Page 27 of Perfect Pairing
“Would you want to do this again before you leave?” he asked, eyes darting everywhere but my face, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, shoulders curved forward, as though bracing for my response.
“You…want to?”
“Of course,” he said instantly, looking at me at last. “Why? Do you not want to?”
“No, I definitely do. I just…I thought I put my foot in it by bringing up the family stuff.”
“No, Brie,” Ezra said, his hand reaching, seemingly of its own free will, to toy with the end of my braid draped over my shoulder. We sucked in matching breaths as his fingertips brushed the skin of my neck, sending a current down my spine. “I was the one who brought that shit up. You didn’t do anything wrong. Ifyou’re interested, I’d like to see you again.”
“Yes.” It was the easiest answer I’d ever given. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him for months, and the idea that he’d been thinking about me too had warmth and pleasure suffusing my limbs. “Tomorrow?”
“Can’t tomorrow,” he said, grinning sheepishly. “It’s New Year’s Eve, and we’ve got this whole movie marathon family tradition. I can’t miss it.”
“Which movies?” I asked.
“TheMarvelones,” he said. “It was a thing my dad and I started when I was in high school, and now, there are just so many that it’s fun to see which new ones we can add year after year. We make homemade popcorn and a ton of other fried foods throughout the day and just…rot on the couch.”
“That sounds a lot like what my family does,” I said with a laugh. “Except my sisters and I watch as many episodes of whatever teen dramaas we can manage.”
“How do you decide?”
“We rotate. This year,” I said, rubbing my hands together excitedly, “I get to pick.”
“And?”
“We’ll be spending our day bingingThe O.C.”
Ezra laughed. “So how about the day after, then? Do you have plans for New Year’s Day?”
I shook my head. “I’m all yours.”
“What’re we making today?”I asked Ezra when we returned to the winery two days later. The time away from him had felt like years instead of hours, and I wasn’t ready to examinewhytoo closely.
“I was thinking pizza,” Ezra said. “And you could show me your favorite bakery treat.”
I snorted. “No offense, Ez,” I started. “I know you’re talented and everything, but we really don’t have time for me to teach you how to make baklava.”
“We’ve got all day,” he said lowly, words full of promise.
I fought off a blush, though willing my body not to give in to its natural response to this man was no easy task. “Let’s just start with something simple, like danishes.”
“I love danishes,” he assured me.
“And I love pizza,” I promised. “But one day, youwillfeed me your meatballs.”
Ezra stilled, and I realized a beat later the undertones of the words that had just left my mouth. I hadn’t meant them that way, but they certainly had sexual connotations. The way Ezra’s entire body froze told me that was exactly how he took them.
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, my hands coming up to hide myflaming cheeks. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Or…maybe I did. But it was far too early in our acquaintance to be letting my inner vixen run the show.
Ezra cleared his throat and returned his attention to the pizza dough in front of him. “No, I know,” he said. “You just…continue to surprise me.”
I tilted my head questioningly, and he continued. “Your family portrayed you as this innocent, helpless little girl,” he said with a wince. “I wasn’t expecting someone so…”
“So what?” I prompted when he trailed off.
“Well, you’re certainly not a little girl,” he said, his gaze darting to me quickly before returning to his task. “And you’re not as quiet as I expected you to be.”
