Page 42 of Awestruck at Dusk
“They loved that the pantsuit sold out,” I said with a laugh.
“Becauseyouwore it.”
Because I wore it and stood beside you, and people thought I was dating you.
It was best to change the subject.
“Are you supposed to be drinking?” I asked as he took a long swig of his wine. It’d been only three weeks since he got out of surgery. I didn’t think it was safe for him to do so.
“No,” he replied casually. “But it’s a special kind of wine. I had to have one glass at least. I’d have an entire case of it if I could.” He laughed a hushed smile, mostly to himself.
A server approached me. “You asked for the bottle, miss?” He showcased the wine’s label.Nemorino’s. William shot a crooked little smile at me.
“Can I—keep this?” I asked the server. I wanted to inspect the label.Nemorino’s? I’d never heard of it before. I didn’t know this wine existed, but it was the coolest thing ever. The server nodded and left after asking if there was anything else I needed.
“Nemorino’s Love Boosting Potion?” I asked William with curiosity. “Wherethe helldid you find this wine?”
“This”—he took the bottle from my hands—“is the wine you drank at the cottage last summer. I remember you liked it. Alot.” He laughed. “So I asked Alice to hire a designer to make this label, and then we just stuck it on the bottles. Well, Alice did. She’d kill me if she heard me taking any credit for it.”
“William.” I was impressed by how much he always paid attention to every little detail. It was such a thoughtful gesture. “Thank you. I—I love it. But shouldn’t it beDulcamara’sLove Potion?” I teased him.
“No. Iwaspaying attention at the opera, you know? Dulcamara’s potion was a hoax, but Nemorino was the one who believed in it and drank it—made it real. Besides,” he said, leaning in to whisper the following words, “whenyoudrank this wine, you kissed me—a few times. So, I’d say itdoeswork.”
William’s attention traveled to my lips and lingered there longer than I could endure without having a hot flash.
“Um—” I hesitated in replying. I looked down at the floor for a second and smiled. It was inevitable to think back on that night. How perfect it’d been. And about the said kisses.
“It’s hard to forget, isn’t it?” William said, sipping on his wine as he enjoyed reading my mind, as usual.
Time for another,longer, swig of my wine.
I cleared my throat because the words got tangled into a lump as I kept delaying a reply. “Well, the wine’s delicious, and the branding’s amazing. You should consider selling it for real.”
“Well, we could be business partners,” William said, his gaze trained on mine. “I’m not joking.” He laughed, probably at my incredulous face. “We could do this. It would sell.”
“Maybe in another life when we are both men, and we can be friends.” I laughed. The wine had kicked in quite nicely. But that’d been a similar line he used when I asked him if we could be friends back in November. I don’t think business partners would be any less complicated.
Back then, I thought that being friends was the answer, but I realized now that all I wanted was to keep him near me. I was terrified of losing him, and in my desperation, I was willing to have him in any available way, even if it was just as a friend. Even if it was the last choice I envisioned for us.
“I’d be gay for you, believe me,” he said, laughing. “We’llneverbe friends. Not even if we’re dogs or cats. Or wait … I’d probably come down as a Lab or a Golden Retriever, and those guys are legit friends with everyone, but I’d be a prick of a cat, for sure.”
“You do realize you’re being super friendly right now, right?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Of course I do. I know exactly what I’m doing.”
He certainly did. And that’s why it was time to change the subject … again. Because I couldn’t speak my mind when my heart was whispering treacherous things in my ear.
“My father told me how you helped Nathan out with the party,” I told him. “Thank you for that. And I see your debt is settled.” I jerked my chin at the paella with a smile.
“Wait till you try the socarrat,” he said, rolling his r’s perfectly as he always did, taking a few steps back.
Where are you going?
“I’ll have youbeggingfor more.”William! I shook my head at him feeling how my cheeks warmed up. Fast. It’s the way he said things, with thatlookon his face that got me every time. “And I’ll make sure to save a few of these”—he lifted the bottle of wine—“for you to take home. Have fun tonight, Guille. I’ll see you around.”
And with that, he left me. Standing there. Alone. Stunned.
I emptied my wineglass with the last sip as he walked over to his mother and kissed her cheek. He then approached a group of guys that I had no idea who they were.
