The Vineyards Of Calanetti. Rebecca Winters
supposed to be touring Monte Calanetti to get ideas for the wedding pitch. If they were going to sell the royal couple on this location for the wedding, she needed to know as much about it as possible. And of what she’d seen so far, she loved it. This village and its occupants would give the wedding an old-world feel with lots of heart.
The villagers sent puzzled glances their way as though they should know who Angelo was but couldn’t quite place his face. And then there were a few people that ventured to ask if he was indeed Angelo. When he confirmed their suspicions, he wasn’t greeted with a simple hello or a mere handshake; instead, he was yanked into warm hugs. She could see the frown lines etched on his face, but to his credit he didn’t complain. There were even a few tears of happiness from the older women who remembered him when he was just a young boy.
Angelo took her hand in his as though it were natural for them. Kayla liked feeling connected to him—feeling his long fingers wrapped around hers.
“I’m sorry about that.” Angelo started walking again. “I didn’t expect anyone to remember me.”
“You must have spent a lot of time in the village as a kid.”
“I did. It was my escape from the monotony of working around the vineyard.” His jaw tensed and a muscle twitched.
“I take it that’s why you let your brother have the run of Calanetti Vineyards?”
He nodded. “Nico is as passionate about the winery as I am with advertising. How about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Kayla shook her head. “My parents wanted more children, but that didn’t work out. So with me being an only child, they heaped all of their hopes and dreams onto me.”
“Hmm...sounds a bit daunting for one person.”
“It is. That’s why I had to leave Paradise.”
“Somehow I just can’t imagine life in Paradise could be such a hardship.”
She shrugged. “It’s great. The people are wonderful. It’s the perfect place to raise kids.”
“But you weren’t ready for kids?”
The thought of taking on that sort of responsibility still overwhelmed her. “I have to figure out me first and accomplish some things on my own before I can be there 24/7 for others. And my parents, as much as I love them, didn’t understand this.”
“They wanted you to graduate high school and settle down.”
She nodded. “They had it all planned out. I’d get married, have lots of kids and when the time came my husband and I would take over the family store.”
“Doesn’t sound so bad.”
“No. It isn’t. But I always had a dream of going to college and making a name for myself. I wanted to move to the city. I wanted to climb the corporate ladder. I wanted to—”
She bit off her last words. Heat rushed up her neck and warmed her face. She couldn’t believe that she’d gotten so comfortable around Angelo that she’d just rambled on about her dreams. For a moment, she’d forgotten that she was talking to her boss.
Not good, Kayla. Not good at all.
She freed her hand from his. It was time she started acting like his employee, not his girlfriend. The time had come to get back to reality.
Angelo stopped walking and turned to her. “What aren’t you saying? What do you want to do?”
“Um...nothing. It’s no big deal. Let’s keep going. I want to see the whole village.” She turned to start walking again.
Angelo reached out, catching her arm in his firm grip. “Not so fast.” She turned back, glancing up at his serious gaze. “Kayla, talk to me.” His hand fell away from her arm. “I’ve told you all sorts of things that I don’t normally share with people. I’d like to know what you were about to say and why you stopped. Surely by now you know that you can trust me.”
Could she trust him? She supposed it depended on the subject. With her safety—most definitely. With her dreams—perhaps. With her heart— Wait, where had that come from?
“Kayla, what is it?”
She wasn’t good at lying so that left her with the truth, but she didn’t know how Angelo would take it. “I came to New York because I wanted...er...I want to be an ad executive.”
His brows scrunched together. “And?”
She shrugged. “And that’s it.”
“That’s what you didn’t want to tell me?”
Her gaze moved to the cobblestone walkway. “It’s just that I got comfortable around you and forgot to watch what I was saying.”
“Oh, I see. Since I’m the boss, you feel like you have to screen what you say to me?”
She nodded.
“How about this? For the duration of this trip, I’m not your boss. We’re just business associates or how about friends? Would you like that?”
Her gaze met his and she found that he was being perfectly serious. “But what about when we return to New York?”
“Obviously things will have to change then, but for right now, I’d like to just be Angelo, not Mr. Amatucci. I’d forgotten what it’s like just to be me again.”
“And I like you calling me Kayla.” Her gaze met his. Within his eyes she found a comforting warmth. “Consider yourself a friend.”
He held out his hand to her. She accepted it. A shiver of excitement raced up her arm. They continued to stare deep into each other’s eyes, even though it was totally unnecessary. She knew she should turn away. She knew that it was the proper thing to do with her boss. But as he’d just pointed out they were friends—for now.
His voice grew deeper. “I couldn’t think of a better friend to have.”
Her heart fluttered in her chest. What had just happened?
Angelo turned and tucked her hand back in the crook of his arm. Why did it suddenly feel as though their relationship had just taken a detour? How would they ever find their way back to just being boss and employee now?
* * *
Monte Calanetti is a diamond in the rough.
Had that thought really just crossed his mind?
Before he’d left the hotel a few hours ago, he’d envisioned Monte Calanetti as he had when he was a child—suffocating with its traditional ways and its resistance to growth and to modernization. But somehow, with Kayla by his side, he’d seen the village from a different perspective—he’d seen it through her very beautiful, very observant eyes. With her passion and romantic tendencies, she might just be the key he needed to pull this wedding pitch together. But did he dare ask for her help?
Sure, she had talent. He’d witnessed it firsthand with the Van Holsen account. But did he trust her with a project that was so important to his family? After all, his brother and sister, not to mention the entire village, were counting on him to represent them properly to the royal couple. But how was he supposed to do that when he kept hitting one brick wall after the other?
They walked some more before Kayla turned to him. “Thank you for showing me your hometown. I love it.”
“Really?” He failed to keep the surprise from his voice.
“Of course I do. How could you not? Not only that but it has the most delicious aromas and it’s so peaceful.” Just then two scooters whizzed by them. “Okay, so it isn’t totally peaceful.”
“You’ll get used to them. Scooters are very popular around here.”
A couple more scooters zoomed down the road causing Kayla to step into the grass. She took