My Favorite Mistake, page 2
Way too late.
While working on my internship in Baker’s Creek, I didn’t date anyone. It wasn’t because there weren’t any candidates, but my boss warned me about the town's size and the gossip. The queen bees of that town post everything on social media. I stayed off their radar for an entire year. That and graduating from vet school are my proudest achievements from the past couple of years.
While working there, I made a few friends, like Avery Sanders, who lives full-time in New York City but often visits her family. There are times when we agree to meet somewhere in the country. Like this weekend we decided to drink our way through the northern part of California to celebrate my new job. Yesterday we visited five vineyards in Napa Valley. Today, we’re visiting Paradise Bay. Our first stop was the spa, and we had lunch at a small Italian place called Trattoria Dionisia.
We spend about an hour learning how to pronounce the restaurant's name and some basic Italian. The servers recommend we visit Paradise Bay Winery. They have a great selection of wine, and their tasting room is delightful. If we arrive around four, they serve appetizers for the visitors.
Everything sounds lovely until Avery’s best friend, Benedict Farrow, catches up with us. Can this guy stop ruining our girls’ weekends? Today’s excuse: I was in Baker’s Creek helping your brother Hayes with the clinic, and it seemed like a good idea to come and visit you.
That’s a nine-hour drive or a two-hour flight. This guy is in love with my friend, but Avery rolls her eyes and dismisses me when I point out the obvious.
So, here I am, playing the third wheel on our way to a gorgeous vineyard, hoping that there’s someone I can at least talk to for the next thirty minutes—or however long the tasting lasts. Can I just buy a few bottles and head back to my hotel room? Oh no, wait. Our room is in San Francisco, and Avery is the one who has the car keys. I should leave the friends stranded in wine country.
But then what am I supposed to do?
This weekend is all about enjoying fermented grapes and the gorgeous landscapes these lands offer us. We park the car outside the vineyard, walking past the open black iron gate. There’s a clear lake in the middle of the property, surrounded on three sides by the land where the grapes grow, and the other has a gorgeous patio, a gazebo, and a majestic house.
“I think I’m in love,” Avery says as we take in the entire scenery. “This is one of the best vineyards I’ve seen—including the ones in France.”
“It’s beautiful,” I say, a little jealous that she’s been to France.
My parents worked hard to provide us with a good education, clothing, and the essentials. My vacations were to my grandparents’ house. Maternal for the summer, paternal for the winter holidays.
“We should go to Europe. When do you think you can take some vacation?”
I shrug. Sometimes, my friend forgets that we come from different backgrounds. Though she has a job and works as hard as me, she also has a trust fund and a father who is one of the wealthiest men in the world. Me… “Well, I start my new job in a week. Meaning, I don’t have time off for a year or so.”
“We’ll figure out something. I can talk to Leyla. She might let you off the hook for a few days.”
Her sister-in-law is my boss, and though I love Avery to pieces, I have to remind her of my cardinal rule. “We don’t mix our friendship with my job, remember.”
She gives me an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“Let’s go drink some wine,” I say, brushing away that conversation and turning to Benedict. “You know what you should do?”
“I’m afraid of what you’re going to suggest.”
I smile sweetly. “Oh, I was going to say be our designated driver since you showed up late for the party.”
He looks at me for a second and shakes his head. I’m not sure what that means. “Why don’t we head to the wine tasting room?”
We follow the signs to what looks like a gorgeous rustic cabin. There’s a tall, handsome guy leaving the cabin. He spots us and grins. “I didn’t know you were coming,” the man says, making his way toward us.
Who is he talking to?
“Well, my friends planned on coming to visit you, and I wanted to make sure you’d treat them right.”
The guy shakes hands with Benedict and hugs him. “How have you been?”
“Busy, being a doctor is not as easy as they make you believe in medical school,” he laughs. “Is Heath in San Fran, or did you put him to work?”
“He avoids working at the vineyard, which is why he never tells me his schedule. What brings you here?”
Benedict waves a hand toward us. “As I mentioned, my friends are here to visit the vineyard. Avery, Rys, meet Lysander. He’s one of the owners and the manager of this vineyard.”
Lysander nods. “It’s nice meeting you, ladies. Let me guess.” He points at Avery. “You like sweet wines.”
She shakes her head. “You’re going to be wrong if you’re trying to decide what I like. Dad trained me to enjoy every type of wine. Do I have a preference? It depends on my mood.”
He looks at me. “What about you?”
“I drank wine in a box during college. At this point, anything will do,” I answer.
He smirks. “Cas is going to have fun serving them.”
Benedict looks toward the tasting room. “Caspian is in today?”
“Yep, why don’t you let them join him, and you help me in the lab. I’m trying to decide if cider is in the future of Paradise Bay Winery.”
Benedict looks at us. “You guys okay if I leave?”
“Please, like I need you while I’m drinking wine. We’ll be perfectly fine,” Avery says, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the tasting room.
I’m curious by nature, and I have to know how Benedict knows these people. Is that why he joined us? “So…Benedict and this Lysander guy are related or something? He seems to know them pretty well.”
