Page 83 of Gone With the Wine

“Nope.”

She pushes herself up to sit and I don’t miss the lingering sweep of her gaze over my bare chest and arms. She sinks her teeth briefly into her bottom lip and her eyes heat.

She likes what she sees.

Fuck, yeah.

I never worried about that before, but getting rejected, cheated on, giving up the sport I love, and putting on weight apparently impacted my confidence. Under her admiring gaze, I stride over and set the tray on the end of the bed.

Moose jumps up to inspect it.

Bianca laughs.

“Hey, get down. You’re not allowed on the bed,” I tell him.

“He’s not?” Bianca widens big dark eyes at me.

“Not while we’re eating.” I pause. “Or fucking.”

She laughs.

“Or maybe ever. I don’t know. I don’t know anything about dogs.” I round the bed and sit back down. “He peed on the deck. I think he did it to be a little asshole.”

She giggles. “Oh well. You can hose it off.”

“Yeah, but I have to train him not to do that.”

“It’s okay. We got this.”

Wegot this.

My heart gives a sharp twist in my chest.

We get ourselves settled with plates on our laps and glass of wine on the tray between us. Bianca picks up a fork and cuts off a piece of the casserole. “Yum! This is so good!”

Moose is not cooperating. He’s dancing around on the bed, sniffing our plates, pawing at us.

“Back off,” I tell him sternly. He gives me the same puppy dog eyes Bianca did. With his one ear, he’s adorably lopsided. I lift my plate higher so he can’t stick his nose in it. For a moment, he lies down and watches us, but then he’s up again, nudging at Bianca’s arm.

She drops a piece of salad on the bed. “Oh no!” But she’s laughing. “Moose, you can’t do that!”

“I should take him out of here.”

“It’s okay. Moose, sit.” She holds up a tiny piece of lasagna noodle.

Moose does not sit. He jumps for the noodle…and lands on the tray. Our glasses tip and the bottle falls over and red wine sprays everywhere.

Bianca shrieks. I curse. Moose disappears with a flash of his white tail.

Smart guy.

Chapter18

Jansen

Ilook at Bianca and our eyes meet. My annoyance fades in the face of her dancing eyes and the laughter she’s trying to hold back.

“How to impress a woman,” I deadpan.

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