Dropping the toiletry cases, he leaned down, meeting her at her level, his nose almost touching hers, his eyes a shocking gray as if the storm that gathered outside now raged in his eyes, and said, “You know you do, Gina.” He grinned an unholy grin, his eyes shining like hard granite in the shadows. “You must know you do,” he whispered, his whiskey-hoarse voice scraping her nerve endings like a rasp.
As his lips found her throat and he began to kiss her with teasing little nips, Callie closed her eyes. She wanted to savor the feel of his mouth against hers and to compose herself, because, damn the bastard, he was right.
“There’s a part of you that wants to keep me safe from harm, a part that wars with self-preservation and your own goals. But it’s there,” he murmured, his deep voice thick with words he couldn’t say.
“I thought-” She broke off at the breathless sound of her own voice, cleared her throat and tried again. “I thought we were going to bed to sleep.”
He chuckled wickedly against her neck, sliding a hand up and down her upper arm, his thumb brushing seductively against the side of her breast.
“You’re right. I’m getting sidetracked.” His expression grew serious, intense, as he stared down at her, and a tremor went through her. This Jammer looked like a dominant male, a predator, capable of anything.
Callie shook her head, sidestepping him as he moved away from her and retrieved their toiletries from the floor. She was amazed at his ability to go from teasing to serious, then seductive, then teasing again. It was almost more unnerving than his ability to make her want him.
He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek, the fire in his eyes softening to tenderness.
She leaned into him as his arm slipped around her. Together they went into the bathroom to clean up and get ready for bed.
Was that why she wanted to save him, protect him, find some way out of this tangled, impossible mission? Because Jammer treated her with the utmost care?
They quickly undressed and crawled beneath the covers. He immediately pulled her to his side, and she moved willingly into his arms.
“I hope you don’t hog the blankets,” she said.
“I hope you don’t snore.”
Callie chuckled and hit him with one of the bed pillows. He laughed.
Her eyes were drifting shut as he buried his nose in her hair. Softly, she whispered, “Jammer?”
“Yes?”
“If I didn’t have leverage, would I have ended up like Joost and Dieter?”
There was only silence in answer to her question. It spoke volumes.
CALLIE WOKE TO THE MOST delicious scents, her nostrils flaring at the smell of freshly cooked eggs, mushrooms and peppers and the heavenly fragrance of coffee.
“Caffeine,” she murmured against the downy softness of the pillow. “This had better not be a dream.”
She heard a low chuckle and suddenly realized that she was alone in the big bed.
“Come on, sleepyhead. It’s time to rise and shine.”
“Just five more minutes, Mom.”
He laughed and then said, “I’ve got omelets and coffee. I even made fresh-squeezed orange juice.”
“Okay, then I think I’ll keep you around for a decade or so. Gimme.”
She emerged from the covers and discovered that he was carrying a tray and had nothing on except an apron tied around his taut middle.
“Eggs and a naked man. What more could I have asked for?”
“How about cream in your coffee?”
“Pour it on, buster, and give me a fork and a napkin. The fork for the eggs and the napkin for my drool.”
“At your service.”
“You can service me later. I’ll eat now.”
He set the tray in front of her, and without hesitation, Callie dug in. She groaned at the first bite as she discovered that Jammer had also used a little salsa in the omelet. The combined taste of the peppers, mushrooms and salsa stimulated her taste buds until they were dancing. “Damn, Jammer, your cooking is spoiling me for other men.”
He frowned at that. “Then I’d better stop.”
“This is the heartiest breakfast I’ve had in a long time. Are you trying to fatten me up?”
“You’re going to need your energy today.”
“Why is that? Are we going to spend the day in bed?”
His eyes flared at that, but he smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s harvest time. Don’t you want to see what we do here?”
“Oh, I’d love to.”
“Then finish up and have your shower. I’ll go first so I’m not tempted.”
He turned and walked away from her, giving her an eyeful of the perfectly muscled globes of his ass. “Nice butt,” she said. He threw a look over his shoulder, grinned and shut the bathroom door.
True to his word, Jammer drove her in a small cart down into the vineyards, where the clusters of grapes were heavy on the vine. Many people were already there, easily detaching the fruit with small curved knives.
At least, Callie
“Leave a little bit of stem on the end, so we can handle the cluster,” he said, showing her a whole different side to him. A patient side.
Together, shoulder to shoulder, they harvested all the way down the row.
The sky was beautiful, the air washed clean from the short thunderstorm the night before. The temperature was perfect to be out in her black tank top and white peasant skirt.
As she moved along, she put the grapes in yellow buckets to be picked up by the truck.
“How did you get involved with this vineyard?” she asked, checking to make sure no one was in hearing distance.
“It was a cover, pure and simple, a place for me to escape to when I wasn’t traveling. Who would have guessed that I would love it? Jim was great in teaching me what I needed to know. At first he assumed I was one of those corporate types making an investment in a business I was totally ignorant about. I think he was surprised when I caught on and started running it. Then he was worried I would let him go, but of course I need someone here when business calls me away.”
He turned to look at her with a perfectly content smile. She brushed a leaf out of his dark hair, returning his smile. She bent back to the vines, trying to decide how big a fool she was for letting herself get caught up in Jammer. Really caught up in him, so that she almost believed in this fairy tale.
She gave herself a reality check. This wasn’t going to last. This beautiful place would be seized by the government. Jammer would be tried, convicted and condemned to a very long prison sentence. Callie would go on to the next mission.
She had to keep that firmly planted in her head. She would play her part to the fullest. But standing in the bright sunlight, she dreaded the moment when she would reveal who she was. She dreaded the look in his eyes and the expression on his face from learning he had been so deeply betrayed. She wished she could avoid that, but was too much of a Watchdog agent to let anyone else collar the Ghost.
The grapes were taken to the crush pad and they started to unload them. The physical labor felt good, and Callie was interested in every aspect of the production of wine.
Jim started running the grapes up a conveyor belt that took the clusters into the de-stemmer, a machine that also cut the grapes in half and made pulp out of them. She watched as the grape pulp was pumped into what Jim called a “bladder press” that squeezed out the juice.
By the time this process was complete the sun was dipping in the sky. Callie was sitting on the edge of the loading dock, resting, when Jammer came up to her and said, “Want to help me out?”
“With what?” she asked. His expression was full of mischief.
“A tradition.”
“Really? What type of tradition?”
“Stop asking questions and come on.”
