7 – CAMILLA
I had toured vineyards during my college years, but they had all been in California. This was different; I had never visited one in my home state of Georgia. It was beautiful, and the air was crisper and cooler up in the mountains than it was in the city.
Although it was summertime, it was late August, and we were heading into the fall in another month. Jabari had advised me to wear comfortable but not loose-fitting clothing. He had also said that I should bring a jacket to wear because it would be cool at times.
I immediately knew what I would wear. Pairing cream flats with my dusty rose pants outfit and my cream blouse was not only the perfect outfit for what Jabari had planned, but also it showed off my figure. I knew that Jabari couldn’t help but appreciate my curves in my outfit.
The helicopter ride was unexpected but nice. His decision to bring me to the vineyard for a tour and dinner was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me. I was over the moon, but I kept sending myself reminders not to get caught up; this was a mission, it wasn’t real.
“I will admit, Jabari, that I’m impressed.
The view is amazing. The lush green bushes, the trees with gold-tipped leaves, and hedges manicured in various shapes are breathtaking.
That three-tiered hedge sitting in that fountain of bushes is a beautiful way to present a waterfall.
The rows of beautiful gold and red vines are breathtaking.
So far, you’re measuring up.” I couldn’t hold back the lightheartedness that had taken over my voice.
“Is that right?” he asked.
His deep voice was delicious and had the power to send chills down my spine. I hadn’t realized how close he had stepped to me until I heard his voice. We had finished the tour of the vineyard and the winery.
Dominic had led us to a cozy little mountaintop area with views of the vineyards and the evening sky. A table was set up for us to eat at, and decades-old wine had been brought out for us to enjoy.
“I love the fact that you chose a healthy meal for our dinner tonight. I’m sure that you had something to do with the selection,” I stated.
“You’re welcome. I wasn’t sure exactly what you liked, but I wanted to surprise you. I noticed the night that I took you to the Cuban restaurant, you made healthier selections. Did I get it right?”
“You did. Thank you.”
He had ordered eggplant parmesan, an Italian salad, parmesan roasted broccoli, and garlic rolls. He had added rainbow trout for himself to his meal. There was a nice red wine to accompany our meal, and it was delicious.
“Do you live a healthy lifestyle overall?” he asked.
“It depends on what you consider healthy. I’m a vegetarian, and I drink water and teas, but I also like wine. I make my juices from fresh fruits and veggies that I grow in my garden.”
“You have a garden?” His eyebrows lifted.
“Yeah. You couldn’t see it because you dropped me off in my driveway, but in the backyard there’s a nice little vegetable garden, and I have a raised herb garden on my deck.”
“Now, I’m the one who’s impressed, and she runs her own business.” He chuckled, and I liked the sound of it.
I had seen Jabari interact with plenty of people at the office tower over the last few weeks, and I had never seen him smile or laugh with any of them.
“Yeah, I love gardening and cooking my meals. I make it a habit of working out every day, and I jog on the weekends. I have a shed in my backyard where I work out with my personal trainer.”
He frowned. “When do you have time to run a business if you’re doing all that? I see you at the office tower all the time, so when are you working out?”
I burst out laughing. “I get up at the butt crack of dawn. I do my workouts in the house in the morning around five before I head into the office. I usually meet with my trainer on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. I jog Saturday and Sunday mornings a couple of hours before my trainer arrives.”
“When do you sleep?”
“I get my beauty rest.”
“You damn sure do,” he stated as he gulped his wine.
His long, beautiful eyelashes lowered briefly before his gaze clashed with mine. I squirmed in my seat, unable to keep my yoni from reacting to the look in his eyes.
“I crash the minute that I hit the house.”
“You might want to scale back on your hours.”
I laughed. “A little hard work never hurt anyone. What about you? What is your lifestyle like?”
He smiled at me, and it took everything in me not to squirm. The man was gorgeous, sexy, and charming when he wanted to be.
“I enjoy a good healthy meal from time to time, but I’m a little lax in my eating habits.”
“So, you admit that you could clean up your diet?”
“I could, but I love to savor a delicious meal. There’s nothing like experiencing fine cuisine from around the world and allowing my palate to be a little more sociable than just with veggies. My palate definitely gets around.”
I laughed at his little joke but wondered internally if he meant that in more ways than one. Not that it mattered, because this was all just a mission that I was on and nothing more. I hated that I had to keep reminding myself of that, though.
