Читать онлайн книгу «Blame It on the Champagne» автора Nina Harrington
Blame It on the Champagne
Nina Harrington
English rose Saskia Elwood has slaved for years to turn her family estate into London’s most exclusive venue. She's not going to do anything to jeopardise its success! So considering wine magnate Rick Burgess’s business proposition would be nothing short of madness…But, before she can catch her breath, her heart-stoppingly gorgeous new business partner has swept her off to Europe for intimate champagne tastings and once in a lifetime experiences.Saskia won’t be able to blame the sparks flying between them on the champagne for much longer!
NINA HARRINGTON grew up in rural Northumberland and decided at the age of eleven that she was going to be a librarian—because then she could read all of the books in the public library whenever she wanted! Since then she has been a shop assistant, community pharmacist, technical writer, university lecturer, volcano walker and industrial scientist, before taking a career break to realise her dream of being a fiction writer. When she is not creating stories which make her readers smile her hobbies are cooking, eating, enjoying good wine—and talking, for which she has had specialist training.
This and other titles by Nina Harrington are available in eBook format—check out www.millsandboon.co.uk
Blame It on the
Champagne
Nina Harrington
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Table of Contents
Cover (#ucc3cb4f0-6d9f-5470-8241-5576c5d22fbe)
About the Author (#uf8b39e32-fc5b-540e-b9d2-fd8a62197eb0)
Title Page (#u257406aa-664f-579b-a02c-c3d8896e98b4)
Chapter One (#uc68630c5-9919-5899-92e6-7568eef0683b)
Chapter Two (#ud3944f38-ea1a-501c-a630-8fea49e40960)
Chapter Three (#uc1befc34-aa6c-55d0-96eb-51f699a567fa)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_e5b79e81-96c3-5a87-91b0-8206cb7de1ae)
Elwood House: Must-Do list—Monday
• Meet up with Kate and Amber to finalise Amber’s wedding—do NOT let Kate talk you into fuchsia or satin—walk away from the satin.
• Decide on classical music pieces for the bathrooms.
• Be ready to fend off that very persistent new wine merchant.
• Stay in for the garden centre delivery of the spiral box trees for the front porch.
‘SNOW. I AM going to need lots of snow. And tiny white fairy lights sparkling in the trees and over the pergola. Can you do fairy lights?’ Amber’s voice tailed off into a dreamy whisper. ‘It would be so magical and romantic.’
Saskia Elwood rolled her eyes and grinned at her best friend Amber, then clicked in the box next to the garden lighting option on her wedding planner spreadsheet.
‘Of course I can do white fairy lights. As for the snow? That shouldn’t be too difficult for New Year’s Day in London. But, you know me, if you want it to snow on your wedding day, then snow you shall have, even if I have to track down a snow gun machine and make you some. Although… Won’t it be a bit cold? From the designs I have seen, that dress Kate is making for you would be perfect for a tropical beach wedding—but London in January? Brr…’
Amber giggled and flicked her long straight blonde hair over one shoulder in a move she had perfected in fashion shoots and as years performing as a concert pianist. ‘I know,’ she replied, wrinkling up her nose in delight. ‘It is so perfect. Sam is going to love it.’ Then she sighed out loud and strolled out past Saskia and through the conservatory into the garden with a faraway expression on her face. ‘Just love it.’
‘She’s off again,’ a cheery voice sounded from behind Saskia’s shoulder as Kate Lovat bounced into the room with a bundle of wedding magazines in her arms. ‘Dreaming of the fabulous Sam. If I wasn’t so smitten with my Heath I would find it a bit sickening. In fact, sometimes I’m surprised you put up with the two of us. Always talking about the lucky men who we have agreed to marry one day.’
‘Right now,’ Saskia replied with a snort, ‘I am more worried about Amber getting frostbite in that skimpy, mostly backless dress you are planning for a winter wedding. Any chance of a jacket? Thermal vest? The poor girl is going to be blue, which is not a good look for any bride.’
Kate replied by playfully hitting Saskia on the head with a rolled up bridal magazine and sat down next to her at the conservatory table. ‘Blue? With that fabulous suntan? No chance.’ Then she relaxed and rested her elbows on the table. ‘Relax. There is a beautiful full-length quilted ivory coat to go on top of that slinky dress for any outdoor photos. Fear not. The girl shall not freeze. When the dancing starts she will be glad of that layered silk gown, even if the beads will be flying everywhere.’
Kate arched her eyebrows and peered at Saskia’s computer screen, her green eyes bright with amusement. ‘Does that say dinner and reception for twenty-six? I thought this was just going to be a small family wedding. As in no professional musicians, fashion models or anybody else in Amber’s world who will make us feel totally inadequate as human beings.’
Saskia laughed out loud and started counting out on her fingers. ‘How could you forget Amber’s first dad and his huge new stepfamily, her second dad Charles Sheridan—’ she pointed towards Kate, who waved a magazine in the air ‘—with Heath and his new family. Her third dad might bring his new wife but she is having some “freshening up” surgery post-Christmas and might not have the stitches out in time. Oh, and her mum, of course. Julia is bringing the latest beau plus entourage, including her aunt and three American cousins and…’ the air whooshed out of Saskia’s lungs ‘… twenty-six hungry, cold people are going to celebrate the best wedding they have ever been to. Amber’s friend Parvita and her husband are looking after the music and I booked the waiting staff last week. All I have to do is enjoy myself.’
‘Um. Yeah. Right,’ Kate replied and looked over the top of her spectacles at her. ‘And exhaust yourself in the process of getting everything ready up front so it looks easy on the day. Who is kidding who here? We know you far too well, girl.’ Kate smiled and gave her a one-armed hug. ‘Now, let me see that list again. Aha. Thought so. You have missed out a crucial item. Tut tut.’
‘What?’ Saskia glanced at the screen in disbelief and then back to Kate. ‘I spent most of my Sunday double-checking the plan. Out with it. What have I missed?’
Kate slid out of her chair and came around to stand in front of Saskia. ‘Wedding date for a very picky hostess to be provided by her pals. Tall, dark and handsome. Dancing skills an advantage but will settle for extra hot. And you’re not typing that in.’
Saskia sat back in her chair and lifted both hands into the air. ‘Trust you to find me a date? Oh no. I still remember that graphic designer who offered to paint my portrait if I stripped down to earrings and a cheeky grin.’
Kate fluttered her eyelashes and tugged down the hem of her perfectly fitted jacket over her petite curves. ‘We do such good work.’
Saskia snorted and turned back to the laptop. ‘Thank you for the offer but the last thing I want is a boyfriend. You do know that this is the first wedding that Elwood House has ever seen, so no pressure at all.’
Kate waved her arms around and then cocked her head on one side and pushed out her lips. ‘This house is gorgeous and that curvy staircase was made for a bride to walk down on her father’s arm. It is going to be fabulous, even if we do feel guilty about leaving you to do most of the work.’
Saskia took a breath then shrugged off the lingering disquiet by tapping her wristwatch with her home-manicured fingertip.
‘And I feel bad that I am making you late for your sexy lingerie fitting appointment. You know, the one that you booked three weeks ago.’ She waggled her fingertips at Kate. ‘Go. A new wine merchant and his sales team will be here soon and the last thing they want to see are you two drooling over wedding brochures. Scoot. And have a great time!’
Kate gasped, whooped, flung the magazines onto the table and ran out to grab hold of Amber’s arm. Two minutes later all that was left of Amber and Kate were empty coffee cups and plates, a whiff of couture perfume, lipstick on her cheek and a smile on Saskia’s face that only spending breakfast with her two best friends in the world could bring.
They had known each other since high school. Totally different in every way and yet she could not want better pals. They might only have reconnected at a high school reunion that May, but now it felt as though they had never been apart.
Had it only been May? Wow. So much had happened in the past few months. Amber was engaged to Sam and spending most of her time living the dream in India, while Kate was sharing her home with Amber’s stepbrother Heath only a few streets away. They were both so happy… and off to be fitted with sexy lingerie by the most famous bra shop in London.
Suddenly the wedding planning spreadsheet lost its appeal and Saskia sniffed and sat back in her chair. She envied them the luxury of having time to spend comparing fine lingerie, while she was sitting here trying to decide on whether to have background music in the bathrooms. Or not.
Ah. The joys of running your home as a private meeting venue.
A whisper of self-pity flitted into her mind but she instantly pushed it to the back of her brain in disgust.
She had so much to be grateful for. Her friends Kate and Amber were the perfect pretend family who knew her a lot better than her absent parents. And then she had her home, Elwood House the architectural masterpiece which she had shared with her Aunt Margot until last year.
A gentle breeze wafted in from the garden outside the conservatory room and Saskia smiled out at the hardwood planters overflowing with autumn blossoms.
She had spent so many summer evenings with her aunt in this very room, talking and talking about their grand plan to transform Elwood House into a fabulous private dining venue. Her aunt had been the acclaimed wine expert with superb taste in interior design who was happy to leave Saskia to work on the details and business plans. Together they had been a genius team who had started the project together.
It was so sad that her aunt had never seen those plans come to fruition.
Shuffling to her feet, Saskia gathered up the breakfast dishes and loaded the dishwasher. Clasping hold of the marble worktop, she let her arms take the weight and closed her eyes for a second and took a couple of breaths.
The past six months had been harder than she had expected.
A lot harder and much more expensive. But she could not think like that. She had to make her home into a successful business because the alternative was too terrible to think about. A day job in the city would not come close to meeting the running expenses of a house this size.
Elwood House had been the home of the most famous wine merchants in London for over one hundred and fifty years. It was strange to think that she was the last in the line and responsible for preserving the heritage of the house the first of the Elwood clan had built in this smart part of London.
It was her safety net. Her home. Her sanctuary. And her security.
Saskia inhaled deeply and waggled her shoulders to release the tension.
No matter what it took or how many hours she had to work, Elwood House was going to pay for itself.
Patience. That was what she needed. Patience and a lot of new bookings.
She had only been going a few months and it took time to get a private meeting venue like hers off the ground. Reputation spread by word of mouth and she was already attracting repeat clients, but it was a mightily slow process and she had a big gap to fill before the Christmas party season started. Maybe Amber’s wedding would turn things around and she could start the New Year with hope and excitement burning in her heart?
And as for a date for Amber’s wedding? That was so not going to happen. She had served meals and coffee to an awful lot of businessmen over the past few months but she had not the slightest interest in dating any of them. Just the opposite. She had learnt the hard way the cost of giving up your independence and she had no intention of repeating her mother’s mistake any time soon.
Her gaze fell onto one of the wedding magazines that Kate had brought for Amber to look at and a headline on the cover leapt out at her.
Read all about the huge rise in Civil weddings at home. Celebrate your wedding in the intimate and private venue of your own home.
A spark of an idea flashed bright. Civil weddings. Now that was a thought. Amber’s wedding might be the first wedding reception that Elwood House had seen. But it need not be the last… Um… Perhaps there was a market for small private house weddings in a city this size. Not everyone wanted an extravaganza of a huge hotel banqueting suite.
The idea was still rattling around inside her head a few minutes later when the telephone rang. Saskia barely had a chance to pick up the handset and say the words ‘Elwood House,’ before a transatlantic female voice belted out down the line at such a rapid-fire pace that she had to hold the phone away from her ear for a second.
‘Oh, good morning, Angela. Yes, I am still available to talk to Mr Burgess and his team today. Not a problem at all. And there has been a change to the agenda. Right. Have you got the details? Tell me everything.’
Rick Burgess leant his elbows on the solid white railings of Waterloo Bridge and watched the water taxis mooring at the jetty below. The River Thames flowed beneath his feet and wound in wide lazy curves eastwards towards the sea. Stretched out across the horizon in front of him, high-rise marvels of modern architecture reached tall into the sky against the backdrop of landmark ancient cathedrals and majestic stone buildings that made up the city of London.
A fresh breeze wafted up the river and Rick inhaled deeply, his chest rising under his white open-necked shirt and soft black leather biker jacket.
Fresh air.
Just what he needed to clear his head after being cooped up inside an aircraft and then underground trains for the past four hours.
He ran his fingers back through his tousled dark brown hair.
Yesterday he had spent the afternoon talking wine over a plate of antipasti in a sunlit garden on a Tuscan estate with a young Italian couple who had sold everything they had to buy a tiny prestigious vineyard that he knew would be taking the world by storm in time. And today he was in London under a cloudy sky with only patches of blue peeking through to lighten the grey stone buildings.
He knew exactly where he preferred to be and it certainly was not here!
It was on mornings like this that it hit more powerfully than ever that it should be his older brother Tom who should be getting ready to go into a crucial sales meeting with one of the most prestigious private dining venues in London. Not him.
Tom had been the businessman. The IT genius who had transformed a small chain of family wine shops into Burgess Wine, the largest online wine merchant on the West Coast of America.
Rick shook his head and chuckled. He had a pretty good idea of what Tom would’ve said about the crazy enterprise he was just about to launch in this city and the language would not be fit for his parents to hear.
Tom had been a conservative businessman to the core. He would never have taken a risk with a group of independent young winemakers making tiny amounts of wine on family estates across Europe.
Not all of the wine was remarkable yet. But some of it was amazing.
It was going to have to be if he had any chance at all of redeeming himself in the eyes of the media. As far as the wine trade press were concerned, Rick had certainly never earned his place on the board of directors of Burgess Wine. Far from it.
To them, Rick Burgess would always be every bit the renegade who had walked away from a job with the family wine business to become a professional extreme sports personality. What did he know about the modern wine trade?
And they were right.
If Tom was still alive his business ambitions would have stayed in the world he knew—professional sports and adventure tourism. They had always been his passion and still were.
But Tom was dead. And there was nothing he could do to bring him back.
