by K. F. Breene
When the employee had moved away to fulfill the order, he said, “Sorry, Cass, if I offended you in some way.”
“You didn’t.” She clasped her fingers in front of her and watched the employee, wounded pride keeping her head up.
Jace thought back to their first meeting, when he’d mentioned how she jumped from one personality to the other. She’d been taken aback—lost her confidence. And then again, outside. He’d struck a chord. He bet that she’d been accused of emotional A.D.D. and neediness by the immature idiots she’d dated. They obviously hadn’t understood the caliber of woman they had on their hands.
Peter didn’t, either. That much Jace was positive of. Peter didn’t understand her. He gave her space when she needed attention. He left her to her own devices when she wanted someone to mess around with.
“Earth to muscle-head, come in muscle-head.”
“Reading you, loud and clear.” He leaned down and rested his elbows on the counter to match her pose. “What’s up Pirate Princess?”
“Pirate Princess?” Her shapely eyebrows dipped. A smile worked at her lips.
Personality swap in three…two…
“Is that because I have the booty?” She laughed and handed her credit card to the man behind the counter. “Give me the gold, arg!”
“Just figuring you might benefit from an eye patch with your wine tasting method.” Jace laughed as she received the credit card receipt to sign.
“You haven’t said why you’re hanging out with me instead of pushing me toward Peter…Get over your fear of vaginas?”
He sucked air through his teeth in thought. “I’ve not gotten over the fear, no. Not quite. Pretty much anything to do with women still terrifies me.”
“Just like a man. So?”
“He’s getting drunk. Thinks I’ll keep a better eye on you.”
Cassie barked laughter as she reached for the case of wine.
“Don’t be an idiot.” He gently pushed her away and took her cargo.
“He’s basically setting you up for failure—you know that, right?”
He glanced down at her as they threaded their way through the meandering crowd toward their party. “How?”
“I am usually pretty level-headed—I didn’t appreciate that snort, Jason. Anyway, as I was saying, I am pretty level-headed—seriously, stop snorting, it’s true—but I can get a little…shall we say…”
“Wild? Insane? Bat-shit crazy?” Peter smirked at them as they neared.
“Oh, you were in hearing range. Fantastic.” Cassie crinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him as Peter laughed with delighted.
“Hey, bro.” Demetri walked up from the side and gave Jace a hearty slap on the back. “We out of here, or what? Jesus, thirsty?”
“Good, let’s go.” Rachel waved everyone on, checking her watch. “I hope I packed the food well enough.”
“Why, babe, afraid of it escaping?” Demetri gave Jace a bleary eyed wink. “Wait, where’s Nick?”
“By the door, already.” Jenn pointed to Nick, ahead of them, watching people walk by. He pushed away as Rachel bustled by.
“She gets really bossy and hot when she’s drinking.” Demetri laughed, giving Jace another slap on the back.
Jace smiled down at Cassie, feeling the heat of her arm as it brushed his. Feeling the pulse of his body responding to hers. He wanted to touch her so badly; to hold her hand and bask in her smiles. He wanted to steal her away and let her flirt with him before giving him a kiss. Just one kiss that he could remember for the rest of his life. The earth-bound angel that deigned to stoop and waste her smiles on him.
It wasn’t good. None of this was good.
But Lord help him, he wouldn’t back away. Couldn’t. Not right now with the sun in her hair and the sparkle in her eye… He couldn’t tear himself away from her beauty. Or her charismatic smiles.
He swung his shoulder forward. “Mush, little doggie, mush.”
“Dude, Cassie, he just called you a dog.” Demetri sauntered forward with an evil grin. “A big, hairy dog. What a dick, huh?”
They filed out of the winery, stowed their purchases in the limo, and headed to the next stop. The attempt for a graceful crawl into the limo had long since passed. Mature adults clambered in like teens, too drunk to care. Cassie sat in her reserved seat, keeper of all things music. Jace fell into the seat beside her, as the last to get in the limo.
