Pure Seduction by Frank, Ella (first ebook reader .txt) 📕

When I entered the room, I found her standing over by the large wall of windows that looked out over the deck and vineyard. She didn’t acknowledge me, which could be due to one of two reasons: she didn’t hear me or she just didn’t want to. But when I finally came to a stop beside her, she turned my way.

“Hi.”

It wasn’t the Hi, I’ve been dying to speak to you all day greeting I’d been hoping for, but it was better than nothing. “Hi yourself. You’ve been busy today.”

“Yes. I’ve been running through some of the events the winery usually attends throughout the year and trying to decide which ones I think we should still make an appearance at. I’ll bring you the final list, of course, and if there’s any—”

“Laurel,” I said. She licked her lips, and I couldn’t help but remember the way they’d tasted the night before. “That’s fine, I trust you, and whatever you think will help improve the sales and marketing, let’s do it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” When that same uncomfortable silence from the end of last night reappeared, I moved in a step closer and asked, “Are you okay?”

Laurel brushed at a piece of imaginary lint on her sleeve. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“No reason. I just wanted to make sure because I thought we had a good time last night.”

She raised her eyes to mine, and for a second I thought I caught a hint of longing there, until she turned back to face the window, crossing her arms over her chest. A barrier if ever I’d seen one.

“Look, if I did something to upset you or hurt you at any point—”

“You didn’t.”

The two words were clipped and made me frown. “Then what’s wrong? Did something happen after you left? Are you okay?”

Laurel closed her eyes for a moment, took in a deep breath, and slowly let it out, then looked my way.

“I’m fine, and last night was wonderful. Really.”

I reached for her elbow, and when I touched her, the pulse at the base of her throat began to flutter. “Then let’s do it again.”

“Noah…”

“There’s no reason it has to be a one-off. You had a good time. And I definitely did. So why can’t we do it again?”

“It’s more complicated than that.”

“Why? Because the town knows we used to date? Who cares? They’ll probably be happy about it.”

Laurel was about to respond when something outside caught her eye. We turned in time to see Ryan and—oh great—that jackass from yesterday’s baseball game who’d wanted to lob a ball right between my eyes.

I looked back to Laurel, about to continue with the conversation, but I noticed the rapt way she was staring at the young guy outside. The same guy who seemed shocked that first day he’d seen the two of us in the wine cellar together.

Huh. Was he the reason for Laurel’s hesitation now? Maybe he was an ex. Sure, he was a little young, but Laurel was hot. Any guy with a pulse would look twice, age be damned.

“Is he the reason you didn’t want to go out with me? Why you won’t go out with me again?”

When Laurel shut her eyes and rubbed at her arms, I knew I had my answer. He was the reason—whoever he was.

“Is he your ex?”

Laurel’s eyes flew open and her head whipped around until we were face to face. “My what?”

“Your ex-boyfriend?”

The shock on her face would almost be comical if I hadn’t been so pissed off that some guy was influencing her decisions. But as it was, I was too irritated to be amused.

“No.” She shook her head. “I mean, it is because of him. But he’s not my ex.”

“I’m confused, then.” I looked back out the window to where the guy was now trailing Ryan back to the production facility with a toolbox. “Who is he?”

Everything went quiet then, so quiet you could’ve heard a pin drop. But it wasn’t a pin that was dropped at my feet. It was a nuclear fucking bomb.

“He’s my son.”

30

Laurel

FOR YEARS I’D dreaded this exact moment right here. Where the only two men I’d ever loved in my life found out what a fraud I was.

I’d always known it would come. The day when anger, hurt, and confusion stared me down. But I’d never quite prepared myself for the pain that would follow, the pain I felt now watching Noah back away from me, his walls rising as he studied me as though he’d never seen me before in his life.

My heart ached and my stomach churned, but I fought the urge to go after him and explain. There was someone more pressing than Noah in my life these days, and he was whom I needed to see to first.

I turned back to the window and noticed that Jake was no longer with Ryan. Damn it. So I pulled open the sliding door and made my way across the back deck.

I really needed to talk to Jake. The way we’d left things last night, the way he’d left period, was not going to work for me. I’d always had an open line of communication with him, and that wasn’t about to stop now just because this particular topic wouldn’t shine well on me.

Jake had a right to know the answers to the questions he was finally asking, and I needed to be brave enough to tell him the truth, no matter the consequences. This was no longer about me or my feelings, it was about his, and I wasn’t about to let another second pass without talking to him.

“Hey, Ryan?” I called out, not wanting to startle him where he was bent over the fence he was fixing.

He straightened up and shaded his eyes, looking in my direction. “Oh, hey, Laurel. What’s up? You leaving for the day?”

I glanced over his shoulder to see if I could spot Jake, but when I came up blank, I shook my head. “No,