The only saving grace for Carly was Eve Frazier who also owned a vineyard. She talked shop with her until she too proclaimed her traveling fatigue and excused herself to hunt down her bed. She didn’t invite her husband to come with her.
Hailey and Gerald said goodnight not long after, which left Paul to sulk. Hailey clung to Gerald’s arm and struggled her way up the stairs.
Though Quint attempted to engage Paul in conversation, he growled about being too tired to make small talk, shoved his hands into his pockets then thumped up the stairs as well.
Carly stared at the empty room, her mouth agape.
Quint shook his head. “Well that was fun,” he whispered, then he laughed.
“Feel like going to bed?” she offered.
“Always.”
* * * * * * * * *
Quint laced his fingers through Carly’s and sighed. He’d begun to spell disaster, Napa. He’d never seen such a butchered group.
As he guided Carly in the direction of the far set of stairs, which led to the master suite, he whispered, “If I’d known Paul was banging Hailey Thompson, I would never have extended the invitation to the Fraziers.”
“Is there no hope?” Carly asked, giving his hand a squeeze.
“The one thing I’ve learned in business—there’s always hope. Chemistry changes from day to day. Issues get resolved or force a crisis.”
She smiled up at him. “I still remember how you said you loved possibilities.”
“Yes, that’s it exactly. So long as they’re here, the deal is full of possibilities.”
* * * * * * * * *
Later, tucked into the well of his body, Carly nuzzled his neck. She remembered what he said about possibilities and tried to keep her heart focused on that thought, that so long as he was in her bed, she had the possibility of a future with him.
She whispered, “I wish I could go back and make your childhood better.”
“Hey, no pity,” he said, rubbing her shoulder. “I learned a helluva lot about life. I learned to be tough and I got good at reading people.”
“Yes, you did.”
She touched his beautiful lower lip. He’d already made love to her but she wanted more, so much more. “My dad was an alcoholic, the kind that always thought the world was against him. I worked every day not to adopt his attitudes.”
He turned into her a little more and leaned down to kiss her on the lips. “You did good, then, Carly. Look at all you’ve accomplished.”
“Thank you, but I must say, I feel like peewee baseball next to your major leagues.”
“Don’t ever say that. I would never diminish what you’ve done here in Sedona. Never. I’m proud of you.”
Her heart warmed up about a thousand degrees and her body ten times that. She was naked and slid down his body until the hard ridge of his sex caught between her legs.
He pushed her onto her back. “Did I ever tell you how much I love all the ways you enjoy my body?”
“No,” she said, pouting. She rubbed her breasts against his chest. “Tell me. And when you’re done tell me again.”
He rose up between her legs and slid deep inside. He told her. Then he told her again and again.
* * * * * * * * *
Carly woke up the next morning and stretched. She didn’t care that the Napa weekend had begun with a limp and a crawl since at night she’d share her bed with Quint.
He’d already taken the men golfing and in an hour or so, she’d haul the women across the Verde Valley to the hillside town of Jerome to do a little shopping.
She stayed in bed for a while a frown pinching her brow as she tried to figure out just how to convince Quint that what they had together wasn’t as simple as a fling or even an affair. She felt connected to him, in her bones, yet he never spoke of needing more from her than this remarkable—and in his opinion quite temporary—physical connection.
She tried to piece his childhood together and came up with a bleak picture. He changed schools like most kids changed clothes. His mother died when he was only twelve and his father had married a string of women afterward. He’d been on his own since he was eighteen as had she. Maybe that was part of the connection. They’d both had it rough as kids but his childhood kind of made hers look like a picnic. He’d proven the worth of his character a hundred times over in all that he’d accomplished, at least in business, but his growing up years had left a hole. Was it possible then that he would never be able to truly love?
Except that he did know how to love. All his actions toward her spoke of an ability to love, a decision to love.
He just didn’t know it.
