13. Emma
Thirteen
Emma
T he warm summer breeze carried the sweet fragrance of ripening grapes as I wandered through the vineyard rows. My brother Ethan had flown to New York earlier, hoping to convince our oldest brother Leone to join us as CEO for the new vineyard resort and events venture. Leaving me to get started with promoting the property as a premiere wedding destination.
“Emma!”
The high-pitched squeal was my only warning before a tiny tornado of untamed brown curls slammed into my legs. Lily’s embrace nearly knocked me off balance, but I managed an awkward spin and crouched down to her level.
“There’s my favourite little grape,” I chuckled, ruffling her hair. She beamed up at me with those big hazel eyes, cheeks flushed from running.
“What is she doing?” Lily bounced excitedly, pointing toward the photographer adjusting her camera near the terrace.
Behind Lily, Cody ambled up, Scooby’s leash looped loosely around his wrist. The yellow lab sniffed intently at a rosebush, tail wagging cheerfully. Cody gave me a shy half-smile and a little wave.
“Hey, Cody.” I straightened up and smoothed my sundress. “Did you two escape from your dad again?”
Lily nodded vigorously. “Uh huh. We wanted to see what the pretty lady is doing on the terrace.”
“I’m launching a new marketing campaign for weddings and events here,” I explained to the ten-year-old boy. “Kate’s going to take some photos for our website and social media.”
Cody’s brow furrowed as he processed this. “Why would someone want to get married at a grape farm?”
“It’s not just a grape farm, goof!” Lily chided with a roll of her eyes. “It’s like a fancypants resort! Like where Uncle John and Aunt Martha got married at that big city resort, ‘member?”
“Oh…” Cody’s face cleared with understanding. “With a pretty white dress and everything?”
“Exactly.” I shot Lily an appreciative grin. She might only be eight, but she was sharper than a tack.
I glanced toward the house, half expecting a frazzled Ridge to come barreling out at any moment. It seemed unlikely those two munchkins had gotten this far without his noticing. But the rambling hacienda remained still and quiet in the midday heat.
A tiny meow drew my gaze downward. The grey-striped kitten that had recently been roaming around the vineyard was weaving between my feet, arching her back and purring up a storm. I scooped her into my arms, scratching under her chin as she burrowed against me contentedly.
“I love her can I take her with me?” Lily asked, throwing me a pleading look.
I bit my lip.
“I’m not sure, sweetie. You’ll have to ask your dad about that.”
Cody snickered at that, earning himself a fierce glare. The kitten purred louder, distracting Lily, who reached over to tickle her belly. A faint smile played across my lips as I watched them.
Kate climbed down from the terrace, camera bag slung over her shoulder, and made her way over to us. “Look at this one, Em,” she said, angling the camera display so I could see.
My breath caught in my throat at the warmth captured in the image. Lily was perched on my lap, tiny fingers buried in my hair as we gazed at each other with matching bright smiles. Her hazel eyes sparkled with unbridled joy and adoration that tugged at my heart.
“Aw, you guys look so cute!” Kate gushed. “Total sister goals.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her cheesy comment. Kate meant well, but she could lay it on thick sometimes. “Thanks, that’s a really sweet shot,” I murmured instead.
Glancing over at Cody, I noticed his pout and quickly put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a sidehug. “Don’t worry, bud, you’re still my favorite ranch hand.”
He tried to shrug me off, all awkward ten-year-old embarrassment, but I could see the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Anyway, I should have all the pictures edited and over to you in a day or two,” Kate went on, shifting the weighty camera bag on her shoulder. “Just let me know if you need any re-shots or if the bosses want anything else.”
I nodded solemnly, doing my best to suppress the flutters in my belly. Getting too far ahead of myself would only lead to disappointment. “Actually…I was hoping to talk to you about something.”
Kate’s eyebrows rose with interest as I drew in a steadying breath.
“This is just in the exploratory phase,” I prefaced, “but if all goes well with expanding into a full resort and events venue…we’re going to need an in-house photographer.”
Her eyes went wide, lips parting in an excited little ‘o.’ “Oh em gee, are you offering me a job?”
“Potentially?” I hedged. “I have to wait and hear back from my brothers first, of course. But if they give us the green light to move forward, I’d love to have you on board.”
Before Kate could respond, a tiny hand tugged insistently on my sundress. “Emma?” Lily peered up at me, hazel eyes wide and imploring. “Can we get the lollipop from the desk?”
I shot Kate an apologetic look. “I’ll catch up with you soon, okay?”
She waved me off with a grin. “No worries, I’ve got to run anyway. But keep me posted!”