“Are your only hobbies cooking and gardening, or are there others?”
“As you see, my schedule is already packed. I do like looking at the cooking shows and HGTV, if that counts.”
“Vegging out on TV counts. I mean, I guess you have to have at least one unhealthy habit, right?” His gaze narrowed on me, and his finger rested over his top lip as he regarded me carefully.
I felt that he was peering deeper into me, and I didn’t want him to know everything despite my claim about being an open book with the men I dated.
“I love reading to feed my thirst for romance, shopping to feed my need for high-quality clothes, and concerts to feed my passion for music. I guess that’s me in a nutshell,” I declared, holding my hands up.
“What type of music do you listen to?”
“Jazz. Give me some Gerald Albright, Najee, or Norman Brown, and I’m good. Oh, and I can’t forget Lindsey Webster, Marcus Johnson, Mindi Abair, and obviously Boney James.”
“Obviously,” he replied with a smirk and a twinkle in his eyes.
“Do you have any hobbies other than playing Monopoly? Because clearly, you’ve brought up Park Place, Oriental Avenue, and Boardwalk.”
He chuckled. “More like Edgewood Avenue, Auburn Avenue, and Peachtree Street. Yeah, I do have a habit of acquiring businesses, but I love to play too. I’m usually playing basketball with my boys.
I used to love racing cars, specifically a Subaru brZ that I own, but there hasn’t been time for that in a while. ”
That shocked me. “Get out of here! I can’t even picture you like that.”
“Why not?”
“You’re so straitlaced and buttoned up. All I see is an intimidating man with bespoke suits, Italian shoes, and expensive jewelry. I can’t imagine you dressing down in sweats or gym shorts to get sweaty playing ball or even racing cars.”
“That’s because you don’t know me.”
That statement intrigued me, though I knew he was right. I leaned in closer with my elbow on the table. He had given me the perfect opportunity to dig in and find out more about him for my exclusive story.
“Maybe we can change that. Seeing you out of character in anything less than a suit would be very interesting.”
He laughed, sipped his wine, and eyed me closely. Another chill danced down my spine, and my thighs clenched with a deep-seated need that I wasn’t sure my toys could fulfill, not even my Vesper.
“Seeing me without the suit can definitely be arranged,” he replied in a low tone.
I laughed, trying to tamp down and cover my natural reaction to his comment.
“Is that your arrogance poking its head out again?” I immediately realized my mistake when his eyes darkened, and he growled deep in his throat.
“He’s not arrogant, but confident, and I would have thought you believed it was too soon to see my arrogance or the head of him poking out, Ms. Valentine.”
Warmth crept up my face and neck, and I took a long, deep gulp of my wine.
“You might want to take it easy before you get yourself into further trouble,” he warned.
I couldn’t help but take a step into the deep. “Is that where I currently am, Mr. Blackwood? What does trouble even look like?”
“If you keep challenging me, you’ll find out right here on this mountaintop. The vineyards won’t be the most spectacular sight the tourists see out here, I promise you.”
“I think we’re moving pretty fast for a first date.”
“The one thing you’ll come to learn about me, gorgeous, is that I don’t operate on anyone’s schedule. I create and own my own timeline. I’m a man who takes advantage of every opportunity.”
“And wherever that leads, you’ll follow?”
“No. I’ll lure the opportunity to me; I don’t follow.”
I squirmed in my seat again and gave myself a silent reminder this was a story only, and I was on a mission. I needed to do whatever it took to get that story and walk away in the end.
“I guess that’s how you’ve accomplished all you have and accumulated such wealth through the years, huh?”
He smiled as if he knew what I was trying to do and sat back in his seat. “If you blushed any harder, gorgeous, you’d be the color of that outfit you’re wearing, which looks beautiful on you.”
“Thank you. It and mint green are my favorite colors. I’m guessing yours is black; it seems to be the only color you wear.”
He shrugged. “I wear other colors. You must prefer to recall what I look like in black, my dominant color of power.”
“Is that what black makes you feel? Dominance?”
A smile twitched his lips, and there was something about the way he declared, “Dominant isn’t just a feeling, Camilla, it’s who I am.”
That was an ambiguous statement if I’d ever heard one, but I decided to leave it alone—for now.