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Chapter 4
Abby
Abby placed wine bottles on the shelf, one after the other, and marked them down on her inventory sheet as she completed each section. Usually, she relished this task. Filling her shop with exciting new varietals to share with customers gave her a thrill every time. She generally buzzed with excitement while she unloaded, imagining the descriptions and details that she’d share with people when they asked for recommendations.
Not tonight, though.
Tonight, she was simply going through the motions. Ever since she’d seen the news item about Jet, and especially since finding out that even his own family was worried about his whereabouts, her mind had been occupied with little else.
God, where could he be? Was he all right? Oh, God forbid…could he have done something stupid to himself?
Her brain spun with terrible possibilities, unbidden by conscious thoughts. It wasn’t that she indulged in the morbid fantasies; it was more like they thrusted themselves on her without her permission.
She couldn’t wait for this night to be over so that she could close up the shop, go home to her bed, change into her pajamas and slippers, and curl up with a glass of wine and Netflix, which was the best way she knew how to escape the stresses of the day.
It was almost time. She glanced at her watch at the same time that the bell over the front door chimed, signaling that someone had entered the shop.
Cool, this should be the last customer. AKA, the only person standing in between me, a nice chard, and an episode of The Crown!
She grabbed the now-empty crate she’d taken the bottles out of to load the shelves and headed to the front. As she walked, she called out cheerfully, “Hi, there! What can I help—?”
When her eyes landed on the person who’d just walked through the door, and then locked onto his, she froze.
It was Jet, and oh holy mother of rock star, did he look every bit as sexy as she remembered. His shaggy black hair and two-day shadow were perfectly engineered to look as if they hadn’t been engineered at all, and his faded vintage T-shirt hugged his arms, pecs, and abs just enough to show off the Adonis-like V-shape that his shoulders formed leading down to his waist.
Best of all, though…oh my God, yes, still the best of all…were his piercing blue eyes. They were the color of the ocean on Mykonos. She’d gone to that gorgeous island when she’d studied abroad in college, and the vibrant hue of the water had sent an ache of missing Jet through her entire body.
And now, years later, here she was, looking into those eyes again.
The world seemed to slow and still, a preternatural silence enveloping her in its grasp. It was clear and perfect, like fragile spun glass– and it only lasted for a moment until it was shattered by the loud clatter of the heavy crate falling to the floor.
That startled her out of her trance and she jumped and stumbled backward.
A vision went through her mind of herself in that moment. She saw her hand reaching out to catch herself before she fell to the ground, grasping at a shelf, and then falling to the ground anyway but bringing thousands of dollars’ worth of wine crashing down around her at the same time, leaving nothing to do but stare up at Jet Valentine from a sopping puddle of spreading liquid.
The whole thing raced through her mind in a flash, but with enough clarity that it caused her to summon the iron will to right herself before she tumbled ass over teakettle.
Not in front of Jet. Never in front of Jet.
She got her feet under her with as much subtlety as she could manage, which she had to admit wasn’t a whole lot.
A small smile played on his lips. “You okay, there, Abs?”
Ignoring his question, she kept her tone airy and casual as she said, “Oh, Jet. Long time no see. How are you?”
His shoulders slumped. “I’m pretty fucking shitty, to tell you the truth.”
Her heart jumped at his dejected air, and she had the urge to throw her arms around him, take his pain away, hold him close to her until he felt halfway human again.
But that was so not their dynamic.
She gave her voice a teasing edge. “Oh, did Maserati not come out with a color you like in their new lineup? I can only imagine what kind of hell rock star problems must be like.”
He looked up, surprise flashing in his eyes. “Shit. Don’t you know what happened?”
Of course she did, but she tilted her head to the side and wrinkled her brow. “What are you talking about?”
“Well…I mean, it’s been all over entertainment news all day today. I don’t think there’s been even one gossip blog that hasn’t posted about it.”
