Punishment

Adrian smartly observed the apprehension in Stella's twitching eyes. This made him wonder what he had said wrong or done to warrant the sudden dismissiveness in her tone.

In his mind, he wished they could just sit down on the grass floor and talk for a while. He had never found any lady's company this exciting and entertaining that he was willing to do anything to keep her talking only to him.

"Young Man, you..."

"Adrian, that's my name," Adrian smiled.

"Umm...okay, Adrian, you still have a punishment to serve. But next time, allow me to handle things. Don't put yourself on the chopping table like that. Okay?" Stella stressed sternly.

"Okay!" Adrian smiled, showing off his perfect dentition and his cute dimples that caught Stella off guard.

Being addicted to dimples, Stella temporarily lost her sense of reasoning as she slowly stretched out her hands toward Adrian's face and fondly touched his dimple.

"You have beautiful dimples for a guy," Stella said dreamingly.

Adrian, who didn't see this coming was completely blown away by the softness of her touch and the spark in her eyes. He felt his heart leap out of his chest as he gazed tenderly into her eyes, which seemed to be sucking him in like quicksand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Stella snapped Adrian from his temporary trance. She quickly withdrew her hands from his face and took two steps away from him due to the way he was now towering over her.

In the brief unconscious moment that just took place between them, Adrian didn't notice that he was leaning toward her face or trying to kiss her. All he could think of was the spark in her eyes and the fullness of her lips. It was as though she got him jinxed with her touch, leaving him breathless and longing.

"Umm... I... You were saying something about my..."

"Never mind, let's get back to work, follow me." Stella quickly turned around and walked away from him to hide her embarrassment. However, she found it difficult to stop her heart from thumping loudly. She barely knew this handsome local but in a space of ten to twenty minutes in his presence, he had been able to spark up emotions she never knew existed.

Stella quickened her pace until she got to a row where some workers already had dozens of containers filled with grapes.

"I want you to take these containers and offload them at the truck by the vineyard entrance," Stella said authoritatively. She was careful to avoid Adrian's gaze due to the earlier awkward moment between them.

"After that, what would I do next?" Adrian asked calmly. He was praying earnestly in his heart that Stella would look at him. Sadly, she totally avoided his gaze and focused on the instructions she was dishing out.

"When you're done emptying all the containers in this row go to the next row and join the other workers there."

"Okay, Miss Stella," Adrian replied.

"Don't just stand there saying, okay," Stella lashed at him. "Get to work, now!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Adrian felt his adrenaline kick in due to her reprimanding tone and the sudden chilliness in her eyes. He quickly bent over and lifted a container of grapes to his shoulder. He was about to leave when Stella's harsh voice called him back.

"Don't tell me a big strong and well-built young man like yourself is going to carry just one container. For your punishment, you have to make it two." Stella folded her hand across her chest and waited for him to lift the second container.

Adrian inwardly smiled at the thought of being ordered around by the beautiful Stella. He was also grateful for his regular exercising because carrying one grape container was heavy not to talk about carrying two.

Still holding the first container on his strong left shoulder, he bent over again and lifted the second one like it weighed nothing while passing a bewitching smile to the impressed Stella.

"Great! Now you can go!" Stella gestured in the direction of the vineyard entrance. Then she turned around and snapped at most of the grape pickers, who had stopped working. They were staring at the strong handsome man who didn't look like someone born for his kind of job.

"Get back to work, everyone! You are not paid to gape Orr idle away." Stella said in a slightly raised tone before strolling away in the direction of the second row.

Alfred, who had secretly trailed Stella and Adrian to their current location almost passed out when he saw Adrian lifting not just one but two grape containers on his shoulders and happily walking away.

He quickly chased after him due to his long strides and stopped him before he got close to the vineyard entrance, where both old and new workers were dominant and could easily recognize him.

"Master Adrian, please, permit me to take those containers from you. Your father and grandfather would kill me if they see you like this." Alfred said pleadingly to Adrian while signaling two workers to come towards him.

"Do you want the pretty damsel to scold me for not doing my job? You know I stole according to her and I am happily serving my punishment." Adrian replied, a mischievous smirk dancing at the corner of his eyes.

"Please sir, forgive Stella. She is just a year old on this farm. She doesn't know who you are. She doesn't even know most of the Dawson family members except she is told. She was just trying to do her job and she is a respectable young lady. Also, she is far from where we are standing and wouldn't know about this."

"Hmm... So she is a year old on the farm? Interesting! Come, Alfred, tell me more about her."

Adrian handed over the grape containers to the two workers standing before him and they politely bowed before briskly leaving.

"Her name is Stella P..." Alfred was interrupted by a high-pitched female voice calling Adrian.

Both Adrian and Alfred turned in the direction of the voice, only to find Adrian's female cousin, Maria Dawson, running down towards them.