Seduce Me Sweetly (Heron's Landing Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her, his gaze on her face, she knew the answer to that: nope, she’d probably fall for him and end up begging him to marry her. Mostly because she was the queen of poor decisions in regards to men. Look at Jeremy: she’d known he was questionable from the start, but she’d thought she could fix him. Love him enough to transform him, like Jane Eyre did for Rochester. Beauty and the beast and true love conquers all. But then Jeremy had boned her best friend and said he’d gotten bored with her—his fiancée!—and now look where she was: twenty-nine, single, and lusting after a guy who’d insulted her multiple times.
    “Did you have a good time?” Kerry asked brightly before gasping. “Oh no, you got sunburned!”
    Was everyone in town going to point this out to her? Joy had to bite her tongue to avoid saying something snarky. “Yeah, looks like it. I’m used to it by now.” She shrugged.
    “It looks pretty bad, though. I hope it doesn’t blister.”
    Joy looked at her shoulders: definitely red, but not as red as that one time at band camp that had resulted in a patch of blisters all over her shoulders. That had been a real treat.
    “Well, I better get going,” she began, but that was when Adam held up a hand.
    “Wait here just a second.” Before Joy could respond—was he bringing her a souvenir bottle of wine?—he walked off into what she assumed were the vineyard’s offices.
    “He sure is a peach,” she said with an eye roll. “How do you put up with him?”
    Kerry smiled. “I know he doesn’t have the best manners, but he’s a good man. Works really hard on this place. And I know he’s been concerned about keeping it going, lately.”
    That was interesting news, and the nosy bloodhound in Joy perked up immediately. Was the vineyard hurting? Maybe even closing? Was that why Adam had the manners of a caveman?
    But before she could interrogate the innocent front desk girl, Adam returned with a green bottle in hand. “Here,” he said gruffly. “This will help with the burn.”
    Taking it, Joy realized it was aloe vera. He’d brought her this out of…kindness? Thoughtfulness? She was so shocked she couldn’t speak. She stared at the plastic bottle filled with green goo and then looked up at Adam.
    He seemed suddenly discomfited, and he shifted on his heels.
    “Thank you,” she finally responded. “This will help a lot.”
    Joy could feel Kerry staring at them. The girl had probably never seen her boss be blatantly helpful to anyone before.
    “You’re welcome,” he said.
    The moment stretched until it was awkward, so Joy did what she always did: made it more awkward by giggling. She giggled like a girl, hand over her mouth. And then, when she saw Adam’s face—surprised, bemused, annoyed?—she grabbed her purse and skittered out of there, choking on her laughter all the way home.
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    “It’s so nice of you to join us,” Julia Danvers said as she kissed Adam’s cheek. “We haven’t seen you in ages.”
    They’d actually seen him…well, two weeks ago? Three? Adam couldn’t remember, and guilt coiled in his gut. His parents only lived a few miles from his own house, but sometimes it felt like they lived on the other side of the country when he got swamped with working at River’s Bend. And his mom was extremely talented at letting him know when he’d stayed away for too long.
    “He just didn’t feel like eating another Hot Pocket for dinner,” Grace said. She laughed at her brother’s expression. “You know I’m right—you eat the same as an eighteen-year-old freshman in college.”
    “Can in, Squirt,” Adam growled. “Or I’m going to tell Mom and Dad about the Merlot Incident of 2013.”
    Grace blushed bright red.
    “What Merlot Incident? What in the world are you talking about?” Carl Danvers asked as he entered the dining room, slapping a newspaper against his thigh. The patriarch of the Danvers family was still a good-looking man in his