Return to the romantic fun of Seven Sisters Vineyard.
Popular horror actress Miranda Bakshi's star is on the rise. After building a large cult following on the indie film scene, she's set to star in her first big-budget blockbuster. With a secret project in the works, Miranda is on the cusp of achieving everything she's worked so hard for — if only she could push away the memories of a certain blue-eyed, golden-haired winemaker.
But the sexy-as-sin guy she had a hot and heavy fling with last summer won't leave her thoughts. Now, he's suddenly back in her life — and wanting more than she'd intended to give. With her manager breathing down her neck and Casey's heart-stopping smiles, can she really have it all? Or will the ghosts of her past tear it all away?
Can be read separately, but best enjoyed after reading Falling Down Under. Each book in the Seven Sisters Vineyard series is a standalone romance following a different couple, with no cliffhangers.
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Miranda’s cold, frozen hands reached for the ties of her corset, tugging frantically on the strings the instant the director called, “Cut.” She was not willing to wait a minute longer to be released from the medieval torture device. But she was failing miserably, her fingers clumsy and nearly numb from the early morning chill.
“Need some help?” a throaty male voice asked.
Loosening a frustrated groan, Miranda looked up to see her co-star, Hollywood golden boy Damien Lockwood, smirking at her. His hazel eyes glinted with mischief as he stood before her in a long, black puffy jacket with the world’s fluffiest scarf looped around his neck and the most hideous lime-green and yellow beanie covering his honey-gold hair.
“Please,” she gritted out, her teeth chattering as she turned to present her back to him.
Quickly and deftly, Damien set to loosening the laces constricting her breathing and crushing her ribs. When finally the ties came undone, she was filled with pure, blissful relief, taking her first full breath of the morning.
“Thank you,” she said, grasping his hands and squeezing them in thanks.
Damien grinned, shaking his head slightly as he handed her a second black puffy coat that she hadn’t noticed was slung over his arm and a pair of wool-lined boots. Miranda slipped on the shoes and shrugged into the coat, wrapping herself in the delicious warmth.
He chuckled, linking his arm with hers. “I don’t envy you in that thing.”
Miranda had been barefoot in a corseted Victorian gothic wedding gown since four o’clock that morning. On the Cornish moors! The dress was beautiful, a long-sleeved confection with layers upon layers of ivory lace. Pearls were sewn along the edge of the bodice, and gold thread was stitched throughout. And she couldn’t wait to take it off.
Miranda and Damien were on the final day of reshoots at Bodmin Moor before the official premiere of The Lady in White in two months. She had just wrapped her last scene. As the ghostly Lady in White, she fled from Damien’s character, the rakish Lord Wikkenham, her former lover, across the moors after his new bride exorcised her from the manor house.
The film was to be her first big-budget, non-independent film. Her agent had landed her the audition for the titular Lady.
“Are you coming for breakfast with us this morning?” Damien asked as he walked Miranda back to her trailer.
She had joined Damien for breakfast most mornings at a cozy little tea shop that sold the most melt-in-your-mouth scones she had ever tasted, along with his long-time girlfriend, Chloe. A statuesque model with a mouth set in a permanent pout, hair the color of dark chocolate, and the most startling green eyes, Chloe had picked daintily at her biscotti and sipped lemon water while Miranda and Damien had devoured scones and breakfast pastries every morning. Miranda’s manager would not approve of her breakfast choices.
Miranda shook her head. “Not today. I have a flight at ten.”
He smiled and released her arm. “Chloe will be disappointed, but I guess I’ll see you on the promo circuit in a few days.”
“Looking forward to it.”
He gave her a wink and a wave before disappearing behind his door, citing his desperate need for a hot shower. Miranda intended to do the same as she entered her trailer, sending a silent thanks to whoever had thought to turn her heat on. She’d have to find out who that was and thank them in person.
She sat down in front of her mirror, keeping herself buried within the oversized jacket as she undid the pins in her hair. The dark locks tumbled down in tight, crunchy curls around her face, the stiffness of her hair reminding her why she didn’t use hairspray off-set.
When her body no longer felt like an ice cube, she finally stood, shed the coat, and slipped out of the dress, laying it carefully across the back of the sofa.
Someone from the wardrobe department would be by to collect it later.
Wrapping herself in a fluffy robe, she went back to pick up her phone from where she had left it charging on the dressing table, checking her messages for the first time since her alarm had woken her during the night. Miranda had a personal rule of not taking her phone to set. Too distracting.
