“She said she’s on the corner of Sutter and Vine.”This day just kept getting weirder and weirder. Boston—which was how I now referred to him in my head, not Mr. Cunningham—was currently driving me to meet my mom where she had a flat tire. A week ago I would have said something like this would happen over my dead body, but based on the way my heartbeat wildly fluttered in my neck, I was very much alive. It was seeing him without a shirt yesterday. That was it. The sheer number of muscles had confused my brain into thinking Boston was some kind of available specimen for obsessing over.“There she is!” I pointed to my beat-up blue Camry on the side of the road. Mom was currently rolling the spare tire toward the front of the car where the tire was indeed flat, making a grab for it with her splinted wrists when it looked like it would roll straight down the sloping road.Boston made an illegal U-turn and parked behind my car with his flashers going. We both hopped out and went to rescue
“I think she’s ready,” I told my mother as I swapped the Cunning Ham polo for my work shirt in the back on Thursday evening after El had left for the night. “She might be the most overpaid tasting room host in all of Napa, but at least she’s well trained.”Mom turned from where she was finishing up some paperwork on the standing desk in the corner of the back office. “She’s not overpaid,” she said, her chin lifting. “As soon as we have enough inventory, she’s going to be out selling. And you know she’ll be great at that. This gives her time to get to know the wine first, and the family behind it.”I crossed to where Mom stood and dropped a hand on her shoulder. “I’m not arguing. I’m glad we’re paying her well.” And Mom was right, llllqwe were investing in the winery’s future. Though this year we had only small inventories of each wine, made from grapes we’d sourced from nearby vineyards with surplus, Lincoln—who had studied viticulture—said the vines were in better shape than we’d tho
“I’ve been telling you that for years.” An amused male voice floated through what I’d thought was the empty tasting room. I looked up to find my brother Lincoln grinning at me. “What the heck, bro?”For a moment, I considered telling him my actual problem. But I wasn’t really close with my brothers that way. I handled things. Just like Dad had. I didn’t bother them with the details.“Everything is fine,” I said, tidying the counter and preparing to leave.“Looks like it,” he said, shaking his head. It occurred to me then that Lincoln, at twenty-six, probably knew as well as I did the roles we’d each taken on since Dad died. I carried the burdens of the business, he checked in on Mom. The streams didn’t often cross. “Well, I just came to say hi to Mom, brought her some dinner. I didn’t know you’d be here.”“I’m on my way out,” I told him.“See you later,” he called, pushing through the door to the back rooms, carrying takeout bags.***El texted me as I was sliding into bed that night.
Me: OMG, please tell me you have five seconds to talk me off the ledge! Ashley: What’s going on? And yes, I have exactly ten minutes before I have a meeting with a bridezilla who wants a river running down the aisle like she’s in “Crazy Rich Asians.” And of course, I’d have to have a camera floating down in a little raft to catch the angle from down below because of course she’d want that. I don’t get paid enough for this crap.Ashley was a wedding photographer, which meant she was a professional at talking women down when they were hysterical or asking for the moon. Exactly who I needed right about now as I got dressed for the grand opening at the winery this afternoon.Me: No cameras or rivers, I promise. Last night I had a moment, like a moment-moment, with my boss and now I’m freaking out.Ashley: Wait. With Mr. Cunningham? The one who’s training you at the winery? What happened to Chad?Me: Yes, Boston. I really wish this wasn’t your busy season. I have so much to fill you in on!
I climbed out and smoothed my polo shirt, smiling back. Pam had given me a new one in a size up. No customers would be in danger of a button attack today. Goodness, the man smelled good. The woodsy fragrance he always had on made my legs feel like butter. “Morning. I’m so excited!”Boston shut my car door and walked me in, his hand coming out to touch my elbow and then reversing course. He jammed his hands in his pants pockets, then withdrew them again to open the back door for me. He was acting weird. And that was saying something coming from me, the queen of acting weird.“Mom’s talking to the caterer right now.” He hooked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the tiny office tucked in the back corner of the winery. “How about I get the new napkins that just arrived this morning and we can make sure the bar is stocked?”“Sounds good. I just have to send a quick text and then I’ll be good to go.” I pushed through the saloon doors to put my purse behind the bar. I peeked over
I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but somehow, I’d put my arms around El and pulled her close to me, both of us laughing hysterically at my mother’s ridiculous pig mascot costume.It had been as natural as rolling over in my sleep, to reach for her. Holding her as we shared a moment of laughter borne out of the intimacy we’d built over the last week together, and the last night especially, felt so right that everything inside me was pushing me to hold her there forever. Where she belonged—close to me.But Mom’s timing was good, because it wouldn’t have been the right thing for me to lean in and kiss El furiously right there behind the tasting counter, no matter how much I wanted to. My desire for her, my intense admiration for the strong, silly girl in my arms, didn’t change the fact I was still lying to her about something. And as long as I was misleading her, it was pretty clear I didn’t deserve her.I held her gaze a second longer, which turned out to be a mistake, because Mom saw
“You think your mom wants to put us together?” I couldn’t tell if the idea made her happy or horrified her.“Definitely,” I told her.A little smile flitted over El’s lips and my heart jumped. Did that mean she’d be interested? I knew she thought I was hot, but I also knew she thought I was evil. Or at least she had at one point.The conversation didn’t continue, thanks to the manic pace of the crowd still pouring in the doors, and there was little time to think about it because that first couple that had come in was like a raindrop that signaled an oncoming deluge. Whether it was Dalton on the corner in the pig costume, or Mom’s willingness to implement my brothers’ ideas about internet and email marketing in a way most traditional wineries were still not doing, the place was packed until the event came to an end at ten o’clock that night.El’s mom didn’t leave after her tasting. Instead, Mom poured her a big glass of the pinot gris, and she parked herself at the end of the counter l
Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, don’t freak out.Ohhhh . . . he’s good at this.Boston tugged at my bottom lip, as if asking permission to keep going with the best kiss I’d ever participated in. I let my lips say yes and then I forgot everything else. The butterfly dragons in my stomach turned to a liquid warmth that permeated every square inch of my body. His hands tugged me closer and soon I had the full length of him pressed against me. A solid wall of muscle I wanted to see. Wanted to feel. Wanted to touch.One of his hands came up to cup my jaw, sliding across the nape of my neck and I full body shivered against him with the pleasure his touch brought. Then he was angling my head to take the kiss further and all I could do was hang on for the ride and hope I didn’t pass out from sensory overload.“Oh, sorry, dude.”I gasped against his lips, and Boston pulled back just enough to glance over his shoulder.“Ignore him,” he whispered, coming back to ghost across my lips.But the s