She shrugged and the devil she didn’t care about restraining made her say, “Sure I do. I could have woken up in some guy’s bed this morning ravished and exhausted. Instead I’m still just as pure as the driven snow and well rested.” She lifted the corners of her mouth up even higher into the smile she didn’t even begin to feel. “Thanks to you. The perfect gentleman.” She held out her hand. “Goodbye, Marcus.”

He looked down at her outstretched hand before finally moving toward her to grasp it in his own.

Uh-oh. She should have thought that hand-shaking thing through better, should have remembered that every time they touched her body went up in flames.

Because he had an uncanny knack of reducing her insides to a pile of ashes.

“Holy hell,” he said in a low, raw voice. “I shouldn’t want you this much.”

She’d barely begun to wrap her head around his words, when he was pulling her into him and crushing her mouth beneath his.

The kiss—their first kiss—was beyond anything she’d ever experienced. Every ounce of his desire, every ounce of his frustrated need, everything he was denying himself by letting her go, poured from his mouth to hers.

He didn’t taste her gently, didn’t learn the curves and contours of her mouth. Instead, he took what he wanted...and gave her something she’d never really known she wanted before.

Nicola liked to be in control of everything, especially in the wake of Kenny’s betrayal. For the first time in a very long time, she gave up that control to a man who knew exactly what to do with it.

His tongue owned hers, his teeth captured her lower lip, and she heard herself gasping and moaning as if through a long, narrow tunnel.

And then, just as quickly as his kiss had taken her over, it was taken away.

“Damn it. I didn’t mean to do that.” His expression was frustrated. “You need to go, Nicola. Now.”

She blinked at him, trying to clear her vision, about to tell him their first kiss couldn’t possibly be the end when it was the most glorious beginning she’d ever known. But then she got a good look at his face, saw the way his eyes were completely shuttered, totally closed.

And she knew there was no point.

He was done with her.

And she needed to be done with him, too.

Fortunately, that was when the taxi driver knocked on the front door. She and Marcus hadn’t exchanged last names or phone numbers. She had no idea how to reach him apart from camping out on his brother’s front step.

This was it.

This really was goodbye.

She didn’t let herself give in to the urge to take one last look at Marcus. She simply turned and walked away.

Chapter Five

Marcus couldn’t stop thinking about Nicola.

From the first moment he’d seen her at the club, he’d thought she was gorgeous. Sexy as hell in that leather dress, her bare legs toned and sleek in her heels.

But when he’d turned around in the kitchen and seen her with no makeup on, her cheeks pink with what he guessed was embarrassment at having to speak with him in the light of day, his heart may have actually stopped beating for a few moments.

What a beauty she was. And so young-looking. Despite the fact that she’d told him she was twenty-five, guilt roiled in his stomach at what he’d almost done with her the previous night.

“Marcus, how does that sound?”

He looked up at the men who were waiting for his decision about the new corks they were considering for his latest vintage. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his assistant, Ellen, frowning at him, obviously confused by his unusual lack of focus.

“The materials they’re using sound quite close to what we’ve been looking for,” she told him. She lifted up her iPad so that he could see her spreadsheet. “Of course, we should review their documents and my notes further before we sign any contracts.”

Ellen had started working for him in the tasting room and he’d quickly realized that, while she had an excellent touch with the customers who came by to try his wines, she was too bright and quick to be wasted there. Yet again, she was proving her worth to him.

“Yes,” Marcus agreed, “the specifications look good. We’ll review them further and get back to you.”

His phone buzzed and he looked down at it, hoping for a moment that it was Nicola even though he knew that was impossible. He hadn’t given her his number. And he didn’t have hers.

He’d done that on purpose, knowing even the faintest trail would find him heading straight toward her.

Especially after that kiss.

Jesus. That kiss.

She’d tasted so good. A faint taste of coffee, a hint of toothpaste, but none of that could disguise her own sweet essence.

What, he’d been wondering every single second since then, would her skin taste like? Not just on her face, her shoulders, her br**sts, but between her legs, while—

His sister Lori’s face popped up on his phone and he realized he’d been doing it again: losing the thread of everything but Nicola.

“Excuse me, I need to take this,” he told the group before pushing away from the table and walking out into the hallway.

Family always came first for Marcus, just as Jill had accused. If one of his brothers or sisters or his mother needed him, he would do anything he could to be there for them. Even before his father had died, as the oldest there’d been an instinctive weight of responsibility on his shoulders. Of course, after his father died that weight had grown infinitely heavier.

“Hi, Naughty,” he said, using the nickname Chase had given Lori years ago.

He could almost see her expression, that faintly irritated look she had whenever they called her that. Despite her protests that she didn’t like it, Marcus knew better. Lori definitely liked people thinking she had a little edge. Especially since she would have hated being called Nice like her twin sister, Sophie.

“Are you still in the city?”

“I’m just about to finish my last meeting.”

“Great!”

Lori’s energy was palpable even through the phone. Dancing was the perfect career for her, considering she had more energy that two people combined. She’d been a terror as a toddler and pre-schooler. A really cute terror who knew just when to turn on the smiles to get what she wanted or the waterworks to get out of trouble.

“Do you have time to come by and see me at my video shoot before you head back to Napa?”

“I wouldn’t miss it. Text me your location and I’ll leave now.”