Tease (Cloverleigh Farms #8)(42)

“Okay.” He leaned over and squeezed my foot under the blankets. “The housekeeper will be here in about an hour. I texted her that I had a guest staying with me, so she wouldn’t be caught off guard by the naked girl in my bed.”

I laughed. “Thanks, but I’m getting up in a minute here. I need to go into work.”

“Isn’t the restaurant closed Mondays?”

“Yes, but I have to check in with Gianni—I want to go over details for tomorrow night’s proposal and ask him about getting Wednesday or Thursday off. After that, I was thinking of making a few dishes and taking some photos in your kitchen. Will you be around for dinner?”

“You’re cooking? Fuck yes.”

“Great.” I smiled. “Say hi to the Prancin’ Grannies for me. Will they be heartbroken about your engagement?”

“Probably. But maybe they’ll stop bugging me about their granddaughters now.”

“Good luck.”

He waved, and I watched him head out, recalling his firm, muscular body on mine last night. I’d been right about his physique—there had been ridges and lines aplenty. But it wasn’t just the way he looked. The guy could move. Not just his hips, but his arms, his hands, his mouth.

That tongue.

My core muscles clenched, and I closed my eyes. Warmth billowed beneath my skin, sending a tingle from my spine to the ends of my fingers and toes.

I couldn’t wait for our next practice session.





I got dressed, packed up my laptop, and headed over to Abelard Vineyards. When I arrived, I headed for the lobby, waved at the front desk staff, and knocked on Winnie’s office door.

At her desk, she looked up and smiled. “Good morning, future Mrs. French.”

I grinned. “Morning. You busy?”

“Not too bad. Come on in.” She gestured to the chairs opposite her desk. “What’s up? You’re not working today, are you?”

“Not officially.” Etoile was always closed on Mondays. “But I need to check with Gianni on a couple things for this week.” I couldn’t tell her about the proposal—Winnie was horrible at keeping secrets, and Ellie was her best friend. Gianni had made me promise to keep the plan from my sister.

“Like taking some days off to go to New York on a shopping spree with your billionaire boyfriend?”

“It’s not a shopping spree,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We’re just picking up the ring.”

“Where will you stay?” She picked up her coffee cup with her pinky extended. “The Ritz? The Carlyle? The Pierre?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. Then I couldn’t resist adding. “But we’re chartering a private jet to fly there.”

Her jaw dropped. “Stop it! Aren’t you high-falutin’?”

“Listen, Hutton works hard. He’s earned the right to falute a little.”

“I agree one hundred percent, and I look forward to faluting vicariously through you. But hey, if you stay at The Pierre, steal one of the bathroom robes for me. They’re glorious.”

Laughing, I shook my head. “I will not be stealing any bathrobes. Anyway, I wanted to make sure you can still help out in the Etoile booth tomorrow night.”

“Yes. I’ll be there. Six, right?”

“Perfect. The second thing is, I wondered if you might help me sift through some of these messages I’m getting from companies wanting to collaborate with me.” I set my phone on her desk and shrank back, like it was emitting an offensive odor. “My follower count and inbox have gone bananas, I have no idea if any of these people are legit, and it feels kind of icky that all I did was get engaged to Hutton and now I’m insanely popular.”

“I’d be glad to help you.” She sat back in her chair and studied me thoughtfully. “But you don’t have to say yes to any of them if you don’t want to.”

“Half the companies reaching out to me have nothing to do with food. It’s like clothes or cosmetics or hair products. Can you imagine? Me, recommending hair products? I’m even fielding requests regarding my wedding day. Someone wants to send me a case of self-tanner!”

She laughed. “So say no.”

“But is that stupid? What if it helps my business? I won’t get a book deal without a platform.”

“I get that. But ideally, you want to build an audience of people who would be interested in what you do, what you say, and who’d eventually buy your book. Recommending a self-tanner might earn you a little extra cash, but it probably won’t build your audience. A better use of your time would probably be concentrating on putting out more content. And it’s not like you need the extra cash for rent anymore.”

I squirmed in my chair. “Right. I am going to put out more content.”

“Good. So if it doesn’t feel right to say yes to those offers, don’t. But of course I can help you sort through it all.”

“Thanks. I’m going to head over to see Gianni and then I’ll be back.” I left Winnie’s office and headed for Etoile’s kitchen, where I found Gianni going over inventory.

“Morning,” I said.

“Morning.” He nodded toward the coffee machine. “Coffee’s hot if you want some.”