Just like he couldn’t change that fact that his parents were both in their sixties and needed him to take Tom’s place and work for Burgess Wine.
It had never been his decision or his choice. But as they said, there was nobody else. Burgess Wine was a family business and he had just been promoted to the son and heir whether he wanted the job or not.
Mostly not.
He didn’t like it. They didn’t like it. And they still didn’t completely trust him not to mess things up or run back to his old life.
Emotional blackmail only went so far.
This was probably why they’d set up this sales meeting with an important client he had never met. Of course they would deny it if he questioned them, but he had been long enough in the sports world to recognise a challenge when he was presented with one.
This sales pitch was just one more way they were asking him to prove that he could pull off his crazy idea to open a flagship wine store for Burgess Wine in London.
Which in his book was even more of a reason why he had to make the wine world take him seriously. And fast. Even if he did detest every second of these types of business meetings.
The upbeat rhythm of a popular dance track sang out from the breast pocket of his jacket and Rick flipped open his smartphone.
‘Finally! Were you actually planning to check your emails some time this morning, Rick?’
‘Angie, sweetheart.’ Rick chuckled. ‘How delightful to hear your welcoming voice. I have just got off the plane and getting used to being back in London. Turns out I miss my chalet in France almost as much as I miss you.’
‘Sweet talker! Sometimes I don’t know why I put up with you. Oh. I remember now—you pay me to sort out the boring stuff in your life. But forget sightseeing for the moment—I’ll take you on a tour later. Right now I need you to take your head out of the latest extreme sports magazine and flip over to the message which I am sending…now. I have some news about the sales meeting this morning, but don’t worry, it’s all under control.’
Rick straightened his back and turned away from the river, suddenly very wide awake.
‘Good news or bad news? Talk to me, Angie. I thought we locked down this meeting weeks ago.’
His personal assistant knew him well enough to immediately gush out, ‘We did. But do you remember those two TV wine experts who we approached to help promote the new store in the build-up to the launch? The ones who were so terribly busy appearing on cookery shows to get involved with yet another wine merchant? Well, guess who emailed me late last night. Apparently they heard a rumour that Elwood House might be investing in the new generation wines and suddenly they might be interested after all.’
Angie laughed down the cellphone. ‘Turns out your mother was right. The Elwood Brothers connection has paid off.’
Rick exhaled slowly, pushed back his stiff shoulders and flicked through the research information on the people he was going to have to convince to take him seriously.
‘Got it. I should be there in about ten minutes. And thanks for sorting out things at the London end, Angie.’
‘No problem. We have an hour before the presentation. Catch up with you soon.’
Rick closed down the phone and stared at it for a few seconds before popping back into his pocket with a snort.
So that was how the game was played.
The top wine experts he needed were only prepared to turn up and listen to what he had to say if he had the credibility of a famous name in the wine trade like Elwood Brothers behind him.
Yet another example of exactly the kind of old world narrow-minded network he detested. Instead of asking what he could bring to the business, all they were looking for was the validation of the old and worthy established family of wine merchants.
Rick exhaled slowly.
Was this how it was going to be from now on?
This was not his life! His life was base jumping and pushing his body to the limit under blue skies and cold air. Not walking into a conference room and selling the idea for Rick Burgess Wines to closed minded traditional hotel owners who had already made up their minds before they heard that he said.
He was about to take the biggest leap in his life and launch a flagship wine store in the centre of London. His name above the door. His future on the line.
Only this time it was not about him or his reputation as a daredevil sportsman. This time it was about passion. A passion for life, a passion for wine, and a new passion for championing small businesses.
Rick Burgess the mountaineer. Rick Burgess the champion paraglider. And now Rick Burgess the wine merchant. Same passion. Same determination to prove that he was up to the challenge he had set himself, even if it had been foisted onto him.
Frustration burned through his veins.
He inhaled slowly, pushed off from the railing and strode away over the bridge.
He needed this to work for the employees and winemakers who relied on him and for his parents who were still locked inside their grief.
He had the presentation in his head. He had time to spare to calm down and clear his head before facing one of the greatest challenges in his life. Bring it on.
Ten minutes later Rick turned the corner towards the address that Angie had given him, his hands in the trouser pockets of his designer denims and the breeze at his back.
A flock of pigeons swooped down in front of him into the tall oak and London plane trees which filled the small residential square. Families and dog walkers flittered between ornamental flower beds and wooden benches in the broken sunshine. On the face of it, just another quiet city square.
But one thing was certain, in the crazy world that was his life—you never knew what to expect.
Like now, for example.
It wasn’t every day that you saw an executive secretary having a row with a delivery driver in the middle of a prestigious London street, but it certainly made a change from dodging tiny dogs on glittery leads. Even if the pretty girls on the other end of those leads had been trying to catch his eye.
Rick slowed his steps.
He needed to take some time out before facing an incredulous wine buyer around a conference table in some soulless, stuffy meeting room. Or the first person to mention the words ‘dead man’s shoes’ would end up being decked, which would be a seriously bad move in more ways than one.
This was a far more entertaining option.
His girl was standing with her pretty hands splayed out on both hips and she was definitely a secretary but an executive one.
She was wearing a slim-fitting skirt suit in that strange shade of grey which his mother liked, but had never clinched a tiny waist with a cream coloured sash. He could just make out the tiny band of cream fabric at the cuffs of the jacket. Her long, sleek sandy coloured hair was gathered into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck.
Her very lovely long, smooth neck.
Now that was a neck he could look at all day.
As he watched, the shorter older man in the overalls who she was talking to in a low, patient, but very assertive voice, which reminded him of his junior school headmistress, suddenly shrugged, gave her a ‘nothing to do with me’ flick of both hands, jumped into a white delivery van and drove off, leaving the city girl standing on the pavement, watching the tail lights of the van disappear around the corner.
She stood frozen to the spot for a few seconds, her mouth slightly open, and then turned to glare at a pair of large shiny navy blue ceramic pots which were standing next to her on the pavement.
A five feet tall cone of what looked to Rick like a green cypress tree spilled out over the top of each planter then whirled upwards in some deformed mutant spiral shape which had nothing to do with nature and everything to do with so-called style.
Rick looked at the two plants and then back to the girl, who had started to pace up and down the pavement in platform high heeled slingback shoes, which most of the girls at his mother’s office back in California seemed to wear.
Not exactly the best footwear for moving heavy pots.
But they certainly did the trick when it came the highlighting a pair of gorgeous legs with shapely ankles.
So what if he was a leg man and proud? And she had brightened up his morning.
He could make time for some excellent distraction activity.
‘Good morning,’ he said in a bright casual voice. ‘Do you need some help with those?’
Her feet kept walking up and down. ‘Do you have a trolley handy?’
He patted his pockets. ‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Then thank you but no.’ She nodded, then stopped and stared at the huge plants, with the fingers of one hand pressed against her forehead as though she was trying to come up with a solution.
‘Good thing it’s not raining.’ He smiled. ‘In fact it is turning out to be a lovely September morning.’
Her head slowly turned towards him and Rick was punched straight in the jaw by a pair of the most stunning pale blue eyes that he had ever seen. The colour of the sky over Mont Blanc at dawn. Wild cornflowers in an alpine meadow.
Dark eyelashes clashed against the creamy clear complexion and high elegant cheekbones. Full-blown lips were outlined in a delicious shade of blush lipstick, and as she gawped at him a faint white smile caught him by surprise.
‘Yes, I suppose it is.’ She blinked. ‘But, if you’ll excuse me, I really do need to find some way of moving these plants—’ she flung the flat edge of her hand towards the nearest plant and almost knocked it flying ‘—from the pavement into my porch and some time in the next ten minutes would be good.’
‘The delivery driver?’ he asked casually.
She sniffed and closed her eyes, teeth gritted tight together, then lifted her chin and smiled. ‘Bad back. Not part of his job description. Just delivery to the kerbside.’ Her voice lifted into a slightly hysterical giggle. ‘Apparently he was expecting a team of porters to be all ready and waiting. Porters! As if I could afford porters. Unbelievable.’
‘Ah. I understand completely,’ Rick replied, nodding slowly and scratching his chin, which seemed rather stubblier than he had expected. ‘May I make a suggestion?’
She glanced up at him through her eyelashes as she pulled out a cellphone, and sighed out loud. ‘Thank you again, but I can manage very well on my own and I am sure that you have some urgent business to attend to. Somewhere else. In the meantime, I need to call a burly bloke moving company. So good morning and have a nice day.’
Rick chuckled under his breath. It was not often that pretty girls gave him the brush-off and maybe a city girl had reasons to be cautious.
‘Did your mother tell you not to talk to strangers? Relax. I can spare five minutes to help a lady in distress.’
Her fingers paused and she glared up at him, her eyebrows lifted in disbelief. ‘Distress?’ There was just enough amusement in her voice to make him take one step forward, but she instantly held up a hand. ‘You are mistaken. I am not in distress. I don’t do distress. I have never done distress, and I have no intention of starting now. Look.’ She popped her phone in her jacket pocket and gingerly wrapped her fingertips around the edge of a pot. And tried to lift it an inch closer.
The pot did not move and she threw a single glance up at him, daring him to say something, but he simply smiled, which seemed to infuriate her even more.
This time she squared her shoulders, gritted her teeth and bent slightly at the knees to go at it again. The pot wobbled slightly then shuddered back to the ground as she hissed in disbelief and stood back with a look on her face as though she wanted to kick the pot hard.
Rick had seen enough. He stepped forward and gently took her arm. ‘No need for that. You have all the lifting power you need right here. It’s a simple matter of leverage.’
‘Leverage!’ She laughed and nodded. ‘In these shoes? I don’t think so.’
‘I could move those pots for you. No problem.’
Biting down on her lower lip, the suit looked up at him and he could feel her gaze take in his new Italian boots, denims and leather biker jacket, slowly inching its way up his body until their eyes locked.
And stayed locked.
He watched her expression change as she mentally jostled between necessity and asking for help, which was clearly something she didn’t like to do.
Necessity won.
Her tongue flicked out and moistened her lips before she lifted her chin and asked, ‘What exactly did you have in mind?’
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_ba929ef4-c40e-5b23-a10f-4f5b16b7069a)
Must-Do list
• Make sure that the new spiral box trees are arranged very elegantly either side of the main entrance. This is bound to impress the clients and set the right tone.
• Try and forget how much these two trees cost and watch out for dogs!
• Come up with a brilliant plan to shamelessly but unobtrusively use these wine folks to bring in more business.
IT WAS THE long green twirly plants on sticks that were the problem.
Rick had worked out a way of lifting up the edge of the heavy planter using a wooden door wedge then tipping it forward just enough to use the pot as a lever, but the moment he started to roll the bottom rim of the china pot along on one edge, the plant started waving out of control in all directions across the pavement like some demented flagpole, causing mayhem with the pedestrians.
It was amazing how the street seemed to fill up with girls pushing baby buggies, dog walkers and children in the space of ten minutes, but after two narrow escapes where his secretary had to dodge out of the way or risk getting a tree branch in her eye, Rick had managed to roll one planter all the way from the pavement to the patio without causing serious injury to people or the china base.
‘Brilliant,’ she gushed, trying to catch her breath after waving away a dog with a full bladder. ‘One small step and we’re there!’
Rick scratched his chin. ‘Tip and shuffle. I tip the pot back and then roll it slightly forward until the edge is on the step. But someone has to hold the greenery out of the way when it swings onto the step. Two man job. Are you up for it?’
He looked up into her face and his breath caught. Close up, he could see that her flawless creamy skin was not a product of pristine grooming and clever make-up but natural beauty which went beyond pretty without being in-your-face gorgeous. The splash of cream at her neck was a perfect contrast to her brown hair and eyebrows and seemed to make her pale blue eyes even more startling.
He had never seen eyes that colour on a girl before but everything about her screamed out that he was talking to a real English rose.
‘Absolutely,’ she replied with a quick nod and reached for the bottom of the tree. ‘Let’s do it. Ready? Yes? Go! Oh, ouch. It got me. Almost there. Done!’
Rick stood back, peered at the pot from several angles then leant forward and shifted it to the left slightly.
‘That’s better.’
‘Better! It’s fantastic. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along. Thank you so much… Oh, I’m sorry, how rude of me. I don’t even know your name…’
‘Just call me Rick,’ he replied with a wave of one hand. ‘And it was my pleasure, Miss…’
‘Rick! You found it.’
He half turned as Angie bounded up the pavement towards them, her huge shoulder bag bouncing over one shoulder and a bulging document folder stuffed under her arm and stretched out her hand towards his secretary.
‘Miss Elwood, lovely to meet you. Angie Roberts—we talked on the phone earlier. Thanks again for fitting us in at such short notice. What a fabulous house. And I can see that you have already met my boss.’
‘Thank you, Angie, and welcome to Elwood House. If you would like to come inside and…’ She paused, opened her mouth, closed it again, inhaled slowly and turned back to face him. ‘Your boss?’
Rick pushed his shoulders back and glanced sideways at the high gloss painted door of the house whose porch he was standing in. The words ‘Elwood House’ were engraved in a curvy elegant font on a small brass plaque attached to the stone portico.
It would appear that he had arrived at his destination.
And his English rose was one of the Elwood dynasty.
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. So this was the hardened old wine merchant he was going to be making his sales pitch to! Well, that showed him. How wrong could he be?
‘Rick Burgess.’ He grinned into his secretary’s stunned face. ‘Apparently you are expecting us.’
Rick braced his shoulder on the ornate white marble fireplace in what had been the elegant, huge formal dining room of Elwood House and held the colour brochure for Rick Burgess Wines in one hand as he watched Saskia Elwood glide effortlessly around the sunlit room.
The back split in her slender, elegant pencil skirt fanned open just enough to give him a tantalising glimpse of a pair of very long slender legs above shapely ankles. Not immodest. Oh no. Demure and classy, but tantalising all the same. Just enough to fire up his imagination.