“Okay. Shall we rock this house?” Cassie stared at everyone before dramatically tapping the face of her phone. AC/DC tore through the car, and everyone sang, drank, or attempted both.
“I need food.” Cassie leaned heavily against her seat and allowed her head to lull toward Jace. “Did anyone bring snacks for the car?”
Jace stopped himself from matching her lean, knowing that if he did get closer, he couldn’t be counted on not to let his hands follow. “We’re literally going to have lunch in ten minutes,” he assured her.
“Ugh.” Her vivid blue gaze held his. “I’m drunk. But not yet drunk enough to make a huge ass of myself. So I’ve got that going for me.”
“How many glasses of wine until the huge ass asserts herself?”
“It’s tough to say.” She rolled her head back and forth on the seat before lifting up. “But you’ll probably know it when it happens. Isn’t that right, Peter?”
“What’s that, doll? You need a lesson on awesome?”
“What are you even talking about?” Cassie yelled back. “I could give you the lesson.”
“I could give you all a lesson.” Demetri shot forward and waved his finger in the air. “And now I will dance.”
“I think you’ll have to compete to stand out.” Jace couldn’t stop laughing. The absurdity in this limo was at such epic proportions it circled back into normal. It felt good to stop taking everything so seriously.
“Cassie, here. This one is good.” Peter passed along an open bottle.
“Tell Jace how he knows when I’ve lost the plot on the train de alcohol.” Cassie lurched forward for the bottle. Jace caught her before she spilled out onto the limo floor. He hauled her back up and grabbed the bottle.
“You sure you need this?” he asked softly.
“I absolutely do need that, sir.” Cassie held out her glass. “And you need one, too. That is a fact, and since I am the fact holder, I decree.”
“Ri-ight.”
“Top signs Cassie is in the party spirit.” Peter scratched his chin with a grin. “She falls on her face and does not care.”
“Boom!” Demetri threw a point at her like it was a Frisbee. “Drunk.”
“She…forces alcohol on everyone else.”
“Boom! Two.” Demetri nodded exaggeratedly. Rachel rolled her eyes.
“She randomly punches people.”
“I do that sober!” Cassie yelled out.
“Permanent alcohol damage, honey,” Peter responded. “Next, she tries a lot of really terrible accents.”
Another wave of body guffaws ripped from Jace.
“Why are you putting me on blast like that?” Cassie planted one fist on her hip. “Just for that, I might play some Enya.”
“Don’t play Enya,” half the limo groaned as Peter exclaimed, “You told me to!”
“What else?” Nick asked, laughing in Cassie’s direction.
“She has to look at you out of one eye.” Peter mimicked her, one eye squinted shut, the other unnaturally wide.
“There is no way I look like that.” Cassie pointed her nose in the air. “For one, I go to a decent waxer for my eyebrows, unlike some people.”
“What? Amanda is the best!”
“What the fuck is a waxer?” Nick looked back and forth between Cassie and Peter.
“Throw out your balls and we’ll give you a demo.” Demetri rolled his hand in the air, as if rolling out a red carpet for Nick’s balls.
“Did you sneak whisky or something? How are you this belligerent?” Rachel demanded of her husband.
; “I drank while you talked, my dearest, most understanding wife.”
Rachel gave Jenn and then Cassie a suffering expression.
“And finally,” Peter continued. “You know when Cassie is really, truly lost? When…”
“Don’t tell them.” Cassie shook her head animatedly. “Don’t do it.”
“I really shouldn’t ruin the surprise. Actually, you know what, I won’t. Because someone is going to get it, and I can’t wait to take a picture.”
Nick’s mouth dropped open. “Are you kidding me right now? You can’t stop at that.”
“No, you can’t.” Rachel pushed forward in her seat so she could get a clear view of Peter, sitting in between Nick and Jenn. “Spill it.”
Peter grinning, connecting eyes with Cassie. “Nope. Surprise.”
“What?” Nick demanded.
“God, I need food,” Cassie groaned.
