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“Thank you, Jaz,” I said.
“Have fun, sis.”
I smiled a wry smile while she got up and went back to her room, carrying her orange juice with her. It was like she knew. I didn’t know how, but she knew. Maybe she saw the black lacy thong in the suitcase?
Twenty minutes later and I was in the car, on my way down the road. It would be a few hours, and I had the coffee Jaz had poured put into a thermos, so I didn’t need to stop anywhere. By the time I got into town, it was mostly empty and I was feeling jittery. I wasn’t completely sure it was just the coffee though. Part of it was almost assuredly the closer I got, the more I was thinking about and reciting what to say to Kane.
None of what I came up with would work. I was starting to stress out just a little.
I pulled into the vineyard and made my way around to the restaurant parking lot. It was the biggest lot and really the only place for visitors to park. I expected to be able to park there and gather myself before I went in. Kane would likely be waiting for me in the vineyard or in the offices. Or so I thought.
I parked right next to Kane’s truck. He was leaning against the hood, an old coonhound at his feet. He didn’t look up at me when I pulled in, and it was frustratingly cool and sexy. He looked every inch like a movie star, and the resolve I had to tell him it wasn’t going to work and have some great excuse why just fell away. Like water through my hands, my ability to resist him was gone.
Damn it.
Maybe, I thought to myself, maybe there is a way. Some convoluted, highly romantic, incredibly difficult, and yet extremely worthwhile way to have a casual-ish relationship with him. Something where we could see each other once in a while. We lived in the digital age now—maybe we could keep the relationship fresh with video calls. If I told him what was going on with my sister and he didn’t freak out, maybe we could have something that could work.
I took a deep breath and opened the car door. I felt a smile stretch across my face so wide that I could barely contain it. Unfortunately, it faltered and fell as soon as I saw Kane’s expression.
It was cold and calculated. Like he had spent the entire day perfecting it to give me a very specific message. A message that I’d asked for.
I was going to have to see if I could remove that coldness. It wouldn’t be easy. But I still wanted to try.
But first, work. I nodded, pulled my boots out of the back seat of the car, and rested against the hot hood of my own while I changed into them.
“Kane,” I said. “Nice to see you. Let’s go see some grapes.”
21
Kane
I tried to steel myself for when she got out of the car. Projecting a stoic, even somewhat angry persona would keep her from feeling like she could just walk all over me and then walk out of my life. She would at least have to deal with me not making her day easier, and thus maybe forcing her to approve the changes without giving me too much gruff. If I was going to have to give up on what we had begun and what I thought would be a new and exciting development in my non-vineyard life, at least I might be able to save myself some work.
Strong. Stoic. Silent. That was the plan.
Unfortunately, I never got the memo to Joker.
“Oh!” Danica said as Joker barked and hopped up, his tail wagging like someone had just offered him an entire plate of cooked bacon. Barking once again, he took off to Danica, jumping up and then dropping down on his back to offer up his belly.
Danica dropped down to rub and pet him, and Joker was absolutely out of his mind with happiness. He flipped over onto his paws and let her scratch his head and then rolled back over again. He was so excited, and the laughter bubbling up from Danica as she matched some of his enthusiasm had an effect on me.
“What is his name?” she asked, looking up at me with a wide, bright smile and her eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Every bit of the stoic, ice-cold demeanor that I was trying to force melted in that gaze. I could no more be cold to her than I could be to Joker, who was thrashing happily, trying to give her new spots to scratch simultaneously while she scratched others.
“Joker,” I said.
I took a few steps closer and knelt to pet him too, which seemed to send him over whatever edge he had been teetering on, and he hopped up to lick my face and then begin running circles around us.