She was impressive.
Every one of his sales team she spoke to looked away from the press release and winemaker portfolios that Angie had passed around to smile up at Saskia and spend a few minutes chatting before going back to their work with that smile still on their lips.
The men and women in the room knew talent when they saw it. Not everyone was able to put a guest instantly at ease. They had expected Saskia to treat them as sales people who were worthy of a cup of instant coffee and a plain biscuit. Well, she had confounded their expectations by treating every one of his four-person team as a guest and potential client in her private meeting venue. Their coffee and tea had been served from silverware with the most delicious homemade pastries and canapés.
Very clever. He liked clever. Even if it was obvious to him what she was doing.
His sales people were going to be working with clients from the finest hotels and private homes around London, and Saskia had already worked that out. She might be hosting a sales meeting, but there was no reason why she could not sell them the benefits of Elwood House at the same time.
Their hostess was elegant, warm, unpretentious and genuinely interested in her clients. Attentive to their needs, but not intrusive or overfamiliar.
It was precisely what the hospitality industry was all about. And Saskia Elwood had it in spades. He loved watching experts at work. He always had. And the lovely lady of the house was at that moment giving him a master class in exactly the type of customer service he was going to expect in the flagship London face of Burgess Wine.
He glanced back down at his phone. Ten more emails. All from his mother. All wanting urgent updates.
Rick exhaled slowly. A well buried part of his brain knew that she was concerned about him, while the upfront and only too blatant part screamed out a message loud and clear: They don’t think you can pull this off. After two years of hard work you are still the black sheep who is never going to be taken seriously. So you might as well give up now and go back to the sports where you are the best!
No. Not going to happen. He had made a commitment and he was going to see it through, no matter what it took. Rick Burgess had not risen to the top of his sport by being a quitter.
Strange how his gaze shifted automatically up from the screen towards the slim woman in the pale grey suit, refilling an elegant coffee pot.
Her light brown straight hair was tied loosely back in a shell clip at the base of her neck, which on any other woman would look too casual, but somehow looked exactly right. She knew exactly what she looked like and had taken time to perfect her appearance. Subtle day time make-up, but with skin that clear she didn’t need anything but a slick of colour on her lips. This woman knew that her eyes were her best feature and made the best of them. Her eyes were totally riveting. Those eyes captured your attention and held it tight.
Just as they were doing right now as she looked across and flashed him a glance.
Rick slid into a comfortable dining chair and instantly refocused on the business proposal, making notes on the points still to be resolved as he scanned down the snag list. But all the while his left hand tapped out a beat on the fine table and curiosity pricked his skin.
Maybe that was her secret? That hot body that every man in the room had probably already visualised, which lay under that surface layer of clothing. Tempting the men and impressing the women. She could turn on the heat for the men and the friendly girl power for the ladies.
A clever girl with a hot body wrapped in a teasing and intriguing package.
A frisson of excitement and anticipation sparked across Rick’s mind.
It would be quite a coup if he could sign up Margot Elwood’s niece to stock his wines and serve them to her guests before the store even opened.
Perhaps that would be the proof he needed to convince his parents that their reckless and, in their eyes, feckless second son would not let them down after all?
Now all he had to do was talk her into it.
Rick glanced around the table. Everyone was seated. They had their promotional material and Saskia was already scanning each page.
The game was on!
‘I have just spent the last two years tracking down the finest wine from the new wave of young winemakers all over Europe and persuading them to supply it exclusively to my new flagship wine store right here in central London. Every wine on our list has been personally chosen and vetted.’
‘You can say the same thing about every family run wine shop in London, Mr Burgess,’ the girl he now knew as Saskia Elwood replied in a light soft voice as her pen tapped onto the cover of his glossy brochure. ‘Standards are high.’
‘Yes, I know. You heard it all before. But this is new. This is a direct personal connection between the winemaker and the consumer.’
‘How confident are you that these new cellars will deliver?’ she asked. ‘A new prestigious wine store in the centre of London is one thing, but what assurances can you give me that these winemakers will come back to you year after year? I need to know that I can rely on a guaranteed supply of any wine I add to my list.’
Rick caught her sideways sigh and downward glance but, instead of stomping on her, he grinned and saluted. Her question had not been asked in an angry or accusatory tone. Far from it. She genuinely wanted to hear his answer.
‘Great point. What can I give you? My energy and my commitment. I took the time to travel to the vineyards and meet these winemakers. It was not always easy to persuade them to work exclusively with Burgess Wine, but there’s one thing I know from my work as a sportsman. Passion recognises passion. These young winemakers have invested everything they have because they are obsessive about creating the most amazing wines using modern and traditional techniques. I see that in them. That’s why I want to champion these ten small family estates because that is the only way I can guarantee that there will never be such a thing as a boring wine ever again.’
He walked around the table slowly, gesturing to the impressive brochure his parents’ marketing team had spent weeks perfecting.
‘Right now there’s a team of marketing experts back in the Californian headquarters for Burgess Wine working on websites for each of the individual growers. When you buy a bottle from this store you will have access to everything you need to know about the wine and the passion of the person who made it. I think that’s special.’
‘Sometimes passion is not enough, Mr Burgess. You need to have the experience and expertise to create a remarkable wine. And these new winemakers are still learning the trade. Not everybody is as… adventurous as you are.’
Rick wrapped his hands around the back of the solid antique dining chair and nodded down the table, making sure that he could capture the attention of Saskia and the three new members of his sales team.
‘They don’t have to be. The ten growers I’ve chosen are all part of a mentoring scheme I’ve created with well-established major winemakers who have been supplying Burgess Wine customers for years. My parents are happy to invest in the wines we select.’
‘Don’t you mean the wines you select?’ Saskia asked with a touch of surprise in her voice. From where he was standing, Rick could see that her gaze was locked onto the back cover of the brochure, which carried an impressive colour photograph of Rick in full climbing gear on a snowy mountain. ‘If I am reading this correctly,’ she whispered, ‘you already have a career as a professional sportsman, Mr Burgess. Does this new store mean that you have turned your back on adventure sports?’
And there it was. Just when he thought he might leave his past behind for a couple of hours and be taken seriously.
Rick pressed the fingers of one hand tight into his palm and fought back his anger. He had to stay frosty.
‘Let’s just say that I’m focusing on the less hazardous aspects. I haven’t broken anything important in years and I have every intention of staying around for a lot longer. So much wine, so little time!’
A ripple of laughter ran around the room but he could almost hear the unspoken question in the air which even his sales team were not prepared to ask out loud but were obviously thinking.
What would happen to this store if Rick Burgess jumped off some mountain with a parachute strapped to his back and the wind caught him and sent him crashing against the rocks before he could regain control?
It could happen. In fact it had already happened. One accident only a few months after Tom died.
How could he forget that day? It had been his first trip to the mountains since the funeral and he’d needed it as badly as any other addict needed that cigarette or fix of their choice.
The oppressive atmosphere of the family home and the overwhelming grief had finally become too much to bear and there was only one way he knew to try and get some balance and peace back into his life. Not trapped in a house all day staring at the four walls until he wanted to hit a wall. And go on hitting it until the pain subsided.
He needed to climb a high mountain with a specialised parachute strapped to his back. He needed to feel the rush of adrenalin as the wind caught in the parachute and he felt the power of the air lift him into the sky.
Free. Soaring like a bird. Released from the pain and trauma and grief of Tom’s death.
This was what he did. This was what had taken him to the awards podium of the European paragliding championships for three years in a row.
And for ten minutes of glorious tranquil flying in long winding curves he had been precisely where he wanted to be. Doing what he loved best.
Until one simple gust of wind in the wrong direction had ruined an otherwise perfect day.
But that was all it had taken to leave him with a broken collarbone and a badly sprained ankle.
His parents had been shocked and traumatised and full of complaints about how reckless and uncaring he had been. How very selfish and irresponsible. But that was nothing compared to the fall in the company credibility in the press.
The media loved to see a reclusive, obsessive sportsman with the golden touch take a fall. And this accident had given them the ammunition they needed to focus on one thing—his lifestyle.
Tom Burgess had been a strategic genius. But his brother Rick? What was he going to bring to the business? He might have taken Tom’s seat on the board but maybe the company was taking too much of a risk by bringing in their untrained and reckless second son.
Suddenly major wine producers who had supplied Burgess Wine for years were sucking in their cheeks and wincing about the management team at Burgess Wine.
Never mind the fact that he’d worked tirelessly to be a world-class paraglider and reach the top of this field. Never mind that he was prepared to give the same energy and determination to Burgess Wine and the family business that his brother Tom had transformed into an international company.
Never mind that he had spent the last two years since Tom’s death coming up to speed with the business to the point where his family were prepared to even listen to his ideas, despite their misgivings.
Time to make this deal swing his way. Time to take one of those risks he had become famous for. He needed buyers like Saskia Elwood to be interested and excited in this idea, not for himself but for his parents, who had taken a leap of faith. And for every one of the ten small businesses who trusted him with their future.
Rick strolled around the dining table in the sumptuous room towards the head of the table and caught Angie’s eye with a quick nod. She instantly slipped out of the room and returned a few minutes later with two silver ice buckets and gently placed them onto silver platters on the fine polished wood table.
‘Why don’t I let the wine do the talking for me?’ Rick smiled and nodded towards the slim wine bottles poking their heads out of the ice buckets. ‘Angie tells me that the sample cases are on their way here now, Saskia, but I thought you might like to try something special. A late harvest dessert wine from a single estate in Alsace which is turning out to be one of my favourite discoveries. Are you willing to give it a try?’
‘Of course,’ Saskia replied, slightly irritated that he thought it appropriate to choose the wine for her. But, as Angie went round the table, pouring the golden liquid into tiny green-tinted glasses, the genuine smiles of appreciation from the men and women in the Burgess sales team as they inhaled the aroma of the wine knocked her sideways.
They might be young but everyone around her table had one thing in common; a real and genuine passion for wine. But did that include the man himself? Her rescuer in denims and the leader of this merry band. Rick Burgess?
Rick sat back down and smiled in encouragement as Angie started a conversation about the Burgundy harvest at the other end of the table while they enjoyed the wine.
Saskia raised the glass of dessert wine to her nose, twirled the glass and inhaled the aroma, which made her eyes flutter in delight and astonishment. Then she sipped the wine ever so slowly.
It was rose petals, musk, vanilla and deep, warm spice. And on the tongue? An explosion of flavour and tingling acidity.
Saskia instantly put down her glass and reached for the bottle to read the label on the wine bottle. Twenty years old. Rare, exclusive and made by a tiny vineyard she had never heard of in Alsace. It was absolutely delicious. Unique. Expensive. But amazing.
It was so good that this wine could easily have come from the cellars of Elwood Brothers. Her mother and aunt’s family had been one of the oldest and most respected wine merchants in Britain, with traditions that went back hundreds of years. The Elwoods were famous around the world for having the finest collection of prestige wines and for employing the leading experts in their field.
Their reputation for quality and excellence had been built up over centuries. It had seemed like the end of a familiar institution when Elwood Brothers finally closed their doors a couple of years ago when the last of the brothers had decided to retire.
It was a shame that she couldn’t borrow some of that reputation for excellence to attract more clients to use Elwood House for their board meetings and private dining, combined, of course, with modern technology. The old and the new. The traditional and the modern.
But that was impossible now… Wasn’t it?
Saskia felt that familiar prickle of the hairs on the back of her neck as an outrageous and exciting idea gathered shape. Elwood House already had the kudos that came with the name. It would need a lot of investment, but what if she could build up the wine list into one of the finest in London? The best of the old wines and the best of the new.
Perhaps Rick Burgess did have something to offer her after all?
‘I am interested to hear your opinion about the wine,’ Rick said as he raised his glass towards her. Those grey eyes seemed to almost twinkle as he turned his charm offensive to maximum power. ‘I would be a happy man if I can persuade Saskia Elwood to serve my wines to her discriminating and expert guests here in Elwood House. So, tell me. Do I leave here a happy man? Or not?’
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_2e9fb75c-ceea-5be6-aef5-1e767c920b01)
Must-Do list
• Thank the wine merchant for any free wine they bring. Kate and Amber will be very grateful for the bottles. No promises to buy any, of course.
• Canapés. People in the wine trade can eat! Use the sales team as guinea pigs for a couple of new savouries which might work for the Christmas parties. Let them come up with the wine to match—could be interesting.
• Do not let this new wine merchant leave without a few of the lovely brochures that Sam worked on. Who knows? Word of mouth recommendation is always the best. They might have some flash customers in need of a private meeting venue.
BY THE TIME the Burgess Wine sales meeting finally closed, the grey September morning had turned into a bright sunny day. In the light breeze it was still warm enough for the conservatory doors to stay open, and Saskia looked out towards the sales team, who she had invited to finish their coffee on the patio.
The golden coloured flagstones had absorbed the sun and warmed the terrace, creating a welcoming enclosed private garden. Brightly painted Mediterranean-style flowerpots created a soft barrier between the hard stone floor and the exuberant English flower borders and old stone wall covered with fragrant climbing roses and honeysuckle.
This was exactly how she had imagined it would look that cold January when her Aunt Margot had died suddenly, just when she seemed to be recovering from the strokes which had made her life so difficult. Little wonder that these experts in the wine trade were in no hurry to dash out into the rush-hour traffic and fight their way home in this busy part of London.
Saskia glanced quickly over her shoulder towards the table where Rick Burgess and his personal assistant Angie were huddled around a laptop computer.
The strength in Rick’s shoulders and back contrasted so fiercely with his long slender fingers. His neck was a twisted rope of sinew as though he was barely holding in a volcano of suppressed energy and power.
