Page 135 of Gone With the Wine

My heart thuds faster. Harder.

Chirrrup. Chirrup. Chirrup.

Bianca’s eyes flicker.

I huff out a frustrated laugh as I push up to standing and follow the noise. The little creature is behind a barrel. I peer down there, but it’s dark, so I pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight. Aha. I grab the broom I used earlier to sweep down dust and cobwebs and brush the insect out. It immediately leaps, trying to get away. I bring the broom down on it, not too hard; he doesn’t deserve to die. Then I manage to scoop him into my hand. “Be right back.”

After depositing him outside—“Be free, little one”—I return to the cellar.

Bianca’s sitting there wide-eyed, gripping her wine glass. “You saved him.”

“Yeah.”

She smiles, a slow, soft smile. “My hero.”

Fuck, yeah. I want to be her hero. Even though I know she doesn’t need rescuing, I want to be her refuge. Her champion. I return to my position on the floor, on my knees, which are now feeling the hardness of the stone. I repress the wince. I take her wine glass and set it next to mine, then curl my fingers around hers. “Okay.” My voice is scratchy. “Where were we? You said things changed.”

“Right. Um. Actually, maybe things didn’t change. MaybeIchanged.”

I lift my chin.

“I came home reluctantly. I left because I wanted to get away from the family baggage, make a name for myself. This place is insular. Everyone knows you. They know your history, good and bad. Rumors spread fast. But also…the people are good. My friends are good. My family is…well, Uncle Geno is pretty stubborn, but my cousins are good people, too. So maybe it’s me.I’mseeing things differently. I’m seeing myself differently. And…” She swallows. “There’s you.”

My heart goes into high gear, blood pumping wildly in my veins.

“I already told you I fell in love with you. That wasn’t supposed to happen. We were supposed to just have fun. But I started feeling more. That night I found out about your wife cheating on you. I had just realized that I was in love with you. And things felt…not like a business dinner and I thought maybe you felt the same. But then you told my cousins something important about you, that you’d never told me. And it hurt. Because bam bam in the ham is hot, but?—”

I choke. And sputter. “What?”

She grins. “Sorry. Ana said that. What I’m saying is, sex is great but it made me sad that that’s all you wanted from me.”

“Jesus.” I close my eyes on the stabbing sensation in my chest.

“It was how I felt! I was good enough to bang but not good enough to talk to. To tell me all the things that make youyou. You didn’t trust me with your story. Your vulnerabilities. It wasn’t enough for me anymore, and I got scared. I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you.”

A wave of hot shame washes through me. “I’m sorry.” I tilt my head back, then open my eyes to meet hers. “I was doing the same thing. Trying to protect myself.” I let out a low laugh. “I really thought I was being brave and open when I asked you to stay. I thought you would know what that meant.”

She lowers her chin, pouting a little. “I thought it meant you wanted to keep boinking.”

My heart burns behind my sternum. “That wasn’t it. But how would you have known? I’m an idiot, as Miles and Nolan helpfully pointed out. I’m sorry. I am so sorry.”

Her lips tremble.

I reach for a small shopping bag sitting on the barrel. “I have a gift for you. I bought it a long time ago. Because I think I fell for you the first night we met.”

She takes it, eyeing me curiously. With her head cocked, she opens the bag and pulls out purple tissue paper, then unwraps a puddle of purple silk. Her eyes widen. “Oh my God.” She holds up the slip. “Oh my God.”

I swipe a hand down my face. “I don’t know why I bought it. I couldn’t get you out of my mind, and I kept thinking about you wearing that. I felt like a bonehead, but…” I shrug.

She looks up at me, eyes glowing. “So you really did think I’d look sexy in this.”

A smile tugs my lips. “Oh, hell yeah. Of course you look sexy in cut-offs, rubber boots, and a stained T-shirt.”

Her smile is luminous.

“Even if I’ll never have a chance to see you in it, I thought you should have it. So you know that you are sexy and beautiful and fascinating.”

The candlelight glimmers on the wetness at her eyes. “I want you to see me in it.”

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