Beauty from Pain (10 page)

Every room in the house is spotless, and I
wonder if it is Mrs. Porcelli’s doing or if he likes things orderly
because he is some kind of neat freak.

I think we are finished with the tour of the
house, but he takes me to one more room we haven’t visited. “Last
stop.”

He opens the door to a room with wall-to-wall
mirrors. The floor is covered with different kinds of exercise
equipment, some I’ve never seen before. “Gee, someone likes to see
himself while he works out.”

“
The previous owner had a
ballerina in the family and this was her studio.”

“
Okay. That’s a little more
acceptable.”

“
You’re welcome to use this gym
any time you want. It has surround sound for music or you can watch
the idiot box.” He points to a cabinet against the wall. “The flat
screen and receiver are in there. It has Bluetooth so you can play
your own music or you can stream anything you like.”

There he goes assuming again. “You think I’m
going to stay long enough to need a workout?”

“
Since you’ve not given me an
answer, that still remains to be seen.”

I walk over to an elliptical and step up. I
make a few strides. “I exercise at home, but this isn’t what I do.
Exercise equipment bores me.”

He wiggles his eyebrows. “So what is your kind
of workout?”

I slow the speed of my stride on the machine.
“If you’re going to be like that, I don’t think I’m gonna tell
you.”

“
Please.”

I think for a minute, trying to decide if I
want to tell him. “I dance.”

“
Dancing is great
exercise.”

I pick up speed again and stare straight
ahead. I don’t want to see his face when I tell him. “I pole
dance.”

Yep. That got his attention. “Pole dance? You
mean, like a stripper?”

“
Yes, but I don’t do it the way
you’re imagining. It’s a beautiful art form when it’s done
tastefully. I do it because I like it, and it’s a hell of a
workout. Very strenuous. You use muscles you didn’t know you had.
You’d be surprised what’s sore the next day.” I didn’t look at him,
but I knew he was smirking.

He walks around to stand in front of me and I
look down at him from the elliptical. “You only do it for
exercise?”

I nod. “Yeah. No one knows I take lessons
except my instructor and classmates. And now you.”

He licks his lips and rubs them together.
“Just when I thought you couldn’t get any hotter, you go and tell
me something like this and prove me wrong.”

I lift a brow at him. “There’s a lot you don’t
know about me.”

“
How long have you done
it?”

Hmm, I started my first year of college. “I
guess it’s been about … four years.”

“
You must be pretty good if you’ve
done it for that long.”

I shrug because I’ve never been one to brag,
but I’m damn good at it. “I guess. My background in gymnastics
doesn’t hurt, either.”

“
Gymnastics too,” he laughs. “So
you’ve never danced on a stage in fuck-me pumps for a bunch of
horny bastards?”

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
“You say that like you’re pretty familiar with the
scene.”

He holds up his hand. “I’m pleading the
Fifth.”

“
That’s an American amendment. It
doesn’t work for Australians.”

“
You didn’t answer my
question.”

“
Neither did you.”

He has a huge grin. “I may have seen a
stripper on a pole once. Maybe twice.”

Damn liar.

I stop the elliptical and sigh loudly, as
though he is wearing me down. “Yes and no.”

“
Yes to what and no to
what?”

“
No, I’ve never danced on stage
for horny bastards. But yes, I wear fuck-me pumps when I dance on
the pole.”

“
Now, you’re bloody hot in my
book. What am I going to do with you?”

“
I believe the answer to that
question still remains to be seen, now doesn’t it?”

12

Jack McLachlan

I’m installing a pole in this gym.
ASAP.

We have to stop talking about pole
dancing and anything containing the term
fuck me
in it before I bend her over
my weight bench. I put my hands in my pockets to disguise the
hard-on our conversation has triggered. “Are you hungry? Good. Me
too. Let’s go.”

She laughs as she steps down from the
elliptical. I suspect she knows what she’s done to me. “Is
something wrong, Lachlan?”

“
Nothing’s wrong. I’m a bit
peckish and ready for a bite of lunch.”

My hands are still in my pockets when we start
to walk out of the gym. She loops her arm through mine as we walk
toward the door. “Me, too. Where are we going for our
picnic?”

Her touch only adds fuel to the flame in my
jeans. “I haven’t decided. I thought we’d ride out on the ATV and
pick a spot together.”

“
That sounds like fun.”

We swing back through the kitchen to pick up
the basket of food and wine before we head out across the vineyard.
I drive out to the middle of the property and stop when I find a
somewhat flat grassy area about a mile from the house. “What do you
think of this spot?”

“
The view is gorgeous.”

We get off the ATV and spread a blanket across
the ground. We sit next to each other with the basket between us
and she helps me spread the food. “Tell me how you got into the
wine business.”

A little truth with a splash of lies on the
side. “I guess you could say I was born into it. This is what my
dad did for a living before he retired, so it’s what I
do.”

“
And it makes you happy? I mean,
the traveling and being away from your family?”

The cork pops loudly from the bottle of
Shiraz. I take a glass from the basket and fill it with wine. “I’m
paid quite well to like it. Besides, I get to meet interesting
people such as yourself during my travels, so what’s not to
like?”

Paige takes the offered glass. “But what about
having a family? Don’t you want a wife and children?”

I stifle my laugh. “I decided a long time ago
I would never marry.”

I watch her as she holds the glass up to
inspect the color of the vino before she smells it. She’s a fast
learner. “Maybe the right woman hasn’t come along and stolen your
heart.”