She grinned widely as she read the first message.
Georgia: We just landed in London!!! Are you still on for dinner tonight? Please say yes!!!
Georgia Bailey, former party girl influencer turned social media and marketing manager for her family’s expanding business, was Miranda’s best friend. Last year, after her father’s passing, Georgia reconnected with her childhood sweetheart and moved permanently back to Australia. Two months ago, she moved into Jared Taylor’s boxy little one-bedroom flat.
While Miranda was truly happy for Georgia, she missed her—she was excited to see her friend for the first time in months.
Miranda: Can’t wait!!!
What’s Jared thinking of London?
Georgia: He’s not a complete fish out of water. He has traveled AND he’s been here before. ;)
Georgia: Also…
Miranda stared at the three dots disappearing and reappearing for several minutes, as though her friend was struggling with what to say. She rapped her fingers on the arm of the chair as she waited for her friend’s words to appear.
Georgia: Sooo… you know how we’ve been looking at the original family property? The one in Tuscany?
Miranda: You mean the vineyard you’ve been flooding your Insta stories with the last twenty-four hours? The one you’ve been gushing over and using phrases like ‘it has good bones’?
Georgia: Smartass. 😜 But yeah, that one.
Miranda: No, doesn’t ring a bell. 😁 But continue…
Georgia: Well…remember Jared’s dad Glen was going to come with us to check the place out, make sure the equipment was still functional…
Georgia: Glen couldn’t make it last minute, so Casey came with us…
Georgia: I’m sorry I didn’t tell you!
Georgia: Anyway, he’ll be at dinner…
Miranda stared at the words on her screen. Her heart started racing as she comprehended her friend’s message.
Casey Taylor.
Here.
In London.
Miranda dropped abruptly back into the chair, the phone clattering back to the dressing table. One hand rose to her rapidly beating heart, the other cupping her face as she stared at the device as though it were about to sprout teeth and devour her. She met her wide-eyed gaze in the mirror as she released a shaky breath. Then a second. Then a third.
Miranda had met Casey last year when she and Allegra visited Georgia at her family’s vineyard in Wattle Valley. She had been looking for a fling, and she’d had instant chemistry with Jared’s younger brother. What had begun as a one-night stand after a New Year’s Eve party turned into a week-long holiday romance. She’d even started to like him. Really like him. In a heart-fluttery, pulse-quickening kind of way.
So, she promptly ghosted the guy and hadn’t spoken to him since.
It wasn’t that Miranda was opposed to dating exactly. She just didn’t usually date outside the industry. Or much at all. She wanted to write and create her own films one day and had, unbeknownst to her friends, even written a script.
Her agent had agreed to shop it around.
Besides, experience hadn’t instilled in her the confidence that a romantic partner outside the acting world would understand her ambition and dedication to her goals. Or the fame and attention that came along with them.
Stephen, the guy she’d met and fallen crazy in love with during her semester at Oxford in the pre-med program, hadn’t been able to handle it. After she had dropped out of university to pursue acting, her career had taken off.
And so had Stephen.
Not to mention that logistically, dating a guy who lived on the other side of the world would be complicated. She traveled extensively, and often, for her work.
Stephen had also claimed her irregular comings and goings had been ‘disruptive’ to his ongoing studies.
She hadn’t thought she’d see Casey again, which, in hindsight, was ridiculous since he was her best friend’s boyfriend’s brother.
What made the situation even more complicated was the fact that she hadn’t been able to get Casey out of her head since.
And now he was here.
Miranda wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.
Georgia: You there?
Georgia: If you think it will be too awkward, we can catch up another day…
Miranda finally realized she had been staring at her phone for a full five minutes.
No, it was fine. She’d be fine. It was eight and a half months ago. They were both adults. She was twenty-eight, very much an adult. And she had made a point of not asking after him whenever she spoke to Georgia.
She typed out a quick response.
Miranda: No, it’s fine. Thanks for letting me know. Cya at dinner!
Yes. It would be fine. It might even be fun.
Determined, she decided that she wasn’t going to let a past romantic entanglement ruin her night with Georgia. Especially one that had been so fleeting. It wasn’t a big deal. And Miranda wasn’t one to get all twisted up over a guy she hardly knew, even if she had spent the better part of a week in his bed. They’d slept together. Had a fun time.
That was it.