She sighed as she rose to dress for the day. She had only three days left now with which to reach him on this impossible subject.
An hour later, she took the ladies in a comfortable, chauffeur-driven Cadillac across the Verde Valley and up the hill to Jerome, an old mining town turned artist’s colony. The ladies lost themselves in shopping and gallery viewing, though Hailey and Amanda seemed to enjoy themselves a little more than Eve. Eventually, Carly guided Eve to the small corner café that served fresh-squeezed lemonade.
For the next hour, she talked wineries with Eve until Hailey, a little fidgety and wild-eyed, entered the café and asked if they served cocktails.
“No,” Carly said, “but they make lemonade with fresh lemons.”
Her extreme look of disappointment led Carly to suggest the party head back home.
* * * * * * * * *
That evening, as the guests gathered for dinner, Carly served a pitcher of what her bartender called a Sedona Breeze, a mixture of Ketel One, Cointreau, pineapple juice, orange juice and a splash of grenadine.
Hailey had already refilled her glass three times.
Eve sat on a bar stool in the family room and surfaced from her glass. She glanced at the large oil painting adjacent to the bar. “What an exquisite rendition of the Grand Canyon. I love the use of light.”
“I’m glad you like it. It was done by one of our local artists, Andrea Tremonte. Sadly, she passed away about a year and a half ago but it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
“I would love to own one of these.”
“Unfortunately, the artist’s entire collection has been held up in court. I was lucky enough to acquire this piece because it belonged to a friend of mine whose own collection had become unwieldy.”
“Lucky you.”
“No kidding.”
“Well, keep me informed if her work ever comes back on the market. I’m very interested.”
“I will.”
Eve took another sip and settled into a sigh. She nursed her drink. She had medium brown hair cropped short. She was very pretty, but her lips appeared dull as though she’d been compressing them for hours, or days, maybe months.
Carly glanced at her husband, Paul, who had moved to look out at the vineyard from the large plate glass window across from the kitchen. Half a minute later—no surprise—Hailey joined him. She resisted the urge to look at Eve, to see what she made of this pairing.
Carly’s gaze shifted beyond. Through the window she could see that a storm approached from off the Rim and had whipped the vineyard into a frenzy. Quint and Gerald stood on the deck, watching the storm, both men facing into the wind, their hands shoved into their pants pockets. Carly smiled. Two of a kind. Maybe Quint was right. Maybe there was hope yet even if she couldn’t see a basis for it.
Amanda and Scott sat close together on the sofa flipping through the various local picture and history books she’d gathered for the occasion.
Paul drifted a little closer to Hailey.
Carly couldn’t restrain a second longer. She turned to look at Eve, to see how she registered this not-so-subtle move. Eve scowled and thrust her glass in the bartender’s direction. “To the brim, please.”
So Eve knew.
Carly’s heart sank.
This weekend just got worse and worse.
Eve brought her glass to her mouth ag
ain.
Since Hailey returned to ask for a refill as well, Carly nodded to the chef then went outside to bring Gerald and Quint in to dinner. The timing was excellent, since a loud crack of thunder heralded the arrival of the storm.
* * * * * * * * *
“So that’s that?” Carly asked. She lay half on Quint half off, his arm curled around her shoulder.
“Thompson told me flat out he won’t move his business from his present San Francisco investment firm and Scott follows his lead.”
“And Paul?”
“I don’t know. He’s my last hope but I think you already know why he came on this trip and anytime I even mention investing he just rolls his eyes and turns away.”
“I have to say, I’m not exactly in love with him.”
Quint chuckled. He turned into her, caught her chin and kissed her. “I want you to know that whatever happens in the next two days, you’ve been pretty spectacular.”
Spectacular enough not to leave for Phoenix in oh, say, two days?
“That’s very sweet,” she said. “But I think I’d like a little proof that you mean that compliment. How ‘bout you show me for the next twenty minutes or so what you’re trying to say.”
