“I’ve always wondered what you would look like without them.”
Every fiber of my being wanted to grab Brooke by both shoulders and kiss her so hard her lips would look like she’d been kissed from even half a mile away.
“And?” I asked.
“I didn’t think it was possible you could get any hotter.”
Screw it.
I closed the small gap between us, reached for the back of Brooke’s neck, and pulled her into me. The first touch of our lips was mind-blowing. It shouldn’t have been anything more than a kiss. Two people whose lips met, whose mouths simultaneously opened for each other. Whose tongues immediately tangled.
I used the leverage of my hand to draw her closer, as if such a thing was possible. Her soft moan undid me. Brooke’s hands, suddenly on both of my arms, elicited a groan of my own. One that told her I wanted this, even if I shouldn’t have. One that made her open even more for me.
Our kiss wasn’t gentle at all. It hinted at a passion between us that was anything but contained. Fucking her would not be soft and sweet. It wouldn’t be slow and sensual. If this kiss was any indication, it would be explosive. All-consuming.
“So I’m guessing this is a bad time?”
Just as I was about to slide my free hand down to Brooke’s ass, and pull her into me, to have her feel how much I wanted her right now, the voice dumped an ice-filled bucket on us both. I stepped away, but the damage was done.
Fuck.
Brooke looked between us, recognition replacing confusion as the newcomer strolled past wine barrel tables toward us.
I wanted to bury my face in my hands, kick the bar in front of me and curse, badly, all at once. Instead, I said, “Brooke, I’d like you to meet my brother Marco. Marco, this is Brooke.”
Because my brother was the biggest asshole on the planet, he didn’t hold back. “As in Brooke, the new tasting room associate who Min mentioned may be coming on full-time for a one-off project this summer? That Brooke?”
He completely ignored my warning look.
“Way to make a good first impression,” I said.
“Not as good as yours, apparently.” He turned to Brooke. “Nice to meet you. Sorry for the intrusion. I was looking for my brother and,” he smiled, “it appears I found him.”
“I should go—”
“No.” I didn’t want her to leave like this. “Stay. We’ll finish the tasting.”
“Ooh, a private tasting. Sounds like fun. Mind if I join you?” Without waiting for a response, Marco sauntered behind the bar, grabbed a glass and set it next to Brooke’s. “Looks like you started with the Accursia White. Not my favorite, so I’ll pass on that one.”
As if anyone asked him.
By now Brooke had made her way back around the bar. I could tell she was hesitant about staying, but I really wanted her to. Partially because I simply liked her company, and partially because I didn’t want her to feel awkward.
Or more awkward, at least.
“Cos without his glasses.” Marco picked them up. “Now there’s a rare sight.”
I didn’t bother asking for them, which would have been a surefire way to ensure Marco wouldn’t hand them back.
“He barely needs them,” Marco told Brooke.
She appraised me as if to ask if it were true.
“The eye doctor said I could get away with wearing them only when I’m straining my eyes,” I explained. “So I started wearing them in college to see the board better. And never really took them off.”
“Did your eyes get worse?”
“No,” I admitted, unsurprised when Marco handed them to me. I put the glasses back on. “But now I’m just used to wearing them.”