public scrutiny, the Secret Service agents.
“Hard to date when you’re the president’s daughter?” he asked quietly.
“You have no idea.”
He kissed her. “The guys in D.C. are idiots. And not just the ones in office.”
“Thanks.”
“I mean it.”
She raised herself on tiptoe and kissed him. “I know.” A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “You’ve just had sex with the youngest daughter of your commander in chief. I think you need to propose now. It’s really the least you can do.”
He wanted to pull her close again, but he respected her need to stay strong.
“Wouldn’t you get nervous if I did?” he said. “It’s almost worth it to see.”
“Almost isn’t the same.” She stepped back and smoothed down the front of her blouse. “How do I look?”
“Sexy.”
She dismissed him with a flick of her hand. “I don’t care about that. Do I look normal? I don’t want anyone guessing what just happened. We have your family to think of, and my security team. Trust me, none of them need to know.”
“Agreed.”
He studied her, taking in the swell of her breasts a whole lot more than the straightness of her clothes, then motioned for her to turn around.
When she’d completed a full circle, she held her arms out at her sides and said, “Well?”
“Perfect,” he said. He moved in and claimed her in a hot, deep kiss that soon had his body ready for round two.
She moaned. “Good idea. Bad timing, but a great idea. We got lucky once. Do you realize the odds of someone walking in on us?”
Amazing how he almost didn’t care.
“I’ll go first,” she said as she pushed away and started for the door. “Wait a few seconds before following.” Her gaze dropped to his crotch, where he knew she could see he was hard again. “Or longer.”
Darcy felt like the beautiful young princess in a classic fairy tale. It was only a matter of time until the birds broke into song and the little woodland creatures gathered supplies to make her a fabulous ball gown.
It was the sex. Parts of her body ached from the physical activities, but it was the kind of ache that made her smile and want to do it again. For that she could thank Joe.
He’d been great. Not just with the mechanics, although he could certainly earn a merit badge in technique and stamina, but with how he’d acted.
He’d made her feel comfortable, both during and after. He’d joked and he’d held her, and best of all, he’d wanted her again. Guys might be able to fake a lot of things, but not an erection that size!
Life was good, she thought as she headed toward the main building of the winery. Who knew getting kidnapped would turn out to be so beneficial for her personal life?
Still smiling, Darcy entered the main building of the winery. She felt more than saw the Secret Service agents behind her, but she ignored them. Today nothing could get in the way of her good mood.
“There you are,” Grandpa Lorenzo said as she started down the hallway. He stood at the entrance to his office. “I’ve been looking for you, Darcy. Come in.”
He sounded so stern and disapproving, she instantly felt guilty. It was all she could do to keep from rushing to his side, grabbing his arm, and promising she would always keep her room clean. Instead she followed him into his office and took the chair he pointed at.
He stared at her for a long time. Darcy stared back, noting the gray in his hair and how tired he looked. Then she ran through a list of possible infractions but couldn’t come up with a single one.
“So, you like the winery,” he said.
She hadn’t had a clue as to what he wanted to talk about, but her liking the winery hadn’t been on the short list.
“Yes,” she said. “Of course. It’s beautiful here, and the process of making wine fascinates me. I know I’m an imposition to your family, but I can’t help hoping I’m here through part of the harvest. I’d like to see the picking and the pressing.”
Lorenzo smiled. “You have the love in your veins. It’s like that for some. You don’t always have to be born into it. You’re young, there’s still time. You could study and be a part of all this.”
She wasn’t so sure about that. She had a feeling that as nice as the Marcelli family had been to her, they wouldn’t be all that sorry to get their lives back. No one enjoyed having Secret Service agents running around on their property.
“Tessa cleaned your room the other day and found this.”
He set something on his desk. It took Darcy a second to realize it was her portfolio. Lorenzo withdrew several large sheets from her sketch pad.
At least they were only drawings, she thought, surprised that Tessa had gone through her stuff and embarrassed that something so private had been viewed by others. Note to self-don’t start a diary while in the Marcelli home.
She drew in a deep breath, preparing herself to take Lorenzo and his wife on about violating her privacy, when he said, “I like these. This one the most.”
He tapped one of the designs, then turned it toward her. “You can make me more like this?”
She stared at the page of wine labels she’d been toying with. There were several incarnations, using the Marcelli name as the centerpiece in some and the house in the others. Lorenzo pointed to the one with the house.
“I like this one. I like the different colors. You’ve done pale for chardonnay, and darker for merlot. So the labels are all the same, but different, yes?”
She nodded slowly. “You like these?”
“Very much. The work Brenna brings me.” He shook his head. “Amateurs. Yes, they draw, they design, but they don’t feel the wine in their blood. They don’t know the land, the work, the grapes. You, Darcy, you feel it in here.” He pounded his chest. “We’ll use these for the new Marcelli labels.”
“W-what?”
“For the wine. Brenna will like them, too. She’s a smart girl. She’ll know how you have to draw them so we can turn them into labels. Stand up to her on the price. She’ll try to talk you down, but this time, I think, we pay more, eh?”
He wanted her labels? On Marcelli wine bottles? “On all of them?” she asked tentatively.
“Yes. For all. You will be a part of us, then.”
Darcy sprang from her seat and raced around the desk. She threw herself at Lorenzo, who gathered her close and hugged her. He was thin and frail under his loose clothes, but he still squeezed her until she couldn’t breathe.
It felt good, she thought happily. It felt great.
When he released her, she grinned. “This is my first real design job. I’ve been trying to find work, but it’s hard. No advertising agency wants to hire me. What client is going to be comfortable complaining about a design by the president’s daughter? So I went back to college to get my master’s degree. I thought that would help, but it hasn’t yet. Until now.”
Lorenzo squeezed her hand. “This isn’t about your education, child. It’s about what you feel in your heart. That’s what’s important. Never forget that.”
Joe finished his afternoon briefing with the security team and headed back for the house. Marco joined him a few feet from the back door and asked him to wait.
“We have to talk,” Marco told him.
Until that moment, Joe had been having a good day. Making love with Darcy might not have been the smartest thing he’d ever done, but it had been one of the best. He’d enjoyed every second of her company. And he hadn’t wanted to go-an unusual situation for a man who generally preferred to be alone.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Marco shook his head. “Next time you might want to make sure the intercom is off.”