He growled and rolled on top of her. Carly held his face in her hands. She needed to tell him how she felt, to help him see that what they had here was not the usual experience between couples at all. But how? When?
As he slid his tongue in her mouth, however, she forgot all about the future and concentrated in exquisite detail on the present.
* * * * * * * * *
The next day, after a fine round of golf and enough shopping at Tlaquepaque to stuff the large trunk of the Cadillac with packages, the group adjourned to The Cowboy Club for lunch. But even the unusual fare of fried cactus and buffalo burgers couldn’t enliven the struggling Napa group.
Once on the sidewalk, Quint drew close to Carly and murmured, “I’ve pushed Paul about as far as I can. Do you have any ideas? I would at least like to see Gerald a little happier. He looks bored.”
She turned around in the direction of Oak Creek Canyon. The clouds were piling up again on the Rim and a breeze was already sweeping down the main street. She smelled an early storm brewing. “I have an idea, but I need to make a call.”
“Sure.”
Carly walked a few feet away, her eyes pinned to the Rim. “Hi, Tina. It’s me. What do the drivers say about the storm? Are any of them going up?”
“All of them,” Tina said.
“Really? Is there a Jeep left for me because if I don’t inject some life into this group ASAP, Quint’s Napa deal is going to implode, right here on the sidewalk.”
“Where are you?”
“Across the street. Cowboy Club.”
“What kind of lame group have you got over there?”
“Don’t get me started. Do we have a Jeep?”
“Yes, you do. Come on over.”
“Excellent.” She closed her phone.
When she turned back to the group she extended an invitation to take them up in one of her Jeeps two thousand feet to the Rim.
Not surprising, the group split right down the middle. Three headed back to the house—Amanda, Paul and Hailey—and three agreed to chance some fierce Arizona summer rain and lightning in the open-air Jeep.
Carly led her group across the street. Quint caught up to her and took her hand. She whispered, “I had hoped Paul would come.”
“You have to roll with the punches. I’m fine with it. Really.”
“Well, I tried.”
“You sure did. Thanks. But this will be fun and we need that right now.”
She squeezed his hand. She looked up at him. “You’re going to love this.”
“I do already.” He met her gaze but a frown formed. “You’ve been a good sport, Carly. I’ll never forget that.”
Her heart seized again. Dammit, Quint was way too intent on saying good-bye. She just had to figure out some way of getting through to him.
The breeze blew in a steady stream now, heavy with the smell of rain.
She turned back to Gerald, Eve and Scott. “I should warn you again, we’re going to get really wet.”
All three of them, much to her great pleasure, grinned.
She left them at the Jeep bay and retrieved a set of keys from Tina. She grabbed her gloves from her office but decided to leave her hat. She looked down at her heels. Well, they weren’t at all fit for Jeep driving but they would just have to do.
As she walked toward the Jeep bay, she sidled close to Quint. “Ride shotgun,” she said.
He slid his hand around her waist and gave a squeeze. “Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else today.”
He’d said the same thing to her on the very first day.
She was convinced more than ever that Quint simply didn’t know what they had together. Her resolve strengthened. She knew what she had to do, but when to make her case?
Once she had everyone settled in the Jeep, she hurried to the driver’s side and climbed in. She cranked up the engine then pulled out of the bay.
She warned her passengers, “The trip to the Rim is on a very bumpy road, just so you know.”
Half way up the road to the Rim, the wind really started to blow. In the distance, off to the north the sky darkened and the light show began. The clouds had piled up fast and full of fury. The rain came. Thunder boomed. Expletives left every single mouth as the poor little Jeep bounced and jolted its way up the canyon.
“Anyone want me to turn back?” Carly cried.
“No-o!” resounded from the seat behind her.
Quint held on and smiled. Carly shifted and laughed. She had made this trip hundreds of times but this was by far her favorite, climbing into a storm. Sudden waterfalls started flowing down the hillside everywhere.