Miranda set her phone back on the dressing table, rose from the chair, and stepped into the bathroom. Grabbing several make-up wipes, she washed off the ghostly powder from her face as best she could before stepping into the shower, letting the steam and hot water melt away her nerves and soothe her erratic thoughts.
By the time she finished shampooing the hairspray from her hair, she had almost managed to push all the rising thoughts of Casey from her mind. When she wrapped herself in a fluffy white bath towel and finger-combed her hair, she refused to acknowledge that the fluttering in her belly had anything to do with a certain blond-haired winemaker.
✦
Chapter Two
Casey Taylor glared at the hotel key card, then back at his alleged door, and swiped it for the fifth time. The light once again blinked red. He let his head fall against the door a little too hard, closed his eyes, and released a loud, irritated sigh.
He just needed to sleep and was currently very resentful that they had caught such an early flight from Pisa. He also resented the drive from the Tuscan property at the crack of dawn.
“Hey, I’m pretty sure my card is defective,” Casey mumbled to the door. He turned to the side, realizing he was alone in the hallway. Because, of course, their key card worked.
He lifted his head and dragged his suitcase to the door of his brother’s room and gave three long, hard knocks.
“Hey, so, can you put your clothes back on and one of you come and help me? Or so help me I will nap in the hallway like a hobo.”
He heard Georgia’s muted laugh and could practically feel the door vibrate with his brother’s irritated grumble as Jared yanked the door open. He was indeed in a state of semi-undress as he pulled his t-shirt down over his head.
“Seriously? I was kidding—it’s like eight in the morning. And you just spent several hours in transit. You’re not even going to shower first?”
His brother just shrugged and followed him into the hallway.
“Gross, bro.”
Jared wordlessly snatched the key card from Casey’s hand and swiped it. The door instantly blinked green, and the lock clicked open.
“Oh, come on.” Casey groaned, snatching the card back and glaring at it, then at his brother.
Jared raised a brow, a smirk now tugging at his mouth. “You good now?”
“Yes, yes. Go back and be gross with your girlfriend.”
Casey wheeled his suitcase through the door, cast a final glare at his brother’s retreating back, and flopped onto the giant king-sized bed. Casey lay there for all of five minutes before he lurched off the bed, dragged his travel-weary body into the bathroom, and stood under the steaming hot shower. The heated water relieved his stiff and aching muscles.
He toweled himself dry and wrapped himself in one of the fluffy hotel robes, then set about swiping all the free hotel amenities. The fancy shampoos and lotions, shower caps, toothbrushes, and sewing kits came too. Next went the teas, coffees, and biscuits, even the pens and notepads. Finally, he raided the mini bar. Georgia’s company was paying, so why the hell not?
He had a very healthy breakfast of chips, chocolate, and sugary drinks—he was too tired to wait for room service—then made himself comfortable in the huge bed and let himself drift to sleep.
He was awoken not even an hour later by Jared barging abruptly into the room.
“Tell me again why we needed adjoining rooms?” Casey grumbled, rolling over, one arm hanging off the side of the bed, staring one-eyed as his brother began going through his stuff.
“Quick, where is it?” Jared grabbed Casey’s backpack and started rifling through it. Toiletries, books, laptop cables, phone chargers, and UK power adaptors all tumbled out onto the ground on top of his spare boxer briefs and hoodie.
“Can I help you with something? Or are you just going to continue throwing my shit everywhere?”
Jared looked up, wide-eyed at him. “She’s in the shower … where the hell is it?”
Oh.
Casey rubbed his face, half sat up, and grinned through bleary eyes at his brother’s freak out.
“Oh, ye of little faith. As if I would put it in my carry-on where she could easily find it while stealing my snacks. You know you’re proposing to a snack thief, right?”
“Casey,” Jared growled.
Casey gestured to his main suitcase. “In the bottom of my left sneaker.”
His brother visibly relaxed as he unzipped Casey’s suitcase. Jared raised a blond brow when the pilfered amenities fell out.
“I’m not sorry,” was Casey’s only response as he dropped back onto the bed. Jared rolled his eyes.
He watched Jared pull the small velvet ring box from the inside of his shoe and stare at it. Casey couldn’t quite comprehend the expression on his brother’s face until Jared glanced up. His blue eyes were wide and filled with worry, and he realized his big brother was suddenly uncertain about the one thing he had wanted since he was fourteen years old.
Fuck.