Turning my attention back to the kids, I arched an inquisitive brow. “Where’s your dad?”
Lily opted to ignore my question in that singularly infuriating way children have mastered. Instead, she jutted out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout.
Cody, ever the more forthright of the two, pointed a grubby finger toward the main office. “Dad’s talking to the mean old lady.”
“Mean old lady?” I echoed with a frown. Surely he didn’t mean…?
“Uncle Ethan’s mom,” Cody clarified with a solemn nod.
Ah. Of course. My own mother. I bit back a snort at Cody’s unvarnished description. From the mouths of babes…
Lily tugged my arm again, distracting me. “She wouldn’t let us have the lollipop,” she whined petulantly.
Mommy dearest always had been a stickler about sugar before meals. I rolled my eyes toward the cloudless sky. “Yeah, Mom can be…strict sometimes.”
Understatement of the year. Elizabeth Harrison was a rigid disciplinarian cut from militaristic cloth. My brother Ethan and I had suffered through more than our fair share of her draconian rules growing up.
“Tell you what,” I said, pasting on a conspiratorial smile. “How about you two come with your favourite neighabour to her super-secret candy stash? I’ve got all kinds of lollipops and treats squirreled away.”
Twin faces lit up with devilish glee, previous grievances instantly forgotten. Some things simply transcended all rules and regulations - the siren call of sweets chief among them for the under-ten set.
“Race you there!” Cody took off at a sprint toward the villa, Scooby loping along happily behind him.
Lily was hot on his heels, kitten cradled protectively in her arms as she ran. “No fair, you got a head start!”
Laughing, I chased after them, my earlier wobbles of insecurity fading into the warm spring breeze.
Laughter bubbled up from my chest as Cody and Lily raced ahead, Scooby’s clumsy paws skidding on the terra cotta tiles. Just as I was about to catch up to the giggling pair, a figure emerged from the main office doorway.
My breath hitched at the sight of Ridge stalking out, brows knit in a fierce scowl. Even in a simple black henley and faded jeans, the man exuded an almost dangerous aura - like a panther coiled to strike. Tousled chestnut locks tumbled over his forehead, just begging for fingers to rake through the silken strands.
Get a grip, Emma.
“Why are you two running?” Ridge’s deep baritone sliced through the festive chaos, admonishing yet underpinned with a throat-catching husk.
Cody and Lily ground to an abrupt halt, exchanging wide-eyed looks full of mischievous glee rapidly morphing into sheepish contrition. In that instant, they were the picture of innocence - two cherubic angels without a care in the world. I fought back a snort. As if.
“We were just, uh…” Cody shuffled his feet, gaze darting away from his father’s withering stare.
Ever the bold one, Lily stepped forward and craned her neck back to meet Ridge’s stormy emerald eyes. The afternoon sun gilded her riotous brown curls into a wild corona. “Emma said we could have candy from her secret stash!”
You little traitor. I shot her a playful glare that she answered with an unrepentant grin, baring the gap between her front teeth.
“Is that so?”
The words were soft, dangerous, and I felt them like a physical caress skating along my sensitive nerves. Ridge’s assessing gaze lasered into me, equal parts challenge and smoldering promise searing beneath the surface.
Don’t you dare blush. Don’t you dare…
Of course my cheeks blazed traitorously crimson in response. I offered up a feeble shrug, mouth suddenly dryer than the Napa valley at high noon.
“They…uh…they wanted a treat?”
Smooth, Emma. Real smooth.
The tiniest quirk tugged at the corner of Ridge’s lips - the bare ghost of a smile toying with my pulse. “That supposed to be a question or a statement, little flower?”
Two could play at this game. Squaring my shoulders, I lifted my chin in mock defiance. “Are you gonna tell on me to the sugar police, Cowboy?”
Cody dissolved into a fit of giggles at that, quickly muffled behind both hands as Ridge shot him a quelling look. One thick brow arched ever so slightly, wordlessly challenging me to go on.
Bold tactic, Ms. Emma. Let’s see if it pays off.
“Only if I don’t get some sugar for me as well,” Ridge rumbled, the barest hint of a drawl caressing each syllable.
An illicit thrill sparked low in my belly at the words, stoking the banked embers smoldering there into a sultry blaze. Was there an innuendo lurking beneath that molten emerald gaze or was I merely projecting my own forbidden desires?
Either way, that timbred baritone could tempt a saint with unholy thoughts. Squirming under the weight of his stare, I struggled to keep my wits about me. “I…uh…”
Smooth, Emma. Very smooth.
