I NEED TO calm down.
My heart was racing a mile a minute as I sat in the most stunning dining hall I’d ever been in. The wine cellar caves at Chamberlin were an extravagant feat of both engineering and opulence.
We’d hosted every kind of event imaginable down here. From weddings, to corporate donor meetings, to elaborate dates that cost an arm and leg. But never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined myself in any of those scenarios with the man who had just disappeared inside the kitchen.
When Noah had asked me to dinner tonight, I’d fully expected him to drive us a couple of towns over, where we could eat a nice meal and no one within a ten-mile radius would know us.
I’d never expected this, and it was making me anxious. This was the kind of date you took a woman on to show her how much you loved her, or even more alarming, to propose to her. Not to reunite with an old flame for one night, so the two of you could satisfy an ache that had resurfaced with his arrival back in town.
But as I sat at the end of the colossal table in such a breathtaking setting, the full magnitude of where I was and whom I was with hit me like a ton of bricks.
Stop it. You gave yourself one night, so take it. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to calm myself. But all that managed to do was fill my senses with the delicious cologne that clung to the collar of Noah’s jacket.
Lifting my shoulder, I couldn’t help but rub my cheek against the expensive material, and when the fresh aquatic scent enveloped me and mixed with the woody and spicy undercurrents, it created a sinful heat low in my stomach that curled its way down and seemed to stoke something between my thighs.
My mind wandered back to the lobby where Noah had all but made me come, and I knew it wouldn’t take much to finish the job now. My body was strung tight—he’d made sure of that with every word, touch, and look he gave. He’d called this a game, and, in a way, he was right. We both knew where this was going, but we were each trying to make the other crack first.
At the sound of the kitchen door, I looked over to see Noah with two plates in hand, and I wondered what meal he’d decided on for us tonight. He placed the first one down in front of me and the second in front of the chair off to my left, then he took a seat.
“The seared scallops,” I said, recognizing the appetizer immediately. “Good choice.”
“You told me I should taste as many of the foods and wines on the menu as I could to see if I thought any changes were necessary. The 2016 Cabernet with the rib-eye was perfection, so I thought tonight we’d try two new options.”
Several bottles of wine and glasses were lined up across the table, courtesy no doubt of Pete, and I knew exactly which one I wanted paired with this. I reached for the Chardonnay.
“Okay, let’s see if we can dazzle your taste buds with this second combination.”
Noah flicked his napkin open and spread it across his lap. “You’re the expert in this department. I’m going to leave that up to you.”
I uncorked the wine and poured him enough for a test. He took a sip and slicked the tip of his tongue over his lower lip before savoring the taste, and I wished he was sampling me instead.
“Mmm, it’s good. Citrusy but with a little spice. I get lemon and honey—a little cinnamon, too.”
“What about the hint of pear and caramel at the end?”
Noah raised the glass and took another sip, his gaze focused on mine as he let the aromas and flavors tease his senses.
“Yes,” he finally said with a nod. “There it is.”
I grinned and poured us both a glass. “This is one of my favorites. It’s always a surprise that bright finish you get after the initial full-bodied richness.”
“You’re right. It almost dances around your mouth.”
“Yes. That’s the perfect way to describe it. Now try it with the scallops. I dare you to tell me it doesn’t complement Pete’s orange and ginger beurre blanc sauce.”
“Dare me, huh?”
I propped my elbow on the table, relaxing into the evening for the first time, and gave him a flirty smile. “Double dare you.”
The easy camaraderie felt so good, so natural with Noah, that it wasn’t until he was several bites in and gestured to my food that I realized I wasn’t eating myself. That was quickly rectified as soon as I had my first mouthful. I hadn’t had Pete’s scallops in quite a while, and with their perfectly golden-brown crust, they all but melted in your mouth.
I hummed my approval and took another bite, and when a rumble of laughter came from Noah, I looked over to see him watching me.
“What?”
“Nothing. I was just…enjoying the view.”
How I could still blush after some of the things he’d said and done to me already this evening was beyond me. But this arrogant confidence, coupled with his honesty, had me shifting a little in my seat. Something that wasn’t lost on him, judging by his smirk.
“How do you like it?” I asked, determined not to let him fluster me. Sure, I was turned on; I had been since last night. But I’d made it clear under the bleachers that I wasn’t going to go down without a fight—or at least not until after he did.
Noah pulled the fork from between his lips and finished off his final bite, then nodded. “I’m almost disappointed no dare will be issued. But that right there is another winner. There’s nothing I’d change about that.”
Pleased, I reached for my wine and finished off my own glass.
“You’re good at this,” he said.
“You sound surprised.”
“Not surprised. I knew you were after that first day when you showed me around. I guess a better word for it would be intrigued.”
Noah sat back and looked at me, his brow furrowing as though he were mulling something over. “In all the time I knew you, we never talked about the winery. You never asked for a tour. Actually, you didn’t even ask me to sneak you any alcohol. So yeah, color me intrigued. How did the girl I thought was destined to become an English or history teacher end up as a sommelier? And a damn good one at that.”
“People change their minds all the time,” I said, trying to brush it aside, but Noah wasn’t having any of that.
“Change their minds? Was it or was it not you who I ran into the other day with an armload of books? Clearly you still love to read everything and anything, so I guess I’m just curious what changed your path.” Noah reached for the bottle of wine. “God knows Harry changed mine.”
My spine stiffened at the mention of Harry’s name. Noah’s question hitting a little too close to home, as I sat there trying to decide how to answer. Did I give the same spiel about the summer job that I’d first given him? Or something closer to what had really happened? This was what I’d been most afraid of when Noah had shown back up in town: my past and present colliding and the damage that would inevitably cause.
Luckily for me, I found a convenient escape for myself when I saw how much wine he was pouring into his glass.
“Hey.” I took the bottle from him. “You said there were two dishes we were sampling tonight, didn’t you? Don’t fill up on this.”
“Good point, and yes, the second one is the herb-crusted lamb chops.”