I cut a disbelieving glance at her, and she quickly amends. “I mean, I didn’t immediately connect the dead-sexyAmélietype hyperventilating in the nude with my kid sister’s best friend. Even after you said it, my brain refused to compute.” Her smile is faint, but playful. “In my defense, youwerenaked. But I remember you. OfcourseI remember you.”
The words fill me to the brim, like a glass of overflowing champagne, the feelings they create fizzing over me in bubbling streams. Down my neck, my chest, my arms, across the tight buds of my nipples. Shedidremember me. And she thinks I’m sexy, too?Swoo—
I stop mid-swoon.
“Wait. Just as Chop Chop?” I raise an eyebrow.
Laine laughs. “More than that. You used to come to all my games, like this bonus member of my family fan club. This sad, shadowed girl, but you always lit up in the stands.” She shrugs. “And here I thought you were just really into soccer.”
I snort. “Not so much.”
“You always painted my number on your cheek. I loved that.” Laine smiles fondly, and somehow, I know that smile is for young Zoe. It ricochets around my heart, searching for its home until it lands, warm and soothing against a spot that’s ached for ages. “It always made me feel special, you looking up to me like that,” she says quietly. “It’s … hurt, watching you change your mind. Feeling so dumb every time you called me out for my lack of experience here. Knowing you wouldn’t want me near your vineyard after you found out about the review.”
I twist to face her, and before I can think better of it, my gloved hands grip her by her upper arms. Her muscles tense beneath my touch. “Let’s get one thing straight, Laine Woods. I don’t give two shits about that review. All that matters to me is that you try while you’re here. Try to learn how we do things in a Georgia vineyard and try to make our wine as good as possible.”
Her eyes search mine, like she’s hunting for any trace that I don’t mean the words I’m saying. I lift my chin. “Can you do that for me?” My thumb rubs a light circle against her arm until I force myself to stop.
“I will,” she says, her voice a vow.
“Good. And maybe try to keep more of an open mind, too.”
“About what?” Laine’s forehead creases a little. “I’m open-minded.”
“Abouteverything, Laine. Living here, working here. Georgia Girls.” A small smile settles on my face. “How good it tastes.”
“Don’t you mean how goodtheytaste?” A corner of her mouth lifts wickedly, and a current zips from her arms into my hands. I realize I’m still gripping her, but instead of letting go, my fingers momentarily tighten, like I mean to drag her to my mouth, taste her all over again.
Her eyebrows lift into a playful bend, but her eyes are dark and hungry. It steals the air from my lungs.
“I’m sorry. I just promised you I’d be professional,” I breathe out into the small space between us, feeling my temperature rise, “but you’re making it difficult.”
The apology would be more effective if I could let go of her. Laine’s smirk deepens, her chest broadening between my hands, like a lion about to teach a lesson to the kitten swatting at its nose. “You saying I’m asking for it, boss?”
Are you?I want to demand, shake the answer I want from her like apples from a tree.Are you asking for it?
Or amI?
My fingers finally release her, a jolt of shame retracting them like bolts in a lock. “I’m sorry,Jesus. I’m aterribleboss.”
She clocks the change in my demeanor, and her own smirk softens.
“Now let me get something straight withyou, Zoe Brennan,” she says, meeting my eyes. “We’ve only worked together for a few weeks, but you’re already the best boss I’ve ever had. You’re creative and kind and, god, this sounds corny, but you’reinspiring.” Her words drip down my spine like warm honey, settling between my legs. “So I’m gonna do my best for you, and together, we’re gonna win that showcase. Got it?”
I swallow and nod. Laine, who dominated every Gilmer County spelling bee, soccer game, and goddamnlimbocontest, on my team.Trulyonmy team. Whatever hesitation I saw when I assigned her the red wine renovation is long gone now, as though she couldn’t access her signature determination until we banished the specter of that horrible review for good.
Laine smiles and leans back against the tree, her shoulder pressing warmth into mine as we quietly watch the fires dotting the vineyard like the first fireflies of summer. The thick cover of clouds spackling the night sky has begun to peel away, revealing cracks of cold, silvered moonlight. As the night passes us by, the heat swirling within me finally cools, but down below, our fires burn bright.
CHAPTER TEN
Day always comes too soon after a night spent under the stars. Worse, I drank so much coffee last night, it seems to have lost any effect. I lay my head down on the bar in our empty tasting room then jolt upright when my phone buzzes from my back pocket.
WARNING, it’s that bitch Rachel
Your goat did $1,382.47 worth of damage to my car. Here’s the itemized breakdown.
Three photos come in quick succession showing a bill for the many tasks required to de-goat Rachel’s SUV. I groan.
Zoe
