Page 83 of Taken Away

“I’ve already balanced the 2023 casing margins.” She adjusted her reading glasses. “Found a three-thousand-dollar discrepancy in cork inventory.”

Bennett groaned.

“Don’t tell me that.”

“Oh, it gets worse.”

“Please stop talking.”

“I thought Napa men were supposed to be efficient.”

He walked around the desk.

“Funny. I thought vineyard managers knew how to count.”

“Careful, Princess.”

She smiled.

There it was again. Princess.

Every time he said it, it sounded less like an insult and more like something dangerous.

Bennett leaned down beside her chair to look at the screen. Instantly, she caught the familiar scent of his soap and aftershave.

She frowned.

“Huh.”

Bennett looked over.

“What?”

She tilted her head.

“No Jasmine Rouge.”

His eyes narrowed, a slow awareness flickering there.

He leaned in a fraction closer.

“Jealous?”

Heat curled unexpectedly through her chest.

“Yeah, jealous. That’s it,” she scoffed. “Devastated the cosmetics counter broke up with you.”

His mouth kicked up.

“Good,” he said. “Because I like your perfume better anyway.”

She met his gaze.

“Is that a fact?”

His eyes dipped briefly to her mouth, then back up.

“Yeah. It is.”