This was the man who had effortlessly lifted a planter that morning as though it was weightless.
She had felt such an idiot when Angie had arrived and her knight in denim and a leather jacket had turned out to be the client that she had been waiting for.
It had so totally floored her that she had felt off balance for most of the morning. Not that she would ever let him know that, of course.
The company directors she met did not usually turn up to meetings wearing clothes more suited to a motorcycle rally. In fact she wouldn’t be surprised in the least if there was some huge, hulking two-wheeled machine parked around the corner at that minute, waiting for him to leap on and roar away.
Combine that with tousled dark curly hair and designer stubble.
Rick Burgess was certainly a company director with a difference.
She watched him stand and share a laugh with Angie as they gathered up their papers and, just for a fraction of a second, she wondered what it would be like to be on the receiving end of the full-on charm of that power smile that beamed out of a rugged, handsome face.
She knew that she had never been the pretty one, or super-creative or musically talented like her best friends Kate and Amber. But it would be nice now and again to have a handsome man really look at her as a woman and like what he saw. Instead of asking where the toilets were and could he have more coffee.
Her beautiful mother Chantal had often said that Saskia had skipped a generation and would be much happier back in rural France on the vineyard where her own mother had been brought up, instead of living the high life of a city girl.
And she was right in so many ways.
Her mother could never understand why the teenage Saskia had begged to spend the school holidays working at the auberge with her extended French family instead of sitting on some tropical beach with her mother and her friends, while her father stayed in his room and worked on some financial deal or other.
Of course that was when her grandparents were alive and her parents were still together. When her father left them everything changed.
Suddenly her practical skills were useful and Saskia became the girl who made sure that there was food in the refrigerator and the bills were paid as her mother struggled to come to terms with what had happened and failed. Saskia had never once missed school or turned up without a clean uniform and brushed hair. When her mother’s world imploded she had become the dependable one who made sure things happened.
The girl who would always help you out at the last minute.
Not done your homework? Ask Saskia to help. All you had to do was pretend to be her friend, just long enough to get what you wanted.
It had been a long apprenticeship forged from hard times, but, like it or not, fifteen years of training and hard work in the hotel and food trade had brought her to this point. She should be happy, ecstatic really, but all this was hers and she had made the business feasible on her own.
Not that there was any choice. Without Elwood House, she would be working for someone else. She couldn’t go back to that. Not ever.
Not after she had promised her aunt that she would take care of the house and make all of their great plans a reality.
It was worth the exhaustion and never-ending strive for excellence.
As the Burgess sales team moved into the hall, Saskia pressed her fingertips hard against the fine marble surface of the console table and took a deep breath before lifting her chin and personally thanking each of them in turn as they left the building, discreetly counting to make sure that no one had got locked in the washroom or had decided to take an unsupervised tour of the bedrooms upstairs.
She sensed rather than heard someone coming up to speak to her and she spun around. ‘Miss Elwood. Could you spare a moment?’
Up close and personal, Rick Burgess was just as physically impressive standing in her hallway as he had been on the pavement that morning. Even after two hours of what had been sometimes intense discussions, back and forth across the table, the intelligence in his grey eyes sparkled with life and vigour against a tanned face which had never seen a tanning salon.
‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘How can I help, Mr Burgess?’
‘Oh, please call me Rick,’ he replied and stretched out his hand to shake Saskia’s. ‘I just wanted to say a huge thank you for agreeing to see us today. We appreciate your time and your warm welcome into your lovely home.’
‘I am delighted that you enjoyed it.’ She sucked in a breath when he released his grip, which was a lot firmer than she was used to. As in finger-crushing firmer. ‘If you should ever need a venue for a business meeting, I do hope that you will consider Elwood House.’
‘A business meeting?’ His eyebrows rose and, as he returned her smile, the deep tan lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes creased into sharp falls. ‘Sure. My project team will need to get together every few weeks during pre-launch. Angie will get in contact. Although I do have one request before I take off.’
His hands pushed into the pockets of his denims. ‘Prepare to be shocked. I am about to declare a terrible failing.’
‘A failing?’ Saskia replied, trying not to smile. ‘Surely not.’
Rick sighed out loud and raised both hands in the air. ‘I can understand that such a thing is hard to believe but here it is.’ He paused for dramatic effect and stepped just a little closer than she was comfortable with. ‘I’m not known for my patience. There were a couple of times during the presentation that I picked up some sense that you might be interested in buying from me. Am I right?’
‘Ah. Well, now it is my turn for confession,’ Saskia replied, her gazed locked onto his face. ‘I try not to make snap decisions when it comes to spending my money. My late aunt, Margot Elwood, taught me that loyalty to a supplier means a very great deal. I am therefore rather cautious about who I give my loyalty to, and one bottle of wine is no guarantee that the others will be of the same quality.’
‘Loyalty. I like that idea.’
Rick glanced over Saskia’s shoulder. ‘How about I give my future loyal customer a hand and carry that box of sample bottles down to her wine cellar? Who knows? I might pick up a few tips from an Elwood.’
‘My wine cellar?’ Saskia repeated. ‘I’m very flattered—’ she smiled ‘—thank you, but I am sure it would be boring compared to the wonderful wines you have in your stockrooms. And I am quite capable of carrying a few bottles down a corridor.’
Saskia straightened and kept her smile firmly fixed as she gazed past Rick Burgess towards the front door. ‘I wouldn’t want to keep your team waiting.’
Rick replied by tilting his head. ‘They’re already heading back to the office. So you see, Miss Elwood, I’m all yours. Now. Where do you want me to put this box?’
‘I store the specialist wine and ports in the basement. Oh, and please mind your head. These old cellars were built for shorter people.’
Rick followed Saskia down the narrow stone steps that led from her modern stainless steel kitchen down into the brick and stone storeroom and cellar that ran almost the full length of the house. He carefully lowered the large cardboard box of wine onto a sturdy old wooden table before following her into the cellar.
Saskia flicked on the lighting system and started her tour with the classic red wines she had bought for the coming autumn and winter season before moving on to the older and more prestigious wines. Racks and racks of bottles were laid out on their sides in purpose-built curved trays, label up, creating a superb display.
Rick peered politely at each of the winemakers and vintages with only a quick nod to indicate that he was only vaguely interested in what he was looking at.
It was not just annoying, it was unsettling!
She was just about to turn back when Rick pointed towards the cabinet where she stored her most precious white wines, most of which she had inherited from her aunt.
‘I recognise that wine, it’s one of my father’s favourites.’
‘Then we have something in common.’ She smiled. ‘It’s one of my favourites too. It also happens to be made at the vineyard once owned by my Elwood grandparents. Yes, that’s right. This is my family wine.’
‘Ah—’ Rick chuckled ‘—you see. I was right—I have learnt something new. Although it does make me wonder why you don’t promote your connection to the famous Elwood family more on your website. That is a remarkable heritage to be proud of.’
She replied by smiling and shaking her head. ‘There is a very good reason for that. I might be an Elwood but I have never been a wine merchant and I wouldn’t want anyone coming here under false pretences.’
Rick strolled up, pressed his shoulder snugly against hers and dropped his gaze onto a copy of a wine label that she was holding in her hand. His long wide mouth curved up into a smile that raised the temperature of the air in the cellar by several degrees. ‘I know about that.’ He chuckled. ‘Here I am, with a new career as a wine merchant and about to open a new wine store. Everything I know about the business I picked up from a lifetime living with a family who is obsessed with everything to do with wine.’
‘Aunt Margot may have been the last of the Elwood family but there was nothing that you could tell that lady about wine. I only wish I had her experience and knowledge.’
‘Exactly!’ Rick said in a voice bubbling with enthusiasm. ‘This is why I need to be totally honest with you about the real reason that I am here today.’
‘Real reason? What do you mean?’
His reply was to move closer, stretch out one long muscular arm to the stone wall behind her shoulder and lean forward so that their faces were only inches apart. Trapping her in the space between his body and the wine racks, which were pressing into her back.
Any closer and she would be on intimate terms with his shirt buttons.
She could hunch down and dive under his armpit if she had a mind to but this was her cellar, not his. And, damn him, but she was not the one who was going to have to move first. Even if he did smell of soft leather and fine wine underpinned by a faint citrus tang of some no doubt very expensive male grooming product designed to act as instant girl attractor.
And Lord, it was worth every penny he had spent.
His gaze scanned her face for several too long seconds before he whispered and stepped so close that she could almost feel the heat of his breath on her brow. ‘I think you are being far too modest, Saskia. From what I’ve seen today, the clients who come to Elwood House are lucky enough to have the very best and the excellent taste of the mistress of this fine house.’
The way Rick lingered on that last word sent shivers up her spine which she blinked away. Was he trying to flirt with her?
As for modest? What choice did she have? Her mother might have fled to Los Angeles, leaving her with her aunt, but it was her father who had truly ripped her heart out. She never mentioned him to anyone, not even Kate or Amber. She had even changed her surname the same week her mother had finally agreed to a divorce and went back to being Chantal Elwood again. But he was always there at the back of her mind. A constant itch that could never be scratched away. Reminding her to be careful and not take risks, no matter how tantalising they might appear.
Saskia lifted her chin slightly. She had to stay professional. Even if he was totally inside her comfort zone and oozing enough testosterone to make her forget her own name.
‘Just this.’ He breathed low and hoarse, his head tilted slightly to one side. ‘What would you say if I was prepared to sign a contract committing Rick Burgess Wines to hold a lunch meeting at least every week right here in Elwood House for the next two years?’
He paused and let the silence create the anticipation he was looking for.
‘What would I say?’ Saskia repeated, lifting her chin slightly sideways so that she could smile up into his face without straining her back. ‘I would say thank you very much and here is a piece of paper and a pen.’
‘I thought that you might. But there is a catch.’
‘Am I going to like it?’
‘Like it? I hope so. You see, my company specialises in exciting wine made by a whole new wave of brilliant new winemakers from right across Europe. I need customers like you to take a risk and invest in these wines. But one short presentation is not nearly long enough. So…’ his hips shifted slightly, just in case she had not noticed how tight his jeans were, stretched over his muscular thighs ‘… I was hoping that you might be available to have dinner with me this evening. It would give me a chance to tell you more about what I had to offer. If you were free.’
Free? She was free for dinner every evening.
Rick was smiling at now, but she could see the muscles in his lower arm move slightly as they adjusted to a shift in his position. Dark brown hair curled onto broad muscular shoulders. Sinewy neck and jaw. Beyond rugged, physical and potent.
Butterflies fluttered in the pit of her stomach under the intensity of that gaze and she had the sudden urge to toss her hair back, stick her chest out and flirt with him outrageously. His dark blue-grey eyes shone bright in the low light she used in the cellars to protect the wine. There was a certain slight unease around his lips as though he wanted to say something, reveal something, but thought better of it and held back.
What he had to offer? Oh, she had a pretty good idea. Dangerous.
Buying wine from him? Oh no. Fingers. Hot. Burnt.
Suddenly she felt a desperate urge to fill the silence with chatter.
‘Building a reputation for excellence takes time. I only opened up the house to guests a few months ago and I cannot afford to risk my reputation by serving any else but the best.’
‘Absolutely.’ He nodded. ‘This is why I think my business proposition might just solve both of our problems rather neatly. My wonderful wines. Your fine reputation. Perfect fit.’
She paused and licked her lips. ‘I don’t want to seem rude, but my clients expect the very best and it’s my job to make sure that they are not disappointed. But don’t worry, Angie has given me her contact details and has promised to be in touch about any future business meetings. I look forward to seeing you again at Elwood House.’
Saskia stretched out her hand towards Rick and he glanced at it for a second before moving back, chuckling and wrapping his fingers around hers.
‘People don’t usually turn me down,’ he whispered, stepping forward under the spotlight until he was far enough away for Saskia to see the fine white scar lines that ran up one side of his face. ‘I’m curious. Are you always so sceptical? What do you want to know? Ask me anything during our dinner this evening and I’ll promise that I will tell you the truth.’
Saskia was still reeling from his reply when Rick’s cellphone blared out a top ten music track and he glanced quickly at the caller ID, breaking the intensity of the moment.
‘You seem very confident that you have something that I might be interested in, Mr Burgess. Perhaps you could ask Angie to make an appointment for later in the week.’
‘Nope. Has to be tonight. I’ll pick you up at seven.’
Pick her up. Oh no. This was not a date. She had to take some control back!
‘I sometimes walk along the South Bank around half seven,’ she gushed before her brain had time to engage.
‘Got it. Later.’
Two fingers to the forehead in a quick salute and he turned on his heel and strolled away to the stairs as if he owned the place, leaving a Rick-sized space in her cellar.
He hadn’t waited for her answer.
The strange thing was; she couldn’t remember saying no.
Saskia peered at her reflection in the screen of her smartphone, wiggled her head from side to side several times and pushed several stands of hair behind her ear. Large ornate drop earrings in the shape of a leaf swung freely in the late sunshine, reflecting back the light from the finely worked Indian silver.
‘Thanks, Amber. Those earrings are just perfect. I love them. You are a genius when it comes to style. What’s that? Takes one to know one. Well, thank you, kind lady. And don’t forget to thank Kate for the loan of her jacket. The colours work so well together.’
She glanced quickly around the busy pavement to check that her quiet smirk had gone unseen. ‘Amber! Stop that. You are making me blush. Those earrings are staying on. This is not a hot date. I keep telling you. Business meeting. Stop laughing. Business! And no, I don’t want you to wait up for me. Cheek! Now go and be creative with the wedding plan. Talk to you later if you must. Later. Yes. Okay. I promise that I will have a nice time. Thank you. Yes.’
Saskia chuckled out loud and flipped her phone closed. Kate and Amber had just spent over an hour helping her come up with the perfect outfit but, she had to admit, her style consultants had pulled together a smart but casual look which created just the right impression.
