Red Wine and Her Sexy Ex by Kate Hardy

Author:Kate Hardy
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-10-31T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

ALLEGRA slept badly that night; her single bed felt way too big and, even though the night was hot, she felt as if cold radiated all the way through her.

You and me, it’s complicated.

He could say that again.

But at least he’d agreed to talk things through with her.

On Sunday, Gina emailed her three different logos and half a dozen different label designs. Smiling, she emailed back, Thanks, you’re a genius and these are brilliant. Obviously she’d need to discuss it with her co-vigneron and take his views into account, but the one she liked most was the simplest. Three stylised vine leaves, the stems making a knot, with ‘Les Trois Closes’ in a simple script next to it. With any luck, Xavier would think the same.

And with any luck, things would start to get simpler between them.

On Monday morning, Allegra cycled to the boulangerie and the farm shop to pick up her lunch—including a punnet of irresistibly juicy cherries that Nicole told her came from one of the farms outside the village, and a box of galettes for the office, which she hoped would give her a friendly start with Xavier’s allegedly formidable secretary. She settled herself at Xavier’s desk with her laptop and had just started roughing out a list of possible PR activity when she became aware of a shadow by the front door.

She looked up to see a middle-aged woman with steel-grey hair walk in. Thérèse? But she didn’t look formidable or bossy, as Allegra had expected; rather than being severely elegant, she was slightly plump with unruly hair and a kind, maternal smile.

‘Bonjour,’ Allegra said with a smile. ‘I take it you’re Thérèse?’

‘Yes, and you must be Allegra. Bonjour.’

‘I was just about to make some coffee. Can I get you some?’ Allegra asked.

‘Merci, that would be nice.’

When she’d made the coffee, she took the galettes through to Thérèse’s office as well; half an hour later, they were firm friends. Allegra had made it clear that she didn’t expect Thérèse to look after her as well as Xavier, and had cooed over the pictures Thérèse carried around of her five-year-old granddaughter, Amélie, and her brand-new grandson, Jean-Claude. In return, Thérèse had reassured Allegra that having someone to challenge the way he did things would be good for Xavier.

Xavier arrived in the office at his usual time, just before midday. He greeted Allegra with an English, ‘Good morning,’ but Thérèse was treated to three loud kisses on her cheek and exclamations in rapid French that Allegra couldn’t quite follow but, from the smile on his face, it was clear that he was pleased to see his secretary again.

Which was a good thing—but the conversation they needed to have really had to be in private. Clearly it wasn’t going to happen in the office. She saved the file on her laptop and shifted to the chair in the corner, letting Xavier have his desk back. He clearly had a lot of admin to do, because he barely acknowledged her for the next hour.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.