Taming the Carefree Billionaire - Marie Higgins Page 0,23

she tried to remember why she disliked him so much, his manly scent of musk enveloped her, making her head begin to spin. This was not good.

She quickly stepped back until she could breathe normally again. “Thomas, why is your vineyard sectioned off like this?” She pointed to the area in question on the left side. The vineyard, still in rows, but certain plants were fenced together. There were a good ten different fenced areas.

“Those are specialty grapes,” Thomas smiled. “The sweetest wines come from that area.”

“Thomas,” Joslyn moved closer to him, batting her eyes like a love-sick teenager. “Will you tell us more about your sweet wines?”

Morgan tried her hardest not to roll her eyes. If Joslyn thought she was gaining Thomas’ interest by acting like that, the woman would be heartbroken for sure. Morgan could see that Joslyn’s not-so-subtle flirtations were not working on him at all.

Turning toward the shielded group of vines, she clicked a few more pictures. Joslyn’s questions were aimed toward the wine business as a whole. Then she asked how Powers’ wines competed against the other wineries in California. Thomas was surprisingly a good sport and answered nicely.

Suddenly, a question popped into Morgan’s head. She turned away from the vines and lowered her camera. Thomas had been watching her, again. She tried to tell her quickening heart that she didn’t really like how much he watched her. “Thomas? Where do you get your recipes from?”

“That my dear,” Thomas moved away from Joslyn again, stepping closer to Morgan, “is a well-kept secret. If I told you, well... I just better not.” He winked at her. “Would you ladies like a sample? We have some back inside the winery.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Joslyn said as she tucked her recorder back into her purse.

Morgan picked up her camera and pointed it toward Thomas and clicked. His gaze narrowed on her, but he still wore a smirk on his face.

“I hope to see all of these pictures in the Tribute only.”

“Of course, Thomas.” Joslyn giggled. “Where else would the pictures go?”

Morgan clenched her teeth, trying to communicate with Thomas again to keep his mouth shut. He finally chuckled and turned away from Morgan. She breathed a heavy sigh. This man definitely enjoyed teasing her. She did not like it one bit.

THOMAS LEANED AGAINST a counter after giving Morgan and the reporter each a goblet of wine. He watched Morgan the most, even though her gaze moved everywhere in the room but on him. Joslyn was exactly the opposite. She wouldn’t stop staring.

“This is the best wine I’ve ever tasted,” Joslyn practically purred in a deep voice.

“Thank you.” He nodded and then looked at Morgan, hoping she’d say something about her wine. After a few moments passed in silence, he realized she wasn’t going to say anything.

If only he could figure out that woman. One moment she had hatred shooting out of her eyes, and the next minute, she looked at him as if she’d never seen anything so sensual in her life. She turned from hot to cold too quickly. One thing was for sure – she wasn’t trying to impress him. He liked that. It was a refreshing change.

When the ladies were finished with their wine, he took the empty goblets from them and set them on the counter. “Well, I hope you enjoyed your tour.”

“I enjoyed it very much,” Joslyn said, placing a hand on his arm and batting her eyes at him again.

He should ask her if she had something in her eye that irritated it, but he decided that might be rude.

“I’ll write up the article and send it to you as soon as it’s published.”

“Thank you, Joslyn. I’d appreciate that.”

“It’s been such a pleasure to meet you,” she continued in that sultry voice that was beginning to grate on his nerves.

“The pleasure has been all mine to have such lovely ladies spend a couple of hours with me.”

“Yes, thank you. Your vineyard is beautiful.” Morgan tucked her camera back into its case and reached out her hand to shake his.

Thomas took her hand gently into his and stroked her skin. She tried to tug it out of his grasp, but he wouldn’t let it go. Not yet.

“I’m thrilled that you liked it.” Finally, her gaze locked with his gaze, and he almost sighed with relief. “I’m going to be having a get together with some friends at the Napa Country Club this Friday night. I’d love for both of you to attend.