6. Emma
Six
Emma
W hen Ridge strode in, brow furrowed and a rumbling growl escaping those lusciously full lips, I braced myself for an outright scolding. The frustration blazing in his eyes told me the scene we’d created—me and Avery caked in grape residue amidst an utterly trashed storage room—had set his temper flaring.
But then the darnedest thing happened. One look at his little girl’s bright, uninhibited smile as she revelled in our messy shenanigans, and Ridge’s stern fa?ade crumbled. A reluctant grin tugged at the corners of his mouth before escalating into deep, gravelly laughter that enveloped me like a warm embrace.
Any harsh words died on his tongue as he waded straight into the sticky puddle with us, fully clothed. The sight of his t-shirt plastered to that powerful torso, outlining the rugged contours of muscle and sinew, had my mouth going dry. Every flex and stretch of his frame caused the soaked fabric to cling and accentuate those mouthwatering curves in a way that sparked molten yearning low in my core.
Heat swirled low in my belly just watching the damp denim cling attractively to those thickly muscled thighs as he crouched down. Under the cascading spray of the shower later, I couldn’t expel the tantalizing images burned into my psyche. My skin still tingled with the phantom rush of grape juice trickling in winding rivulets, as if Ridge’s calloused hands had been the ones trailing those teasing paths.
Shameless lust blazed through me at the thought of him storming in to find me alone in the throes of our impromptu food fight. He’d fix me with that signature scorching glare that could melt steel before growling husky reprimands for making such a salacious mess.
My knees went wobbly just imagining the way he’d quickly close the distance between us. Maybe he’d haul me flush against that powerful frame as punishment, the hard planes of his body meshing sinuously with my softer curves. Thick fingers would trail through the sticky juices coating my skin, smearing crimson paths along my neck and décolletage.
An obscene moan tumbled past my lips as I envisioned Ridge’s mouth descending to lap up those winding rivulets with broad, ravenous strokes of his tongue. He’d suckle at the hollow of my throat, nibbling lush trails along my collarbones while I ground shamelessly against his hardened arousal.
Blazing heat lashed through my core at the thought of him paying merciless homage to my grape-stained breasts. That wicked mouth would lavish absolutely sinful attention to my aching peaks until I writhed and whimpered beneath his fervent ministrations.
Perhaps he’d even yank my skirt up over my hips to sate his ravenous cravings more fully. I could already feel the delirious bliss of Ridge’s calloused hands skimming up my thighs as he bent me over the edge of that vat. My slick folds would throb with wild need, begging for him to plunder my molten depths with that wickedly talented tongue…
The shrill ringtone of my phone jarred me from my fantacy. Dammit. I struggled to steady my breathing, come down from the high of arousal pulsing hot and wild through my veins.
Grabbing a towel, I quickly dried off and wrapped the plush terry cloth around my torso before snatching up my cell and answering with a breathless, “Hey, big brother.”
Leone’s familiar baritone filtered through the line. “Hey Em. How are you settling in at the vineyard? Mom driving you up a wall yet?”
A tremulous laugh tumbled out as lingering tendrils of my lurid fantasy still clung. “Not yet, but I’ve avoided mom as much as I can. But there has been no backhanded remarks about how I should be living my life or my weight or—”
“Seems sus,” he cut in with a teasing snort of mock skepticism.
I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. “Well, we’ll see if that lasts. How about you, though? Your big bad boss still keeping you buried in paperwork?”
“Oh, you know it,” my brother groaned on a sigh. “The merger has her barking orders around the clock like a damned tyrant.”
My lips curved in a mischievous grin. “So I guess that means no pretty little assistants to…ease the tension?”
A pregnant pause, then, “You’re disgusting, you know that?”
Leone’s affronted tone had me doubling over with laughter, mood considerably lighter for having connected with my closest confidante. I could practically envision the flush of embarrassment coloring his fair cheeks.
“Just keeping you honest, bro. Maybe get laid once in a while and you wouldn’t be so uptight.”
After a few more rough jabs back and forth—Leone dishing it right back at me as always—our conversation drifted to more PG subjects. The vineyards, the winery’s operations, how the folks were holding up as newly-minted empty nesters.
“Sorry Em, gotta run. Dinner’s supposed to be a working one, and I’m already behind on these reports—you know how Peterson gets.”
“Play nice with your boss,” I said with a teasing lilt.
“Go take a cold shower, sicko.”
My laughter echoed off the tiled walls. “Love you!”
After disconnecting the call, I finished towelling myself dry before padding into the bedroom to dress for dinner. My gaze kept straying to the storage room visible through the cracked door as memories of the erotic encounter I’d imagined played in vivid detail.
Slipping into a mint-green cotton sundress, I turned this way and that before the full-length mirror to inspect my reflection. The neckline dipped just enough to tease a subtle hint of cleavage, while the flirty hemline skimmed the middle of my thighs.
Much too modest for the molten scenarios unfolding in my subconscious, but it’d have to suffice for now. A throbbing ache still gnawed hungrily between my legs no matter how much I tried to will the arousal away.
With a steadying breath, I smoothed my palms down the silky fabric and gave myself a mental pep talk. Get it together, Emma. You’re an independent woman now. Not some bumbling teen crushing hard on the football captain anymore.
You’ve got this. Don’t let that delicious cowboy stud rattle your cage any more than absolutely necessary. Dinner with family, then you can escape back here to…attend to your needs properly.
Bolstered by my firm words, I gave my reflection a saucy wink and strutted out of the room with my shoulders back and chin lifted in determination.
