Page 39 of A Sweet Mess

She shook off her melancholy and got herself ready for work. Her portion of the filming was scheduled to start in aweek, and she still had one more recipe to create. That meant she had to hit the tasting rooms again. The perfect Moscato remained elusive even after several days of wine tasting. Even though light dessert wines were far less potent than fortified red wines, nausea rolled through Aubrey’s stomach. She would swish and spit every wine, and stop when she got tired.

After her decision to take things easy, the wine tour promised to be relaxing and enjoyable. And the tour provided pickup and drop-off service, so it was perfect for her current car-less situation. Her group was made up of a friendly middle-aged couple with their college-age daughter and a lovely older couple on vacation from Germany.

Michael, their tour guide and chauffeur, was a sun-bronzed Californian with a brilliant smile and an endless supply of jokes. The college girl laughed hysterically at every witticism, and Aubrey worried the poor girl might crack her ribs.

“Aubrey, you get shotgun.” Michael took her elbow and led her to the front passenger seat.

“Me? Are you sure?” She couldn’t help glancing at the younger woman, feeling guilty even though she’d done nothing wrong. But the girl glared at Aubrey with narrowed eyes, and her guilt evaporated.Glare at him, not me.

“Yes, I’m sure. Everyone else is here with someone.” He winked. “I’ll keep you company, so you won’t be lonely.”

She shrugged and climbed onto the front seat.

The off-the-beaten-path wineries Michael took them to were all beautifully situated and had an abundance of the white and dessert wines the group had signed up for. Aubrey spat and rinsed after every tasting. So far, the wines were lovely, and she was holding up fine.

“Hey,” she protested when Michael casually took her glass from her hand.

“This one’s exquisite,” he said, inhaling deeply from the glass.

He made a point of holding her gaze so she wouldn’t miss he was referring to both her and the wine. Inner Aubrey rolled her eyes, but tourist Aubrey humored the guide and offered a bland smile. He was, after all, giving them an excellent tour. But when he took a small sip of her wine, Aubrey had to draw the line. She didn’t mix spit with strangers.Gag.

“Give that back. You’re the designated driver.” She snatched her glass back. Michael guffawed like she’d made some adorable joke even though she was frying him with her death ray.

The next winery had a stunning view of the valley, so Aubrey forgave Michael’s prior wine theft. As the day wore on, the gorgeous vineyards and easy company relaxed Aubrey enough to let go of her stress. Finding a half a dozen candidates for her second dessert didn’t hurt either. At the end of the productive tour, the sway of the van lulled Aubrey to sleep as Michael drove the group back to their lodgings.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty.” She heard a faraway voice calling her. She struggled to wake up, her eyelashes fluttering against the weight of sleep.

Aubrey’s eyes shot open, remembering she was in a tour van. In fact, she was the last one in the van, and Michael was standing beside the open passenger door wearing his white, toothy grin. He offered his hand to help her off the van, and she grasped it to make sure she didn’t bury her drowsy nose into the driveway.

She tested her land legs and was relieved to find them sturdy, but when she tried to withdraw her hand, he held on. Suppressing her annoyance, Aubrey smiled stiffly and tugged harder at her hand.

“Sorry about keeping you. Thank you so much for a lovely tour.”

Michael relaxed his death grip, and she retrieved her hand, but he didn’t leave as she’d hoped. Now that she was fully awake, Aubrey was impatient to get started on her recipe.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to help you inside?” He gave her what had to be a well-practiced puppy dog face.

Cute… but not that cute.She sighed and opened her mouth to shoo him away, but her words caught in her throat as strong hands wrapped around her waist.

“Thanks for the offer, but I can take it from here.” Landon spoke quietly from behind, but the icy steel in his voice propelled Michael into action. He scampered to hand over her wine to Landon and drove away in a cloud of dust.

Aubrey spun out of Landon’s hold and gaped at him. His high-handedness infuriated her, but his possessiveness lit a fire in her pants. Fury and lust wrestled inside her with no clear winner.

“Enjoying the locals?” Landon raised an eyebrow and regarded her with a humorless smirk. “So this is how you’ve been spending your days.”

What the blazing hell?“Why, yes, I do enjoy meeting the locals.” Aubrey’s temper burned through any lingering confusion. She was her own person, andno onecontrolled her choices. “There are so many lovely, interesting people here.”

“Is that so?” His icy voice sent a shiver down her spine.

“More importantly, it’s none of your business how I spend my days. Or with whom.”

“Like hell it isn’t.”

“I agreed to guest star on Aria’s show with two original recipes. I went wine tasting to find the Moscato for my seconddessert, because it’s a part of my job, if you recall.” Her flight instinct had a slight edge over her fight instinct, but she held her ground and pulled back her shoulders. “I don’t go frolicking in the fields when you leave the house, asshole. I take my work very seriously.”

“Fuck.” The fight drained out of Landon in a blink, and he scrubbed his face with his hands. “That was uncalled for. I was way out of line.”

“It was, and you were.” As she stood glaring at him with her arms folded across her chest, she noticed for the first time how exhausted he looked. Her brows drew together as concern overshadowed her anger.

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