might want to wash your face and apply some cortisone cream.”
“Good idea,” Lissa said, hoping the subject had died an easy death. “I’ll do that after dinner.”
Mom took a sip from her water goblet, then focused on Sullivan. “How are things coming along? Will you be ready for the reception two weeks from now?”
“We’ve got our work cut out for us, but I think we’ll be ready. Of course, that means rolling up our sleeves and doing some of the physical labor ourselves.” He shot a glance at Lissa. “Are you up to the task? More important, are you able to stay focused?”
Donna laughed. “You must not know my daughter very well. If anything, she’s a workaholic and too focused on the business.”
Are you able to stay focused? Lissa knew exactly what he meant. Could she stay focused on the task at hand, and not on pleasure? She had to. And fortunately, all the preparations for the Virgin Mist unveiling would keep them busy, which would help her keep up pretenses.
Of course, that didn’t mean that each time she looked at him her heart wouldn’t go topsy-turvy—like it was doing right now.
“Focusing will be easy,” she said to Sullivan. “This reception and the unveiling is a high priority in my life. And I won’t have any problem putting everything else on the back burner.” Where it would undoubtedly simmer to the boiling point, if she let it.
“Good.” Sullivan was glad Lissa knew what he meant, and that they were in agreement. He carried a ton of guilt over what he’d allowed to happen. It wasn’t like him to let his libido take over his business sense and his good judgment.
Getting involved with Lissa wasn’t a good idea. It complicated things. And it also distracted him with thoughts and urges best left for a less-complicated woman, best left to a time when he was off duty and prepared to play.
“Speaking of the reception,” Donna said. “Which label did you two settle upon? I really like the artwork on that gold-and-black sample.”
“I didn’t think any of them were good enough,” Sullivan said. “Not really.”
“But won’t you need to display the bottle for the unveiling?” Donna looked at Lissa, then back to him.
“I would have preferred to have the bottle or at least the artwork for the reception, but it’s important that we choose just the right label, Donna. I don’t want to sell Virgin Mist short. We can work around not having the finished product available by displaying the wine in the oak barrels, which only makes it look new and fresh.”
“Well, I suppose you know best.”
About marketing strategy and business? That was true. But Sullivan wasn’t so sure about anything else.
For one thing, he’d always prided himself on being a good lover, a considerate lover, able to pleasure the woman in his arms. But that hadn’t happened with Lissa. It hadn’t been good for her, not as good as she deserved.
If she hadn’t left his bed, he would have ended things by giving her an orgasm to remember. But as it was, Sullivan felt negligent, as though he owed her an earthmoving climax.
In his defense, he could argue that her virginity had surprised him. And so had her hasty departure. But that didn’t absolve him from guilt.
At the time, after the last wave of his release and as his head cleared, Sullivan had worried that Lissa might make more out of their lovemaking than she should have. Especially with it being her first time and all. And to be honest, he really hadn’t looked forward to having the standard, after-the-loving chitchat with her—since it was tough letting a woman down easily.
But then she’d climbed out of bed and practically dashed out of the guest house, leaving him unbalanced.
He’d let her go and gone along with her let’s-keep-things-casual, no-big-deal attitude.
It was over and done. End of story.
Yet something told him it wasn’t over yet.
And for some reason, he wasn’t quite sure whether he wanted it to be or not.
The act of indifference, as far as Lissa knew, had worked. Her mom hadn’t picked up on the possibility that her oldest daughter had more than a business interest in the handsome consultant. And with each day that passed, Lissa grew more certain that her feelings for Sullivan were becoming personal and complicated.
Her dad arrived home, tired from his trip to San Diego and emotionally drained, but relieved to have his uncle’s affairs in order and to have Uncle Pete in Oregon and settled in a private facility only twenty minutes away. If the hip healed sufficiently, God willing, and the doctors released him, they could bring the sweet elderly man home to live with them.
Dad had been pleased to know Sullivan and Lissa had carried on without him. And he’d been proud of their efforts to make the vineyard and winery look festive and inviting.
The landscapers worked double shifts all week. And yesterday, Lissa had gone to town and purchased a case of white twinkling lights to put around the trees that grew in the yard and up near the road. There’d been a ton of work to do, and both Lissa and Sullivan had jumped in to share it.
And now, as Lissa and her dad got ready for the first guests to arrive at the Virgin Mist reception, they surveyed the handiwork from inside the tasting room of the new winery.
They’d contracted the same caterer they’d used in the past. But this time, rather than choosing a wine to complement the meal, the woman had prepared appetizers and a menu that would enhance the taste of the wine they planned to launch.
“What do you think?” Lissa asked her dad.
He slipped one arm around her waist, gave her a gentle squeeze and kissed her cheek. “I think you’re absolutely the most beautiful woman in the state. And I can’t get over the change in you.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Still, she flushed at his compliment. The poor man had nearly lost his false teeth when he’d returned home to find Lissa in one of the short skirts and formfitting tops Jared had purchased. He’d also noticed that she’d let her hair down, something she’d refused to do in the past.
“I guess I should have taken you on a shopping spree years ago,” he said, with a smile that seemed wistful and a little sad.
“Ah, Daddy. The makeover was long overdue. And if you’ll remember, I always dreaded shopping trips in the past. Something just clicked inside of me.”
She didn’t want him to think she’d cast him aside. Jared might have fathered her, but Ken Cartwright would always be her daddy—he’d earned that special place in her heart.
The heavy-set teddy bear of a man had given her pony rides on his back until his knees had grown sore and red. And he’d stayed by her bedside whenever she’d been sick, unable to sleep until he’d known she was feeling better and was on the mend.
In fact, doting father that he was, he’d shared every single germ either of the girls brought home. He’d caught a mild but itchy case of chicken pox from Lissa, two bouts of strep throat from Eileen and every childhood illness that cropped up. And he’d never
