Read Online Seduce Me Sweetly (Heron's Landing Book 1) by Iris Morland - Free Book Online Page B

asked me about the vineyard, how it was doing. And then she told me she was working on a story about it.”
    Adam froze. Hadn’t she promised him she wouldn’t write a story without consulting him?
    Jaime continued, “I know how you are about journalists. I don’t agree with it, but I know that you’d want to know. I told her nothing that isn’t already known, but she seemed to imply that she could publish it within a week or two. Specifically, it would focus on the vineyard doing events again, to draw interest, she said.”
    There it is , Adam thought. That’s the reason behind it all. On the surface it may have seemed like a nice way to help River’s Bend, but he knew journalists enough to know that it was all about site hits and ad revenue. Plus, Adam hadn’t publicly announced anything about them doing events, and having someone unrelated to the vineyard driving the brand? It was, in a word, infuriating.
    “I told her not to do anything without talking to me,” Adam finally ground out.
    “Look, I knew you wouldn’t be happy. But don’t jump to conclusions. She seems like a good person, and I think she genuinely wants to help.”
    “We don’t need her help. And she’s doing something expressly against what I asked.” Realizing he was taking out his anger on Jaime, Adam said in a level tone, “I’m not going to storm into her place right this second. But if she thinks she’s going to get away with it, she has another thing coming.”
    Jaime sighed, running his hands through his hair. “Just, think on it, okay? Don’t do anything fucking stupid. You’re already stressed and angry. I know it, we all know it.”
    Adam knew Jaime was speaking sense, but he wasn’t in the mood to hear it. Opening the truck door, he climbed inside, turning on the engine. “I’ll see you later, Jaime.”
    Jaime stepped out of the way of the truck, and Adam reversed and drove away with Jaime shaking his head in the rearview mirror.
    Driving home in his large truck, which was one of the few vehicles that could successfully drive on the muddy roads, Adam couldn’t stop shaking his head. Had that kiss meant nothing to Joy? He fumed and clenched the steering wheel, restraining himself from punching the horn. Did she not care that he’d asked her for basic consideration? Why was that so much to ask? So what if it seemed extreme? It was his business, his vineyard, and he had a right to control what was said about it.
    When he arrived home, he pressed his forehead to the steering wheel, breathing deeply. His logical side told him he was overreacting. He knew it. He knew he was being ridiculous. But the entire thing—stories and journalists and using others for their own gain—made his stomach twist and his head throb. Memories of reporters banging on his door, seeing headlines splashed across the Internet, forced him to close his eyes.
    Adam hadn’t always been against journalists. In fact, he’d supported them as much as anyone else, agreeing that the best ones were doing a civil service in uncovering the truth. Some were hacks working for an easy buck, but others placed themselves in danger for stories that needed to be told. Otherwise, they didn’t factor into his life, any more than any other profession.
    Until Carolyn. Carolyn Danvers, nee Young, had been a famous rich girl of the Young family, which owned a department store chain spread across the United States. She’d made a name for herself in her charity works, walking the biggest red carpets and becoming a household name. Along with her charity efforts, she cemented her fashion icon status quickly, wearing designers that Adam had never heard of and couldn’t name to this day. How would he know who Alexander McQueen or Monique Lhuillier were?
    But all of that ended when Carolyn had died in a car accident not far from their home three years ago, her car hitting a tree and killing her upon impact.
    Inside his house—their house—he stared at their wedding photo.