It Was Only a Kiss - By Joss Wood Page 0,21

and he was still selling wine—not huge amounts, but enough—why would he imply that the farm was in the red? That it wasn’t self-supporting?

It was very bewildering.

Jess silently cursed as the rain started to fall in earnest. Within a minute the drops had turned into icy bullets that soaked her jeans and ran down her neck into her jersey. Jess groaned. She’d look like a frozen drowned rat by the time she got back to St Sylve...

‘Are you okay?’ Luke yelled at her.

I’m cold and I’m wet, Jess thought, but Luke knew that already. What was the point in whining? ‘I’m okay. Could murder a cup of coffee, though!’

‘You and me both. Damn Cape weather!’ Luke shouted, and Jess just caught his words before the wind whipped them away.

‘There’s ice in the rain,’ Jess yelled in his ear. She knew this because she could feel ice in the drop that was rolling down her spine towards her panties. She resisted the urge to wiggle.

‘I wasn’t going to mention it,’ Luke stated as he abruptly stopped the bike.

‘Why are you stopping?’ Jess demanded. ‘I thought the point was to get home as quick as possible!’

‘It is.’ Luke looked at a small track leading off from the dirt road. ‘How are you at cross-country?’

‘I’ve done it.’ Jess looked at him and pursed her lips. ‘Will it get us home quicker?’

‘It’ll save us about twenty minutes. But it’s tough. And muddy. And it’ll mean going through a small stream.’

Jess shrugged. ‘I’m soaked already. Let’s do it.’

Luke squeezed her thigh. ‘You’re quite a package, Sherwood. And even more of a surprise.’

Jess wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.

* * *

Luke had already polished off one cup of coffee and was on his second when Jess walked into the kitchen, dressed in another pair of jeans and a dark blue jersey.

‘Coffee?’ he asked, even as he poured her a cup.

‘God, yes.’ Jess took the cup, wrapped her hands around it and sipped. ‘Oh, that’s heavenly.’ Jess took a seat at the wooden four-seater table in the centre of the room and sipped and sighed. When her eyes met his, she smiled. ‘One hell of a tour, Savage.’

‘I’m really sorry we got caught in the storm,’ Luke said. It wasn’t like him. He always paid attention. But his mind had been on Jess and his hyper-awareness of her. The way her body had felt against his, listening to her introduce herself to his staff and engage them in conversation, watching her as she suddenly stopped walking and just looked off into the distance, as if she were taking a mental snapshot.

She was a city girl, and her attitude today had impressed him and, if he were one hundred percent honest, thrown him off his stride. He’d expected her to whine and moan about being wet and cold, yet she’d sucked it up and said nothing, accepting that there was nothing he could do about the situation but get them home as quickly as possible. While he’d pushed the bike through mud and grass and that icy stream she’d said nothing to disturb his concentration, and he’d got them back in record time...wet and dirty but ultimately safely, and as quickly as he possibly could.

She hadn’t griped or complained.

‘My boots are covered in mud. At least I can clean these—unlike my suede heels that I had to toss.’

Luke’s smile flashed. ‘I told you so. You’ll have to get a pair of gumboots.’

Jess shuddered. ‘They are so incredibly ugly.’

Luke rolled his eyes. ‘But made for mud and rain.’

Jess placed her cup on the table and looked past him to the window. ‘It’s really belting down.’

‘Winter in the Cape,’ Luke said. ‘Want some more coffee?’

‘Not just yet,’ Jess replied. ‘Thanks for the tour. I’ve already got some good ideas for the campaign...’

‘Want to share them with me?’ He took a seat at the table, propping his feet up on the seat of the nearest chair.

‘Not yet. Still percolating.’

‘So tell me why you wanted to work for me.’ After what had happened between them he’d thought that she’d hold a grudge for ever. ‘Why did you gatecrash my party, Jess?’

Jess rolled her cup between her palms. ‘It’s the most talked-about campaign around and I’m competitive enough to want to snag it. That was one reason. Another is that I have a reputation in the industry...I’m becoming very well known for tackling hard-to-rescue brands or campaigns. And I have a soft spot for St Sylve and this type of