Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Leaving Taylor with nothing more than a kiss on her forehead the previous evening had been one of the hardest things Justin had ever done.
He’d woken up grouchy, but as soon as he’d eaten the incredible breakfast she made, everything turned around. The omelet, bacon, and scones were so good he could swear she was the next coming of Julia Child.
The Belmont family, with whom he’d sat at breakfast, had perked him up too. The kids reminded him of the way he and his siblings had been when they were young. Rambunctious, but not meaning any harm. The little girl in particular captivated Justin.
Now, he was helping Taylor do dishes before they headed out for the day to see the wine country’s sights.
He was glad that she had found Rufus and Janet, a husband-and-wife cleaning team, to help out with the rooms every morning after her guests left to sightsee.
He hated to think of her trying single-handedly to take care of everything, even though he knew she was more than capable of it.
Taylor grinned at him from her spot at the kitchen sink. “You had quite a little admirer at breakfast.”
“It’s mutual. Sophia’s going to grow up to be a heartbreaker, that’s for sure.”
“Starting with yours when they leave, if your plans to help her set up a lemonade stand on the sidewalk tomorrow afternoon are anything to go by.”
“What can I say—I’m a sucker for brown eyes and a big smile.”
If Taylor had any idea that he wasn’t just talking about the little girl now, but the beautiful woman standing beside him at the sink, she didn’t give any indication.
“What do you want to do first?” she asked after they’d dried and put away all of the breakfast dishes and frying pans.
“See the petrified forest? Or the geyser? Or maybe even take a mud bath?”
He’d seen the pamphlets for the famous Calistoga mud baths, all of which showed couples enjoying them together. Hoping against hope that this was what she was hinting at, he said, “I’d be up for a mud bath if you are.”
She shuddered. “No way am I getting into a vat of dirt.” She shot him a teasing look. “But I’d be happy to dunk you in one.”
“Are you still trying to get back at me for accidentally losing your clothes at the beach that day?” He hadn’t deliberately dropped her clothes into a crevasse between boulders—the wind had blown her shorts and T-shirt out of his hands before he could stop it.
Though she’d had on a bikini, she’d still been mortified about making the long walk back to the car in just her bathing suit.
All he’d had to give her for the drive home was his T-shirt.
He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t appreciated stealing glances at her completely bare legs next to him all the way home.
She made a mock-angry face, one that was so cute he almost lost the fight against leaning over and kissing her. “Trust me,” she said, “the day I get you back for that will be far worse than just dumping mud all over you. I’ve had years to plan…”
When he’d been in his lab in Germany, hunched over his computer and microscope, he’d almost forgotten how good it was to be with her, even if all they were doing was washing dishes and joking with each other.
Hell, just holding her in his arms last night while they were dancing had been miles better than anything he’d ever experienced in bed with another woman.
“How about we start with the geyser?” she suggested. “And then we can grab some sandwiches on the way to the petrified forest. We should have plenty of time to see both before I have to head back to get things ready for afternoon tea.”
The hours flew by, full of laughter and inside jokes Justin had only with her.
He’d barely seen the sunlight during the years he’d been holed up in the lab, but even if he’d been traveling the world nonstop, the beauty of Napa Valley would have floored him.
Hills covered in pine, redwood, and oak trees rose up from sweeping plains covered in grapevines.
Artisan cheese and chocolate and olive oil shops were everywhere, along with some of the best restaurants in the world.
Everywhere he looked, something was in bloom, from vegetable gardens to front-yard flower gardens.
And Taylor had never looked so perfectly in her element.
Justin had thought she was happy at Stanford.
She was so intelligent that biology had seemed like a good fit.
But after watching her interact with her guests this morning over breakfast, and then with the locals in their stores as she bought fresh honey and cheese and sausage, he realized he hadn’t known her nearly as well as he’d thought.
Almost as though there was a part of herself that she’d always kept hidden from him. Just as he’d always kept a part of himself from her, out of fear that the depth of his desire, his emotions, would drive her away instead of bringing her closer.