“Do you think it’s too soon?” Jared sat on the edge of the bed and flipped open the box, staring at the glittering sapphire and diamond ring. Casey had a sneaking suspicion Jared had had the ring for a very long time. He had once confided in Casey that he had intended to propose on Georgia’s twenty-first birthday until life happened and they didn’t see each other for ten years.
Jared ran a hand through his blond hair and then looked up. “We’ve only been back together for like eight months … living together for barely two.”
“And you’ve loved each other since you were fourteen. So, no, I don’t think it’s too soon.” Jared didn’t look convinced. Casey sat up, gripping his brother’s shoulder in reassurance. “She will say yes. There’s no need to worry.”
Jared nodded.
“How are you going to do it? Do you have a plan, or just going to wing it?”
Jared released a long breath, then spoke. “I’m taking her to the Globe Theater, then a walk in Hyde Park to find a nice spot and ask her to marry me. Then we’ll meet you guys for dinner.”
Dinner. Tonight. With Miranda.
He tried not to think about it—or the way his heart did a sudden skip.
Instead, Casey grinned and spoke. “And then you’ll be disgustingly happy until the end of time. Please just remember that for the time being, I am sharing a wall. So, if you could keep the celebrations to a reasonable octave, I would very much appreciate it. Earplugs only do so much.”
Jared finally returned his smile. “I’ll do my best.”
He elbowed his brother playfully. “So, truth time, when exactly did you buy that thing?”
Jared blushed and then chuckled. “When I was eighteen. When I started my apprenticeship, I bought it with my first paycheck. Blew the whole thing on this.” He stared at it again. “You think she’ll like it?”
“I think she’ll love it. Better get going, though. You want her coming in here and seeing you sitting there with her engagement ring before you can even ask?”
Jared snapped the box closed and cast him a frown. “Don’t forget, dinner at eight, okay? Please be ready.”
Casey offered Jared a salute.
Jared looked at him for a long moment, shifting into big brother mode. “You don’t have to come, you know? If it will be weird for you.”
Casey raised a brow and chuckled. “I run into exes all the time at home. Why would this be any more awkward than that?” He lay back on the bed, but Jared didn’t move, and Casey could feel his stare. Unease settled in his gut, and he swallowed, keeping his gaze on the ceiling. His brother was a little too good at reading him.
“I know she didn’t say goodbye, Casey,” Jared said softly, turning the ring box over between his fingers. His eyes focused on the black velvet.
Casey closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and let out a long exhale. “It’s not the same, Jared.”
It had been a sore spot for Jared when Georgia had left him all those years ago. She had been lost and grieving and had left his brother without as much as a farewell, cutting him out completely after her mother’s death. They had been near inseparable since childhood, and it had messed Jared up for a very long time.
“There’s no long and complicated history like you guys.”
Jared’s blue eyes met his. “But you liked her.”
Casey shrugged; he didn’t want to get into feelings with his brother. Jared, the grump, was a romantic at heart and had loved the same girl his whole life. Casey wasn’t like that; he’d never really done the feelings thing. He was the fun guy, the guy girls hooked up with for a weekend or two before moving on to the one. He was the guy they called to get over an ex. The longest relationship he’d had was with Lizzy Grant, his on-again-off-again girlfriend from high school. They were still good friends and had the occasional booty call.
Not that he was against it, that thing that people looked for—that connection just hadn’t found him.
Until Miranda.
Miranda had changed everything.
Jared stared at him a moment longer, then shook his head and rose to his feet. “Right. I’ll see you at dinner then, I guess.” That was all his brother said as the adjoining door clicked closed.
Right. Dinner.
Dinner with Miranda.
The woman who had plagued his thoughts for months. Whom he couldn’t seem to forget.
They’d had what some would call a whirlwind romance. He’d had a summer fling with a famous actress while she visited his humble rural hometown. Except, Casey had started to like her. A lot. But their time was meant to be limited. His heart hadn’t gotten the memo. Yet, there had been moments when he thought she had felt the same.
Not that it mattered in the end.
Miranda Bakshi had ghosted him, and it had left him feeling strangely hollow. His friends had looked at him like that guy from that reality singing show who had that fling with the hotel heiress.
The pubs on New Year’s Eve were not exactly a discreet location for a hookup, and it had spiraled from there.
The memory of her dark eyes, and her laugh, haunted his days and nights.
God, he was starting to sound like a damn cliché, like the guy in her horror movies who usually end up dead before the opening credits.
Miranda would eat him alive if she ever deigned to give him the time of day again.
Casey groaned and rolled his face into the pillow.
