Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“We’re doing a tasting of white wines, Jax,” I said. “Where do you expect to find something with… what are you reaching for?”
Jax had opened his jacket and was reaching inside the front of it. He pulled out the most massive flask I had ever seen. It was at least a foot tall and two feet wide and curved so it fit around his ribs. I looked at it with a mixture of admiration and horror.
“Vodka,” he said. “Mother’s milk.”
I was able to convince Jax to put the vodka away and begged off the bar hopping before they left. Heading home, I texted Camilla, asking if she had a few moments to chat while I made my way home. She said sure, and I connected the phone to the car so I could talk while I drove.
“Hey,” she answered. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I said. “I just was heading back from a tasting at the restaurant and figured we could talk while I drove, so long as you aren’t doing something.”
“No, I’m free. You aren’t holding the phone though, are you? Isn’t that illegal?”
“It is, and I’m not,” I said. “Got you on a stand connected to the car speakers.”
“Ahh,” she said. “That’s better. How was the tasting?”
“It was fine. Kane and Derek are going bananas with the varieties, trying to settle on what they want to offer regularly. It’s kind of funny seeing them bounce around so much, but it means tons of tastings.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? Lots of wine to try? Sounds good to me.”
“Sort of,” I said. “Industry secret. After you’ve done about thirty tastings in a couple of weeks, all you really want is a beer.”
She laughed, and we continued our conversation for a while. I tried hinting around about her past, seeing what kind of information I could glean about who she was before, but she wasn’t telling me a lot about how she got where she was and who her ex was. Something about her past was bothering her, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. The last thing I wanted was for her to hold something someone else did against me before we ever got started. When I got home, I disconnected the phone from the car and took it inside, continuing our talk as I got changed and ready for bed. But as the conversation came to a close, I figured I could be patient, just this once.
CHAPTER 17
CAMILLA
I had forgotten what it was like to have a guy call me. Texting had become such the accepted means of communication that the idea of having a guy reach out and actually hear his voice had become strange and unexpected. So when my phone rang and I saw it was Alex, my heart jumped a little and I got butterflies in my stomach.
That was definitely not something I’d experienced in a long time. I’d long since forgotten the fun of being excited to see a particular man’s name across my phone screen. Far too often in recent memory, seeing a man’s name on the screen brought more dread and fear than it did happiness.
When I answered the phone, I felt breathless. I hoped it didn’t show up in my voice. And at the same time, I hoped it did. Alex was obviously enjoying talking to me as much as I was enjoying talking to him. He was the one who asked me out and made sure we exchanged phone numbers. And he was the one who had initiated the conversation. What bad could come of him hearing the rush of pleasure in my voice?
If anything, I wanted him to know I was happy to hear from him. We were venturing into territory I wasn’t used to anymore, and that equally thrilled and scared me. I was willing to deal with the fear if it meant I could also feel the thrill.
I thought he was calling just to make final plans for the date we’d been chatting about over our texts. I reassured him I was feeling much better, but still thought it might be a good idea to give it a few more days just to be absolutely sure. I didn’t say it, but the last thing I wanted to have happen was to think everything was fine only to walk into the restaurant and have the stomach bug surge up again. I couldn’t think of many things that had the potential of ruining a date much more than that.
We bounced around a few ideas, and he’d told me he would check with his brothers and see if there were any conflicts on the calendar with the vineyard, and then he would let me know. That was definitely on his mind.
“Are you busy Friday night?” he asked.
“No,” I said without even giving it a few seconds to sound like I had to think about it. I wasn’t going to play that game.