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“That must be nice.”
“You should try it. It’s a good feeling. Right now, imagine that you belong right here.” He tightened his arm around her shoulders. When he said right here, he meant by his side, and he, too, was imagining how that would feel. He liked it.
The look she gave him suggested that she understood what he meant, but didn’t quite believe it. She looked around and then back at him. “I think it would be wonderful to belong here. I can imagine it, but …” She shrugged. “This isn’t where my life has taken me.”
He wished there wasn’t abut. He wanted her to be able to imagine her life being here with him. But this was their first date, after all. He had time. He loved the idea, but they were just getting started. He didn’t need to push things along. “I believe life can take us wherever we want to go—if we want it enough.”
She looked up at him, and he wondered again if she understood what he was really saying.
“Tell me about your life. Where did you grow up? How did you get into the wine business?”
She smiled. “I’m afraid my childhood wasn’t as glamorous as yours. I grew up in suburbia in Ohio. I went to college in Oregon and got interested in wine while I was there. I worked at a small winery in the Willamette Valley. I loved it there, but …” She shrugged. “Things went bad, and I applied for the job with Hamilton-Groves. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“So, did you work with David?” Antonio wished he hadn’t asked, but he never had been able to keep his questions to himself.
She nodded and stepped away from him. “Yeah, we met at work. He was one of the sales reps, and I was assistant to the CEO.” She made a face. “We got engaged, then he met the CEO’s daughter, and apparently, she was a better opportunity for him than I was.”
Antonio slid his arm around her waist and drew her back to him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She smiled brightly, but she felt tense. “You didn’t.”
He slid his hand up her back and closed his fingers around the back of her neck, stroking the soft skin under her hair. “I’m sorry he hurt you, but as I told him, I’m grateful that he did.” She looked up into his eyes, and he nodded. “I am. Where would you be now if you’d married him?”
She pursed her lips and shook her head.
“All I know is that you wouldn’t be standing here with me.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead and smiled. “I’m sorry he hurt you, but I’ll be forever grateful to him.” He lowered his head to hers. He needed to kiss her, to tell her how glad he was that she was here with him now. His lips brushed thin air as she pulled away with a frown.
“It’s very sweet of you to say all that, but come on.”
“Come on?”
“Cut the bullshit, would you? I’m not some starstruck tourist, and I’m certainly no model or actress. You don’t need to dream up the perfect lines that you think a woman wants to hear. Not with me. You don’t need to feed me lines to get me into bed.”
Antonio stepped back. She might as well have slapped him. He’d been honest with her, and she thought he was playing her. He took a deep breath. He could see why she might believe that. “I’m sorry. I’m not feeding you lines. I know better than that—I know you wouldn’t fall for them. I was telling you the truth.”
She pursed her lips.
“I was. Perhaps with time, you’ll come to believe me.”
She blew out a sigh. “I think with very little time, we’ll have bonked each other’s brains out and be on our way. All I ask is that you don’t feed me bullshit. I don’t like it, and I don’t need it.”
He smiled. He couldn’t help it. She wasn’t going to make any of this easy for him. “I promise you. I will feed you no bullshit. Can I ask you to promise me something?”
“What?”
“Promise me you’ll keep an open mind? Give me a chance? How would you feel right now if you believed everything I’ve told you?”
He watched her think it over. “If I honestly believed that you thought I belong here? If I believed that you were grateful to David for setting me free, so I could be with you?”
He nodded and waited.
She shook her head, but he could see the hint of a smile playing on her lips. “If I believed all of that were true, I think I’d be happy.” She met his gaze and nodded. “I would; I’d be happy.”
He was thrilled—there was hope.
“But Idon’tbelieve it,” she added when she saw his grin.
“Not yet, but will you promise me that you’ll stay open to the possibility?”
