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“What happened?”
“Oh God, haven’t you heard?”
He shook his head.
I sighed. “Well, we went on a date. He took me to La Sirena.” Which was my favorite restaurant in town. I’d thought it was looking up. “Then he spent the entire dinner talking about himself. He got handsy into the third course of tapas.”
Julian cringed. “Jesus.”
“Yeah. It, uh…dissolved from there.”
“So, why is he still coming around? I’m shocked he’d take the job.”
“Well, I’m not Annie,” I said with a laugh.
Julian arched an eyebrow in question. “You aren’t going after my brother?”
I laughed, a genuine one at that. “Dear God, I am most certainly not.”
“That’s a relief,” Julian said.
His dark eyes met mine, and something fluttered in my stomach at the look.
I glanced away. “I mean that I’m not as extroverted.”
“No one is as extroverted as Annie,” Julian said with a laugh.
“You are.”
“Psh! Not even me.”
“Well, I’m definitely not. So, I guess I didn’t make it clear enough to him that I wasn’t interested. I honestly think that he thought the date went well.”
Julian wrinkled his nose. “Fucker.”
I snorted and then immediately covered my mouth. “Oh my God, don’t make me laugh like that.”
His eyes found mine, and his own smile was wide and unassuming. “Why not? That snort is the best part of your laugh.”
I giggled, tucking my hair behind my ear again. “You’re ridiculous.”
He was flirting with me. Oh my God, was he flirting with me? I didn’t know. Julian Wright was as charming as they came. I’d never met anyone who could woo someone so thoroughly. And I wasn’t just saying that because I’d been into him for so long. I knew it wasn’t going anywhere and that he couldn’t control the charm. But I also couldn’t help hoping that this was more than his normal charm…and actual flirting.
It seemed unlikely. Just as much as I wasn’t dating because of my string of bad dates, coupled with my inability to tell people how I really felt, Julian hadn’t been dating the last couple months either. He’d been dating Ashleigh Sinclair for two years when he found out that she was trying to sabotage the winery to get him to work for her father—a real estate mogul here in Lubbock. Their breakup had been swift and brutal, and he hadn’t dated since.
“Come on. Let me show you the cellars while we’re down here,” Julian said, opening the cellar door.
I’d already had a full tour. Ever since Julian and Hollin had offered me a spot as the company wedding photographer, I’d been all in on Wright Vineyard.
For more than three years, I’d been working weddings and elopements as a travel photographer. I went all over the country and the Caribbean. I even shot a wedding in Bali. Bali. But it had been hard, being gone every weekend and most weekdays from April to October, especially since I found it impossible to say no to clients. And not every wedding was as much of a dream as the trip to Bali. They were a lot of hard work, and I liked the idea of having a full-time job here in town. Then I got to pick and choose which elopements to photograph. It was an easy way for me to say no to potential brides without saying no.
But I couldn’t say no to Julian either.
Nor did I want to.
So, I stepped into the cellars and breathed in the wine fermentation. It was a particular smell that I was coming to enjoy. Especially with the added benefit of free wine on the job.
Julian was regaling me with stories about the different vintages. I only half-listened. From the moment he’d decided to purchase the winery, he’d been full deep dive into winemaking and running the business. This was his life, and even if I only understood half of it, it was interesting to hear his excitement.
The cellars were at least relatively deserted, and we made it all the way down and around the corner, uninterrupted.
Julian stopped in front of his office. “Well, that completes the tour. Show should be starting soon,” he said. “Probably should get you backstage.”
I nodded. “Probably.”
Despite the fact that I’d said no guys for ninety days and I wanted the entire summer to myself, I didn’t want to walk away from Julian. It was impossible anyway. Probably stupid to even consider.
Then his eyes rounded in circles as he looked over my shoulder.
I turned to find none other than Ashleigh Sinclair on the property.
“What is she doing here?” I whispered.
As far as I knew, all Sinclairs were banned from the premises.
“I have no idea.” Julian reached out and grabbed my hand. I looked back at him in surprise. “I really don’t want to find out.”
“What?”
But he put a finger to his lips and then tipped his head back. Without a word, he pulled me into his office, decisively shutting the door behind him. The lights were off, and I could hear our breathing in the space as we waited to see if Ashleigh had seen us.
