Page 58 of A Vineyard for Two

Behind her, the door opened, and Brookes was grabbing her by the arm, pulling her down the veranda steps and towards the cellar door where they had made love only the other day. He slammed the door shut and stared at her. His gaze had a cold and furious glare to it.

‘Boyfriend?’ The accusatory tone dug into her chest. ‘You don’t think that was a piece of information you should have mentioned the other night before we fucked on that bar?’ He pointed at it with disgust.

‘David is none of your business,’ Harper said.

‘I beg to differ.’

‘He’ll be gone by tonight.’

‘I doubt that very much. He’s already pumped himself a glass of Georgia’s brandy and if he’s staying for dinner, he will be in no state to drive anywhere. He’ll be camping out in your room.’

‘Grow up, Brookes.’

‘Me?’ He pointed a finger at himself. ‘I’m supposed to grow up?! Look at you, Miss Prim and Proper. You came back here; you fucked me like there was no tomorrow and all this time you had a boyfriend.’

She was fuming now, too. The audacity of him. That was one of the things that had driven her crazy — the jealousy and jumping to conclusions without having the entire story.

‘Ex-boyfriend,’ Harper said through gritted teeth. ‘Like you can talk, Lisa has been running after you like a lost puppy. What did you tell her, that you’d love her forever? Was that before or after you slept with her?’

‘I don’t profess my love just to anyone,’ he said. ‘Lisa and I are just friends, if that.’

‘Bullshit, not according to her.’

He shook his head. ‘What business is it of yours? You left, remember? Without a word, to say the least. What I do or don’t do is none of your business.’

‘Neither is my life.’

‘That’s different.’

‘Fuck you,’ Harper said.

‘Been there, done that.’

‘You’re reprehensible.’

‘Well, you didn’t seem to have a problem with that when you were begging for more.’

‘I have a problem with it now.’

He came towards her, grabbed her by the neck and kissed her hard, his tongue slipping between her lips, exploring her mouth as if there was deep hunger within him. The tingling in her stomach dropped lower to her pelvis immediately. She felt herself losing control of her body, of her senses, as his hands explored her back and held her close.

No, she couldn’t do this. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away.

‘Do you love him?’ Brookes asked.

She stared at him. ‘David is none of your business.’

‘Do you love him?’

‘No.’

‘Did you?’

‘No.’

She needed to get out of the room. The close proximity between them was making her uncomfortable in ways she didn’t want to think about. She wasn’t afraid of Brookes; she was afraid of what she might do if they were in the room together much longer. Her body ached for him, but she had to use her head. She needed to be logical about this. They didn’t have a future. Their relationship was in the past, no matter how much her body craved his. A relationship couldn’t just be physical, it needed much more than that.

‘When was it over?’ Brookes asked, his tone lighter, the anger slowly dissipating.