Unbreakable (Cloverleigh Farms, #4)(59)

At the bar, I ordered a whiskey on the rocks and she ordered a glass of sparkling white. While we waited for the bartender to pour, she moved closer to me and spoke softly. “You look amazing.”

“So do you. I like your outfit.”

She blushed and looked down at her legs. “Thanks. I was a little hesitant to wear this skirt because it’s so short, but I decided to go for it.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“My ex hated this skirt. He said it was trashy.”

My hands flexed. “You ex was a fucking idiot.”

“He was. But lucky for me, he’s gone, and I no longer care what he thinks about my clothes. I like this skirt, so I’m going to wear it.”

“My ex hated all my shirts with holes. I think that’s why I still wear them.”

She laughed. “I will love it even more every time I see a hole in your shirt.”

When our drinks had been poured, she picked up her glass and tugged at my elbow. “Let’s go sit with Mack and Frannie. They’re at our table.”

I walked behind her, admiring her pert little ass in that glittering skirt and trying not to drool. The crotch of my pants was already growing tight.

Respectable gentleman. Respectable gentleman. Respectable gentleman, I repeated in my head.

So far, it was not going well.

At the table designated for the family, Mack and Frannie sat chatting with Meg and Noah. “I saved these for us,” Sylvia said, indicating two empty chairs. “And those are for Chloe and Oliver and April, if she ever gets a break.”

“Thanks.” I sat down, and she slid onto the chair beside me. It was obvious Frannie knew what was going on with us, because she was giving her sister a look that was like winking without the actual wink.

I took a pretty big swallow of whiskey. “Where are the kids sitting tonight?”

“They have their own table by the band,” Frannie said, glancing in that direction. “The girls are insisting they can make it to midnight, but I’ve got my doubts.”

“If Winnie falls asleep, we can just stick her on the couch in the office, like we used to do with you,” Sylvia said with a laugh.

That led to a discussion about what it had been like to grow up at Cloverleigh, all the changes over the years, and what the future might bring. Chloe and Oliver joined us eventually, and Chloe generously praised Sylvia’s performance in the tasting room the last two days.

“She’s a natural,” Chloe said, clinking her glass to Sylvia’s. “A couple weeks, and she’ll know as much as I do.”

“No way.” Sylvia shook her head. “I have so much to learn. I really want to understand the whole process, from the planting to the harvest to the aging. I feel like what I’m describing to guests will make so much more sense. It’s like what you were saying, Henry.” She looked at me, leaning in my direction. “What people taste here is totally unique to our vineyard, to the way we make wine. And what they’re tasting this year will be different than what they might taste next year, because every vintage tells a different story. I want to make them come back year after year to learn a new story.”

Chloe laughed. “Sounds like someone has been reading the gospel of Henry DeSantis.”

“Hey, she asked,” I said, putting one palm up. “I didn’t force it on her.”

“No, I love it,” Sylvia gushed, putting her hand on my fucking thigh. “I find it fascinating.”

“I’m sure.” The smirk on Chloe’s face, paired with the look she exchanged with Frannie, told me we were not fooling the Sawyer sisters. Only Meg seemed a little clueless, but then, she and Noah were pretty wrapped up in each other.

My first drink went down easy and fast, so I had another. The whiskey eased my nerves and relaxed the tension in my shoulders, but it did nothing to take the edge off the desire I felt for the woman next to me. During dinner, I laughed and talked with everyone at the table, but every time she looked in my direction or gave me a smile or put a hand on my leg, I felt like I was coming out of my skin.

After dessert, the band switched from big band dinner music to more upbeat oldies, and people swarmed the dance floor. After some coaxing, Mack agreed to dance with Frannie but slammed the rest of his beer first. Chloe convinced Oliver to get out there too, but Noah said there was no way in hell he was dancing until his current beer was empty, so Sylvia and I sat talking to them for a while.

I’m not sure when I put my arm around the back of Sylvia’s chair, but I suddenly realized it was there when I noticed Meg staring at it. If I hadn’t been halfway through my third whiskey, I might have removed it.

The band began to play a classic Elvis Presley ballad, and Sylvia turned to me with a hopeful look in her eye. “You wouldn’t want to dance with me by any chance, would you? I love this song.”

“Uh, I’m not much of a dancer.”

“I don’t mind.”

The idea of holding her close, even on a crowded dance floor, was too tempting to resist. “Okay.”

We walked onto the floor and found a spot among the slow-moving couples. She came into my arms as naturally as if we’d been dancing together for years. I could smell her perfume, and inhaled deeply. The scent stirred up memories of her bare skin on mine, and provoked a response in my body that I couldn’t exactly hide. I glanced over her shoulder at the table where the kids were sitting and saw Whitney watching us, transfixed.