Shielded In The Shadows

He hadn’t had wine...ever. Unless he had to. Back when he’d been a drinking man, he’d regarded wine as being for weaklings. Beer, he’d taken down in gallons. Whiskey. Tequila. Vodka. Rum. He could take them all, in straight shots, one after another.

Made no sense to him that he hadn’t become an alcoholic, developed some kind of addiction to the stuff. When he thought about how much he could consume, how hard he’d partied...

“You can bring whatever you want,” he told her. He had his six-pack.

Or maybe he’d sip on a little wine. If it would make her feel good.

* * *

Emma wasn’t going to get to know him much better. She couldn’t. If she did, she’d start to care, to take on his concerns and go into problem-solving mode. It was her way. She knew it.

No, they were going to be colleagues who respected each other, and who were going to deal with the lust that had sprung up between them.

Tingling with anticipation, Emma took a good six or seven minutes just trying to choose the wine. Did he like red or white? She wasn’t a big drinker, usually just chose a semidry white wine because it was mostly unassuming.

But tonight...she wanted something bold. Daring. Maybe a little dangerous.

She’d had a really bad afternoon at work and wanted to forget it for a few minutes. To put it out of her mind. Just long enough to regroup and go back to believing she made a difference.

The only way she knew how to get that necessary step away was to let her darker side out. On a leash, of course, but to let her run ahead a couple of steps, to lead her down the block.

As long as she chose the block, they’d be fine.

“‘Aphrodite’s Touch,’” Jayden read, taking the bottle she handed him at his front door. His house was smallish, in a nice neighborhood, non-gated, but well landscaped. Clean. Fairly close to the beach.

“It’s from our local winery, run by Tanner Malone,” she explained, though she didn’t say it was described in the Malone winery catalog as a step out for a woman needing more than a good dinner. “He grows a variety of the Aphrodite grape,” she continued, fighting self-consciousness. Where was Ms. Shadow when she needed her?

She’d paid for the damned wine and then gone into hiding. What the hell?

“Aphrodite, the goddess of sex, love and beauty.” Jayden’s voice was laced with...something that made her tingle. And yeah, leave it to him to know about Greek mythology.

“I like Malone Wines.” She tried to play it all off with nonchalance.

“This is one of your favorites, then?” He’d carried it into the kitchen. Already had a corkscrew in the top—with two wineglasses on the counter behind him.

“I’ve...um...actually never had it.” She couldn’t lie to him. Her shadow side might have been able to, but Emma would have stopped her. “I usually just drink his Riesling, when I drink wine at all.”

“You prefer something harder?” he asked, a tiny grin on his lips as he poured.

“Nope. Just wine.” So now he knew. She was a lightweight when it came to alcohol. If he didn’t like it...if he was a heavy drinker...didn’t really matter. They weren’t starting anything that was meant to last.

Turning to her, he handed her a glass. Held his up to hers, looking fresh and way too hot in his jeans and button-down shirt—with at least three buttons undone.

Gaze fixed on his chest hair, suddenly nervous, she willed Ms. Shadow to get her ass up out of wherever she went when she was banned, and held her glass while he clinked his against it.

“To what’s to come,” he said.

She’d have felt better with a simple “Cheers,” but took a sip. Saw the steaks prepared and waiting to go out to the grill. Wanted to see his backyard and so she walked over and looked, feeling...drained from her long day. So...yesterday in her light brown skirt that hugged her thighs nicely but was way more businesslike than sexual. The off-white silk blouse and brown pumps she wore with it—ditto.

She’d dressed for court, not seduction. And now that she thought about it, wasn’t even positive what underwear she’d put on that morning. Could she hope it had been anything with lace?

“You want to come out and sit with me while I grill?” he asked. It was July, but Santa Raquel didn’t generally swelter. They were a seaside town with enough breeze to keep things moderately comfortable.

Feeling like she’d been given a huge reprieve, Emma followed him outside, finding his cute ass about as nice as anything she’d seen that day.

* * *

Jayden figured, about a second after Emma had handed him the wine she’d brought, that he wouldn’t be getting any that night. Sex, that was.