Page 15 of Merlot Marriage

Sophie fusses over us, pouring us each a glass of riesling and insisting it’s on the house, while I remind myself that I should not be irritated at being introduced as just a friend. This woman obviously knows Maggie, and I promised Ophie her family would never find out about Vegas.

Sophie pours out glasses for Lauren, Frankie, and herself before pulling a can of sparkling seltzer out of a fridge and handing it to Emma.

“Mom, come on,” Emma whines, but Sophie just shakes her head.

“You’re not twenty-one until next month.”

“But—”

“Gotta follow the rules in public, munchkin,” Lauren interrupts before Sophie can speak. She swirls her glass expertly and dips her nose inside the bulb for a long sniff. “Mmm, smells delicious, though. As always.”

Ophie sways into me, her shoulders shaking from suppressed giggles. My arm instinctively wraps around her waist, pulling her against me. The second my fingers graze her waist, she stiffens, her giggles dissipating.

I let go and step away, a flash of irritation spiking through me. Thankfully, none of the other women seem to notice the way Ophie reacts to me.

My attention is drawn back to them just as Emma rolls her eyes and hip checks Lauren before grabbing Frankie’s hand and pulling her toward the window.

Sophie blows out a long breath before deadpanning, “I can’t believe you never wanted kids, Lauren. They’re such a joy.”

“Yours is enough for both of us.” Laughing, she clinks her glass to Sophie’s. “Do you think the boys need supervision?”

Sophie tips her head in thought. “If Maggie’s not there to do it, then yes. Make sure they don’t try to do any of the actual decorating. Especially Alfie.”

Lauren salutes her and takes off with a small wave.

“What’s happening tomorrow?” Ophie asks, sliding onto the stool in front of me. Instead of taking the other one, I lean my elbows on the back of hers, pushing away my uncharitable feelings and determined to act like I always do. If only I could remember how that was.

“Oh, Nate convinced Teddy to restart the wine club. When he bought Sunshine Cellars, Teddy didn’t want people joining it just because of him, so he dropped it. But without the wine club members, we have just enough surplus bottles every year that storage is going to be an issue soon.”

Sophie pauses to take a sip from her glass, a soft smile on her lips as she swallows. Leaning back on her stool, Ophie presses her shoulder against my forearm, the movement wafting the scent of her shampoo toward me. I catch myself before my eyes can fully close as I inhale. Do I smell her like that all the time? How have I never noticed it before?

“We all love a good glass of wine, but there’s no way we can drink enough to keep up. Kel has done such a good job of taking care of the vines that Greg is producing better and better wine all the time. We have to sell more unless we want to be drowning in bottles.” Sophie laughs to herself.

“Maggie mentioned she was doing an event here tomorrow, but I hadn’t connected that it was actually for Sunshine.” Ophie stretches her neck to one side and then the other, the brief glimpse of her long neck teasing me from where I stand behind her. “I assumed it was another shower of some kind.”

For a second, I imagine tasting her skin, feeling the softness of it against my lips. With a sharp breath that borders on a snort, I straighten up, pushing the thought away. As I look up, I catch Sophie watching me, an intrigued look on her face.

Dammit. It’s been two years since Ophie and I met, and two years since I’ve had fantasies about her. But ever since Vegas, my mind has been wandering to all kinds of places it shouldn’t, and I can’t seem to remember how to act normally around her anymore. I need to get it together.

Sophie clears her throat and takes another sip of her wine. “We reached out to the old members to see if they were still interested in the club. A few dozen were, so we’re having a relaunch event tomorrow.”

The main doors open, and more customers wander in. Sophie greets them with a smile, exactly the opposite of Nate, and Ophie and I excuse ourselves and move back to our table.

“So.” Ophie drawls out the word after taking a generous sip of her wine. “What am I cooking for dinner? And what’s for dessert?”

She peers over the edge of her glass, waggling her eyebrows and making me laugh.

“I will eat anything you dish up.” We clink glasses before taking another sip. If only she knew how true that was.

Ophie

Philip’s rendition of “Wannabe”gives me the giggles every time. It doesn’t matter that I’ve seen it plenty of times over the years of our friendship. At karaoke. Stone-cold sober in the car. Slightly tipsy in his living room. Very tipsy in Cassie and TJ’s kitchen.

I don’t know if it’s the memory of him doing the dance from the music video on the stairs of the school library, or the fact that he does the little knee-jiggle move every time they sing “Zig-a-zig-ah” that makes me giggle the most.

Philip is always making me laugh. It’s one of the reasons he’s my best friend.

Right now, he’s bouncing against the seat and singing loudly as he drives us home from the winery. The windows are down, the early summer breeze whipping through the car and tangling my hair as I sing duet with him.

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