fingernails raking down his back. He arched harder, his thrusts even more powerful.
It made it even better.
‘Does anyone know about the show?’
They were in the water, cheeks flushed from the heat, bodies floating.
‘Only Rosanna,’ Sophy answered lazily. ‘She got me the chance. One of her flirts sponsors the film festival.’
‘And no one else?’
‘No.’
‘Sophy.’
‘What?’ She gazed at him candidly. ‘It’s not like you’re an open book, Lorenzo. You keep everything from everybody.’
He frowned. ‘Only the bad stuff.’
What, his whole life was bad? She just didn’t believe that.
‘Why don’t you want to tell your family?’ he asked.
‘I’m going to. But I want them to see the stuff first—so I can see what they really think. And not just be nice because they know it was made by me.’
‘What they think matters that much to you?’
‘Sure,’ she said. ‘They’re my family.’
He went quiet.
‘I want them to be proud of me.’ She tried to explain.
‘There’s no way they’re not proud of you already.’
She smiled. But he was wrong. She’d let them down. ‘I’m not like them.’ But she didn’t explain it further. Rather she let her hands slide over him—her reward for a long day of hard work. ‘You were wrong.’
‘What about?’
‘This just can’t be legal.’
He laughed.
‘I’m serious. It feels too good.’
‘I’ve got a secret for you, honey,’ he whispered into her mouth. ‘Only the things that are right feel this good.’
And that was the moment her heart liquefied. She tipped her head back to look up at him—a long, searching look. But his gaze slid from her and then the rest of him did.
He splashed up the steps out of the pool. ‘We need to get moving.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding.’
‘A couple of my growers are coming in to Hanmer and we’re going out to dinner.’
‘What, like at a restaurant?’
‘Yeah.’ He turned on the shower.
‘And it’s okay for me to turn up in my bikini?’
He laughed under the stream of water. ‘Absolutely.’
‘Well, what else am I going to wear? My crushed suit from today?’
She was naked.
He left the shower running for her and wrapped a towel round his hips. While under the hot jet she watched him open his backpack. He pulled out another pair of jeans and tossed them on the massage table for her.
She switched off the water. ‘I’m not going to meet people wearing your clothes.’
‘Sophy—’ he sent her a look ‘—relax. It’s not a fancy restaurant. Just nice people, nice food.’
It was a fancy restaurant and wearing nothing but a pair of men’s jeans that hung on her and a tourist tee shirt from the spa shop wasn’t her idea of fancy restaurant attire. And, worse, wearing his jeans turned her on.
‘Hi, Lorenzo. You must be Sophy.’ So he’d mentioned her to them? She felt an absurdly warm glow about that.
To her relief the older couple were in jeans too and were full of welcoming smiles. Lorenzo explained that Charlotte and Rob Wilson had one of the largest holdings that supplied grapes to one of his labels. They were led to a table, talk turned to food and wine and business.
‘Have you known Lorenzo long?’ Sophy just had to do some digging while Lorenzo and Rob talked about the bar.
‘Fifteen years,’ Charlotte replied.
Sophy nearly spilt her wine. Wow—if there was someone who knew him it was this woman.
Charlotte was smiling at her as if she’d just read her mind. ‘He used to work as a hand in the picking season. Right from when he was a teen and had nowhere to go in the holidays.’ She looked at Sophy. ‘I tried to spoil him but he wouldn’t have it. I’d leave baking in his cabin and hope he got it. The tin was always empty when he left so I figured he did. Later on Alex used to come and work too. It was more fun for him then, I think.’
Sophy swallowed. ‘He was lucky he worked with you.’
‘He worked on another vineyard when he was still at school too. The McIntosh property.’ Charlotte shook her head. ‘I’ve never known someone to be so driven to succeed. And he has.’
Yeah, but was he happy with it? Sophy was increasingly worried there was a huge depth of unhappiness in him.
‘Now he’s invested in this bar. Who knows what he’ll turn to next? He’s a natural entrepreneur. He’s a genius.’
Okay, so Charlotte was his number one fan.
‘What are you talking about?’ Lorenzo turned to them.
‘You.’ Charlotte smiled at him. ‘When are you going to be satisfied, Lorenzo?’
‘I don’t want to get bored.’
Sophy smiled as the woman laughed. But her nerves stretched. Bored—as he had been with the woman who’d no longer turned him on? He was busy—always busy—and frequently moved to newer, even more challenging projects. He did that with women too, didn’t he? She had to try to remember that.
‘Did you know Jayne McIntosh is trying to sell,’ Rob said. ‘I bet her father regrets not backing you now.’
‘Would you be interested in Jayne’s property, Lorenzo?’ Charlotte asked quietly.
Was it Sophy or had he gone a bit stiff? Who was the Jayne? Was this the McIntosh he’d worked for? He reached for his wine and took a small sip. ‘No. I don’t think so. We have enough for the label and I’m diversifying elsewhere.’
‘He was stupid not to come in at the time.’ That was Rob again.
‘He was doing what he thought best.’ Lorenzo shrugged.
‘He made a mistake,’ Charlotte muttered.
‘No.’