Avery’s green eyes crinkle. “Of course he does. I’m pretty sure Ben’s mission in life is to meet all seven billion people living on the planet before the age of fifty. He’s a friendly person.”
She is right. I might not be a fan of him because he’s always the third wheel—and makes me feel like I imposed—but that’s probably an internal issue I have to work on.
The owner is handsome. Tall, a towering six foot three, with dark eyes and a flashy smile. The man behind the counter in the tasting room is just as tall but with piercing grayish eyes and a mischievous smirk that says, I’m-going-to-fuck-you-and-you'll-never-forget-me.
“Hello, ladies.” The baritone tone of his voice sends my pulse to an abnormal speed.
“Hi,” Avery, who’s the extroverted one of the two of us, greets him. “Is the place usually empty on Saturdays?”
“It is during the air balloon festival in Craigtown,” he answers, and his voice continues to make my knees weak. “If you ask me, we shouldn’t be open today, but what do I know, I’m just the server.”
I giggle at his poorly delivered joke.
I giggle.
That’s not me.
His suave smile widens, and he says, “What would you like to try today? We have a fine selection of wine that goes from dry and spicy to sweet and tangy.”
I’ll drink you, I want to say because it’s been a long time since I’ve been with a guy.
Wouldn’t it be nice to break the dry spell with someone like him? I bet he knows his way around the female body.
Avery reaches for her phone, which is in her back pocket, and sighs.
“Is it your brothers?”
She shakes her head. “No. It’s Ben. He needs me to taste the best cider in the world.” She turns to look at me. “Do you want to come?”
“My wine is a lot better than my brother’s crappy cider. You should stick around,” he says with a raspy voice that almost makes me come.
If anything, I should record his voice and make it my ringtone.
Avery looks at me expectantly. “Why don’t I stay? If I get drunk enough, I might forget that I’m the third wheel.”
She glares at me. “You’re insane. I’ll be back soon, promise.”
I watch her leave the tasting room, and once the door closes, I hear tall-dark-and-fuckable say, “Well, it’s just you and me. This might get interesting.” He winks at me. “What do you want to taste?”
You?
I stare at him, fidgeting my lips between my teeth.
Chapter Three
Caspian
I might have found a good reason not to pack my shit and leave.
I hate my brother, but if things work out, I’ll keep him alive for another year or so.
Hate might be too strong of a word, but I’m not a fan of him right now. As I always say, he gets a kick out of using my time as if he owns it. Lysander keeps the tasting hours open when I’m around just to fuck with me. No one believes me, but he does.
I was tempted to leave my post and take a swim until the two gorgeous women burst into the tasting room. Both are pretty, but I prefer petite, curvy, shy girls.
This one has long, dark luscious hair, brown doe eyes, and her lips are pouty—kissable.
I want to press my mouth to hers and taste them. She might have come here to drink a glass of Chardonnay, but I’m willing to give her a lot more if she accepts it.
Reaching for the glasses, I ask, “What’s your poison?”
“What do you guys grow?”
With that siren voice, my cock is the only thing growing right now—and getting so fucking hard. I clear my throat, wondering why she’s affecting me so much. I’m usually around women who wear fewer clothes than she is, and I don’t react the way I’m responding to her. I want to remind myself that chemistry only lasts for so long and that once she recognizes me, the shy act will disappear.
She’s staring at me expectantly.
“Grapes,” I answer with a sly smile on my face.
“Color me surprised. For a moment, I believed you were growing weed and hay.” She sits on the barstool across from me. “I was asking the type of grapes. Some vineyards only grow one kind. You seem to have enough land to have at least two or three. The place is beautiful, by the way.”
“Thank you. My father chose it to create one of the best wineries in the world. I don’t know if we’ve accomplished that, but we’re working on it.”
She stares at me. “As I mentioned, it’s a great place. What do you produce?”
“I’ll be honest with you, darling,” I say, leaning closer to her. “My jam is to make you drink and sell you lots of wine cases. Whatever is growing outside isn’t my territory.”
She smiles. “Meaning they don’t pay you enough to deal with more than what’s around this room?”
“They don’t pay me shit,” I clarify. “I spend my PTO working for them. Are you ready for your first taste? I’ll give you our boldest and our sweetest wines, and we can go from there.”
I grab a bottle of Syrah and then a bottle of Riesling. I pour them into different glasses.
I push the red wine first. “This is our Syrah from two thousand and five. Dad added a note not to open it until two thousand nineteen. We don’t know his reasoning, but this bold wine is one of the strongest. The range of flavors—the dark fruits, peppers, notes of herbs, and smoke—pair perfectly with a steak.”
She sips it and scrunches her nose. “I’m a vegetarian.”
Well, there goes my idea to invite her to the guesthouse and grill a couple of steaks.
“The wine is nice, but your pickup line needs a lot of work,” she mumbles, drinking the dark liquid slowly.
I rest my arms on the counter and lean forward. “It wasn’t a pickup line.”
“You’re wasting your time with me.”
“Why?”
She waves her hand around her hair. “The alarms are sounding. You’re either a player, a liar, emotionally unavailable, or something like that.”
