The High Price of Secrets(15)
“Sorry I’m late,” she continued, oblivious to the tug-of-war going on in Finn’s mind, not to mention the tug of something else far lower down in his body. “I’ll only be a minute. Just let me put these things in my room and I’m all yours.”
All his? Somehow he doubted that. But it certainly promised to be interesting finding out, he thought with a smile as he watched her graceful departure.
Gone was the wounded creature who had been at his front door last night. Gone was the troubled but determined young woman who’d arrived in the dining room this morning. In her place was charming, confident sex on legs, and very beautiful legs they were, too, he admitted as he admired the slim turn of her ankle and the slender, yet shapely, calf muscles heading in the opposite direction on a pair of colored icepicks that defied logic and gravity in one, literally, easy step.
He shook himself out of his daze as she disappeared from view. Just as well, he thought, or he might even have been tempted to follow her.
True to her word, she was back in only a few minutes, delivering him a shy smile as she returned.
“All ready?” he asked, his mouth drying as he studied her anew.
The purple of the dress did something striking to her brown eyes, reminding him of pansies. Bold, yet fragile at the same time. God, he groaned inwardly. What the hell was wrong with him? Next he’d be acting like some crush-struck teenager.
“I certainly am,” she replied, falling in alongside him as he headed for the door. “Where are we going?”
He named a vineyard and winery that was only a fifteen-minute drive away. “Their restaurant is immensely popular for lunches and their wines are world renowned.”
Tamsyn rubbed her flat tummy and laughed. “I certainly hope you’re right. I’m famished after all that shopping this morning.”
“You won’t be disappointed,” he assured her.
He kept up a bland running commentary on the surrounding countryside and their destination, to fill in time as they drove to the vineyard.
“This place sounds a lot like home,” Tamsyn commented. “We run a similar operation with cellar door, restaurant and winery. It’ll be fun seeing how they do things. I could almost tell myself it was work if—” Her voice broke off.
“If?” he coaxed.
“If I hadn’t resigned and walked away from it all,” she said with a brittle smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Oh? Sick of the daily drudge?” he probed, curious to know her answer.
If she was the spoiled princess he’d always imagined her to be, then his guess would fit right in with that. He used that thought to quell his firing libido.
“Something like that,” she answered noncommittally and turned her head to stare out the window.
Something like that. Huh. What he wouldn’t give to find out what that “something” was. Then maybe he could resolve his conflicted feelings. On the surface, Tamsyn Masters had proven true to form. She’d turned up at his doorstep unannounced, which, if it had been Ellen’s home, could have had devastating consequences. She spent money like water, which made him wonder if she’d ever had to work hard for a single thing. And, by her own admission, she’d simply walked away from the family business and whatever responsibilities had been hers while she was there.