Once at the top, some of the Jeeps were already heading down. They honked at each other. All the tourists smiled. Everyone was getting soaked.
“We’re safest here in the Jeep,” Carly shouted against the wind. “There’s always a danger of lightning, but the rubber of the tires provides at least some insulation.”
“This is one helluva show,” Gerald shouted. The sky lit up. Thunder boomed and rumbled again.
Eve gave a good loud scream then laughed.
The open sides of the Jeep allowed the rain to soak them all. Quint leaned over to Carly and plucked at the silk that clung to her skin. Then he kissed her. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you.”
Carly looked into his eyes. Tears clogged her throat. She loved him so much.
Another Jeep pulled up. “We’ve had word, Carly. Get down right away. Another storm cell is moving in from the east.” He took off.
Carly started her engine. “Hold on!” she cried. “We’re outta here.”
The caravan moved fast. Carly brought up the rear. The cell hit hard. Thunder cracked so loud that her ears throbbed. “Everyone okay?”
“Okay!” Eve cried out.
“You bet!” Gerald said.
“Damn straight!” Scott shouted.
Carly looked in her rear-view. With his red hair plastered to his forehead, Scott looked like he was about nine-years-old. Every time the thunder boomed he jumped in his seat.
She smiled. She felt satisfied to her bones.
“We’ll be down in no time,” she hollered back.
She felt Quint’s hand on her thigh. He kept it there all the way back, even through the jumps and bumps of a road encrusted with boulders.
* * * * * * * * *
Once back at the house, Carly knew something in the air wasn’t right, but she was too wet to do more than hurry to the master bedroom. She only hoped Hailey had behaved herself and wasn’t too drunk. She turned on the shower and stripped her clothes off.
Just as she was ready to hop in the shower, Quint called out, “Honey, I’m home.”
Uh-oh.
“You have a houseful of guests,” she cried.
“That d
idn’t stop us last night.”
“Everyone had gone to bed last night.”
He appeared in the bathroom doorway. She wasn’t even wearing a thong. “You shouldn’t be here,” she cried. She put an arm over her breasts, which was quite absurd.
Quint looked her up and down, smiled then laughed. He donned an innocent expression. “But look at me. I’m soaked. I’ll catch cold if I don’t get out of these wet things.” With that, he took off his shirt.
She gasped. “Quint, no.”
“Our time’s almost up,” he said, his deep voice driving through her. “I want to make the most of it.”
Her gaze raked him from head to foot. How was it she always seemed to forget how broad his shoulders were, how firm his chest, how flat his stomach. Her fingers felt itchy to touch him.
He shucked his pants and sexy black Versace briefs. Her gaze drifted lower and then her whole body grew weak. If there was a protest left in her anywhere she couldn’t find it.
“How about just a kiss,” he said, extending his arms toward her.
He crossed the space between them in less than a heartbeat. He grabbed her up in his arms and kissed her. He pressed his whole naked body up against her and nothing had ever felt so good or so right to Carly.
“The water’s running,” she said between breaths.
“That’ll do.”
He backed her into the shower.
“Oh-h-h.”
He chuckled against her ear.
She looked up at him. She fondled the muscles of his arms. She breathed in his rich earthy masculine scent.
“And are you really leaving tomorrow?” she asked.
He nodded.
“But you didn’t get my winery,” she said, smiling triumphantly.
His expression grew intense, his blue eyes darkening with passion. “I still have until tomorrow.”
She knew he was teasing. There was nothing he could do. She smiled and kissed him. He kissed her back hard, working her mouth as he always did, so that pretty soon she whimpered.
The water ran over her and in front of her and made a delicious river between her breasts.
She took his tongue and suckled. He groaned and grew very firm, dipping his hips and angling his body. He wrapped an arm around her waist and supported her. His free hand teased her shoulder, her arm, her breast, her hip, the soft curve of her buttocks.