I’ll be in my room. I’m definitely not bored. Come and see me when you’re done. ~Kate Kisses, Katy I set it on his nightstand next to a picture of him in a cap and gown standing with an older woman, who I assumed was his mother. She looked beautiful, vibrant, and proud. Jamie’s arm was around her shoulders, embracing her. From the picture, you could tell they were close. Someone once told me that you can gather all you need to know about a man by the way he treats his mother and his dog. There was something oddly familiar about the photo but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I grabbed the book and looked at the title. A Room with a View. How very romantic of Jamie, I thought. I had read it, so I searched my mind for the answer to his riddle but came up with nothing.
In the fading sunlight, I meandered back toward the inn, barefoot, twirling my slingback heels around my index finger. There were the distant sounds of birdcalls and a light breeze caressing the vines. The sky was an ocean, crystal blue with giant, heavenly clouds floating about. I watched as a flock of birds danced in perfect unison, swooping down, up, and around against the stark white clouds like a child’s drawing set in motion.
When I passed the last row of vines, I spotted Jamie about forty yards away with his back toward me. I approached him slowly and quietly and watched him stare into the sky, mesmerized by the birds the same way I had been. At the exact moment that I stopped, he turned and looked over his shoulder. He walked toward me with pure determination. There was no hesitation. He just took me in his arms, dipped me slightly, and kissed me hard. When I caught my breath, I smiled.
“Do you get it yet?” he asked.
“Not yet.”
“You will, except there’s no one here to stop us but ourselves.”
“Hmm. Jamie, your riddling prowess is quite impressive.” He smelled musky, and I could feel the dampness of his sweat through his shirt.
“Where are you headed?”
“To my room.”
We were both smiling giddily. “Can I come to your room when I’m through here?”
I held my hand to my mouth and gasped in mock horror. “But, Jamie—what will the town folk say?”
“That’s true. I can just hide your clothes again, lock you in my barn, and fuck you silly.” His dimple was deeper than I had ever seen it.
I socked him in the arm. “I knew you hid my clothes.”
“I had no choice. I needed you naked.” His boyish charm was in full force.
“I’ll let you stay with me in my room, but I’m making no promises beyond cuddling. We can always cuddle,” I said with a hint of amusement.
“That’s enough to keep me going for a hundred years.”
Page 10
* * *
Blank Pages
There were at least twenty random pieces of paper spread throughout my room. Several contained quick notes from my observations at the winery, some were Jamie’s itineraries that I couldn’t part with, and some were just blank pages or pages filled with doodling from my brainstorming sessions gone awry. I cleaned up quickly, tossing the papers on the desk and chair, and then I stripped down and jumped in the shower. Before I was able to thoroughly dry my hair or throw on a coat of lip gloss, the knocks came.
He was still wearing his work clothes, and I was only wearing a tiny white towel.
He stepped into the room without a word and then flicked the top of the towel, causing it to fall open and onto the floor. He took a deep breath as his eyes traveled up and down my body. “You need a shower,” he said.
“I just took a shower.”
He bent down and effortlessly threw me over his shoulder and then stalked into the bathroom. I protested while he turned the shower on and waited for the right temperature. He managed to kick his shoes off with me hanging over his shoulder and then he put his mouth on my hip and bit me. “Ouch!”
“Oh, sorry, baby.” He sucked on the same spot until I was writhing around like a maniac suspended in the air. I beat my fists against his back and butt, but he just laughed. Once the water was perfect, he dropped me in and then removed his clothes in five seconds flat. Before I could blink, he had me against the wall of the shower.
“Whoa, Jamie!”
“This is like cuddling, right?” he said with a devilish smirk.
“You are dangerously close to breaking my rule.”
“Okay, let me just wash you.”
“I’m clean.”
“I think you need a once-over.”
After thirty minutes of washing each other’s hair and bodies, we made it out of the shower, but Jamie insisted on drying me in the most painfully slow and gentle manner. We were torturing each other.
“I’m saving you for later,” he said as he helped me into one of the terry-cloth robes.
“What shall we do for dinner?”
“It’s on its way. I’m going to feed you naked.”
He was still wearing nothing. “You’re going to feed me while you’re naked?”
“No, I’m going to feed you while you’re naked.”
“I heard it the other way around,” I said accusatorily.
“Okay, how about I feed you while we’re both naked?”
“That’s a good compromise.” I rolled forward on my tippy-toes and kissed his cheek.
When our food came, I insisted that we eat dinner at the table with our robes on like civilized human beings, but I promised him we could eat dessert his way. He immediately called the restaurant and ordered one of each kind of dessert, a scoop of each flavor of ice cream, and a bowl of whipped cream.
“Aren’t you embarrassed? You work here,” I said after he hung up.
“Embarrassed about what?”