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“Why?”
Again, he moved in and got all up close and personal. The sheer outrageousness of it kept him safe from a thumping … or a ravishing. There had to be a good reason for it—didn’t there?
“What’s that scent?”
Swallowing hard, she struggled to come up with an answer. Eau de flop sweat or essence of green-eyed gorgon?
“It’s a body wash. Orange and oatmeal.”
In other news, he smelled pretty incredible. Clean and fresh, one of those grocery store soaps that meshed with hints of his body chemistry and created a branding spanking new male scent that made her weak-kneed.
“Fruity porridge. I like it.” He drew back and picked up the glass, all casual-like, as if he hadn’t just been sniffing her like a feral tomcat. “Wearing an overpowering cologne or perfume can play havoc with your taste buds.”
Ah. That was as good a reason as any for the personal space invasion. Her stomach roiled in disappointment. Nervous and not a little stressed out, she put her mouth to the lip of the glass.
“Hold up there, Nelly. There’s work to be done first.” He shook his head slightly and, oh bloody hell, tutted. “Give it a swirl.”
She repressed an eye roll. Whenever she saw people do that, it looked so pretentious. “Does this get us into wine-tasting mode?”
“It activates the aromatic compounds and gives us a clue about alcohol content.” He swirled his own, coating the glass with the dark liquid. Mimicking his motion, she was just getting the hang of it when some precious drops jumped the lip and landed on his shirt.
Oh, crap. With a grimace, her hand flew automatically to his chest, a maternal reflex from days spent cleaning up after Evan. Not that her fingers would do any good in cleaning Tad up and not that her feelings toward Tad resembled anything close to maternal. Before she could withdraw, he placed his hand over hers, oddly legitimizing her grope of his rock-solid muscles.
He felt warm and male, a conclusion that had her feeling… warm and female. “This is harder than it looks,” she spilled nervously, the words out of her mouth before she realized the innuendo.
“Sure is,” he said, hoisting an expressive eyebrow.Sure is?
What felt like several lifetimes passed before he released her. What felt like several more passed before she could trust her hand to pick up the glass again.
She swirled again, less vigorously this time.
“Now get your nose in there. Just a few sniffs, nothing too deep, but hold it for three to four seconds. It might smell fruity or spicy or earthy.”
She did as she was told, then listened as he told her all the things that could go wrong with a wine: excess sulphur, oxidization, corked wine that smells like wet, musty running shoes. The smell she found was…well, wine.
That most learned conclusion sent her into an uncontrollable laugh.
He read her mind. “Brat.”
She pursed her lips to hide her smile.
“Now you can taste, but don’t gulp it, you heathen. Roll it around your tongue and try to hit all the taste receptors.”
She took a healthy mouthful and swirled it around her mouth, with better consequences than her swirl around the glass. No spit takes here. All class.
His lips contorted expertly as he moved the wine around his mouth. She tried to do the same, suspecting she looked ridiculous.
“What do you taste?”
Startled by his question, she swallowed. Wow, this was really good. The fullness felt like a dark chocolate with a cherry finish. Decadence in a glass. “Berry flavors. It tastes bright.”
He smiled, clearly pleased with her answer, and her body flushed at his approval. After just two sips, she was feeling a touch light-headed. Blame it on the wine and not the drop-dead delicious hunk of male before her.
“Maybe we should eat something,” she said quickly. “Let’s try this bruschetta then.”
He pulled out the warm toasted bread, drizzled a little olive oil on it, then spooned the mushroom bruschetta on top. She watched as his sensuous lips closed over the bread. Tad’s lips were one of the things she enjoyed most—they could give the forearms a run for Top Tad Body Part—and now she found herself a little obsessed with how they moved while he chewed her food.
Very nice,Bad Girl Jules mused.