“Foooood.” Rachel gave a bleary smile, pouring herself a glass of wine. “I’m not as drunk as him, but this is getting to me.”
“My man got a head start, but we’ll pull through. The women are losing the bet to the most drunk. The men will stand tall with my man Jace on our side.” Nick threw up his hand to Demetri for a high-five. Demetri shook his head where it hung between his legs.
“They lost the bet years ago when they married you!” Cassie yelled down the limo.
All the women starting laughing uproariously. Demetri whipped out his camera, pointed it in Nick’s general direction even though his head was still between his knees. “Photo BOOM!”
At the next winery, another larger scale affair, they drifted to the side and found an unoccupied table. Since it was harvest season, and the weather in this part of the world was still sublime, most of the gardens and other tables were occupied. They found a table near the back of a large grassy area with an empty bottle and two glasses.
Demetri put his hand on the table top and said, “I claim this table for king and country.”
“Well said, honey. Now move down.” Rachel cleared the dirty items to the side. With Jenn’s help, the two women pulled food out of coolers and bags.
“This is a huge spread, Rachel!” Cassie marveled.
Jace looked at the table, seeing the fixings to make sandwiches, chips, fruits, salads, vegetables—pretty much a whole deli.
“Did you cater this? When did you have time to do all this?” Cassie was still staring at the table with wide eyes.
Rachel put out some sparkling water. “I have three boys in the house. They’re always munching. I can put this together in the same amount of time it takes you to get lost and have to be rescued by a motorcycle driving thug.”
“Ouch.” Jace sat at the table with a grin, snagging a piece of cheese off a plate.
“And my mom helped not at all, eh?” Demetri swayed toward her. Then he swayed away.
“Bro, you’re not going to make it.” Nick popped an olive into his mouth. “Did you not hear about us winning the bet? I need you conscious for that.”
“Or two of the girls passed out.” Peter stacked together a huge sandwich from the fixings on the table.
“Not going to happen. Not even close.” Jenn shook her head.
Everyone looked up at Cassie. She shook her head, too, daintily collecting items for her own sandwich. She was regal and poised even when seriously buzzed. Jace couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the beauty with her hair mused and a lazy smile on her face. She’d look like a million dollars in his tee-shirt first thing in the morning.
Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath and forced himself to look away. He didn’t trust himself at the moment.
“I don’t pass out, I freak out. If I can keep standing, I’m all set,” he heard her say in her pleasant, musical voice.
“I will be sprinting for the goal line, don’t you worry! Boom!” Demetri stuffed random sandwich items into his mouth without reservation. Or decorum.
“What happens when you get home? Who’s going to look after your kids?” Peter poured himself a glass of wine. He’d already wolfed down half his sandwich.
“Hungry, Pete?” Jace asked as he gathered up food.
“Drunk. There’s a difference.”
They all were. Even Jace, who had a pretty solid tolerance, could feel the haze creeping into him. It made the situation more dire. His control was fleeting, at best, and with Cassie so close, and so entrancing…
“My mom and my beautiful wife.” Demetri answered Peter’s question as he patted Rachel on the head.
She scowled, pushing his hand away. “They’re older. They take less work than the kid sitting next to me.”
About forty-five minutes later, after everyone had started again on the wine, Rachel, the time keeper, said, “Okay, it’s about two o’clock. Let’s get this cleaned up.”
“The last winery closes at five. Plenty of time.” Nick shoved a chip into his mouth and stood. He wasn’t as bad off as Demetri, but he wasn’t great. His foot got caught on the bench, sending him staggering off into the grass.
Jenn pointed and started to laugh. “Where’s the camera?”
Jace stood, cleaning his area up and throwing the garbage in the bin a little ways off. When he got back, he noticed Cassie struggling to get out of her seat without scraping her pants against the dirty table. He jogged over to help, noticing Peter bent over the table with his head in his hands.
“Hold on, I gotcha,” Jace said, hoisting her up and helping her out.