Rules of seduction 101: Always meet his sultry gaze with equal heat. With confidence and poise. Don’t let Ridge sense how thoroughly flustered he renders you, no matter how irresistibly brooding or temptingly dishevelled that man appears…
As I stepped into the intimate dining room of the bed and breakfast, my gaze instantly locked onto Ridge. Of course, the only open seat left was right beside him.
I shot my mother a pointed look, taking in her poorly masked grin of delight at where she’d so conveniently placed me.
“Dammit, Mom,” I muttered under my breath, trying not to audibly call out her scheming even as my body thrummed with an odd mixture of nerves and anticipation.
Don’t act like this isn’t precisely what you want, a taunting inner voice crooned. To be pressed up against all that glorious, smoldering masculinity, drinking in every rugged and tempting inch of him from deliciously close range…
I couldn’t resist shooting Ridge a furtive glance from beneath my lashes as I slid into the chair beside him. Even something as simple as the way he held his utensils in that calloused grip kindled a lascivious curl of want low in my belly.
Get a grip, Emma, you’re being utterly ridiculous right now. He’s your new boss, and more importantly, your friend Ethan’s older brother. This unbecoming infatuation needs to stay locked down before it leads you somewhere you’ll regret.
Clearing my throat, I twisted in my seat toward Ethan, who sat directly across from me next to his wife Chloe. “Hey Ten, Leo called earlier.”
Ethan’s hazel eyes crinkled with a knowing grin. “Yeah, me too about an hour ago. Boss is really putting the screws to him with this big merger thing.”
“Still burning the midnight oil trying to keep up?” I asked with a sympathetic wince.
My brother shook his head with a rueful chuckle. “You know it. I swear, the man hasn’t taken a single day off in months thanks to all the new contracts and client accounts to negotiate.”
I made a noise of commiseration, all too familiar with how driven and demanding Leone could be—especially when it came to his high-powered legal career. The guy had always been gunning to make partners at prestigious firms, ever since we were kids.
Yet no matter how deeply I tried distracting myself with family conversation, I couldn’t quite tune out the scorching male presence beside me. From my peripheral vision, I could make out every thick swell and dip of taut muscle rippling beneath the thin cotton fabric of Ridge’s shirt.
Christ, my insides clenched with scalding need just drinking in that tantalizing view. How was I meant to retain possession of my senses with that level of temptation mere inches away?
Perhaps sensing my wandering focus, Ridge shifted almost imperceptibly nearer until the wiry girth of his thickly muscled arm brushed ever so lightly against mine. The whisper of contact seared through me like an electric jolt, hazing my thoughts until all I could focus on was the heady masculine scent enveloping me.
Sawdust and smoke. Sandalwood and some indescribable wild, earthy musk that was as intoxicating as the finest wine. Just breathing him in made my head spin dizzily until simmering heat lapped through my veins.
You’re in so much trouble, that little voice sing-songed in devilish glee. One skimming graze of his fingertips is all it would take to raze your crumbling barriers to ash. How’re you planning to hold it together with all these lush erotic thoughts overwhelming you, hmm?
Dinner was in full swing, the long wooden table overflowing with platters of savoury meats, fresh salads, and piping hot loaves of bread. We rated each dish, our opinions determining what would grace our seasonal menu.
I listened with one ear as I sipped my wine, my gaze straying constantly to the ruggedly handsome man seated right next to me. His brawny forearms were dusted with a sprinkling of dark hair rippled with each animated gesture, the fabric of his chambray shirt straining against the swell of his sculpted chest. A dusting of dark stubble shaded his chiselled jawline, and I found myself imagining how deliciously abrasive it would feel rasping against my skin as his luscious mouth trailed scorching kisses along my body.
I gave a violent start, my cheeks flaming, when his penetrating stare suddenly found mine. Molten pools of liquid amber blazed from beneath his upswept brow as he held my gaze for a heavy moment.
“Hey,” he rumbled in that sinfully deep baritone that slithered like melted chocolate through my veins. “Thanks for today. I finished up like a week’s worth of work, and Avery had fun. Lily and Cody hated missing out on all the grape fight fun when Avery mentioned it on the call to them.”
I struggled to wet my dry mouth, my tongue leaden as I stammered a reply to the man who had effortlessly commandeered my every thought since the moment we first met. “It—it was all good. I had fun with Avery.” My voice emerged high and reedy, and I fought the urge to cringe. “I love kids anyway. I won’t mind a repeat of it when Lily and Cody want.”
Ridge exhaled a long, weary sigh, those tantalizing lips that I longed to taste forming a grim line. “No more messes, Emma. Especially not all three of them together. They’ll turn my whole place into a junkyard.”
“What if we hose them down in the garden and they change at my shed?” I suggested impulsively.
He regarded me with narrow eyes for a long moment, those scorching amber eyes seeming to penetrate straight through to my soul and ignite a raging inferno in their wake. I shifted in my seat, a delicious warmth blossoming low in my belly as my thighs pressed wantonly together.
“Think you can handle three little hurricanes alone?” he asked at last, his tone a gruff challenge.
A daring smile curved my lips as I arched a brow. “Who said I’d be alone?”
Ridge’s eyes darkened with an indecipherable emotion, his prominent Adam’s apple bobbing convulsively as he swallowed hard. A muscle ticked in that shadowed jawline before he abruptly turned away without another word, leaving me to watch the thrilling flexion of his broad back muscles through the thin cotton fabric as he reached for the basket of bread.