I hope she isn’t suggesting she is the right
woman because she’d be wrong. There is no right woman for this kind
of life. “No wife wants to be the center of her husband’s world on
a part-time basis, and that’s what a marriage with me would be
like.”

She takes a small drink, waits for the
aftertaste, and then smiles. “It’s good. At least I think it
is.”

I take a small drink. “I’ve had better and
that’s why I’m here—to make this vineyard one of the
best.”

She reaches for a cheese cube and cracker.
“You shouldn’t let your job keep you from having a family if it’s
what you want.”

So we are back to that again. “I watched my
mom raise three kids in my dad’s absence. Don’t get me wrong. My
dad is great, but he was never home. I’m not doing that to a wife
and kids. It’s not fair.” Wow, where did that come from?

“
That’s a very selfless way of
thinking.”

“
That only proves you don’t know
me. I assure you I’m anything but selfless.” I don’t want to talk
about myself anymore. She makes me afraid I will slip and say too
much. I’m not used to so many personal questions. “What about Paige
Beckett? Does she see a band of gold in her future?”

She gets that twinkle in her eye like most
women have when they think about weddings and babies. “I want to
get married and have children one day.”

She finishes making a sanger from the fresh
bread and deli meat and passes it to me. “Children? That must mean
you want more than one ankle-biter, huh?”

“
Oh, definitely. I want at least
two because it sucks being an only child.”

“
That’ll be hard to juggle with a
music career.”

“
I didn’t say I had all the
details worked out, but there’s plenty of time for that.” She holds
her arms out toward the rows of vines. “I want to know more about
this.”

I tell her about the vineyard, the grapes, and
explain winemaking while we eat. She watches my face, truly
interested and mesmerized by the process, which is unlike the other
women I’ve been with. They weren’t interested in me—only what I
could do for them. Except for one.

She has no idea, but this is a huge stretch
for me. It’s the first time I’ve brought one of my companions to
any of my homes on the vineyard. The remote distance from town
doesn’t leave me much choice, but I feel comfortable bringing her
here since she isn’t from Australia and won’t be showing up on my
doorstep six months from now.

After we finish eating, I stand and reach for
her hands to help her up. “Come with me. There’s something I want
to show you. I think you’ll like it very much.”

We pack the remains of our picnic and drive
toward the property behind the house. I park the ATV outside a pair
of large ornate wooden doors leading to the storage area for the
wine.

“
Where are we?”

“
This is a wine cave.”

“
I’ve never heard of that
before.”

“
It’s where wine is stored.” I
reach for her hand and help her from the ATV. “Come on. I can tell
that you’re going to appreciate this.”

I open one of the doors to the cave and lead
her inside to see the products of my livelihood. She’s mesmerized
as her eyes study everything from the stonework dome over our heads
to the rows of wine barrels lining each room. “This is …
incredible. How was it built?”

“
It’s dug out of the ground like a
basement and a frame is constructed to keep it from caving in from
the weight of the ground around it.”

She notices the ceiling. “The stone arches are
gorgeous.”

The arches aren’t the only beautiful thing in
this room. The dim glow of the lanterns dances across her face as
she studies her surroundings, and I have no doubt that the next
three months are going to be spectacular. But first, she has to
tell me yes.

She is going to say yes. I’m going to see to
it.

I follow her into the next room where the
special events are held and she explores like a curious child. She
sees the tables and is about to ask for an explanation, but I don’t
want to talk anymore. I want to feel her against me again. I’m
eager to finish what I started two nights ago.

She’s surveying the long dining hall table
when I creep up behind her. “Why is there a … oh.”

I slide one of my arms around her waist and
pull her back against me. With my free arm, I push her hair over
one shoulder. I press my lips to the exposed skin on her neck and
trail kisses toward her ear. “I can’t stand it any longer. I need
to touch you.”

She leans against me and laces her fingers
through my hand on her waist. This is her way of showing me that
she’ll welcome more of what I’m doing. I sneak my hand under the
hem of her shirt and glide it upward until my palm finds her
lace-clad breast. I feel her nipple grow hard through the lace as I
slowly stroke it. I push my hand inside the cup of her bra from the
top so I can free it from its entrapment.

She moans softly and grinds herself against my
groin as I gently knead her breasts. “I think I have a promise to
made good on, don’t I?”

She doesn’t answer but nods in
agreement.

I slide my hand down her flat stomach and feel
a piercing in her navel. I make a mental note to investigate that
later, but I have other plans in mind for right now.

I tug on the button at her waist to unfasten
her shorts. It opens after a light jerk and I slowly slide the
zipper down. I put my hand flat against her stomach and rub it in a
circular motion, each rotation bringing my fingers closer to the
spot she so desperately wants me to touch.

I slip my hand inside the top of her lacy
panties. I smile against her neck when I feel the smooth skin
beneath. “You have no idea how much I like that.”

She tilts her head up and back against me. Her
breathing is deep and fast. I have her right where I want her, so I
slide my finger down through her slickness and back up once in a
slow, torturous stroke. She likes it and wants more because she’s
pushing her hips hard against my hand. “Paige, you haven’t given me
an answer yet.”

I hear a sweet, delicate whimper from her
mouth. “Huh?”

“
You still haven’t accepted my
proposal.” I slide my finger downward again and then slowly back up
until I feel the little swollen button where I rub in a circular
motion. “I want you to tell me yes.”

“
Ohh … what? I can’t think
straight right now.”