She really wanted to be kissed...
Luke’s fingers were cool on her face as he tucked her hair under the cap and she wondered if she imagined his fingers lingering for a moment longer than necessary on her cheekbone.
‘At the risk of you taking this the wrong way, get as close as possible. Put your hands under my jacket—get them warm. The temperature is dropping fast,’ Luke said as he turned back.
Luke waited while she wriggled herself as close to him as she could and until her hands were flat on his stomach—oh, the blessed warmth—before roaring off. Jess put her face back between his shoulderblades and felt so much more comfortable than she had just minutes before.
His stomach was hard and ridged with muscle and his back was broad, protecting her from the wind they were now riding into. She’d forgotten how much of a man he was, Jess thought as the first drops of icy rain fell. It wasn’t only his impressive body—while he wasn’t muscle bound, he was still ripped in all the right places, like the six-pack under her hands—but wherever he went on the estate he instantly commanded respect.
She’d watched and listened as he interacted with his staff. He gave orders easily, listened when he needed to and made swift decisions. His employees felt at ease around him—enough to crack jokes and initiate conversation.
She hadn’t realised how extensive his property was or how much he was responsible for. He had a small dairy herd that provided milk to a processing dairy in town, orchards that exported plums and soft citrus, and olives that were sold to a factory in Franschoek that pressed and bottled olive oil.
‘They all add to the St Sylve coffers,’ Luke had said, a muscle jumping in his jaw. ‘Thank God.’
‘Are the St Sylve coffers empty?’ she’d joked.
‘You have no idea.’
Jess couldn’t understand it...why did St Sylve have money troubles if he had all these other sources of income? Even if the wine wasn’t selling that well, then the milk and olives, sheep and fruit should subsidise the winery.
It was a puzzle. Jess felt a big drop of rain hit her cheek and she shivered. Luke briefly placed his left hand over her hands, as if to reassure her, and Jess rubbed her cheek against his back and turned her thoughts back to St Sylve.
Luke and St Sylve were such a conundrum. According to the grapevine, Luke made money hand over fist from his venture capital business, so he was supposedly not hurting for cash. It was common knowledge that he had extensive business interests apart from St Sylve, and he was reputed to have the very fortunate ability to make money—a lot of which, she suspected, he poured into this estate. Although he was based in Franschoek she knew that he provided financial and management capital to high-potential, high-risk, high-growth startup companies for a stake in said company.
But the question remained: if he had all these other sources of income for the farm and he was still selling wine—not huge amounts, but enough—why would he imply that the farm was in the red? That it wasn’t self-supporting?
It was very bewildering.
Jess silently cursed as the rain started to fall in earnest. Within a minute the drops had turned into icy bullets that soaked her jeans and ran down her neck into her jersey. Jess groaned. She’d look like a frozen drowned rat by the time she got back to St Sylve...
‘Are you okay?’ Luke yelled at her.
I’m cold and I’m wet, Jess thought, but Luke knew that already. What was the point in whining? ‘I’m okay. Could murder a cup of coffee, though!’
‘You and me both. Damn Cape weather!’ Luke shouted, and Jess just caught his words before the wind whipped them away.
‘There’s ice in the rain,’ Jess yelled in his ear. She knew this because she could feel ice in the drop that was rolling down her spine towards her panties. She resisted the urge to wiggle.
‘I wasn’t going to mention it,’ Luke stated as he abruptly stopped the bike.
‘Why are you stopping?’ Jess demanded. ‘I thought the point was to get home as quick as possible!’
‘It is.’ Luke looked at a small track leading off from the dirt road. ‘How are you at cross-country?’
‘I’ve done it.’ Jess looked at him and pursed her lips. ‘Will it get us home quicker?’
‘It’ll save us about twenty minutes. But it’s tough. And muddy. And it’ll mean going through a small stream.’
Jess shrugged. ‘I’m soaked already. Let’s do it.’
Luke squeezed her thigh. ‘You’re quite a package, Sherwood. And even more of a surprise.’
Jess wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not.