“What gives you that idea?”
“You’re too pretty.”
I laugh. “Pretty?”
“Sure, look at you.”
I humor her and glance at myself as if I’m studying every inch of my body. “So, you like what you see?”
She flicks her wrist from left to right a couple of times. “It’s fine. If you’re into the whole shallow exterior.”
“Every relationship begins with attraction. If you’re not attracted, nothing is going to happen with the other person no matter what he does.”
She gives me a skeptical look. “What happens to those who are friends for years, and slowly begin to fall in love?”
“The guy is either a coward or an idiot.”
“So, once you’re attracted to someone, you fall in love, and then what happens?”
“Well, it’s not that easy.”
She snorts. “You have a degree in Theoretical Bullshit, don’t you?”
I laugh. She might be shy, but she’s funny once she gets comfortable. I like that.
“No, but I’ll look into that degree. It might come in handy. What I’m saying is that I’m not attracted to just anyone. Maybe it’s because I don’t have the chance to meet beautiful women who intrigue me.” I pause, leaning closer before saying, “Like you.”
“Like me?”
“I don’t know much about you, but from the moment you walked in, I’ve wanted to learn more. That doesn’t happen to me often.”
“What’s the point? I’ll be leaving in twenty minutes, and you’ll forget I existed.”
“We could make this an unforgettable evening. I’ll invite you to my house. We’ll grill some eggplants—”
“Let me stop you before you begin a disturbing analogy of your elongated cock being seared by my velvety—”
“Whoa, I meant eggplant. You just said you’re a vegetarian.”
I try not to laugh, but her face turns slightly red and I can’t help myself.
“Oh…I—” She’s all flustered and cute.
“I take it you’ve been approached by douches who don’t care to get to know you before they’re offering more than a kiss.”
“Not personally. I have friends who tell me stories. I’ve been out of the dating scene for years.”
Fuck, so she’s married. I’m wasting my time and hitting on another guy’s woman. That’s not my style. “I’m sorry if I came on too strong. Was your husband the guy with Lysander?”
“What, Benedict Farrow?” She makes a pinched expression. “Eww, no, thank you.”
“Ben is here?”
“You know Benedict?”
“That kid went to college and med school with my younger brother. If he’s with Lysander, he’s not going to leave the house for at least a week or so.”
“Why do you say that?
“He’s like family, and Lysander treats family like his employees. We—family—need to do something to help the vineyard. I don’t think you’re leaving for a couple of days.”
When I deliver the news, she gawks at me. “But I need to be at my new job on Monday.”
“We’ll make sure that you arrive at your destination. In the meantime, we can close this place and head to the store for some supplies.”
“Supplies?”
“Do you always repeat what others tell you?”
She nods, tapping her ear. “I have auditory processing disorder. Sometimes, I hear weird things, but I’m able to fix them to make sense. Other times, I repeat the word to ensure that I got it right. It’s a disability that sucks sometimes. There are songs—mostly children’s songs—that I only hear the word fuck repeated over and over again. It’s horrifying.”
My youngest brother, Huxley, has ADHD. Living with disabilities is complicated. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“Oh, you didn’t…well, it’s horrifying that people call me out on my habit. Then, if I explain why I do it, it gets worse. They talk slowly, making me feel like an idiot. This is why I like to work with animals instead of dealing with people.”
“Well, I promise never to bring it back up.” I cross my heart with my index finger. “Ready to ditch this joint?”
“I shouldn’t.”
“Do you have any other place to go?”
“Let’s begin with: I don’t know you.”
I grab her delicate hand and kiss her knuckles. “I’m Caspian, but my family and friends call me Cas. You are?”
She swallows, looking at my hand and then my lips. “Rys,” she whispers.
“Well, Rys. I propose we take a break from real life. We’ll make this day unforgettable. By Monday, we’ll walk back into our lives. What do you think?”
She snatches her hand away from my grip, and while staring at it, she asks, “Is that another pickup line?”
“Nope. I’m telling you my plan.”
“Are there any other options?”
“Lysander can bore you to tears while he gives you an entire class on how to make cider, and he also adds chemistry terms to that shit.”
“It’d be like organic chemistry. I did well in that class.”
I gasp dramatically. “You’re some sort of scientist?”
She nods. “Yep. Is that a problem? Let me guess, you were a jock.”
I shrug. “People assume that I am, but I really didn’t belong to any specific group. I’m my own person. So, what do you say? Do you want to spend the rest of the day with me?”
Chapter Four
Rys
This is like walking willingly to a torture chamber.
I know what’s going to happen inside. I only have a few seconds left before the doors close, and I have to stay.
But why would I leave?
It’s been a long time since I’ve been around a guy who isn’t looking for me because I can treat their pets. He genuinely wants to spend the rest of the evening with me.
Is it a good idea?
No.
Should I look for the exit?
Yes.
What are my options? Join Avery and… I hate Benedict. Why did he have to drag Avery to try cider? I usually don’t mind when they leave me behind. I’m a loner, but if anything happens with this guy, I’ll blame him for the rest of my life.
