It Was Only a Kiss - By Joss Wood Page 0,22
campaign is what I do best.’
‘Even though I—?’
‘Fought with me, kissed me and then fired me?’ A small smile tipped the corners of Jess’s mouth upward. ‘I deserved everything you said to me. You were right to fire me, and the k— Well, it was all a long time ago.’
She’d been about to mention the kiss, Luke realised. He really wished he knew what she wanted to say about it. That it was fantastic? She wanted to do it again? They’d be amazing in bed? It had been fantastic, he did want to do it again and, yes, he wanted her in his bed.
Jess was staring at his mouth and he wondered if she was remembering that afternoon so long ago, how it had felt to be in his arms, her breasts mashed against his chest, his tongue in her warm, tasty mouth. Luke heaved in a deep breath and surreptitiously dropped his hand beneath the table to quickly rearrange his package. It seemed that Jess still had the same effect on him as she had all those years ago.
He was coming to realise that he really didn’t want to be attracted to this woman. He felt that she could, if he wasn’t very, very careful, be a threat to his emotional self-sufficiency, his resolve not to become emotionally entangled.
Sleeping with her wasn’t worth the price that he would have to pay if he found himself emotionally trapped. And that was why she shouldn’t be sitting in his kitchen on a rainy Sunday looking sweet and hot, relaxed and rosy. She looked far too enticing...
Luke shoved his chair back and abruptly stood up. ‘Listen, I can’t sit around and drink coffee all day. I need to get into my office.’
Jess lifted her eyebrows. ‘No rest for the wicked? Even on a Sunday?’
‘I’m still running another company...I have to take what time I can get.’ Luke gestured to the fridge and raked his fingers through his hair. ‘Help yourself to whatever you can find to eat if you’re hungry. When the storm lets up I’ll help you move into the manor house. There’s a TV in the lounge, or...’
Jess shrugged. ‘I’ll grab my computer from the room and do some work myself.’
Luke shoved his hands into his pockets, desperately wishing he could just drag her upstairs to bed. ‘Well, call me if you need anything.’
Jess nodded. ‘I’ll be fine, Luke. I always am.’
* * *
It was the first time in the history of the world that a film crew had been on time for anything, Jess thought as she roared up Luke’s driveway to see the vehicles of the film company outside Luke’s front door. Behind them she could see the portly figure of her favourite director, Sbu, the willow-thin stylist, Becca, and she recognised one of the two cameramen.
She hadn’t planned to shoot the first ad only two nights after she’d arrived at St Sylve, but, as Owen had said, the pruning was nearly done and if she wanted to capture Luke working on vines that had some foliage on them she’d have to get moving. It was fortuitous that Sbu and his team were free today—well, they had planned on some editing, but she’d persuaded, bribed, threatened them into coming to St Sylve instead.
Jess sat in her car for a moment, knowing that the next couple of hours were going to be madness. She needed five minutes to gather her wits...
She was now officially installed in the manor house, in a beautiful bedroom with an attached study and large bathroom.
After the storm had abated Luke had helped her move her mountains of luggage up to her room and then disappeared back into his office. Later she’d heard him leave on the dirt bike. She’d heard him come back around seven, and when he hadn’t wandered over, she’d decided that she was too tired to deal with him anyway and tumbled into the enormous bed.
She hadn’t seen him since, and thought the chances of her having to go yank him out of the lands were quite high.
Or not, Jess thought as she jumped out of her car. There he was, talking to Sbu, and—what was he wearing? A white button-down shirt and khaki pants...for pruning vines? Uh—no. Not going to work.
Jess grabbed her shopping bags—if she wasn’t going to be sharing meals with Luke then a girl still had to eat—and strode over to Luke and Sbu. Luke greeted her and automatically reached out to take her bags, which she