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Nina Harrington
English rose Saskia Elwood has slaved for years to turn her family estate into London’s most exclusive venue. She's not going to do anything to jeopardise its success! So considering wine magnate Rick Burgess’s business proposition would be nothing short of madness…But, before she can catch her breath, her heart-stoppingly gorgeous new business partner has swept her off to Europe for intimate champagne tastings and once in a lifetime experiences.Saskia won’t be able to blame the sparks flying between them on the champagne for much longer!
NINA HARRINGTON grew up in rural Northumberland and decided at the age of eleven that she was going to be a librarian—because then she could read all of the books in the public library whenever she wanted! Since then she has been a shop assistant, community pharmacist, technical writer, university lecturer, volcano walker and industrial scientist, before taking a career break to realise her dream of being a fiction writer. When she is not creating stories which make her readers smile her hobbies are cooking, eating, enjoying good wine—and talking, for which she has had specialist training.
This and other titles by Nina Harrington are available in eBook format—check out www.millsandboon.co.uk
Blame It on the
Champagne
Nina Harrington
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Table of Contents
Cover (#ucc3cb4f0-6d9f-5470-8241-5576c5d22fbe)
About the Author (#uf8b39e32-fc5b-540e-b9d2-fd8a62197eb0)
Title Page (#u257406aa-664f-579b-a02c-c3d8896e98b4)
Chapter One (#uc68630c5-9919-5899-92e6-7568eef0683b)
Chapter Two (#ud3944f38-ea1a-501c-a630-8fea49e40960)
Chapter Three (#uc1befc34-aa6c-55d0-96eb-51f699a567fa)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_e5b79e81-96c3-5a87-91b0-8206cb7de1ae)
Elwood House: Must-Do list—Monday
• Meet up with Kate and Amber to finalise Amber’s wedding—do NOT let Kate talk you into fuchsia or satin—walk away from the satin.
• Decide on classical music pieces for the bathrooms.
• Be ready to fend off that very persistent new wine merchant.
• Stay in for the garden centre delivery of the spiral box trees for the front porch.
‘SNOW. I AM going to need lots of snow. And tiny white fairy lights sparkling in the trees and over the pergola. Can you do fairy lights?’ Amber’s voice tailed off into a dreamy whisper. ‘It would be so magical and romantic.’
Saskia Elwood rolled her eyes and grinned at her best friend Amber, then clicked in the box next to the garden lighting option on her wedding planner spreadsheet.
‘Of course I can do white fairy lights. As for the snow? That shouldn’t be too difficult for New Year’s Day in London. But, you know me, if you want it to snow on your wedding day, then snow you shall have, even if I have to track down a snow gun machine and make you some. Although… Won’t it be a bit cold? From the designs I have seen, that dress Kate is making for you would be perfect for a tropical beach wedding—but London in January? Brr…’
Amber giggled and flicked her long straight blonde hair over one shoulder in a move she had perfected in fashion shoots and as years performing as a concert pianist. ‘I know,’ she replied, wrinkling up her nose in delight. ‘It is so perfect. Sam is going to love it.’ Then she sighed out loud and strolled out past Saskia and through the conservatory into the garden with a faraway expression on her face. ‘Just love it.’
‘She’s off again,’ a cheery voice sounded from behind Saskia’s shoulder as Kate Lovat bounced into the room with a bundle of wedding magazines in her arms. ‘Dreaming of the fabulous Sam. If I wasn’t so smitten with my Heath I would find it a bit sickening. In fact, sometimes I’m surprised you put up with the two of us. Always talking about the lucky men who we have agreed to marry one day.’
‘Right now,’ Saskia replied with a snort, ‘I am more worried about Amber getting frostbite in that skimpy, mostly backless dress you are planning for a winter wedding. Any chance of a jacket? Thermal vest? The poor girl is going to be blue, which is not a good look for any bride.’
Kate replied by playfully hitting Saskia on the head with a rolled up bridal magazine and sat down next to her at the conservatory table. ‘Blue? With that fabulous suntan? No chance.’ Then she relaxed and rested her elbows on the table. ‘Relax. There is a beautiful full-length quilted ivory coat to go on top of that slinky dress for any outdoor photos. Fear not. The girl shall not freeze. When the dancing starts she will be glad of that layered silk gown, even if the beads will be flying everywhere.’
Kate arched her eyebrows and peered at Saskia’s computer screen, her green eyes bright with amusement. ‘Does that say dinner and reception for twenty-six? I thought this was just going to be a small family wedding. As in no professional musicians, fashion models or anybody else in Amber’s world who will make us feel totally inadequate as human beings.’
Saskia laughed out loud and started counting out on her fingers. ‘How could you forget Amber’s first dad and his huge new stepfamily, her second dad Charles Sheridan—’ she pointed towards Kate, who waved a magazine in the air ‘—with Heath and his new family. Her third dad might bring his new wife but she is having some “freshening up” surgery post-Christmas and might not have the stitches out in time. Oh, and her mum, of course. Julia is bringing the latest beau plus entourage, including her aunt and three American cousins and…’ the air whooshed out of Saskia’s lungs ‘… twenty-six hungry, cold people are going to celebrate the best wedding they have ever been to. Amber’s friend Parvita and her husband are looking after the music and I booked the waiting staff last week. All I have to do is enjoy myself.’
‘Um. Yeah. Right,’ Kate replied and looked over the top of her spectacles at her. ‘And exhaust yourself in the process of getting everything ready up front so it looks easy on the day. Who is kidding who here? We know you far too well, girl.’ Kate smiled and gave her a one-armed hug. ‘Now, let me see that list again. Aha. Thought so. You have missed out a crucial item. Tut tut.’
‘What?’ Saskia glanced at the screen in disbelief and then back to Kate. ‘I spent most of my Sunday double-checking the plan. Out with it. What have I missed?’
Kate slid out of her chair and came around to stand in front of Saskia. ‘Wedding date for a very picky hostess to be provided by her pals. Tall, dark and handsome. Dancing skills an advantage but will settle for extra hot. And you’re not typing that in.’
Saskia sat back in her chair and lifted both hands into the air. ‘Trust you to find me a date? Oh no. I still remember that graphic designer who offered to paint my portrait if I stripped down to earrings and a cheeky grin.’
Kate fluttered her eyelashes and tugged down the hem of her perfectly fitted jacket over her petite curves. ‘We do such good work.’
Saskia snorted and turned back to the laptop. ‘Thank you for the offer but the last thing I want is a boyfriend. You do know that this is the first wedding that Elwood House has ever seen, so no pressure at all.’
Kate waved her arms around and then cocked her head on one side and pushed out her lips. ‘This house is gorgeous and that curvy staircase was made for a bride to walk down on her father’s arm. It is going to be fabulous, even if we do feel guilty about leaving you to do most of the work.’
Saskia took a breath then shrugged off the lingering disquiet by tapping her wristwatch with her home-manicured fingertip.
‘And I feel bad that I am making you late for your sexy lingerie fitting appointment. You know, the one that you booked three weeks ago.’ She waggled her fingertips at Kate. ‘Go. A new wine merchant and his sales team will be here soon and the last thing they want to see are you two drooling over wedding brochures. Scoot. And have a great time!’
Kate gasped, whooped, flung the magazines onto the table and ran out to grab hold of Amber’s arm. Two minutes later all that was left of Amber and Kate were empty coffee cups and plates, a whiff of couture perfume, lipstick on her cheek and a smile on Saskia’s face that only spending breakfast with her two best friends in the world could bring.
They had known each other since high school. Totally different in every way and yet she could not want better pals. They might only have reconnected at a high school reunion that May, but now it felt as though they had never been apart.
Had it only been May? Wow. So much had happened in the past few months. Amber was engaged to Sam and spending most of her time living the dream in India, while Kate was sharing her home with Amber’s stepbrother Heath only a few streets away. They were both so happy… and off to be fitted with sexy lingerie by the most famous bra shop in London.
Suddenly the wedding planning spreadsheet lost its appeal and Saskia sniffed and sat back in her chair. She envied them the luxury of having time to spend comparing fine lingerie, while she was sitting here trying to decide on whether to have background music in the bathrooms. Or not.
Ah. The joys of running your home as a private meeting venue.
A whisper of self-pity flitted into her mind but she instantly pushed it to the back of her brain in disgust.
She had so much to be grateful for. Her friends Kate and Amber were the perfect pretend family who knew her a lot better than her absent parents. And then she had her home, Elwood House the architectural masterpiece which she had shared with her Aunt Margot until last year.
A gentle breeze wafted in from the garden outside the conservatory room and Saskia smiled out at the hardwood planters overflowing with autumn blossoms.
She had spent so many summer evenings with her aunt in this very room, talking and talking about their grand plan to transform Elwood House into a fabulous private dining venue. Her aunt had been the acclaimed wine expert with superb taste in interior design who was happy to leave Saskia to work on the details and business plans. Together they had been a genius team who had started the project together.
It was so sad that her aunt had never seen those plans come to fruition.
Shuffling to her feet, Saskia gathered up the breakfast dishes and loaded the dishwasher. Clasping hold of the marble worktop, she let her arms take the weight and closed her eyes for a second and took a couple of breaths.
The past six months had been harder than she had expected.
A lot harder and much more expensive. But she could not think like that. She had to make her home into a successful business because the alternative was too terrible to think about. A day job in the city would not come close to meeting the running expenses of a house this size.
Elwood House had been the home of the most famous wine merchants in London for over one hundred and fifty years. It was strange to think that she was the last in the line and responsible for preserving the heritage of the house the first of the Elwood clan had built in this smart part of London.
It was her safety net. Her home. Her sanctuary. And her security.
Saskia inhaled deeply and waggled her shoulders to release the tension.
No matter what it took or how many hours she had to work, Elwood House was going to pay for itself.
Patience. That was what she needed. Patience and a lot of new bookings.
She had only been going a few months and it took time to get a private meeting venue like hers off the ground. Reputation spread by word of mouth and she was already attracting repeat clients, but it was a mightily slow process and she had a big gap to fill before the Christmas party season started. Maybe Amber’s wedding would turn things around and she could start the New Year with hope and excitement burning in her heart?
And as for a date for Amber’s wedding? That was so not going to happen. She had served meals and coffee to an awful lot of businessmen over the past few months but she had not the slightest interest in dating any of them. Just the opposite. She had learnt the hard way the cost of giving up your independence and she had no intention of repeating her mother’s mistake any time soon.
Her gaze fell onto one of the wedding magazines that Kate had brought for Amber to look at and a headline on the cover leapt out at her.
Read all about the huge rise in Civil weddings at home. Celebrate your wedding in the intimate and private venue of your own home.
A spark of an idea flashed bright. Civil weddings. Now that was a thought. Amber’s wedding might be the first wedding reception that Elwood House had seen. But it need not be the last… Um… Perhaps there was a market for small private house weddings in a city this size. Not everyone wanted an extravaganza of a huge hotel banqueting suite.
The idea was still rattling around inside her head a few minutes later when the telephone rang. Saskia barely had a chance to pick up the handset and say the words ‘Elwood House,’ before a transatlantic female voice belted out down the line at such a rapid-fire pace that she had to hold the phone away from her ear for a second.
‘Oh, good morning, Angela. Yes, I am still available to talk to Mr Burgess and his team today. Not a problem at all. And there has been a change to the agenda. Right. Have you got the details? Tell me everything.’
Rick Burgess leant his elbows on the solid white railings of Waterloo Bridge and watched the water taxis mooring at the jetty below. The River Thames flowed beneath his feet and wound in wide lazy curves eastwards towards the sea. Stretched out across the horizon in front of him, high-rise marvels of modern architecture reached tall into the sky against the backdrop of landmark ancient cathedrals and majestic stone buildings that made up the city of London.
A fresh breeze wafted up the river and Rick inhaled deeply, his chest rising under his white open-necked shirt and soft black leather biker jacket.
Fresh air.
Just what he needed to clear his head after being cooped up inside an aircraft and then underground trains for the past four hours.
He ran his fingers back through his tousled dark brown hair.
Yesterday he had spent the afternoon talking wine over a plate of antipasti in a sunlit garden on a Tuscan estate with a young Italian couple who had sold everything they had to buy a tiny prestigious vineyard that he knew would be taking the world by storm in time. And today he was in London under a cloudy sky with only patches of blue peeking through to lighten the grey stone buildings.
He knew exactly where he preferred to be and it certainly was not here!
It was on mornings like this that it hit more powerfully than ever that it should be his older brother Tom who should be getting ready to go into a crucial sales meeting with one of the most prestigious private dining venues in London. Not him.
Tom had been the businessman. The IT genius who had transformed a small chain of family wine shops into Burgess Wine, the largest online wine merchant on the West Coast of America.
Rick shook his head and chuckled. He had a pretty good idea of what Tom would’ve said about the crazy enterprise he was just about to launch in this city and the language would not be fit for his parents to hear.
Tom had been a conservative businessman to the core. He would never have taken a risk with a group of independent young winemakers making tiny amounts of wine on family estates across Europe.
Not all of the wine was remarkable yet. But some of it was amazing.
It was going to have to be if he had any chance at all of redeeming himself in the eyes of the media. As far as the wine trade press were concerned, Rick had certainly never earned his place on the board of directors of Burgess Wine. Far from it.
To them, Rick Burgess would always be every bit the renegade who had walked away from a job with the family wine business to become a professional extreme sports personality. What did he know about the modern wine trade?
And they were right.
If Tom was still alive his business ambitions would have stayed in the world he knew—professional sports and adventure tourism. They had always been his passion and still were.
But Tom was dead. And there was nothing he could do to bring him back.
Just like he couldn’t change that fact that his parents were both in their sixties and needed him to take Tom’s place and work for Burgess Wine.