“Thanks,” she sighed, leaning forward and resting her cheek against his chest. Her body followed, her front resting against his.
Jace froze. Her heat bled into his body, stirring something way down deep. His groin tightened right before an erection started, pleasure from her body overriding the fear of touching a taken woman. He widened his eyes and sought out Peter, not sure what to do. Not sure if this was okay. Not wanting to move in case she backed off. Hating that she felt so good leaning on him, needing him. Hating that he couldn’t give in to it and put his arms around her.
“Look,” Demetri pointed at him. “He’s terrified.”
Cassie straightened up and glanced toward Demetri. Her gaze came back to rest on Jace a moment later, leaning back to look up into his face. Chilled air replaced her feminine warmth from a moment before. “Poppycock.”
“Huh?” Jace asked stupidly.
“There’s the accent. Oh God.” Peter grinned and then flailed backward. He clutched the table to keep himself from falling. “Two more wineries, honey? Is that really wise?”
“No.” Rachel tucked the last leftover into the cooler. She turned to Cassie. “You want me to leave out something for the ride back?”
“Snacks. Yes. Come here so I can hug you.”
Rachel smiled as she motioned for Jace and Nick to grab the coolers and take them back to the limo.
Jace put his hands on Cassie’s shoulders to move her away gently. She glanced up at him with a smile before noticing the chocolate at the end of the table and sauntering that way. Remembering to breathe, Jace grabbed one of the coolers and started walking toward the limo with Nick.
“It strike you as odd that Peter doesn’t seem to care if his woman hangs out with you?” Nick asked a moment later when they were out of earshot of the others.
“He asked me to look after her because he was getting drunk.”
“Yeah. Exactly. I mean…that’s weird, right? I wouldn’t ask you to watch my wife. And they never hug or kiss or anything. You notice that?”
Yes, Jace had. It was just another oddity in their whole situation. “Jenn say anything?”
Nick stopped behind the limo as the driver got out to open the trunk. An uncomfortable expression crossed his face. “Yeah, but…I mean, she’s reading one thing, but…I mean, maybe it’s just dad, you know? Ever think Peter just brought her along to shut Dad up? You did that once, remember?”
Jace had to admit, it was possible. “But why not admit it to u
s? We’d be fine with it.”
Nick dropped the cooler into the trunk and turned for the one Jace held. Jace made sure to rescue the snacks off the top.
“I don’t know. This year’s trip has been really fun so far—more fun than usual, actually—but kind of weird.”
Jace had to agree, but it meant he got to hang out with the most interesting and beautiful woman he’d ever met. He might never get to touch her, but what he did get would be enough. It’d be more than he was expecting, at any rate.
They met everyone back at the front entrance and all walked in together. He fell in beside Peter, who was next to Cassie, only to have Peter fall back. Before he could wonder about it, Cassie gave him a light nudge with her shoulder. He looked down, meeting her gaze and basking in that smile.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey.” He couldn’t help but smile back as they rounded a corner.
“You have such a pretty smile. Why don’t you use it more often?”
He put his hand on the center of her back lightly, guiding her through the bustle. Why did it feel so natural? “Don’t have a lot to smile about, I guess. And don’t tell a man he’s pretty.”
“Why? Is that guy code, or something?”
A long counter spread out before them, buzzing with tasters and activity. The group, led by Jenn mostly, who was easily the most sober, chose the far end near the wall. Three people could touch the counter, and the other four would have to stand behind, tasting on the hover.
“Guy code?” Jace asked as he took his glass. Peter stepped up next to them again, his eyes half closed. He leaned heavily on the wall behind him.
“Yeah. All that made-up stuff guys live their life by. Can’t cry.” She ticked a finger. “Can’t hug. Can’t talk about feelings…My friend Krista has a huge long list. You should hear her busting my brother’s chops.”
“Ah.” Jace passed his glass forward to get a taste. Why they didn’t just keep them all on the counter until the wine was poured in the first place, he didn’t know.