Her lips have the power of a siren's song, and I allow myself to crash against them for a kiss I wish I could take farther.
"Come on in. Show her around," Granddad says, seeming amused when I pull back.
I'm sure that has a lot to do with the fact I've never once brought a girl around this place. Plenty of girls I know have come, but I never brought them personally. No one else would have appreciated it the way Raya is, so I'm glad she's my first.
As my own words resonate, an odd shiver runs through me, and I breathe in deeply. Fuck it all. I'm falling a lot harder than I meant to.
Once we're inside, I stand back and let her digest her new surroundings. Her smile brightens as she looks around at the wines and sugary treats Granddad insists on having. I'd prefer just the wines, but this place will always have all sorts of other things just because it'll make me think of him.
Raya moves slowly around the store, her eyes drifting to the signs in each room. Then she tucks her hands in her pockets, suddenly seeming uncomfortable as she warily shifts away from a selection of wines.
"You good?" I ask, letting my fingers run through the strands of her hair that shouldn't feel so silky after our windblown trip out here.
"Paranoid," she says, eyeing one of the merlots and prompting me to laugh.
"If you break something, I'll try to talk to the owner about giving you a pass. We're pretty close," I playfully retort, drinking in the sound of her laughter.
I could get used to seeing her smile and laugh like this everyday. I'd prefer to never see her as lost as she looked when she got home today.
When a small silence descends on us, I realize she's waiting for me to speak. Which is perfect, because I could talk wine all day. At the risk of sounding incredibly pretentious, I start telling her everything in small, summarized bits.
I explain the grapes, Granddad's intuitions, and then I answer her questions about the wines. She doesn't think I'm smug or boring. She's smiling and genuinely interested.
Every time I tell her something new, her eyes light up, making my chest contract harder. When she leans in to me and starts asking more questions, something inside me snaps.
"I need to go check on a large order we're supposed to ship out tomorrow. Care to hang out for a minute?" I ask, ignoring the thunderous thudding in my chest.
She smiles and offers me a permissive nod, and I kiss her cheek, needing distance and air. As soon as I hit the outside, my knees give out, and I drop to an old rocking chair. Hot and cold chills of panic, along with dread consume me, and I do what I can to keep my cool. This wasn't supposed to happen.
Fucking shit. I'm in love.
I've been looking at this order for a while, and I've barely checked any of the crates. Raya is in my head, consuming my thoughts, and eating me alive. How did I let this happen?
"You keep staring at that page and I'm going to start worrying," Leonard says from behind me, startling me a little.
I've never been too fond of Granddad's lawyer being here so much. I'm really not crazy about him helping out with the orders lately, but I can't seem to get my head out of my ass enough to concentrate.
"Just a little distracted," I murmur vaguely, rereading the same line of the invoice yet again.
"I'd be a little distracted, too, if I had a pretty girl like that riding around with me."
Even he has to go and remind me of Raya.
I look away from the invoice to see him smiling. He circles the table, keeping that grin on his face.
"You two serious?" he asks, his probing unwelcome.
I really don't need questions like this right now. I'm having a minor panic attack as it is. Are we serious? Apparently we're both too serious too early.
"Have you already inspected this order?" I ask, changing the subject.
He moves around, glancing at the invoice I'm struggling with.
"Three times, but you're welcome to inspect it again." His suppressed grin seems mocking, but I choose to ignore it.
"I'm sure it's fine," I mutter, finally dropping the invoice and giving up. I shouldn't be this distracted for any reason.
"We've got some larger orders coming in next week. They came out, tasted the wine, and now they're desperate to have us. Not to mention, there's also the huge account you landed for the millionaire wedding. Never had a wedding out here," he says, not seeming thrilled about the fact I scheduled the Marlone family to hold their epic wedding here.