Read Love in the Vineyard (The Tavonesi Series Book 7) for Free Online Page A

nervous.
    But as her fingers touched his and he closed his hand around hers, she knew she shouldn’t have come to the party. She wasn’t ready for men. She wasn’t ready for parties. But he held her hand firmly, waiting for her reply.
    His snug-fitting costume told her he had a magnificent body. She could see enough of his face to know that it matched his exquisite physique. Long-pent-up and unwelcome desire tingled in her. Desire and foolishness had led her to that horrid night long ago. She wouldn’t allow unbridled emotions to mislead her ever again.
    “Tasha,” she finally stammered out. She couldn’t think of a name other than her own. The sounds of the party flooded her mind. His scent wafted to her, blocking thought. Vetiver. Surely he smelled of vetiver. And a spice she couldn’t name. Frankincense or myrrh or some other exotic spice. But through the teasing scents, another pressed in on her, stronger and more insistent. Male .
    She pulled her hand free and stepped back, but only succeeded in creating a better view of the man’s honed body. She grasped her plate of dumplings and clutched it to her chest like a shield.
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    THE WOMAN INTRIGUED ADRIAN. BUT Dumas? What a stupid name. No wonder she pulled her hand away and looked at him like he was half-crocked.
    “Let’s get you some real food, Tasha,” he said. “There’s a buffet at the other end of all this madness.”
    “I’d like that,” Tasha said.
    Her words said yes but the way she held her body said no. She seemed fragile, skittish. Uncomfortable. God knew he felt plenty ridiculous in the costume Parker had foisted on him; maybe she felt uncomfortable in hers too.
    But there was nothing ridiculous about the flowing lines of the enticing gown she wore. The costume looked as though it had been made especially for her. The deep blue velvet set off the creamy ivory of her skin, and the mask, rather than hiding her beauty, accentuated her gold-flecked hazel eyes, deepening the green in them. Even through the lace of the mask he could see that she was an exceptional beauty. And though she appeared to wear no lipstick, her lips were the deep pink of the roses his mother once grew in their family estate in Rome.
    He offered his arm.
    “Allow me to escort you. You never know what wolves are hiding under innocent costumes at an affair like this.”
    Her eyes widened for a moment, and he suddenly felt self-conscious. What did they say? That clothes make the man? Well, he was taking this playacting to the extreme. He wasn’t an eighteenth-century swashbuckler and she wasn’t a Renaissance countess.
    Maybe his lack of sleep had affected him more than he’d realized. He’d played a mighty poor six chukkers of polo that afternoon. Or maybe the stress of dealing with the local growers yesterday had set him off his game and muddled his mind. Although why the local vintners couldn’t grasp that having employees prosper was good for business was beyond him. One irate vintner had gone so far as to accuse him of being the Karl Marx of wine country. If Coco hadn’t been at the meeting and used her sisterly influence to keep him in his seat and remind him to tamp down his temper, he might’ve said something he’d have regretted.
    Whatever the cause of his oddly altered state, he’d better ratchet back to reality before he made a total fool of himself.
    Just as he was about to pull his arm back, Tasha laughed and put her hand into the crook of his elbow.
    “And how am I to know you aren’t one of them?” Her eyes glittered in the soft light. “A wolf in costume, I mean.”
    “I can assure you that he’s far from it.”
    Adrian heard the mirth in Coco’s voice as she approached from behind. She circled and then waved the wand she held in their direction. “I do love eavesdropping; you hear the most preposterous things.” She looked at her wand and then at Adrian. “Do you think this thing works? Because if it does, I could cause