could it be sexual awareness?