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LOVE IN THE VINEYARD
Pamela Aares
Releasing Sept 10th, 2015
A one-night stand brought Natasha Raley the greatest gift of her life—her son. She wants to give him a better life than she had, but a gambling bet lands both of them in a homeless shelter. When the shelter director gives her a ticket to a masquerade ball, Natasha finds herself dancing with the most intriguing and mysterious man she’s ever met.
Adrian Tavonesi is creating a paradise on earth in Sonoma California, determined to be worthy of his vast fortune by making the world a better place. Convinced women only like him for his money and his status, he invents an anonymous relationship with the beautiful Natasha to create a dream world for both of them.
As passion flares into an all-consuming affair, the lies Adrian and Natasha have told each other threaten to ruin everything. Adrian is kind, generous, and sincere—Natasha knows he would be the ideal father for her son. But will her past and the devastating gamble she once made destroy her new world? Or will betting on the truth this time lead to the perfect, ever-lasting love?
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He couldn’t know how
much she would like to do exactly that.
Yet Natasha’s fears of giving over to
the sensations jolting through her at his touch were stronger than her impulse
to let go and enjoy the evening, the moment and the man. Her lucky night, he’d
said. She didn’t want to think about luck. She’d had the dream again the
previous night—always the same sequence of events, always the same words. It wasn’t
right. Surely her mother wouldn’t mock her from the grave.
But the man’s firm leading caught her
up, and soon she was twirling and dipping and dancing and laughing.
Until the music ended.
And Natasha snapped back into the
room.
She stepped away from his hold. A rush
of coolness swept between them as if someone had opened a door or a window, but
there was neither in sight. He dipped his head toward hers and she panicked,
thinking he was going to kiss her.
“One more?” he asked, smiling. “And
then we should get something to drink.”
Relieved that all he wanted was a
dance, she nodded.
But then the DJ cued a slow song, a
song she’d never heard before. As his hand slipped to her back and down to her
waist and he drew her close , her heart rumbled a beat far faster than the slow
tempo of the lovely ballad.
He ran his other hand along her arm
until his fingertips met hers. He twined his fingers in hers, then lifted their
joined hands and rested them against his chest. Through the edge of her palm,
she felt his heart beating, keeping time with hers , keeping a tempo that had
nothing to do with the DJ or the party or the place. She tilted her head back
and caught him smiling down at her as he swayed and drew her into the first
slow steps of the dance. The music played not only around her but through her,
melding with the beat of his heart against her palm and the feel of his other
hand at her back, guiding her, meeting her, caressing her.
And she let go. Surrendered to the
pulse of energy flowing in her. And danced with the mysterious man with the
beguiling smile.
When the music stopped, she felt like
a woman waking from a delicious dream. But within seconds her thoughts rushed
in, calling her defenses back into place like sentinels that had waited at the
ready, unhappy to have been dismissed for even the briefest of moments.
“Let’s get some air,” he said.
“There’s a terrace just outside the back of this tent.”
Air. Yes, air would help her return to
her senses.
He took two glasses of champagne from
a passing waiter and handed one to her.
The night had turned cool, the perfect
drop in temperature that would lead to this season’s best grapes. The fog
hadn’t yet come in, but there was a distinct chill in the evening air.
He whisked off the black doublet he
wore and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Thank you,” she said, finding her
voice.
Several couples
were seated near heaters at small tables lit by candlelight. Their mingled
voices and laughter rippled into Natasha. Had she ever really had fun? She
couldn’t remember.
“The stars are especially bright
tonight. No moon,” he said.
She looked up, but he wasn’t looking
at the stars. He was looking at her.
“Tell me something about you ,” he said
softly.
“We’re not supposed to exchange
information,” she answered.
“Only identifying information is off
limits. Tell me about something you love.”
Under normal circumstances she
would’ve said Tyler. She sorted through possible responses and found she wanted
to answer. Wanted to share some part of her with this mysterious man. But not
without a reciprocal exchange.
“If I do, then after, you tell me
something. One thing that you love.”
“With pleasure.”
His accent perhaps explained his
rather formal English. She liked the way he spoke, the way his words wound
together in unusual patterns and his accent made the words stand out, familiar
yet not familiar. For so many years she’d honed her ability to listen, to see,
to use her senses to make up for her struggles with written words. She was
reaping the reward for honing those senses tonight. With this man in this
magical setting.
She hugged her elbows close to her
chest. “I love plants, everything about them. Their beauty. Tenacity.
Fragility. They speak my language.”
He raised a brow, barely visible above
his black mask. “Then we have more in common than loving to dance.”
“I didn’t say I loved to dance,” she
said, glad that it was dark and he couldn’t see the heat creep into her cheeks.
“You didn’t have to.”
If she’d known how intimate dancing
with him would feel, would she have agreed to dance? Already she felt that
she’d stepped into a world with signs and signals she couldn’t read. With
sensations that tumbled her thoughts and teased at her carefully held
boundaries. But perhaps she was like a prisoner kept too long in a dark cell.
She longed for color. For song and dance and laughter. To surrender, if only
for a moment.
If only there wouldn’t be
consequences.
But there were. There always would be.
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Her popularity as a romance writer continues to grow with each new book release, so much so, that the Bay area author has drawn comparisons by reviewers to Nora Roberts.
Pamela Aares writes romance books that she loves reading, particularly those that entertain, transport and inspire dreams while captivating and tugging at the heart. She takes her readers on a journey with complex characters in both contemporary and historical settings who are thrown in situations that tempt love, adventure and self-discovery.
Before becoming a romance author, Aares wrote and produced award-winning films including Your Water, Your Life, featuring actress Susan Sarandon and NPR series New Voices, The Powers of the Universe and The Earth’s Imagination.
If not behind her computer, you can probably find her reading a romance novel, hiking the beach or savoring life with friends. You can visit Pamela on the web at http://www.PamelaAares.com.
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