off the radio.
“I did knock and I rang the bell.” He didn’t look apologetic as she finished drying her damp hands on the towel.
“I’ll get my bag.” She shot him a glance designed to quell the amusement that still sparked in his eyes.
He waited, his hands jammed into the front pockets of his jeans while she collected her things and checked she’d turned everything off. Satisfied she’d got everything she locked the back door behind them and they crunched along the gravel path that led around the side of the house to where he’d parked his car on the road.
“It’s a beautiful day today.” She stepped up into her seat and smoothed down the floaty cotton fabric of her sundress.
“You look very beautiful and summery too.”
Her cheeks warmed. “Thank you.” She couldn’t read his thoughts as he’d slipped on sunglasses ready for the drive to the vineyard, but the curve at the corner of his mouth told her he was still amused.
“I didn’t ask you what kind of car it was?” She settled back into her seat.
“It’s only a small hatchback. Nick didn’t use it all that much. You know how fond he was of cycling. He used to use his car mainly to take samples out to some of the wine merchants when he was on a sales trip.”
“Sounds ideal for me then.” The kind of car she’d choose for herself anyway. Maybe when she’d picked up enough knowledge about the business then she’d be able to do those trips to the wine merchants and stockists.
“Did you have a car on Tenerife?” Dominic asked.
She shook her head. “No, my apartment is, or rather was, in the centre of the resort so it was easy to walk to work and to the shops.”
“Will you miss your work out there?”
“I love the children, and of course the weather, but it was long hours and this bequest from Uncle Nick kind of came at a good time for me.” She focused her attention on the passing scenery.
“Do you have a lot of belongings out there to pack up and ship home?”
Lucy laughed. “No, it was a rented apartment which I shared with another children’s rep. I have some shoes and clothes, CD’s and books and that’s it really. I’d only been there for a couple of months. Before then I’d been in Cyprus, you soon learn not to accumulate tons of stuff when you’re always moving around.”
“Rolling stones gathering no moss kind of thing, huh?”
“I suppose.” She didn’t like to think too much about that. It concerned her sometimes that she might have inherited her parent’s wanderlust.
To her relief he didn’t ask anything else and before long they were pulling into the vineyard car park. A combination of sunshine and the weekend meant it was much busier than it had been the day before. Dominic pulled into his space and in the place reserved for Nick stood a small dark green hatchback with the vineyard logo painted on the doors and tailgate. Lucy was sure that it hadn’t been there yesterday.
Dominic opened her door for her to climb out. “What do you think?”
“It looks lovely.” She tried to ignore the heat from his touch as his hand held hers to help her down.
He released her and dug in his jeans pocket to pull out the key. “You’d better take it for a run and see if you feel okay with it. When did you last drive?”
“About a year ago.” She accepted the key from him. It might even have been longer than that. A wave of panic washed through her when she realised how long it had been since she’d driven.
“Do you want me to come with you for this first run?” He seemed to sense her uncertainty.
“If you like. Just so I can get the hang of driving again. I suppose it’s like riding a bike, you never really forget when you’ve learned.” She forced a smile. She was being stupid; of course she could drive this car.
Dominic appeared to fill the front passenger seat, his long legs were still bent under the dashboard, even with the seat pushed right the way back. Lucy inserted the key and
“I did knock and I rang the bell.” He didn’t look apologetic as she finished drying her damp hands on the towel.
“I’ll get my bag.” She shot him a glance designed to quell the amusement that still sparked in his eyes.
He waited, his hands jammed into the front pockets of his jeans while she collected her things and checked she’d turned everything off. Satisfied she’d got everything she locked the back door behind them and they crunched along the gravel path that led around the side of the house to where he’d parked his car on the road.
“It’s a beautiful day today.” She stepped up into her seat and smoothed down the floaty cotton fabric of her sundress.
“You look very beautiful and summery too.”
Her cheeks warmed. “Thank you.” She couldn’t read his thoughts as he’d slipped on sunglasses ready for the drive to the vineyard, but the curve at the corner of his mouth told her he was still amused.
“I didn’t ask you what kind of car it was?” She settled back into her seat.
“It’s only a small hatchback. Nick didn’t use it all that much. You know how fond he was of cycling. He used to use his car mainly to take samples out to some of the wine merchants when he was on a sales trip.”
“Sounds ideal for me then.” The kind of car she’d choose for herself anyway. Maybe when she’d picked up enough knowledge about the business then she’d be able to do those trips to the wine merchants and stockists.
“Did you have a car on Tenerife?” Dominic asked.
She shook her head. “No, my apartment is, or rather was, in the centre of the resort so it was easy to walk to work and to the shops.”
“Will you miss your work out there?”
“I love the children, and of course the weather, but it was long hours and this bequest from Uncle Nick kind of came at a good time for me.” She focused her attention on the passing scenery.
“Do you have a lot of belongings out there to pack up and ship home?”
Lucy laughed. “No, it was a rented apartment which I shared with another children’s rep. I have some shoes and clothes, CD’s and books and that’s it really. I’d only been there for a couple of months. Before then I’d been in Cyprus, you soon learn not to accumulate tons of stuff when you’re always moving around.”
“Rolling stones gathering no moss kind of thing, huh?”
“I suppose.” She didn’t like to think too much about that. It concerned her sometimes that she might have inherited her parent’s wanderlust.
To her relief he didn’t ask anything else and before long they were pulling into the vineyard car park. A combination of sunshine and the weekend meant it was much busier than it had been the day before. Dominic pulled into his space and in the place reserved for Nick stood a small dark green hatchback with the vineyard logo painted on the doors and tailgate. Lucy was sure that it hadn’t been there yesterday.
Dominic opened her door for her to climb out. “What do you think?”
“It looks lovely.” She tried to ignore the heat from his touch as his hand held hers to help her down.
He released her and dug in his jeans pocket to pull out the key. “You’d better take it for a run and see if you feel okay with it. When did you last drive?”
“About a year ago.” She accepted the key from him. It might even have been longer than that. A wave of panic washed through her when she realised how long it had been since she’d driven.
“Do you want me to come with you for this first run?” He seemed to sense her uncertainty.
“If you like. Just so I can get the hang of driving again. I suppose it’s like riding a bike, you never really forget when you’ve learned.” She forced a smile. She was being stupid; of course she could drive this car.
Dominic appeared to fill the front passenger seat, his long legs were still bent under the dashboard, even with the seat pushed right the way back. Lucy inserted the key and
Similar Books