It had never been his decision or his choice. But as they said, there was nobody else. Burgess Wine was a family business and he had just been promoted to the son and heir whether he wanted the job or not.
Mostly not.
He didn’t like it. They didn’t like it. And they still didn’t completely trust him not to mess things up or run back to his old life.
Emotional blackmail only went so far.
This was probably why they’d set up this sales meeting with an important client he had never met. Of course they would deny it if he questioned them, but he had been long enough in the sports world to recognise a challenge when he was presented with one.
This sales pitch was just one more way they were asking him to prove that he could pull off his crazy idea to open a flagship wine store for Burgess Wine in London.
Which in his book was even more of a reason why he had to make the wine world take him seriously. And fast. Even if he did detest every second of these types of business meetings.
The upbeat rhythm of a popular dance track sang out from the breast pocket of his jacket and Rick flipped open his smartphone.
‘Finally! Were you actually planning to check your emails some time this morning, Rick?’
‘Angie, sweetheart.’ Rick chuckled. ‘How delightful to hear your welcoming voice. I have just got off the plane and getting used to being back in London. Turns out I miss my chalet in France almost as much as I miss you.’
‘Sweet talker! Sometimes I don’t know why I put up with you. Oh. I remember now—you pay me to sort out the boring stuff in your life. But forget sightseeing for the moment—I’ll take you on a tour later. Right now I need you to take your head out of the latest extreme sports magazine and flip over to the message which I am sending…now. I have some news about the sales meeting this morning, but don’t worry, it’s all under control.’
Rick straightened his back and turned away from the river, suddenly very wide awake.
‘Good news or bad news? Talk to me, Angie. I thought we locked down this meeting weeks ago.’
His personal assistant knew him well enough to immediately gush out, ‘We did. But do you remember those two TV wine experts who we approached to help promote the new store in the build-up to the launch? The ones who were so terribly busy appearing on cookery shows to get involved with yet another wine merchant? Well, guess who emailed me late last night. Apparently they heard a rumour that Elwood House might be investing in the new generation wines and suddenly they might be interested after all.’
Angie laughed down the cellphone. ‘Turns out your mother was right. The Elwood Brothers connection has paid off.’
Rick exhaled slowly, pushed back his stiff shoulders and flicked through the research information on the people he was going to have to convince to take him seriously.
‘Got it. I should be there in about ten minutes. And thanks for sorting out things at the London end, Angie.’
‘No problem. We have an hour before the presentation. Catch up with you soon.’
Rick closed down the phone and stared at it for a few seconds before popping back into his pocket with a snort.
So that was how the game was played.
The top wine experts he needed were only prepared to turn up and listen to what he had to say if he had the credibility of a famous name in the wine trade like Elwood Brothers behind him.
Yet another example of exactly the kind of old world narrow-minded network he detested. Instead of asking what he could bring to the business, all they were looking for was the validation of the old and worthy established family of wine merchants.
Rick exhaled slowly.
Was this how it was going to be from now on?
This was not his life! His life was base jumping and pushing his body to the limit under blue skies and cold air. Not walking into a conference room and selling the idea for Rick Burgess Wines to closed minded traditional hotel owners who had already made up their minds before they heard that he said.
He was about to take the biggest leap in his life and launch a flagship wine store in the centre of London. His name above the door. His future on the line.
Only this time it was not about him or his reputation as a daredevil sportsman. This time it was about passion. A passion for life, a passion for wine, and a new passion for championing small businesses.
Rick Burgess the mountaineer. Rick Burgess the champion paraglider. And now Rick Burgess the wine merchant. Same passion. Same determination to prove that he was up to the challenge he had set himself, even if it had been foisted onto him.
Frustration burned through his veins.
He inhaled slowly, pushed off from the railing and strode away over the bridge.
He needed this to work for the employees and winemakers who relied on him and for his parents who were still locked inside their grief.
He had the presentation in his head. He had time to spare to calm down and clear his head before facing one of the greatest challenges in his life. Bring it on.
Ten minutes later Rick turned the corner towards the address that Angie had given him, his hands in the trouser pockets of his designer denims and the breeze at his back.
A flock of pigeons swooped down in front of him into the tall oak and London plane trees which filled the small residential square. Families and dog walkers flittered between ornamental flower beds and wooden benches in the broken sunshine. On the face of it, just another quiet city square.
But one thing was certain, in the crazy world that was his life—you never knew what to expect.
Like now, for example.
It wasn’t every day that you saw an executive secretary having a row with a delivery driver in the middle of a prestigious London street, but it certainly made a change from dodging tiny dogs on glittery leads. Even if the pretty girls on the other end of those leads had been trying to catch his eye.
Rick slowed his steps.
He needed to take some time out before facing an incredulous wine buyer around a conference table in some soulless, stuffy meeting room. Or the first person to mention the words ‘dead man’s shoes’ would end up being decked, which would be a seriously bad move in more ways than one.
This was a far more entertaining option.
His girl was standing with her pretty hands splayed out on both hips and she was definitely a secretary but an executive one.
She was wearing a slim-fitting skirt suit in that strange shade of grey which his mother liked, but had never clinched a tiny waist with a cream coloured sash. He could just make out the tiny band of cream fabric at the cuffs of the jacket. Her long, sleek sandy coloured hair was gathered into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck.
Her very lovely long, smooth neck.
Now that was a neck he could look at all day.
As he watched, the shorter older man in the overalls who she was talking to in a low, patient, but very assertive voice, which reminded him of his junior school headmistress, suddenly shrugged, gave her a ‘nothing to do with me’ flick of both hands, jumped into a white delivery van and drove off, leaving the city girl standing on the pavement, watching the tail lights of the van disappear around the corner.
She stood frozen to the spot for a few seconds, her mouth slightly open, and then turned to glare at a pair of large shiny navy blue ceramic pots which were standing next to her on the pavement.
A five feet tall cone of what looked to Rick like a green cypress tree spilled out over the top of each planter then whirled upwards in some deformed mutant spiral shape which had nothing to do with nature and everything to do with so-called style.
Rick looked at the two plants and then back to the girl, who had started to pace up and down the pavement in platform high heeled slingback shoes, which most of the girls at his mother’s office back in California seemed to wear.
Not exactly the best footwear for moving heavy pots.
But they certainly did the trick when it came the highlighting a pair of gorgeous legs with shapely ankles.
So what if he was a leg man and proud? And she had brightened up his morning.
He could make time for some excellent distraction activity.
‘Good morning,’ he said in a bright casual voice. ‘Do you need some help with those?’
Her feet kept walking up and down. ‘Do you have a trolley handy?’
He patted his pockets. ‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Then thank you but no.’ She nodded, then stopped and stared at the huge plants, with the fingers of one hand pressed against her forehead as though she was trying to come up with a solution.
‘Good thing it’s not raining.’ He smiled. ‘In fact it is turning out to be a lovely September morning.’
Her head slowly turned towards him and Rick was punched straight in the jaw by a pair of the most stunning pale blue eyes that he had ever seen. The colour of the sky over Mont Blanc at dawn. Wild cornflowers in an alpine meadow.
Dark eyelashes clashed against the creamy clear complexion and high elegant cheekbones. Full-blown lips were outlined in a delicious shade of blush lipstick, and as she gawped at him a faint white smile caught him by surprise.
‘Yes, I suppose it is.’ She blinked. ‘But, if you’ll excuse me, I really do need to find some way of moving these plants—’ she flung the flat edge of her hand towards the nearest plant and almost knocked it flying ‘—from the pavement into my porch and some time in the next ten minutes would be good.’
‘The delivery driver?’ he asked casually.
She sniffed and closed her eyes, teeth gritted tight together, then lifted her chin and smiled. ‘Bad back. Not part of his job description. Just delivery to the kerbside.’ Her voice lifted into a slightly hysterical giggle. ‘Apparently he was expecting a team of porters to be all ready and waiting. Porters! As if I could afford porters. Unbelievable.’
‘Ah. I understand completely,’ Rick replied, nodding slowly and scratching his chin, which seemed rather stubblier than he had expected. ‘May I make a suggestion?’
She glanced up at him through her eyelashes as she pulled out a cellphone, and sighed out loud. ‘Thank you again, but I can manage very well on my own and I am sure that you have some urgent business to attend to. Somewhere else. In the meantime, I need to call a burly bloke moving company. So good morning and have a nice day.’
Rick chuckled under his breath. It was not often that pretty girls gave him the brush-off and maybe a city girl had reasons to be cautious.
‘Did your mother tell you not to talk to strangers? Relax. I can spare five minutes to help a lady in distress.’
Her fingers paused and she glared up at him, her eyebrows lifted in disbelief. ‘Distress?’ There was just enough amusement in her voice to make him take one step forward, but she instantly held up a hand. ‘You are mistaken. I am not in distress. I don’t do distress. I have never done distress, and I have no intention of starting now. Look.’ She popped her phone in her jacket pocket and gingerly wrapped her fingertips around the edge of a pot. And tried to lift it an inch closer.
The pot did not move and she threw a single glance up at him, daring him to say something, but he simply smiled, which seemed to infuriate her even more.
This time she squared her shoulders, gritted her teeth and bent slightly at the knees to go at it again. The pot wobbled slightly then shuddered back to the ground as she hissed in disbelief and stood back with a look on her face as though she wanted to kick the pot hard.
Rick had seen enough. He stepped forward and gently took her arm. ‘No need for that. You have all the lifting power you need right here. It’s a simple matter of leverage.’
‘Leverage!’ She laughed and nodded. ‘In these shoes? I don’t think so.’
‘I could move those pots for you. No problem.’
Biting down on her lower lip, the suit looked up at him and he could feel her gaze take in his new Italian boots, denims and leather biker jacket, slowly inching its way up his body until their eyes locked.
And stayed locked.
He watched her expression change as she mentally jostled between necessity and asking for help, which was clearly something she didn’t like to do.
Necessity won.
Her tongue flicked out and moistened her lips before she lifted her chin and asked, ‘What exactly did you have in mind?’
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_ba929ef4-c40e-5b23-a10f-4f5b16b7069a)
Must-Do list
• Make sure that the new spiral box trees are arranged very elegantly either side of the main entrance. This is bound to impress the clients and set the right tone.
• Try and forget how much these two trees cost and watch out for dogs!
• Come up with a brilliant plan to shamelessly but unobtrusively use these wine folks to bring in more business.
IT WAS THE long green twirly plants on sticks that were the problem.
Rick had worked out a way of lifting up the edge of the heavy planter using a wooden door wedge then tipping it forward just enough to use the pot as a lever, but the moment he started to roll the bottom rim of the china pot along on one edge, the plant started waving out of control in all directions across the pavement like some demented flagpole, causing mayhem with the pedestrians.
It was amazing how the street seemed to fill up with girls pushing baby buggies, dog walkers and children in the space of ten minutes, but after two narrow escapes where his secretary had to dodge out of the way or risk getting a tree branch in her eye, Rick had managed to roll one planter all the way from the pavement to the patio without causing serious injury to people or the china base.
‘Brilliant,’ she gushed, trying to catch her breath after waving away a dog with a full bladder. ‘One small step and we’re there!’
Rick scratched his chin. ‘Tip and shuffle. I tip the pot back and then roll it slightly forward until the edge is on the step. But someone has to hold the greenery out of the way when it swings onto the step. Two man job. Are you up for it?’
He looked up into her face and his breath caught. Close up, he could see that her flawless creamy skin was not a product of pristine grooming and clever make-up but natural beauty which went beyond pretty without being in-your-face gorgeous. The splash of cream at her neck was a perfect contrast to her brown hair and eyebrows and seemed to make her pale blue eyes even more startling.
He had never seen eyes that colour on a girl before but everything about her screamed out that he was talking to a real English rose.
‘Absolutely,’ she replied with a quick nod and reached for the bottom of the tree. ‘Let’s do it. Ready? Yes? Go! Oh, ouch. It got me. Almost there. Done!’
Rick stood back, peered at the pot from several angles then leant forward and shifted it to the left slightly.
‘That’s better.’
‘Better! It’s fantastic. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along. Thank you so much… Oh, I’m sorry, how rude of me. I don’t even know your name…’
‘Just call me Rick,’ he replied with a wave of one hand. ‘And it was my pleasure, Miss…’
‘Rick! You found it.’
He half turned as Angie bounded up the pavement towards them, her huge shoulder bag bouncing over one shoulder and a bulging document folder stuffed under her arm and stretched out her hand towards his secretary.
‘Miss Elwood, lovely to meet you. Angie Roberts—we talked on the phone earlier. Thanks again for fitting us in at such short notice. What a fabulous house. And I can see that you have already met my boss.’
‘Thank you, Angie, and welcome to Elwood House. If you would like to come inside and…’ She paused, opened her mouth, closed it again, inhaled slowly and turned back to face him. ‘Your boss?’
Rick pushed his shoulders back and glanced sideways at the high gloss painted door of the house whose porch he was standing in. The words ‘Elwood House’ were engraved in a curvy elegant font on a small brass plaque attached to the stone portico.
It would appear that he had arrived at his destination.
And his English rose was one of the Elwood dynasty.
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. So this was the hardened old wine merchant he was going to be making his sales pitch to! Well, that showed him. How wrong could he be?
‘Rick Burgess.’ He grinned into his secretary’s stunned face. ‘Apparently you are expecting us.’
Rick braced his shoulder on the ornate white marble fireplace in what had been the elegant, huge formal dining room of Elwood House and held the colour brochure for Rick Burgess Wines in one hand as he watched Saskia Elwood glide effortlessly around the sunlit room.
The back split in her slender, elegant pencil skirt fanned open just enough to give him a tantalising glimpse of a pair of very long slender legs above shapely ankles. Not immodest. Oh no. Demure and classy, but tantalising all the same. Just enough to fire up his imagination.
