AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Huh! And here I thought breathing in wine was just a snobby maneuver designed to draw out the inevitable.” She lifted her glass and mirrored Gavin’s serious expression as she gave it another look.
He cracked a wry smile. “You can’t just throw this stuff back like Jell-O shots.”
“You’ve done Jell-O shots?” She lifted a doubtful brow, totally unable to picture it.
“I went to U Penn before culinary school, Sloane. I’ve done a lot worse than Jell-O shots.” His smile darkened with suggestion, and her pulse did a perfect imitation of a hummingbird stuck in a small space.
Gavin continued. “The idea is to draw out the experience to enhance the enjoyment, not get it over with before you know what hit you.”
“For you, maybe. But I don’t have a clue what the bouquet is, or what it’s supposed to smell like,” she said with a laugh. “Most of the wine I drink comes packaged in a box, you know.”
His shudder was probably visible from the moon. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, boss.”
“Anyway.” He drew the word out, his voice teasing each syllable. “You don’t have to know what a bouquet is in order to enjoy it. Proper wine tasting is an evocative experience, completely unique to each person. You might not recognize the bouquet for what it is when you experience it, but it will affect you just the same.”
Sloane bit her lip, searching her mind for a parallel. “How can something affect me if I don’t even know what it is?”
“You’re a romance writer. Think of it in terms of sex.”
A nervous bubble of laughter rose from her chest. “Excuse me?”
“The journey is the pleasurable part. Not the destination.” Gavin pinned her with one of his seductively serious looks, leaving her to wonder who had hijacked her knees.
“Oh.” The word escaped her on a breathy sigh, and she cleared her throat in an effort to cover it. “Well, I don’t know. Isn’t the whole point to get to the destination?”
“Let’s find out.” He motioned toward her glass, gaze unwavering. “Now breathe.”
Sloane’s inhale got partway in at best.
“Yeah. Perfect,” he murmured, his eyes lowered over the glass so his spice-colored lashes left just a hint of sexy shadow over his face.
Her exhale fared poorly too.
“So, now do we drink?” It took Sloane a minute to comprehend that the trembly voice asking the question belonged to her, and she forced herself to even out her nerves. After all, it was a measly bottle of wine, plus, they were adults. She could do this, no big deal.
“Now we toast,” Gavin corrected, but then fell silent.
After a silence that lasted just a breath too long, Sloane understood that he was waiting for her to say something.
“Oh! I’ve already made one of those tonight, and anyway, this is your moment, isn’t it? You go ahead,” she said.
“Okay. To traditions.” He guided his glass to hers, the flawless ring of crystal tickling the silence.
“Touché,” Sloane said, unable to reel in her smile. She pressed her glass to her lips.
“Salut,” he answered, his glass unable to hide either the perfectly cultured accent of his French or the mischievous smirk on his face.
It was the last thing she saw before every one of her taste buds wept with joy.
A rich, seductive taste filled not just her mouth, but all her senses with a rush of something so intense, she was tempted to moan. Far from syrupy, the wine was smooth velvet. She tilted the rim to her mouth again, and although the flavors sliding over her tongue were familiar, they scattered through her brain like a deck of cards spilled on the floor, just out of reach. They lingered even after she swallowed, as if to give her another chance to figure them out, but she couldn’t.
“Oh, my God.” Fine, so any hope she might’ve had for eloquence had gone out the window as soon as the glass had left her lips. But please. This wine was making a flavor playground out of taste buds she never knew existed. Even if she didn’t have a clue what she was tasting.
“You like it?”
Although she didn’t remember closing them, her eyes fluttered open to reveal a picture as seductive as the wine in her glass. Gavin stared at her, wearing a smile of dark satisfaction that said he was just beginning.
