Free Secrets and Seduction: Solacia Cellars by Alicia Roberts Page A

response. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
    He grinned. “I’m a typical California health nut even though I own a winery. No alcohol before dinnertime for me.” She watched as he expertly combined freshly squeezed orange juice with sparkling water and slices of lemon over cracked ice, inserted a straw for her, and brought the drinks to the table. “Mimosas,” he said. “Shirley Temple style.”
    “Very nice,” Terra said. “All that’s missing is the parasol.”
    “You don’t seem like the parasol type,” Rafe said, looking at her intently.
    Terra had no time to wonder what he meant by that before he started the interview. “So, Terra, if you could have your dream job today because of this interview, what would it be?”
    She had expected him to ask the usual questions about her current job, how long she had worked there, and her project management experience, which she planned to dance around as best she could. His inquiry startled her into answering honestly.
    “I’d like to play the starring role in an Oscar winning movie. Something both artistically perfect and commercially successful.”
    “That’s a tough combination,” Rafe said. “In all things, not just the movies.” He thought for a minute. “What actress do you admire most and why?” He leaned forward to hear her reply, as if her answer truly mattered to him.
    Again his question moved Terra to be candid. “Angelica Huston.”
    Rafe nodded. “I love Angelica. She’s intelligent and sexy at the same time, and she can play any role, good girl or bad girl.” He smiled and looked directly at her. For a moment Terra was certain he was going to ask her which type of girl she was, but the moment passed, and his next question was one she was ready for. “So you’re an actress?”
    Terra smiled back at him, flattered by his interest in her work. “Yes. I’ve had a few good roles in independent films that never quite broke out and made it big.” Her memory brought her up short, and she hurriedly went on to describe the movies she had acted in, hoping to avoid any questions about why she wasn’t acting anymore.
    Rafe listened with interest and probed her for information about the movies and her roles in them. Then he said, “That concludes my half of the interview. I’ve already read your resume, so now it’s your turn to ask me questions.” He sipped his drink and sat back in his chair.
    Terra had mentally prepared a list of conventional interview questions on the drive up the coast, boring questions about the job description, corporate culture, and probationary period, but after fifteen minutes of being “interviewed” by Rafe, she couldn’t remember any of them, so she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
    “Where are the grapes?”
    Rafe laughed uproariously, and Terra risked letting him see her look of annoyance. “They’re inland thirty miles, in the valley where there’s topsoil,” he said. “This is corporate headquarters.”
    Terra was still annoyed at him for laughing at her. “ Corporate headquarters?” she said, looking over at the bar and then at the sunglasses still perched on his head.
    Again he laughed, genuine laughter, and finally she joined him. “Come on, Terra, life is too short to be so serious,” he said. “What are your other questions?”
    “Where are the rest of your employees?”
    “Besides the winery workers, you mean? Most of my support staff works online. There’s a gardener and a housekeeper on the grounds during the day, but I have a rule that everyone goes home at 5 p.m. We work hard and play hard at Solacia, but we don’t work overtime.”
    I’ll bet you play hard, Terra thought. “What’s the job description?”
    “Oh, the job.” Terra could swear he had forgotten about it. “I need a social media manager to promote the company on the big internet sites like Facebook, Twitter, the like. I’m too busy making wine to pay attention to that stuff, and it’s so