One side of Ridge’s sensuous mouth quirked higher, a dimple winking into existence that damn near knocked the breath from my lungs. Surely the man didn’t realize the devastation he wrought with the simplest of expressions.
“Well?” A sardonic lilt infused the single word, stoking my blazing cheeks into an inferno. “You gonna make good on that sugar promise or what?”
There was no mistaking the layered meaning this time. The challenge had been openly issued - bold, brash, and spoken in that liquid velvet drawl designed to tempt even the most virtuous into debauchery.
My mouth went dry as tinder, heartbeat stampeding like a herd of wild mustangs. Sudden recklessness gripped me, bringing a decisive tilt to my chin.
“Follow me then, Cowboy,” I tossed over my shoulder with feigned nonchalance, putting an extra swing in my hips as I strode toward my office’s entrance.
My pulse thundered in my ears as we filed into the dimly lit office, the thick musky scent of leather and old books enveloping us. Cody and Lily instantly made a beeline for the antique cherry wood desk, Scooby’s tail swishing happily behind them.
With trembling fingers, I slid open the carved bottom drawer and withdrew my secret stash - an overflowing basket of assorted lollipops in every sugary hue imaginable. Plucking out three glistening strawberry suckers, I extended one to each of the eager kids.
Lily snatched hers without preamble, immediately unwrapping and popping the confection into her mouth with an impish grin. Cody accepted his with a polite “Thanks, Emma.”
When I turned to offer the final lollipop to Ridge, the words stuck in my throat. He was regarding me with smoky emerald eyes, jaw etched in a rugged line that beckoned my fingertips to trace the chiseled plane. Tendons stretched taut in the corded column of his bronzed neck as he lazily ran his gaze over me in a scorching appraisal.
Suddenly very aware of how close he’d drifted, I found my hand floating upward of its own volition, lollipop extended like a brazen offering. Ridge’s lips curved in a lopsided smirk before he captured my wrist in a gentle vise, drawing me infinitesimally nearer.
“You think I want a lollipop, sweetheart?” The words were soft, rough, and sent a shiver of pure sin ricocheting through me. “How old do you think I am?”
Fuck.
His murmured query sparked a maelstrom of unbridled yearning low in my belly, stealing what little breath remained. I could only gape at him, helpless against the smoldering riptide of want consuming me from the inside out.
Think, Emma. For the love of God, think!
“Th-that’s the only candy I have,” I rasped, all too aware of how pitiful the excuse sounded.
He inched closer, near enough for his clean, earthy scent to tease my senses into a fever pitch. Each languorous blink, every minute shift in his battle-hardened muscles set my skin alight with rising surrender.
This man had no idea the detonation sequence he’d triggered with just a few murmured words and heated looks. No inkling of the fireworks exploding across my starved nerve-endings.
God help me, but I was going to spontaneously self-combust into a pile of ashes.
“Pretty sure that ain’t the kind of sugar I’m craving, darlin’,” he rumbled, emerald eyes blazing with unmasked longing.
The blatantly suggestive endearment detonated deep in my core like a depth charge, hot and insistent. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think - could only gape up at this glorious man utterly ensnaring me, one carnal promise at a time.
Ridge’s smirk deepened into a full-blown grin of wicked promise, dimples cutting deep grooves into those chiseled cheeks. With one deft twirl of his wrist, the lollipop slipped free, dropping to the hardwood with a dull thunk.
Lifting my captured hand, he brushed a featherlight kiss across my knuckles, the barest graze of satin lips against feverish skin. A shudder racked my body as liquid fire blazed through my veins.
“What…sugar you want?” I managed to rasp, utterly helpless beneath his molten regard.
The corner of Ridge’s mouth curved higher as he lazily dragged his gaze over me in a lingering perusal that seared every inch it traversed. My skin prickled with yearning, desperate for his scorching touch to slake this rapidly escalating inferno.
“Somehow I don’t think you’ve got that particular flavor stocked, little flower,” he drawled, rich and sinful as bitter chocolate.
With agonizing slowness, he brushed the calloused pad of his thumb along the throbbing pulse point of my captured wrist, igniting pinprick blazes in its wake. My breath hitched at the simple yet devastatingly intimate caress.
“Unless…” His voice lowered to a gravel-rough timbre that flooded my veins with pure sin. “You’ve been holdin’ out on me, little flower.”
Oh sweet mercy. Waves of liquid heat lapped through my throbbing center as my name rolled off his tongue in that rugged satin rasp. My knees threatened to buckle, held upright solely by the steel band of Ridge’s grip and the banked promise blazing in his darkening gaze.
