“How did you get in?”She didn’t seem pleased.
We were off to a great start. “Door was open.” I almost said, ‘You should probably lock up after you close,’ but restrained myself.
“I guess Laila forgot to lock behind her.” Rae’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here after closing?”
“Because I didn’t have your number and my sister refused to give it to me. Figured I’d come by to see if I could catch you.”
“Why?”
Yep, definitely not pleased.
“To talk to you. Is that alright?” I tried to keep the perpetual edge Min accused me of having out of my tone.
“I was about to go on our cruise tonight.”
“Is there room for another? I’m not scoping out the competition. Our VIP cruise has been up and running since spring and is a totally different experience.”
To be fair, Brooke had the idea to compete with Sunset. They had more docks, and boats, something my parents never really wanted. They liked the idea of being able to look out to the lake from the tasting room with an uninterrupted view. Brooke’s solution was perfect. One additional boat on the already constructed dock we used for private purposes, and one cruise a day Saturday and Sunday for a small number of people with one of the GVV owners. An elevated, and pricey, upsell to a private wine tasting. It had been a real homerun.
“I don't worry about that,” she said.
“But you’re hesitating to invite me along.”
She didn’t deny it.
I wasn’t going to give in easily. There’d be no easy outs from me. I wanted to talk to Rae, good idea or not. End of story.
“Marco, I—”
No wasn’t an option. “Not only are we neighbors and, hopefully, our wineries partners in many ways, but you’re clearly already fast friends with Min. There’s no way to avoid me, so you might as well invite me on board or risk missing the boat. No pun intended.”
Finally, a smile. “Is that a pun though?”
“Seems like one to me. Come on. It leaves in twenty minutes.”
She was clearly surprised I knew the boat’s schedule. Now wasn’t the time to tell her I knew a lot about Sunset, not only because they were our closest neighbors but because I’d been researching the owners, her father included, since we met.
Ignoring the unhappy sound she made, and her white cutoff jeans shorts which gave me an ample view of her legs from behind as Rae walked away, I happily followed her out the door. Which she locked.
I woke up this morning thinking of her. Jerked off, thinking of her. Made calls, helped on the brewery’s floor, ordered Grado Brewing merchandise, all thinking of her.
Finally, I asked Min for her number, and my sister flatly refused. “There’s only one reason I can think of that you'd need it. So that’s going to be a firm no from me.”
She really could be a pain in the ass sometimes.
“Your sister is really nice,” Rae said. I held back the sound that nearly escaped my mouth.
“She can be.”
We walked down to the dock where a fleet of eight boats greeted us. Not all were used every night, and some were bigger than others. From pontoon to sightseeing boats, it seemed tonight we’d be on one of the bigger ones.
“Are you always so sweet?” she asked.
“I try to be.”
“Well, you’re not doing a great job.”
I laughed until we stepped on the dock and got a look at the ship’s captain. For fuck’s sake, could I cut a break?