Paradise Tempted: The Beginning (Paradise Stories) Read Online Free

blush of pink crawled up her neck and cheeks, and I wanted to trace the starting line then capture the finish with my mouth on that peachy skin. My concentration on her was broken as the cart moved with a jolt. We crept forward, heading down a dusty trail that led deep into the lush green vineyards.
    We were silent as the cart bumped and jostled over uneven ground. Vines zoomed past us as we sped down the long lane. She suddenly turned at the end of a row and before us was a small fenced in bush. Outside the wrought iron sat an aged man. Skin worn by sunshine, hair white as cotton, small trim beard to match, and the deepest dark eyes I’d ever seen. He smiled like sunshine when he saw Sofie, and then he looked at me.
    I saw the flinch in his cheek bones and the twitch of the wrinkles by his eyes. I wasn’t sure if he recognized me, but as keeper of the inn, he was most likely fully aware of whom I was as a guest. He didn’t falter in his smile, despite the hard press to keep it firm. He kissed Sofie on each cheek, shaky hands cupping her upper arms before his eyes shifted to me again.
    “I brought you lunch, Papa,” she spoke brightly and his gaze returned to her.
    “Sit,” he said, pointing to a small wooden folding chair and a small round table. She looked over her shoulder at me, then back at the elder man.
    “I can’t today, Papa.  Too much school work.” She smiled at him and he nodded once.
    “May I introduce my new friend, one of our guests? Cain…” she paused. She didn’t know my last name. How had we gotten married without exchanging last names? I reminded myself that the foggy memory of one of the divorcee women standing like a centurion, reading off wedding vows, was all part of our façade.
    “Cain Callahan, sir,” I said, extending a thick hand. I wouldn’t have guessed it, but the strength in his return shake told me everything. If I messed with the girl, if I broke her, he’d kill me, regardless of his age. I wasn’t a man to easily cower. My first response was to laugh and blow off his threat, until I slowly decided he was quite serious. He had the power to destroy me.
    “I’m going to take Cain on a tour,” she spoke and the older gentleman released my hand. He nodded again, spoke to her in some language I did not recognize, and ended with a soft bella.
    She smiled, glanced over at me again, then turned back to her grandfather. Kissing each of his cheeks this time, she turned to walk away from him. I had no choice, but to follow her.
     

I didn’t know why I let him tag along. I asked the cook to make me a simple lunch. I planned to escape to my favorite place on the property; a hidden river ran on the very edge of our land. I had hoped to spend some time drowning in cool water, fresh air, and more reading of the human anatomy. When we returned to the cart, I was ready to take him back to the villa, but the look in his dark eyes, while hard and cold, spoke to me. He didn’t seem like he could be left alone with himself.
    I turned the key and didn’t even ask him if he wanted to join me. I simply drove to my private paradise. A small collection of trees secluded the area. The strange clump, that seemed to have grown up out of nowhere, made for a peaceful reprieve from the straight lines of the vineyard and the heat of the Napa Valley sunshine.
    “What’s this?” he asked when I stopped abruptly.
    “Eden,” I mumbled as I exited my side of the cart and reached in the back for the brown sack and my backpack.  He followed me and I spread the double sized sheet I had rolled in the bottom of my bag.
    “A picnic?” he questioned. His eyes watched me flip the sheet in the air one final time before kicking off my flip flops and kneeling on it.
    “Lunch,” I said. “I can share.” I pulled from the bag clumps of grapes, a baguette sandwich cut in half, and a glass bottle of water. Cain lay on his side and stared at me, as I worked to break the grapes apart and placed half the