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She was about to nudge him playfully when a man entered the room, pushing a large, metal drinks trolly brimming with wine bottles. With his blond hair and bright-blue eyes, he was the antithesis of Helene, but nonetheless attractive and. once again. Evan was crossing the room, ready to exchange kisses.
‘Edouard, how’s it going? Helene was saying how busy you are?’
‘Hopefully busy enough that she will employ some people to help me.’
Edouard’s laugh was deep and throaty and immediately put Holly at ease. From greeting Evan, he moved across to Holly, but rather than kissing her cheek, he took her hand and placed it gently against his lips.
‘Yes, very beautiful. Very beautiful indeed,’ he said, before clapping his hands together loudly. ‘And now, for the wine.’
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After flicking out a white napkin, Edouard cleared his throat and made it apparent the lesson was about to begin.
‘We are going to start with the white wine and then the red and the rosé and save the sparkling wines for last.’
‘That sounds like a lot of wine.’ Holly frowned as she stared at the bottles in front of her.
‘You’re most welcome to spit.’ Edouard gestured to the silver bucket in front of him, offering her a twinkling smile.
Holly had seen people spitting out wine plenty of times in the shows she’d seen, but she couldn’t imagine doing it for real. If nothing else, it felt like a terrible waste. Especially given this wine was likely to be substantially nicer than the average bottle of plonk she got on offer at Co-op.
‘You can drink it,’ Evan said. ‘I would. I find spitting weird.’
She wasn’t sure whether Evan was lying to make her feel at ease or not, but she was grateful. If this was a proper date, like he had implied, then she hardly wanted to spend it with him watching her spit in a bucket all evening.
‘So, our first bottle is a Chablis.’ He poured a small drop in the bottom of the glass. At least she didn’t have to worry about getting too drunk. There couldn’t have been more than a tenth of a normal serving there.
‘You want to hold your drink by the stem, and swill it round, like this. ’Ave a good look at the colour. Then breathe in that aroma, like this.’
Following his instructions, Holly swilled her wine, then stuck her nose deep into the glass.
While some of Edouard’s suggestions Holly had no problem with, one or two were slightly more unexpected.
‘You need to hold the wine in your mouth for five seconds, then after you swallow, tilt your head forward and just appreciate the volume of saliva that gathers in your mouth.’
‘I’m meant to be appreciating the volume of saliva?’ Holly repeated, wondering if she had somehow misheard him.
‘It is an excellent judge of acidity,’ he explained. ‘See for yourself.’
After a quick look at Evan, who nodded encouragingly, Holly took a sip of wine, held it in her mouth for five seconds before swallowing, then tipped her head forward. However weird it was, it was true; she could feel the saliva gathering under her bottom lip. By the time she was on the third drink, she didn’t even think before tipping her head forward and experiencing it all again.
‘So, do you have a favourite?’ Evan asked, as Edouard poured her the final wines, which, as he promised, were sparkling.
‘Is it wrong to say all of them?’
‘Probably not wrong, though it won’t help me know which ones I should buy you as a gift.’
Holly laughed, though it was tinged with awkwardness. Men showering gifts and money on women they barely knew didn’t instil her with a sense of confidence. There was no way Evan could be as interested in her as he was making out. Could there? ‘Trust me, I don’t need any more. You have done more than enough. This place is phenomenal.’
‘I know, I suggested it to Fin as part of the stag and hen do, but you know what he’s like; his body is a temple and all that. Besides, he was worried Tyler and Spencer wouldn’t behave. But now, I’m glad. I’m glad it’s just been the two of us.’
‘Me too.’
Holly could feel how hard she was smiling. Even with all her doubts, it was impossible to deny the fluttering in her stomach which increased with each millimetre he shifted towards her. Edouard had already wheeled the wine out, meaning they were on their own, and there was no one to come and disturb them this time.
Closing her eyes, Holly leaned forward and before she could even decide whether this was real life or a dream, they were kissing.
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