Erin shifted her gaze to Summer, who nodded and said, “It’s definitely love.”
She shook her head, needing to deny what they thought they saw. “He doesn’t love me. We’re having fun. And sex. And nothing more.”
Summer tilted her head. “Is that all you feel for him? Just friendship?”
“I . . . I don’t know. A few weeks ago I was supposed to get married.”
Daria blinked. “Wait. What? You were getting married?”
“What happened?” Summer asked.
“It’s kind of a long story.”
“And we’ve got several bottles of wine,” Daria said. “Plus tequila and vodka. Pull up a chair here, honey. I’m ready to hear that story.”
“Okay, but let me take care of these potatoes first.”
After Erin drained the potatoes and set them out to cool, she poured herself a glass of wine and spilled the details of Owen breaking up with her, and then her decision to have a revenge fling with Jason at her non-wedding that had somehow turned into weeks of fun and games.
“Maybe you think you’re just having some fun and sex with Jason,” Daria said. “But I see something a lot deeper in how he looks at you.”
“I agree,” Summer said. “It’s in every move he makes with you. The way he talks to you and touches you.”
She didn’t see it. She knew they were all friends with Jason, so maybe they were just being overprotective. She’d made it clear to Jason that she wasn’t looking for a relationship. She needed to protect her heart. But she also needed to protect his. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.
Maybe it was time to gently back away from this relationship, to cool things down a bit before it got completely out of control.
She had to think, and she couldn’t do it here with this crazy party atmosphere, so she let it go for now, instead diving into the fun, letting herself go with the flow of fun people, great food and a really good night.
They prepped the food, the guys cooked, they had dinner and it was all fantastic. Then they sat outside on the deck and watched the sun set, and just hung out and talked and listened to some amazing music.
And when they said their good nights, she hugged Summer and Daria with the promise they’d get together soon, because she really liked her new friends and wanted to stay in touch.
“Come see me at the vineyard,” she said. “We’ll do a wine tour.”
“I want to come to a wedding,” Daria said. “As you can probably imagine, I’m kind of obsessed with weddings right now.”
Erin laughed. “I’ll see what I can do about sneaking you into one.”
“You’re the best.”
They packed up their stuff and climbed into Jason’s truck, then headed back to town.
She yawned.
“Tired?” he asked.
“Very. It was a long day.”
“Want to come home with me and snuggle? Or something else?”
She wanted that very much, but then she remembered the conversation she’d had with Summer and Daria, and her plan for a cooling-off period. “I think I’ll just go home.”
He waited a beat before answering. “Sure.”
He was probably disappointed that she didn’t want to spend the night with him. To be honest, so was she. She liked being alone with him. She liked having sex with him. The first thought that popped into her head was climbing into the shower with him, and then moving on from there. She wanted his hands on her. His mouth on her. She wanted to feel him moving inside of her, sparking all of that sweet pleasure that released those endorphins and made her feel so damn good.
But that was what she wanted. It was time to think of someone else besides herself.
Like Jason.
And putting the brakes on was the right thing to do.
So he drove her home and opened the door of the truck for her, took out her bag and handed it to her. And when he drew her into his arms and gave her a deep, soulful kiss, she realized he might not be the only one feeling something deep and emotional, because she gripped his arms and held tight for far too long, not wanting to let him go.
And the feeling she was holding so tight to had nothing to do with sex.
Jason was the one who broke the kiss, gazing down at her with a questioning look. “You sure you don’t want to go home with me?”
Right now she wasn’t sure of anything, least of all her own emotions. “Yeah, I’m pretty wiped out.”
Lies. All lies. I want to stay up all night making love to you, talking to you.
Just being with you.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you soon.” He gave her a short kiss, then got into his truck and drove off.
While she stood there and stared at the retreating truck like some love-forsaken idiot.
Now who was the one who had it bad?
“Good night, Jason,” she whispered, then turned and walked up the steps to the house.
CHAPTER
twenty-two
MONDAY MORNING MEETINGS with the family could be fast, or unendingly slow, depending on how much business needed to be conducted. Generally, the vineyard business was first because Dad wasn’t all that interested in the wedding updates, and he needed to get to work at the winery. Brenna would sit through the entire meeting, but Dad liked to stay updated on the overall thrust of the business, plus give updates on the vines.
Agatha lay at Erin’s feet chewing on a rope toy.
“We’re thinning the grapes,” Dad said. “The good news is, with all the rain we had the growth has been phenomenal. But we have too many clusters per vine, so it’s going to take some time to thin them out. Otherwise, everything looks good out in the vineyard. Grapes are healthy.”
Brenna took notes on the vineyard report, even though she knew exactly what was going on out there. Erin noted the report as well, and so did Mom since she kept the overall business notes for both companies.
“What does the fall harvest look like?” Erin asked.
Dad grinned. “Bountiful. It’s going to be a very good year.”
Erin’s skin tingled, her heart filled with joy. Some years were lean, some were average. A good year in the vineyards meant happiness for the entire family, especially Dad and Brenna. “That’s great news.”
She jotted down the note and, once vineyard business was finished, Dad made his escape.
Then they moved on to the wedding business.
“We have a difficult wedding this weekend,” Honor said. “The BTB has demanded everything under the sun, some of which we’ve been unable to accommodate. She’s insisted on importing wines from France—”
Brenna gasped, and Honor held up her hand.
“Don’t worry,” Honor said. “I told her if that’s what she wanted she could hold her reception elsewhere. Her mother calmed her down and told her the reason she’d chosen Red Moss Vineyards in the first place was because she loved not only the venue, but our wines. But she’s spoiled, an only child, and always gets her way.”
Brenna lifted her chin. “I don’t care what way she wants it. There will be no imported wines at our vineyard.”
Honor nodded. “I made that very clear to her.”
Erin rolled her eyes. Some brides-to-be, or BTBs as they referred to them, could be a pain and made their work so much more difficult than necessary. But it was also part of the job. Brides got stressed, families were demanding, and they rolled with it. Because at the end of the day, giving a bride and groom a wedding they’d never forget was their number one goal.