The Vine Read Free

turned to leave, I bumped hard straight into a man, almost knocking me off my feet, and Istill remember the moment clearly, as I looked up to apologise profusely. The stranger held my gaze whilst holding my upper arms, steadying me before asking me in a sexy, husky voice if I was okay.
    I was instantly mesmerised by the beauty of the man holding me upright. I could feel his strength through his hands on my arms, and although my knees were weak, all I could do was nod as I pulled away, quickly releasing myself, and dodged past him out onto the street, because more than anything at that moment, I needed air…and fast.
    That was our first meeting, and unbeknownst to me, it was the day that pretty much changed everything. George had done Luke’s company’s accounts for years, and they knew each other very well professionally and personally. They would have the odd eighteen holes of golf together, and both had a mutual respect for one another. So when Luke started coming in for the account meetings, it was a bit of a surprise because Cole, his brother and business partner, had always been the one who came in for the meetings, and had done so for years—for as long as I had worked there anyway but from that day forward, Luke came to Sinclair’s instead of Cole.
    The first time he came into the office, I was shocked. The memory of our accidental meeting was etched into my mind, and I’d never dreamed I would ever see that sexy stranger again.
    I knew I was going to have to put up with seeing this Adonis every now and again, so I remained professional. When he visited, I just tried not to stare—not too much anyway. We started off very professional; we were both polite, all manners and coy looks. He was Mr. Castle, and I was Miss Maynard. Then after a few visits, he just started calling me Elizabeth, and he asked me to stop calling him Mr. Castle, and to please call him Lucas. And that’s when the light banter started. Then after a couple of months, the flirting started—on his part mainly, but I did play up to it a little. I couldn’t help it; this man just affects me.
    I’d had two previous boyfriends in my teens. Both boys were my age at the time and quite immature; they certainly didn’t treat me very well, but at the time, I thought I was in love. I gave my virginity to the first one after we’d been together a while, but soon after, I found him in an awkward position with another girl at a friend’s house party.
    The other guy I met was also a louse, who was out with his mates all the time, and who just called me every now and again for sex. Both relationships were before Mum and Dad’s accident and after that, and until I met Luke, I hadn’t been with any other men, not even for a date. I will never forget Luke asking me to dinner on that fateful Wednesday, because it was the change of our relationship from platonic and friendly, to the next level—dating. For most people, this is nothing, as they have dates all the time. But for me, this was a big deal; trusting and having faith in someone was what I had lost over the previous four years, and I didn’t know if I’d ever get it back.
    God knows I’d had enough counselling over the years to help me try and put my trust issues to the side, but I’d held a lot inside from the councillors and therapists, preferring to bottle it all up instead of being subjected to looks of pity about my situation.
    On this day—and I still don’t know why—I thought I at least needed to try and make a change to my life, and so far it’s the best decision I have ever made.
    That Wednesday, I greeted Lucas in reception as I had done on many occasions when he came into Sinclair for his meetings. I was trying to instigate our usual banter, but for some reason, it just didn’t seem to be sitting well with him. As the lift reached our floor, I was thinking what hard work it was today—usually conversation with Lucas just flowed, as he was so easy to talk to.
Maybe he was in a