Lori Wilde - Intoxicating

Taste, she commanded, pushing the glass wine of toward him.

Tension pulled taut in Wyatts gut. He picked up the glass.

Bouquet? she asked bluntly.

Okay, if that was the way it was going to be, he could handle a little rough and tumble. He nailed her with his gaze and they stepped into a silent, motionless waltz.

Supple, Wyatt replied.

What else? Her pupils narrowed.

Complex.

And, she nudged.

He half expected her to poke him with one of those long, slender fingers. Good God, shes magnificent.

Well? She was a pushy one.

Surprising, Wyatt said, but he was not speaking of the wine.

Impertinent, she said.

The wine?

You.

Now whos being impertinent?

Her cheeks reddened with effrontery.

Finally. Hed rattled her. Setting his glass on the table, he stalked toward her. Wine wouldnt be the only thing hed be tasting this evening.

Dear Reader,

A couple of years ago I made my first trip to Napa Valley and I was immediately captivated by the craft of winemaking. Its such a sexy, romantic endeavor, more art than science, although modern technology has made the production of high-quality wines more consistent. At its heart, the growing and nurturing of grapes is a true labor of love.

But its not just winemaking thats so romantic. Its the lush rolling hills and the misty foggy mornings. The soft silence combined with the profound earthiness of the land; the oaken smell of aging barrels, the warmth of the noonday sun burning off the dew, the cozy darkness of wine cellars. Vineyards are fertile with life. Throw in a legend about lovers in such an idyllic place and you have the makings of a red-hot story.

So come along on the journey as corporate raider Wyatt DeSalme plays undercover spy at Bella Notte vineyards, only to discover that scientist Kiara Romano is going to change him in ways that this die-hard charmer never believed possible.

I hope you enjoy Wyatt and Kiaras story, and do check out the other great books on the shelf this month from Harlequin Blaze! Ciao for now.

Happy reading,

Lori Wilde

Lori Wilde

INTOXICATING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lori Wilde is the author of forty books. Shes been nominated for a RITA Award and four RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Awards. Her books have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan, Redbook and Quick & Simple. Lori teaches writing online through Ed2go. Shes also an RN trained in forensics, and she volunteers at a womens shelter. Visit her website at www.loriwilde.com.

Books by Lori Wilde

HARLEQUIN BLAZE

30A TOUCH OF SILK

66A THRILL TO REMEMBER

106PACKED WITH PLEASURE

123AS YOU LIKE IT

152GOTTA HAVE IT

175SHOCKINGLY SENSUAL

230ANGELS AND OUTLAWS

260DESTINYS HAND

346MY SECRET LIFE

399CROSSING THE LINE

411SECRET SEDUCTION

423LETHAL EXPOSURE

463THE RIGHT STUFF

506ZERO CONTROL

518HIS FINAL SEDUCTION

561SWEET SURRENDER

To Michael Lee West,
who showed me the magic of list-making.

Contents

Amabile: In Italian loveable.
Used to indicate a sweet wine.

AT DAWN ON the first day of June, Wyatt DeSalme stood on the bow of the ferry watching the mist-shrouded island that lay just off the coast of northern California slide into view.

The churning engines vibrated up through the deck floor and he tasted salty sea air. Seagulls chattered like gossiping biddies and the excited voices of the young men and women surrounding him, nursing their gourmet coffees and noshing on free pastries, grew in tone and tempo as the mist parted.

Suddenly, the jagged, double-barrelled bluff known as Twin Hearts jutted straight up from the middle of the island, glistening in the jubilant glow of morning light.

This was it. His destination.

The strangest feeling passed over him, a feeling that said, If you do this, youll never be the same.

An uneasy knot settled in the pit of his stomach.

I dont wanna go.

How come? Normally, he loved role-playing. Secret agent man had been his favorite game as a kid, not cowboys and Indians like this brothers. Why the sudden impulse to stay rooted on the boat while everyone else disembarked?

Whats the matter? Chicken?

The taunt came from the back of his mind, but it was the voice of his oldest brother, Scott, issuing the chanting dare from childhood along with an excess of poultry noises; a dare Wyatt had never been able to resist. It was why hed broken a collarbone climbing a quince tree when he was ten, and why hed fallen through the ice on a barely frozen pond when theyd visited their maternal grandparents in Kansas one Christmas. The taunts, dares, bets and challenges had gone a long way toward forming his character. Always eager to prove himself to his older brothers, he had turned into a bold adventurer. Now here he was at thirty-one still trying to win their approval.

As a disguise, he wore dark-framed, non-prescription lenses and two days growth of prickly beard. Over the past few months hed let his hair grow out, getting ready for this covert game, and it curled in waves to his collar. He hadnt worn his hair this long since college and an errant strand kept flopping across his brow whenever he tilted his head forward.

He had on blue jeans with a hole in one knee, a gray knit cap and a gray hooded sweatshirt emblazoned with the Berkeley University logo, a school he had not attended, but wished he had. Hed gone instead to Princeton, as was family tradition, and had dropped out in his sophomore year. His sneakerspurchased at a thrift shopboasted broken shoelaces and thin treads. His watch, also from the thrift store, was a cheap drugstore brand. Hed left the Rolex at his condo in Athens. No belt. No socks.

His goal? Downplay his looks. Make himself as nondescript as possible. Fit in with the opposite of his customary behavior. Normally, Wyatt adored wearing a tux to high-society parties, driving his Lamborghini on the autobahn, gambling in Monte Carlo and generally being the center of attention.

The dodge seemed to be working. Hed been on the boat for over an hour and not a single one of the hot coeds on board had shot him a second glance. Which was both reassuring and a bit of an ego-crusher.

So, said one of those gorgeous coeds to another as the engines stopped churning and the ferry glided toward the dock. Do you think the legend of Idyll Island is true?

Wyatt, eager to eavesdrop on their conversation, moved closer to the two young women who stood near the railing watching the ferry workers prep for landing. A good corporate spy kept his eyes and ears open.

Whats that? asked the second girl. The petite brunette looked barely legal, but hed heard her say earlier that she was as an intern at Belle Notte Vineyards, so she had to be at least twenty-one. Still, she could pass for a high-school student.

Youre just getting old.

He quickly batted away that thought. He was thirty-one, in the prime of life, at the top of his game.

Oh, you havent heard? Its amazing. So romantic. The first girl, a blonde with a pert ski-slope of a nose, dramatically clutched both hands to her heart. Heres how the story goes. Way back, a long, long time ago, when the founder of Bella Notte, Giovanni Romano, was our age, he fell in love with a girl from the mainland. One night in June, Giovanni took the first bottle of wine produced from his vineyard, along with his sweetheart, Maria, up to the top of Twin Hearts. The blonde paused and gestured at the towering bluffs.

Did they do it up there? The brunette giggled.