All Chapters of Say You’re Mine: Heron’s Landing Book 1: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Dear Readers,Before you begin Adam and Joy’s story, please know that Say You’re Mine was previously published under the title Seduce Me Sweetly. This second edition has been lightly edited and changed to better fit the overall feel of the rest of my catalogue.All my best,Iris

Walking the rows of his family’s vineyard, River’s Bend, Adam felt the world on his shoulders. He passed between the rows, the sun beating down overhead. Where had this warmth and dryness been when they’d needed it? Now, though, it was too late: the amount of buds that should’ve been on the vines was fewer even than last year. Fewer buds meant fewer grapes, and without grapes, little wine could result.Adam wiped his brow. The humidity was creeping up already, despite it being early morning. It would probably reach close to one hundred degrees, as was common in the middle of June. Mosquitoes buzzed about, but he hardly noticed them. He probably should’ve doused himself in bug spray before coming out, but what were a few mosquito bites? He was used to them by now. Any Missouri country boy was used to bugs biting and buzzing and flying about.At any rate, the bugs weren’t the problem. His sad grape crop was—the extensive rains of March and April had devastated the vines, causing a lot

“It’s so nice of you to join us,” Julia Danvers said as she kissed Adam’s cheek. “We haven’t seen you in ages.”They’d actually seen him…well, two weeks ago? Three? Adam couldn’t remember, and guilt coiled in his gut. His parents only lived a few miles from his own house, but sometimes it felt like they lived on the other side of the country when he got swamped with working at River’s Bend. And his mom was extremely talented at letting him know when he’d stayed away for too long.“He just didn’t feel like eating another Hot Pocket for dinner,” Grace said. She laughed at her brother’s expression. “You know I’m right—you eat the same as an eighteen-year-old freshman in college.”“Can it, Squirt,” Adam growled. “Or I’m going to tell Mom and Dad about the Merlot Incident of 2013.”Grace blushed bright red.“What Merlot Incident? What in the world are you talking about?” Carl Danvers asked as he entered the dining room, slapping a newspaper against his thigh. The patriarch of the Danve

Adam had hoped that the sunshine of the past few weeks would hold up until the harvest. But on a Monday morning in early July, he awoke to claps of thunder. Getting out of bed, he opened the blinds to see torrential rain falling like bullets from the sky. Hail pinged the roof, and a bolt of lightning burst across the sky.The rain continued all day. It stopped for a bit in the evening, but started up again by Tuesday morning. By Wednesday, it had rained so hard that flash flood warnings had been issued across the state, and the river was about to flood from its banks. There was so much water that the unpaved roads around Heron’s Landing—and there were plenty of them—turned to mud, and many of its citizens had to stay home or walk to their destination, as any vehicle would get stuck the moment it was put in drive.By Wednesday afternoon, the sun had come out, but Adam knew it was too late. Going into the fields with Jaime and a few others of his staff, they all saw how the rain had de

Adam was stewing. Stewing and drinking and feeling generally sorry for himself. He knew and he wasn’t proud of it. But sometimes a person needed to sit and wallow for a bit, and then you could go back to your life and move the hell on.He finished his third beer, sighing. Morose music played in the background of his house; the lights were dimmed. If he’d put on black eyeliner and gotten his lip pierced, he could’ve given one of those emo kids a run for their money. Were kids still doing that these days? Adam stared at his beer can, wondering. Grace had been friends with a self-described emo kid who’d renamed himself Lucifer back in junior high, but Adam had missed that trend. Thank God.His beer can empty, he debated whether or not four beers in two hours was excessive. Being not in the least bit slight in stature or overall body type, he barely felt buzzed. It would take a lot more than a few beers to get him hammered. And really, he didn’t want to get hammered. He just wanted to ta