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“How well do you know the maid of honor?” I casually asked Michael, hoping to glean some interesting information about her from my friend.
He looked up from his plate, swallowing the scrambled eggs in his mouth before replying. “Tatum? I’ve known her forever. We went to school together. Hell, I even dated her back in the day.”
I couldn’t help feeling disappointed at his words. I was a big believer in the bro code. I would never date a friend’s ex. “Ahh, gotcha.”
“Why do you ask?” Michael continued, his curious gaze meeting mine. “Are you interested in her?”
“I don’t know,” I said nonchalantly, nodding a thank you at the waiter as he delivered my coffee. “She’s cute. I met her on the plane yesterday.”
Michael grinned. “Well, if you want her, I say go for it.”
“Really?” I asked after taking a sip of my coffee. “You wouldn’t care?”
“Dude, I’m getting married to the love of my life,” Michael said with a laugh. “It’s more than fine if you date Tatum. Besides, we were together so long ago that I’m not even sure it counts. We’re just friends now.”
I couldn’t suppress my grin. I was happy to hear him say that, because despite her prickly demeanor, I was drawn to her in a way that I didn’t think I could just ignore. I wanted to explore that attraction and see if there was a real connection there.
* * *
Later that afternoon,I waited in front of the hotel with Faith, Tatum, two bridesmaids, my sister, and two other close friends of Faith. I wasn’t sure how they were all going to fit in the vehicle, but when the valet pulled up in the big SUV that Michael rented for the week, I knew that it wouldn’t be a problem.
It was black with a built-in navigational system and third-row seating. I got in behind the wheel, hoping that Tatum would end up in the passenger seat beside me, but she climbed in the very back with Faith instead. I ended up next to Poppy, who insisted on messing with the radio the whole time, driving me a little crazy when she refused to just pick a station and stick with it.
Younger siblings could be such a pain in the ass sometimes.
There were only three wineries on the list of places to go, but they weren’t quick stops. Faith had arranged for vineyard tours, wine tastings, and complimentary snacks. I obviously wasn’t drinking, but they didn’t make me wait in the car. I was able to walk the gourds of the wineries with them, taking in the beautiful sights and breathing in air so fresh and clear that it made me feel lighter somehow.
I also took every opportunity that I could get to talk to Tatum. I had the feeling that she was trying to avoid me, but I wasn’t going to make that easy for her. At the first winery, I caught up with her after we’d been shown the grape vines and the processing shed where they made and bottled the wine. We were walking back toward the winery itself when we ended up next to each other at the back of the group.
“So, you know what I find interesting,” I said, and she whipped around to see me beside her, immediately looking flustered.
“Uh, what?” she asked, her tongue darting out to skim across her bottom lip.
My gaze dropped to her lush mouth, before refocusing on her eyes again. “Last night, that bridesmaid that told you about this winery tour—”
“Sage,” Tatum said, supplying the woman’s name.
“Okay, Sage. She seemed surprised when she thought that I might be your date. Why is that?”
“You’re asking me to explain someone else’s thought process?” she asked, but she didn’t make eye contact.
I had a feeling that her love life was off limits, but I could work with that. Frankly, I didn’t want to talk about my past love life either, which was . . . messy.
“Fair enough,” I said, letting it go for now. “Then, why not tell me something about yourself?”
She gave me a curious side-eye as she slipped her hands into the front pockets of her shorts. “Okay . . . what do you want to know?”
“Your job,” I said, slowing and matching my steps to hers so we remained side by side.
“I’m an elementary school teacher,” she replied easily, that guard of hers dropping a bit. “Fifth grade.”
A light breeze blew, tugging a few wispy strands of hair from her ponytail, which she quickly swiped away from her cheek before I could do it for her. “And you enjoy that?”
She arched a brow at me. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t.”
“Well, that’s easy to say, but there are a lot of people out there stuck in a job they hate for one reason or another.”
“Fair enough,” she repeated my earlier words with a cheeky grin.