He couldn’t wait much longer to tell her how he felt.
After a long sunny morning and afternoon where they didn’t just reminisce about old memories, but started making new ones, he felt good.
Better than he’d felt in years. Tonight, when the right moment came to confess his feelings, he would take it.
It had been a perfect day. Taylor’s first breakfast for her guests had gone smoothly, both inside of the kitchen and out.
She’d booked a group of women from San Francisco who were coming to Napa for a girls’ weekend later in the month.
And, best of all, she’d had a wonderful time touring the valley with Justin.
Taylor wanted to get one hundred percent well for herself, of course, and for her mother, father, and brother, who were all praying that she’d find a match who would be willing to undergo the kidney-donation procedure.
But Justin was one of the biggest reasons of all.
She wanted to be his friend not only for the next five years, but for the next fifty as well.
He’d helped her set out and serve afternoon tea and coffee and cookies for the Belmonts, who had just headed into town for an early dinner. Now the two of them were working together in her garden, Taylor pulling weeds while Justin deadheaded the copious rose bushes.
“I’m always terrified I’m going to screw up the roses because I don’t know what I’m doing.
And I always prick myself, which is why I’ve left them so long,” she said as she watched him move efficiently from one bush to the next.
“If I’d known you were this good a gardener, I would have sent you a plane ticket four months ago. ”
“Come here, and I’ll show you a few tricks.”
It was perfectly natural to walk into the open curve of his arms so that her back was nearly pressed to his front.
Unfortunately, it was also unavoidable that every square inch of her body would heat up from his close proximity.
If only he didn’t smell so good, and have such strong, tanned arms, and be standing so close that his breath whispering over her as he spoke sent heat coursing through her, head to toe.
“First of all, you really can’t hurt a rose bush by overtrimming it.
” He sounded so relaxed, while her heart was beating a million miles a minute.
In fact, her heartbeat was whooshing so loudly inside her own head that she wondered how he couldn’t hear it.
“Second, you need to make sure you’ve got on thick gloves.
” He took the gloves she’d forgotten to put on from her gardening bucket and slid them onto her hands.
Just that tiny little bit of skin touching skin, she was stunned to realize, was better than any actual sex she’d ever had.
“Third, you need to make sure you’re using good, sharp hand pruners.
” He gave them to her. “Now, all that’s left is finding a healthy bud and then making your cut a quarter of an inch above it. ”
With his nearness searing her, she lost whatever grace she might have possessed and jerked her bare forearm toward the prickly bush. Thankfully, Justin’s reflexes were so fast that he was able to pull her back before any thorns pricked her.
“Try again.” His voice moved through her like a well-aged port—smooth and warm, with an undeniable pull at her senses. “And this time, relax. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She’d always known how lucky she was to have Justin in her life.
During their years at Stanford, he had been the most steadfast of friends.
It wasn’t his fault that they’d fallen so out of touch with each other.
She’d thought it was better that way, that some distance would help diffuse her unrequited feelings for him.
She knew better now. Distance had only made her heart grow fonder—not to mention ratcheting up her desire for him to near-desperate levels.
But she’d done so well all day, hadn’t she?
There hadn’t been any long pauses where she’d let slip her inappropriate feelings, and she hadn’t had to run away and hide to collect herself either.
She’d simply let herself have fun and enjoy being with him, despite the fact that everything he did made her melt inside.
Forcing herself to relax against him, she was pleasantly surprised to see how easy it was to safely trim back her rose bushes when she followed his advice.
“See, what did I tell you?” he said once they were done and had both pulled off their gloves. “Nothing to it.”
“Thank you for showing me.” She turned her head to look up into his eyes as she spoke, and suddenly there it was—one of those long pauses she’d so triumphantly avoided.
One that would be steeped in the deep emotion she’d been trying to hide from him.
She spun out of his arms so fast she nearly toppled over.
“Taylor?”
She swatted at an invisible bug. “There was a bee.” Fumbling to cover her lame lie, she quickly asked, “Where did you learn how to prune roses?”