Chase is fast asleep, and I don’t want to wake him, but I need coffee. My muscles are deliciously sore from all the fucking we did last night. It was the best first sex—ever. The thought alone makes my stomach flip. Being with him was unreal. I can still feel the leather seat of his Porsche beneath my fingertips.

Getting quietly out of bed, I slip on my white dress and go in search of my much-needed caffeine fix, only to be thwarted by an overly complicated espresso machine. Knowing there is no way I can make it work, I go back to his room, gather my undergarments, and slip on my shoes before quietly walking over to my place. The trip is so short that I don’t even get the smallest hint of having to do a walk of shame. Even though what we did was so naughty I should have felt exactly that. But that’s what Chase does to me—he makes me feel worthy.

Going inside, I set my stuff down and start a fresh pot of coffee. While it brews, I check my email.

My stomach is in my throat. Never in a million years did I imagine this would happen. I’ve known Sal for years and have worked on many projects with him, but a job offer out of the blue is completely mind-boggling. And to say he reviewed my resume. God, I sent it to him years ago, it has to be so outdated. But still, my mind keeps going back to the one sentence.

We’d like to offer you a full-time journalist position in our New York City office.

Maybe that is where I’m meant to be, and all this traveling and odds-and-ends work with them has paid off. It is like a long-running interview, or something has finally ended.

A yawn escapes me, and I’m reminded why I came back here in the first place: caffeine.

I pour two cups of coffee, figuring Chase would like one too and try not to feel so torn about what I should do. I’d be crazy to turn the job down.

For so long, I’ve been going city to city, never planning to stay in any one for very long. St. Helena is the first place I’ve been to that has made me feel as if I’d found what I’d been looking for. Or maybe it’s just that Chase makes me feel too much . . . everything. Now, with this job offer, I’m conflicted.

With a coffee in each hand, I leave and find Chase standing shirtless and for some reason barefoot, watching me. His brow is furrowed as if he’s worried.

“Morning,” I holler over, and his expression seems to relax.

“You want help with that?” he asks, coming closer.

“Sure, I made this for you.”

“Thanks.” He takes the coffee from me, all the while, his sexy eyes are eating me alive.

“I couldn’t figure out how to work the machine in your place.”

“Oh, yeah, it is dumb. My mom got it for me. I normally get my coffee from the inn. How’d you sleep?”

“Good, you?”

“Very good.”

Together we walk back to his place and sit on the front porch. Being around Chase makes me feel so good, so right. It’s what I’ve been searching for. So, the second we sit, I blurt out, “I got a job offer in New York City.”

The look on his face is hard to read. Maybe I shouldn’t even have brought this up, not yet anyway. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do, and we aren’t dating.

That doesn’t stop me from caring about what he thinks and wanting his input and advice.

“Who is it with?” he asks.

“Better Gardens and Homes,” I respond, and the second the words leave my lips, his head hangs low, his eyes focusing in on the cup of warm coffee between his hands.

“Are you gonna take it?”

“I don’t know.”

“You should, that’s a huge magazine.”

“You don’t even know what I’d be doing.”

“A place that’s smart enough to hire you will put you in the right job.”

I wish it were that easy.

As I sit back in my chair, I take in the sprawling hills of St. Helena that span out in front of me and sip my coffee. For just a brief moment, I forget about the job offer and enjoy this time . . . here . . . with Chase.