“I…uh…” Smooth, Emma. Very coherent.
A ragged exhale huffed past my parted lips, the smallest of smiles playing across Ridge’s beautifully carved mouth. Slowly, deliberately, he tugged me closer, near enough to feel the thrum of his body’s virile heat through the thin cotton of my sundress.
This close, his earthy, masculine scent - leather, sandalwood, and something headier, muskier - enveloped me in a drugging cloud. My free hand drifted upward of its own volition, fingers skimming the ridged plane of his abdomen through the soft, worn henley…
Somewhere in the room, a tiny bark echoed, reminding us of the two kids and Scooby still very much present in the office. I jolted away from Ridge’s overwhelming presence as if doused with a bucket of ice water, abruptly snapping back to reality. Scrambling behind my desk, I busied myself unnecessarily rearranging the clutter atop the polished cherry wood surface.
Playtime was over. At least for now.
“Um…you here to see my mom?” I asked in a strained attempt at nonchalance, clearing my throat loudly.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the barest hint of Ridge tugging the brim of his battered Stetson lower, shielding his chiseled features in shadow. But not before I glimpsed the unmistakable stain of crimson tingeing those razor-cut cheekbones.
The man was blushing. Bless him.
“Yes,” he replied, gruff and terse, all playful flirtation abruptly shuttered away.
I lifted my gaze, arching an inquisitive brow. “There some problem you need help with?”
For a split second, Ridge’s forest green eyes flashed with an unreadable emotion before the shuttered mask slammed back into place. “No…uh. My mum had something sent over for her.”
“Ah, I see.” My shoulders slumped slightly as the tension bled out of the room like a deflating balloon. “So nothing too earth-shattering then?”
Ridge’s gaze skated away, suddenly finding great interest in studying a random placard on the wall. “Not particularly. Just…Mother being Mother, you know how she is.”
I did indeed know how Mother was - better than anyone, perhaps. While her rigid upbringing and militaristic ways could often feel oppressive, there was no denying the deep well of love and concern that fueled it all.
My own hard-scrabble childhood on the ranch had instilled a similar protectiveness over the small brood gathered in this very room. Perhaps that was why the palpable chemistry between Ridge and I kept simmering so close to the surface. We were simply two rudders cut from the same implacable stock.
“Daddy, I’m still hungry,” Cody announced with a plaintive whine, tugging on the hem of Ridge’s shirt. “And I think Scooby needs to go potty.”
“Yeah, and smell is getting rank up in here.” Lily poked her brother in the shoulder, eliciting a squawk of protest.
Rolling my eyes skyward, I bit back an exasperated sigh. So much for the simmering promise of just moments ago. Some things were simply more important than chasing the tendrils of unrequited desire.
As Cody and Lily continued their incessant bickering, I caught Ridge’s eye and shrugged in wry resignation. A muscle ticked in the granite line of his jaw before he dipped his chin in the tiniest of nods, his silent reply seeming to say, Duty calls.
Dropping his hand to rest atop Cody’s mop of sun-bleached curls, Ridge effectively silenced the argument with a solitary quelling glance. “Alright, y’all heard the man. Let’s get you two fed and the Labb walked before something else starts stinkin’ around here.”
Cody opened his mouth - no doubt to complain about being included in that remark - but evidently thought better of it after receiving another patented dad stare. Reluctantly, he turned and trudged out of the office with Scooby in tow, muttering under his breath the whole way.
Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “Need any help wrangling that duo?”
Three sets of eyes turned my way with equally inscrutable looks. Ridge’s, in particular, seemed to bore straight through to my restless soul, those moss-green depths brimming with undisguised yearning warring alongside familiar paternal obligation.
A heavy pause stretched between us, thick and laden with unspoken promises. Just as it verged on unbearable, he cleared his throat and ducked his chin, once more retreating behind the safety of his Stetson’s brim.
“Naw, you best stay put,” he drawled in that sinful, sandpaper rasp that caressed every nerve ending. “Wouldn’t want you gettin’ drawn into our chaotic nonsense.”
My heart damn near stopped at the almost-pleading glint in those emerald depths. For all his bravado and flirtatious sallies, there was still a tenuous sliver of uncertainty thrumming through Ridge’s stoic reserve. An infinitesimal shiver raced down my spine at the unguarded glimpse behind that implacable facade.
My smile deepened into something warmer, richer - an intimate expression shared between only us. “Somehow I doubt the ‘nonsense’ could ever be that off-putting, Cowboy.” I whisper but he was already out the door.