She was impressive.
Every one of his sales team she spoke to looked away from the press release and winemaker portfolios that Angie had passed around to smile up at Saskia and spend a few minutes chatting before going back to their work with that smile still on their lips.
The men and women in the room knew talent when they saw it. Not everyone was able to put a guest instantly at ease. They had expected Saskia to treat them as sales people who were worthy of a cup of instant coffee and a plain biscuit. Well, she had confounded their expectations by treating every one of his four-person team as a guest and potential client in her private meeting venue. Their coffee and tea had been served from silverware with the most delicious homemade pastries and canapés.
Very clever. He liked clever. Even if it was obvious to him what she was doing.
His sales people were going to be working with clients from the finest hotels and private homes around London, and Saskia had already worked that out. She might be hosting a sales meeting, but there was no reason why she could not sell them the benefits of Elwood House at the same time.
Their hostess was elegant, warm, unpretentious and genuinely interested in her clients. Attentive to their needs, but not intrusive or overfamiliar.
It was precisely what the hospitality industry was all about. And Saskia Elwood had it in spades. He loved watching experts at work. He always had. And the lovely lady of the house was at that moment giving him a master class in exactly the type of customer service he was going to expect in the flagship London face of Burgess Wine.
He glanced back down at his phone. Ten more emails. All from his mother. All wanting urgent updates.
Rick exhaled slowly. A well buried part of his brain knew that she was concerned about him, while the upfront and only too blatant part screamed out a message loud and clear: They don’t think you can pull this off. After two years of hard work you are still the black sheep who is never going to be taken seriously. So you might as well give up now and go back to the sports where you are the best!
No. Not going to happen. He had made a commitment and he was going to see it through, no matter what it took. Rick Burgess had not risen to the top of his sport by being a quitter.
Strange how his gaze shifted automatically up from the screen towards the slim woman in the pale grey suit, refilling an elegant coffee pot.
Her light brown straight hair was tied loosely back in a shell clip at the base of her neck, which on any other woman would look too casual, but somehow looked exactly right. She knew exactly what she looked like and had taken time to perfect her appearance. Subtle day time make-up, but with skin that clear she didn’t need anything but a slick of colour on her lips. This woman knew that her eyes were her best feature and made the best of them. Her eyes were totally riveting. Those eyes captured your attention and held it tight.
Just as they were doing right now as she looked across and flashed him a glance.
Rick slid into a comfortable dining chair and instantly refocused on the business proposal, making notes on the points still to be resolved as he scanned down the snag list. But all the while his left hand tapped out a beat on the fine table and curiosity pricked his skin.
Maybe that was her secret? That hot body that every man in the room had probably already visualised, which lay under that surface layer of clothing. Tempting the men and impressing the women. She could turn on the heat for the men and the friendly girl power for the ladies.
A clever girl with a hot body wrapped in a teasing and intriguing package.
A frisson of excitement and anticipation sparked across Rick’s mind.
It would be quite a coup if he could sign up Margot Elwood’s niece to stock his wines and serve them to her guests before the store even opened.
Perhaps that would be the proof he needed to convince his parents that their reckless and, in their eyes, feckless second son would not let them down after all?
Now all he had to do was talk her into it.
Rick glanced around the table. Everyone was seated. They had their promotional material and Saskia was already scanning each page.
The game was on!
‘I have just spent the last two years tracking down the finest wine from the new wave of young winemakers all over Europe and persuading them to supply it exclusively to my new flagship wine store right here in central London. Every wine on our list has been personally chosen and vetted.’
‘You can say the same thing about every family run wine shop in London, Mr Burgess,’ the girl he now knew as Saskia Elwood replied in a light soft voice as her pen tapped onto the cover of his glossy brochure. ‘Standards are high.’
‘Yes, I know. You heard it all before. But this is new. This is a direct personal connection between the winemaker and the consumer.’
‘How confident are you that these new cellars will deliver?’ she asked. ‘A new prestigious wine store in the centre of London is one thing, but what assurances can you give me that these winemakers will come back to you year after year? I need to know that I can rely on a guaranteed supply of any wine I add to my list.’
Rick caught her sideways sigh and downward glance but, instead of stomping on her, he grinned and saluted. Her question had not been asked in an angry or accusatory tone. Far from it. She genuinely wanted to hear his answer.
‘Great point. What can I give you? My energy and my commitment. I took the time to travel to the vineyards and meet these winemakers. It was not always easy to persuade them to work exclusively with Burgess Wine, but there’s one thing I know from my work as a sportsman. Passion recognises passion. These young winemakers have invested everything they have because they are obsessive about creating the most amazing wines using modern and traditional techniques. I see that in them. That’s why I want to champion these ten small family estates because that is the only way I can guarantee that there will never be such a thing as a boring wine ever again.’
He walked around the table slowly, gesturing to the impressive brochure his parents’ marketing team had spent weeks perfecting.
‘Right now there’s a team of marketing experts back in the Californian headquarters for Burgess Wine working on websites for each of the individual growers. When you buy a bottle from this store you will have access to everything you need to know about the wine and the passion of the person who made it. I think that’s special.’
‘Sometimes passion is not enough, Mr Burgess. You need to have the experience and expertise to create a remarkable wine. And these new winemakers are still learning the trade. Not everybody is as… adventurous as you are.’
Rick wrapped his hands around the back of the solid antique dining chair and nodded down the table, making sure that he could capture the attention of Saskia and the three new members of his sales team.
‘They don’t have to be. The ten growers I’ve chosen are all part of a mentoring scheme I’ve created with well-established major winemakers who have been supplying Burgess Wine customers for years. My parents are happy to invest in the wines we select.’
‘Don’t you mean the wines you select?’ Saskia asked with a touch of surprise in her voice. From where he was standing, Rick could see that her gaze was locked onto the back cover of the brochure, which carried an impressive colour photograph of Rick in full climbing gear on a snowy mountain. ‘If I am reading this correctly,’ she whispered, ‘you already have a career as a professional sportsman, Mr Burgess. Does this new store mean that you have turned your back on adventure sports?’
And there it was. Just when he thought he might leave his past behind for a couple of hours and be taken seriously.
Rick pressed the fingers of one hand tight into his palm and fought back his anger. He had to stay frosty.
‘Let’s just say that I’m focusing on the less hazardous aspects. I haven’t broken anything important in years and I have every intention of staying around for a lot longer. So much wine, so little time!’
A ripple of laughter ran around the room but he could almost hear the unspoken question in the air which even his sales team were not prepared to ask out loud but were obviously thinking.
What would happen to this store if Rick Burgess jumped off some mountain with a parachute strapped to his back and the wind caught him and sent him crashing against the rocks before he could regain control?
It could happen. In fact it had already happened. One accident only a few months after Tom died.
How could he forget that day? It had been his first trip to the mountains since the funeral and he’d needed it as badly as any other addict needed that cigarette or fix of their choice.
The oppressive atmosphere of the family home and the overwhelming grief had finally become too much to bear and there was only one way he knew to try and get some balance and peace back into his life. Not trapped in a house all day staring at the four walls until he wanted to hit a wall. And go on hitting it until the pain subsided.
He needed to climb a high mountain with a specialised parachute strapped to his back. He needed to feel the rush of adrenalin as the wind caught in the parachute and he felt the power of the air lift him into the sky.
Free. Soaring like a bird. Released from the pain and trauma and grief of Tom’s death.
This was what he did. This was what had taken him to the awards podium of the European paragliding championships for three years in a row.
And for ten minutes of glorious tranquil flying in long winding curves he had been precisely where he wanted to be. Doing what he loved best.
Until one simple gust of wind in the wrong direction had ruined an otherwise perfect day.
But that was all it had taken to leave him with a broken collarbone and a badly sprained ankle.
His parents had been shocked and traumatised and full of complaints about how reckless and uncaring he had been. How very selfish and irresponsible. But that was nothing compared to the fall in the company credibility in the press.
The media loved to see a reclusive, obsessive sportsman with the golden touch take a fall. And this accident had given them the ammunition they needed to focus on one thing—his lifestyle.
Tom Burgess had been a strategic genius. But his brother Rick? What was he going to bring to the business? He might have taken Tom’s seat on the board but maybe the company was taking too much of a risk by bringing in their untrained and reckless second son.
Suddenly major wine producers who had supplied Burgess Wine for years were sucking in their cheeks and wincing about the management team at Burgess Wine.
Never mind the fact that he’d worked tirelessly to be a world-class paraglider and reach the top of this field. Never mind that he was prepared to give the same energy and determination to Burgess Wine and the family business that his brother Tom had transformed into an international company.
Never mind that he had spent the last two years since Tom’s death coming up to speed with the business to the point where his family were prepared to even listen to his ideas, despite their misgivings.
Time to make this deal swing his way. Time to take one of those risks he had become famous for. He needed buyers like Saskia Elwood to be interested and excited in this idea, not for himself but for his parents, who had taken a leap of faith. And for every one of the ten small businesses who trusted him with their future.
Rick strolled around the dining table in the sumptuous room towards the head of the table and caught Angie’s eye with a quick nod. She instantly slipped out of the room and returned a few minutes later with two silver ice buckets and gently placed them onto silver platters on the fine polished wood table.
‘Why don’t I let the wine do the talking for me?’ Rick smiled and nodded towards the slim wine bottles poking their heads out of the ice buckets. ‘Angie tells me that the sample cases are on their way here now, Saskia, but I thought you might like to try something special. A late harvest dessert wine from a single estate in Alsace which is turning out to be one of my favourite discoveries. Are you willing to give it a try?’
‘Of course,’ Saskia replied, slightly irritated that he thought it appropriate to choose the wine for her. But, as Angie went round the table, pouring the golden liquid into tiny green-tinted glasses, the genuine smiles of appreciation from the men and women in the Burgess sales team as they inhaled the aroma of the wine knocked her sideways.
They might be young but everyone around her table had one thing in common; a real and genuine passion for wine. But did that include the man himself? Her rescuer in denims and the leader of this merry band. Rick Burgess?
Rick sat back down and smiled in encouragement as Angie started a conversation about the Burgundy harvest at the other end of the table while they enjoyed the wine.
Saskia raised the glass of dessert wine to her nose, twirled the glass and inhaled the aroma, which made her eyes flutter in delight and astonishment. Then she sipped the wine ever so slowly.
It was rose petals, musk, vanilla and deep, warm spice. And on the tongue? An explosion of flavour and tingling acidity.
Saskia instantly put down her glass and reached for the bottle to read the label on the wine bottle. Twenty years old. Rare, exclusive and made by a tiny vineyard she had never heard of in Alsace. It was absolutely delicious. Unique. Expensive. But amazing.
It was so good that this wine could easily have come from the cellars of Elwood Brothers. Her mother and aunt’s family had been one of the oldest and most respected wine merchants in Britain, with traditions that went back hundreds of years. The Elwoods were famous around the world for having the finest collection of prestige wines and for employing the leading experts in their field.
Their reputation for quality and excellence had been built up over centuries. It had seemed like the end of a familiar institution when Elwood Brothers finally closed their doors a couple of years ago when the last of the brothers had decided to retire.
It was a shame that she couldn’t borrow some of that reputation for excellence to attract more clients to use Elwood House for their board meetings and private dining, combined, of course, with modern technology. The old and the new. The traditional and the modern.
But that was impossible now… Wasn’t it?
Saskia felt that familiar prickle of the hairs on the back of her neck as an outrageous and exciting idea gathered shape. Elwood House already had the kudos that came with the name. It would need a lot of investment, but what if she could build up the wine list into one of the finest in London? The best of the old wines and the best of the new.
Perhaps Rick Burgess did have something to offer her after all?
‘I am interested to hear your opinion about the wine,’ Rick said as he raised his glass towards her. Those grey eyes seemed to almost twinkle as he turned his charm offensive to maximum power. ‘I would be a happy man if I can persuade Saskia Elwood to serve my wines to her discriminating and expert guests here in Elwood House. So, tell me. Do I leave here a happy man? Or not?’
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_2e9fb75c-ceea-5be6-aef5-1e767c920b01)
Must-Do list
• Thank the wine merchant for any free wine they bring. Kate and Amber will be very grateful for the bottles. No promises to buy any, of course.
• Canapés. People in the wine trade can eat! Use the sales team as guinea pigs for a couple of new savouries which might work for the Christmas parties. Let them come up with the wine to match—could be interesting.
• Do not let this new wine merchant leave without a few of the lovely brochures that Sam worked on. Who knows? Word of mouth recommendation is always the best. They might have some flash customers in need of a private meeting venue.
BY THE TIME the Burgess Wine sales meeting finally closed, the grey September morning had turned into a bright sunny day. In the light breeze it was still warm enough for the conservatory doors to stay open, and Saskia looked out towards the sales team, who she had invited to finish their coffee on the patio.
The golden coloured flagstones had absorbed the sun and warmed the terrace, creating a welcoming enclosed private garden. Brightly painted Mediterranean-style flowerpots created a soft barrier between the hard stone floor and the exuberant English flower borders and old stone wall covered with fragrant climbing roses and honeysuckle.
This was exactly how she had imagined it would look that cold January when her Aunt Margot had died suddenly, just when she seemed to be recovering from the strokes which had made her life so difficult. Little wonder that these experts in the wine trade were in no hurry to dash out into the rush-hour traffic and fight their way home in this busy part of London.
Saskia glanced quickly over her shoulder towards the table where Rick Burgess and his personal assistant Angie were huddled around a laptop computer.
The strength in Rick’s shoulders and back contrasted so fiercely with his long slender fingers. His neck was a twisted rope of sinew as though he was barely holding in a volcano of suppressed energy and power.
This was the man who had effortlessly lifted a planter that morning as though it was weightless.
