Series: Fields of Wine #2
Publication date: April 30th, 2021
Synopsis:
Wine, chocolate and sex in academia...
What happens when there are four in a relationship?
With only occasional weekends and holidays together, Nicole Durand and Andy Ravel are feeling the strain of their long-distance romance.
But when Andy is offered a job at MIT, Nicole faces an impossible decision. Should she go to America with the man she loves, or spend the next few years in celibate spinsterhood? Half-way through her degree course in Edinburgh, she has made friends and enjoys a small income tutoring French.
Andy also faces a dilemma. On his way home for Christmas, he has met vivacious ex-girlfriend, Margie Chapman. Margie works in New York and has a two-year-old son, Tommy. Though he loves Nicole, Andy has feelings for Margie too, which are not only reciprocated but complicated by a suspicion that Tommy might be his.
For Nicole, abandoning her course for a financially insecure life in the USA would be rash, the alternative equally so, when her sensuous nature might throw her into the arms of attractive medic, Mike Prentice.
Separated by three thousand miles of ocean, Nicole and Andy must each tread a path through this entanglement of love, friendship and career, without hurting the people they care about.
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Excerpt
Nicole
We go back to the kitchen. I take the wine from the fridge and pour into two plastic tumblers from the wall cabinet. There is just enough to fill them, giving us the equivalent of a large glassful each. Mike takes a sip and stands with his back against the worktop. He rubs the stubble on his chin.
"I'd jump at the chance of a room here," he says. "A hundred and sixty plus extras is a snip. I pay that and more for my shabby bedsit."
"I guess I was lucky," I drink half of my wine and slide the tumbler aside. The sweet Pinot on top of fish and chips and strong tea is chemical, but it neutralizes some of the after-taste. "A hundred and sixty pounds is still a lot. I'd be struggling without my tutoring."
Mike finishes his wine and lays his tumbler down beside mine. "However did a French girl find this place?"
"A friend of a friend. Mrs. Hunter insists on character references."
"I should be able to manage those. Would you enquire about the room, that is, if me being here isn't a problem for you?"
"Of course it isn't." I touch his forearm. "I'll ask Mrs. Hunter tomorrow. She'll probably insist on meeting you."
"That should be safe enough." He takes my hand in his and I don't protest. "Does this mean you've changed your mind about you and me?"
"It means I'll make enquiries about the room." I snake my other hand along his shoulder and into his thick hair. "What else? But it doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy a goodnight kiss."
"As a measure of trust."
"Yes."
Mike pulls me towards him. He disengages his hand from mine, cups it around my face, then kisses my forehead and my ear. They are whispers only. His stubble teases my skin. I lean into him, feeling a surge of pleasure. He is lean and muscular but not too tall - just short of one meter eighty - and in my platforms our eyes are almost level. His greeny-brown eyes are warm, soft and pregnant with desire....
Drew Greenfield grew up and completed his education in Scotland. He has worked in sales and marketing, and in the tourist industry, but his true passion is literature of all kinds, as both reader and writer. He is also fond of music and plays several instruments.
Sweeter Than Wine, his debut romantic novel, was published in May 2018. Sweet Entanglement, the second book in the series will be released on 30th April 2021.
Drew now lives in the East of England.
Drew Greenfield is a pen name for the writer Andrew G(reenfield) Lockhart.
