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CHAPTER 1
Was that…? No Couldn’t be Not here in Temecula, California, a place London Drake only knew about because that’s where her cousins lived Nothing against the town It was quaint, cozy and home to dozens of Southern California’s celebrated vineyards as well as Drake Wines Resort and Spa, where she was now But there was no way forul and any woomery, could be here Was there?
These rapid-fire thoughts collided with one another as London quickly shifted her body for a second gliotten She grabbed the rail to keep her balance The unconscious step backward as she atteet a better view almost created a doroup reached their destination unscathed, but the stuone unnoticed
“Are you okay?”
“I’ht I saw someone I knew, that’s all”
Diaht, London’s first cousin and a company executive, took the lead as the ladies entered Wine, the trendy new bar on the second floor of the resort’s boutique hotel She greeted the hostess, waved away the offer to be escorted to their reserved booth and led the ladies to a roped-off area that featured artfully arranged seating—velvet love seats,chairs, fabric-tufted benches and an array of unique-looking tables to hold food and drink The area was positioned on the small side of the L-shaped room, tucked behind the hostess station, and offered a modicum of privacy in this popular public place
London sat on a chane-colored love seat Her sister-in-law Quinn plopped down beside her “Sure you need a drink? Your cluives the impression that you’ve knocked back a couple behind our backs already”
London gave Quinn the kind of look that required no words but conveyed shut the hell up quite nicely
“She saw a cute guy,” Diamond offered as she too sat on the love seat
“Oh” Quinn drew out the word fully “That makes sense It wouldn’t be the first time London has fallen head over heels for a man”
“Oh, be quiet” London swatted Quinn’s arht I knew Not just souy” The ladies shared dubious looks between theet the industry I work in?” London huffed “And that I’vemen on the planet? If I fell over every time I saw one, I’d live on the floor”
True statement London’s supermodel-turned-celebrity lifestyle had allowed her to not only ith but to date the types of es, a computer screen or TV Like her ex Maxwell Tata, the handsome, successful A-list director Like the ht…for a second time
But he wasn’t there Couldn’t be He was busy running a fashion empire in San Francisco It had been years since they’d talked, but that’s what she’d heard And that he’d gotten engaged She hadn’t heard or read about a wedding, though Was that why he was here? To marry his fiancée? Wouldn’t that be the irony of ironies, if he was here for a wedding and she for a funeral?
A couple more minutes, another sip of wine and London had successfully convinced herself that she hadn’t seen Ace, but seeing a ht they’d met And made love And spent the next two days in a fantasy world before reality took them in different directions
It was her eighteenth-birthday weekend, and London, who’d been discovered by a ined a more perfect celebration She’d just finished her first hectic, eek in the city that had inspired her naland to watch her walk the runway After enjoying a private dinner prepared by a world-renowned chef, she’d said goodbye to the Drakes and been whisked away to an exclusive party held just for her Incoency in the world, had pulled out all the stops to rand affair, a testauest list read like a who’s who of fashion, entertainoe of twenty-one, whose sexy underwear ads had ht-after lobe London had not been immune to his charm, had salivated over his pictures like any red-blooded woman would His eyes had seared her from across the room, caused a shiver down her spine and a flutter in other places Throughout the evening she caught hiuessed hiether in the long hallway of one of the castle’s quieter wings, his shy, souard