She had felt such an idiot when Angie had arrived and her knight in denim and a leather jacket had turned out to be the client that she had been waiting for.
It had so totally floored her that she had felt off balance for most of the morning. Not that she would ever let him know that, of course.
The company directors she met did not usually turn up to meetings wearing clothes more suited to a motorcycle rally. In fact she wouldn’t be surprised in the least if there was some huge, hulking two-wheeled machine parked around the corner at that minute, waiting for him to leap on and roar away.
Combine that with tousled dark curly hair and designer stubble.
Rick Burgess was certainly a company director with a difference.
She watched him stand and share a laugh with Angie as they gathered up their papers and, just for a fraction of a second, she wondered what it would be like to be on the receiving end of the full-on charm of that power smile that beamed out of a rugged, handsome face.
She knew that she had never been the pretty one, or super-creative or musically talented like her best friends Kate and Amber. But it would be nice now and again to have a handsome man really look at her as a woman and like what he saw. Instead of asking where the toilets were and could he have more coffee.
Her beautiful mother Chantal had often said that Saskia had skipped a generation and would be much happier back in rural France on the vineyard where her own mother had been brought up, instead of living the high life of a city girl.
And she was right in so many ways.
Her mother could never understand why the teenage Saskia had begged to spend the school holidays working at the auberge with her extended French family instead of sitting on some tropical beach with her mother and her friends, while her father stayed in his room and worked on some financial deal or other.
Of course that was when her grandparents were alive and her parents were still together. When her father left them everything changed.
Suddenly her practical skills were useful and Saskia became the girl who made sure that there was food in the refrigerator and the bills were paid as her mother struggled to come to terms with what had happened and failed. Saskia had never once missed school or turned up without a clean uniform and brushed hair. When her mother’s world imploded she had become the dependable one who made sure things happened.
The girl who would always help you out at the last minute.
Not done your homework? Ask Saskia to help. All you had to do was pretend to be her friend, just long enough to get what you wanted.
It had been a long apprenticeship forged from hard times, but, like it or not, fifteen years of training and hard work in the hotel and food trade had brought her to this point. She should be happy, ecstatic really, but all this was hers and she had made the business feasible on her own.
Not that there was any choice. Without Elwood House, she would be working for someone else. She couldn’t go back to that. Not ever.
Not after she had promised her aunt that she would take care of the house and make all of their great plans a reality.
It was worth the exhaustion and never-ending strive for excellence.
As the Burgess sales team moved into the hall, Saskia pressed her fingertips hard against the fine marble surface of the console table and took a deep breath before lifting her chin and personally thanking each of them in turn as they left the building, discreetly counting to make sure that no one had got locked in the washroom or had decided to take an unsupervised tour of the bedrooms upstairs.
She sensed rather than heard someone coming up to speak to her and she spun around. ‘Miss Elwood. Could you spare a moment?’
Up close and personal, Rick Burgess was just as physically impressive standing in her hallway as he had been on the pavement that morning. Even after two hours of what had been sometimes intense discussions, back and forth across the table, the intelligence in his grey eyes sparkled with life and vigour against a tanned face which had never seen a tanning salon.
‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘How can I help, Mr Burgess?’
‘Oh, please call me Rick,’ he replied and stretched out his hand to shake Saskia’s. ‘I just wanted to say a huge thank you for agreeing to see us today. We appreciate your time and your warm welcome into your lovely home.’
‘I am delighted that you enjoyed it.’ She sucked in a breath when he released his grip, which was a lot firmer than she was used to. As in finger-crushing firmer. ‘If you should ever need a venue for a business meeting, I do hope that you will consider Elwood House.’
‘A business meeting?’ His eyebrows rose and, as he returned her smile, the deep tan lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes creased into sharp falls. ‘Sure. My project team will need to get together every few weeks during pre-launch. Angie will get in contact. Although I do have one request before I take off.’
His hands pushed into the pockets of his denims. ‘Prepare to be shocked. I am about to declare a terrible failing.’
‘A failing?’ Saskia replied, trying not to smile. ‘Surely not.’
Rick sighed out loud and raised both hands in the air. ‘I can understand that such a thing is hard to believe but here it is.’ He paused for dramatic effect and stepped just a little closer than she was comfortable with. ‘I’m not known for my patience. There were a couple of times during the presentation that I picked up some sense that you might be interested in buying from me. Am I right?’
‘Ah. Well, now it is my turn for confession,’ Saskia replied, her gazed locked onto his face. ‘I try not to make snap decisions when it comes to spending my money. My late aunt, Margot Elwood, taught me that loyalty to a supplier means a very great deal. I am therefore rather cautious about who I give my loyalty to, and one bottle of wine is no guarantee that the others will be of the same quality.’
‘Loyalty. I like that idea.’
Rick glanced over Saskia’s shoulder. ‘How about I give my future loyal customer a hand and carry that box of sample bottles down to her wine cellar? Who knows? I might pick up a few tips from an Elwood.’
‘My wine cellar?’ Saskia repeated. ‘I’m very flattered—’ she smiled ‘—thank you, but I am sure it would be boring compared to the wonderful wines you have in your stockrooms. And I am quite capable of carrying a few bottles down a corridor.’
Saskia straightened and kept her smile firmly fixed as she gazed past Rick Burgess towards the front door. ‘I wouldn’t want to keep your team waiting.’
Rick replied by tilting his head. ‘They’re already heading back to the office. So you see, Miss Elwood, I’m all yours. Now. Where do you want me to put this box?’
‘I store the specialist wine and ports in the basement. Oh, and please mind your head. These old cellars were built for shorter people.’
Rick followed Saskia down the narrow stone steps that led from her modern stainless steel kitchen down into the brick and stone storeroom and cellar that ran almost the full length of the house. He carefully lowered the large cardboard box of wine onto a sturdy old wooden table before following her into the cellar.
Saskia flicked on the lighting system and started her tour with the classic red wines she had bought for the coming autumn and winter season before moving on to the older and more prestigious wines. Racks and racks of bottles were laid out on their sides in purpose-built curved trays, label up, creating a superb display.
Rick peered politely at each of the winemakers and vintages with only a quick nod to indicate that he was only vaguely interested in what he was looking at.
It was not just annoying, it was unsettling!
She was just about to turn back when Rick pointed towards the cabinet where she stored her most precious white wines, most of which she had inherited from her aunt.
‘I recognise that wine, it’s one of my father’s favourites.’
‘Then we have something in common.’ She smiled. ‘It’s one of my favourites too. It also happens to be made at the vineyard once owned by my Elwood grandparents. Yes, that’s right. This is my family wine.’
‘Ah—’ Rick chuckled ‘—you see. I was right—I have learnt something new. Although it does make me wonder why you don’t promote your connection to the famous Elwood family more on your website. That is a remarkable heritage to be proud of.’
She replied by smiling and shaking her head. ‘There is a very good reason for that. I might be an Elwood but I have never been a wine merchant and I wouldn’t want anyone coming here under false pretences.’
Rick strolled up, pressed his shoulder snugly against hers and dropped his gaze onto a copy of a wine label that she was holding in her hand. His long wide mouth curved up into a smile that raised the temperature of the air in the cellar by several degrees. ‘I know about that.’ He chuckled. ‘Here I am, with a new career as a wine merchant and about to open a new wine store. Everything I know about the business I picked up from a lifetime living with a family who is obsessed with everything to do with wine.’
‘Aunt Margot may have been the last of the Elwood family but there was nothing that you could tell that lady about wine. I only wish I had her experience and knowledge.’
‘Exactly!’ Rick said in a voice bubbling with enthusiasm. ‘This is why I need to be totally honest with you about the real reason that I am here today.’
‘Real reason? What do you mean?’
His reply was to move closer, stretch out one long muscular arm to the stone wall behind her shoulder and lean forward so that their faces were only inches apart. Trapping her in the space between his body and the wine racks, which were pressing into her back.
Any closer and she would be on intimate terms with his shirt buttons.
She could hunch down and dive under his armpit if she had a mind to but this was her cellar, not his. And, damn him, but she was not the one who was going to have to move first. Even if he did smell of soft leather and fine wine underpinned by a faint citrus tang of some no doubt very expensive male grooming product designed to act as instant girl attractor.
And Lord, it was worth every penny he had spent.
His gaze scanned her face for several too long seconds before he whispered and stepped so close that she could almost feel the heat of his breath on her brow. ‘I think you are being far too modest, Saskia. From what I’ve seen today, the clients who come to Elwood House are lucky enough to have the very best and the excellent taste of the mistress of this fine house.’
The way Rick lingered on that last word sent shivers up her spine which she blinked away. Was he trying to flirt with her?
As for modest? What choice did she have? Her mother might have fled to Los Angeles, leaving her with her aunt, but it was her father who had truly ripped her heart out. She never mentioned him to anyone, not even Kate or Amber. She had even changed her surname the same week her mother had finally agreed to a divorce and went back to being Chantal Elwood again. But he was always there at the back of her mind. A constant itch that could never be scratched away. Reminding her to be careful and not take risks, no matter how tantalising they might appear.
Saskia lifted her chin slightly. She had to stay professional. Even if he was totally inside her comfort zone and oozing enough testosterone to make her forget her own name.
‘Just this.’ He breathed low and hoarse, his head tilted slightly to one side. ‘What would you say if I was prepared to sign a contract committing Rick Burgess Wines to hold a lunch meeting at least every week right here in Elwood House for the next two years?’
He paused and let the silence create the anticipation he was looking for.
‘What would I say?’ Saskia repeated, lifting her chin slightly sideways so that she could smile up into his face without straining her back. ‘I would say thank you very much and here is a piece of paper and a pen.’
‘I thought that you might. But there is a catch.’
‘Am I going to like it?’
‘Like it? I hope so. You see, my company specialises in exciting wine made by a whole new wave of brilliant new winemakers from right across Europe. I need customers like you to take a risk and invest in these wines. But one short presentation is not nearly long enough. So…’ his hips shifted slightly, just in case she had not noticed how tight his jeans were, stretched over his muscular thighs ‘… I was hoping that you might be available to have dinner with me this evening. It would give me a chance to tell you more about what I had to offer. If you were free.’
Free? She was free for dinner every evening.
Rick was smiling at now, but she could see the muscles in his lower arm move slightly as they adjusted to a shift in his position. Dark brown hair curled onto broad muscular shoulders. Sinewy neck and jaw. Beyond rugged, physical and potent.
Butterflies fluttered in the pit of her stomach under the intensity of that gaze and she had the sudden urge to toss her hair back, stick her chest out and flirt with him outrageously. His dark blue-grey eyes shone bright in the low light she used in the cellars to protect the wine. There was a certain slight unease around his lips as though he wanted to say something, reveal something, but thought better of it and held back.
What he had to offer? Oh, she had a pretty good idea. Dangerous.
Buying wine from him? Oh no. Fingers. Hot. Burnt.
Suddenly she felt a desperate urge to fill the silence with chatter.
‘Building a reputation for excellence takes time. I only opened up the house to guests a few months ago and I cannot afford to risk my reputation by serving any else but the best.’
‘Absolutely.’ He nodded. ‘This is why I think my business proposition might just solve both of our problems rather neatly. My wonderful wines. Your fine reputation. Perfect fit.’
She paused and licked her lips. ‘I don’t want to seem rude, but my clients expect the very best and it’s my job to make sure that they are not disappointed. But don’t worry, Angie has given me her contact details and has promised to be in touch about any future business meetings. I look forward to seeing you again at Elwood House.’
Saskia stretched out her hand towards Rick and he glanced at it for a second before moving back, chuckling and wrapping his fingers around hers.
‘People don’t usually turn me down,’ he whispered, stepping forward under the spotlight until he was far enough away for Saskia to see the fine white scar lines that ran up one side of his face. ‘I’m curious. Are you always so sceptical? What do you want to know? Ask me anything during our dinner this evening and I’ll promise that I will tell you the truth.’
Saskia was still reeling from his reply when Rick’s cellphone blared out a top ten music track and he glanced quickly at the caller ID, breaking the intensity of the moment.
‘You seem very confident that you have something that I might be interested in, Mr Burgess. Perhaps you could ask Angie to make an appointment for later in the week.’
‘Nope. Has to be tonight. I’ll pick you up at seven.’
Pick her up. Oh no. This was not a date. She had to take some control back!
‘I sometimes walk along the South Bank around half seven,’ she gushed before her brain had time to engage.
‘Got it. Later.’
Two fingers to the forehead in a quick salute and he turned on his heel and strolled away to the stairs as if he owned the place, leaving a Rick-sized space in her cellar.
He hadn’t waited for her answer.
The strange thing was; she couldn’t remember saying no.
Saskia peered at her reflection in the screen of her smartphone, wiggled her head from side to side several times and pushed several stands of hair behind her ear. Large ornate drop earrings in the shape of a leaf swung freely in the late sunshine, reflecting back the light from the finely worked Indian silver.
‘Thanks, Amber. Those earrings are just perfect. I love them. You are a genius when it comes to style. What’s that? Takes one to know one. Well, thank you, kind lady. And don’t forget to thank Kate for the loan of her jacket. The colours work so well together.’
She glanced quickly around the busy pavement to check that her quiet smirk had gone unseen. ‘Amber! Stop that. You are making me blush. Those earrings are staying on. This is not a hot date. I keep telling you. Business meeting. Stop laughing. Business! And no, I don’t want you to wait up for me. Cheek! Now go and be creative with the wedding plan. Talk to you later if you must. Later. Yes. Okay. I promise that I will have a nice time. Thank you. Yes.’
Saskia chuckled out loud and flipped her phone closed. Kate and Amber had just spent over an hour helping her come up with the perfect outfit but, she had to admit, her style consultants had pulled together a smart but casual look which created just the right impression.
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