So Good: A Ribbon Ridge Novel (Love on the Vine Book 1) (19 page)

Kyle laughed. “Isn’t that the truth?” His eye landed on someone at the end of the bar. “That’s my pal who owns this joint. I need to go say hello.” He clapped Cam on the shoulder. “Catch you later.”

“Later.” Cam turned and walked into the main dining room. It wasn’t terribly large—the building was a renovated house—and encompassed a space akin to a living and dining room combination. Most of the tables had been moved out for tonight’s mingling and were likely stashed upstairs in the private dining rooms.
 

What they had plenty of was wine. Much of the wall space was taken up with cabinets stuffed full of the best the Willamette Valley had to offer. Cam loved to peruse the labels. He always found a hidden treasure when he came here.

He sauntered toward a cabinet in the corner and stopped short when he heard a familiar laugh. When he turned, his gaze wandered to the back of the room and landed on the source of the lovely sound. Brooke.

She stood with another young woman, who was also laughing. He knew he ought to stay put, but his feet didn’t get the memo. As he neared, Brooke saw him, her eyes widening briefly in recognition before she looked down at her wine.

“Good evening,” he said to the other woman. She was younger than Brooke, with straight brown hair and gold-brown eyes. Cam turned his attention to the reason he’d come over. “Hi, Brooke.”

She lifted her gaze to his. “Hi, Cameron. This is my coworker, Elise. Elise, this is Cameron Westcott. He’s one of the owners of West Arch Estate.”

Elise smiled at him. “I know who he is.” She offered her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard all about you.”

“Uh-oh.” Cam shot a glance at Brooke, wondering what she’d said.

Brooke shook her head. “Not from me. Elise is new. She started at Willamette, what, three weeks ago?” She looked at Elise who nodded.

“Not quite.” Elise edged closer to Cam. “And I was teasing. I haven’t heard all about you. Someone mentioned you in a list of eligible bachelors in the area.”

Cam laughed. “I see.”

“He’s definitely eligible,” Brooke said before taking a sip of wine. “And he’s definitely a bachelor through and through.” She finished what was left in her glass. “I’m empty. Excuse me while I get a refill.” She smiled at him as she passed by. He noticed she was careful not to touch him. He also watched her backside as she walked away and recalled the feel of it in his hands. Damn.

“So what are you drinking?” Elise asked. “I’m new to this area—not the wine necessarily—but I’ve been working at a winery up in Prosser. Do you know where that is?”

“Sure, south central Washington. I’ve been there many times. Where’d you work?” He sipped his wine. “Oh, and this is A.F. Nichols. He’s a small indie producer, but really great. Give him a try if you haven’t.”

“I will, thanks.” She spent the next few minutes talking about her prior job, her dog, and the manicure she’d gotten that afternoon. With each topic, she moved closer until her arm was grazing his.

Meanwhile, Cam kept watching the doorway, waiting for Brooke to return from the bar. When it looked as though she wasn’t coming back, Cam searched for an out. He didn’t want to abandon Elise, so he eyeballed someone else in the room that he knew and drew her over to meet him. “Elise, come meet Henri Morin. He’s the winemaker up at Synchronicity.”

“Hello, it’s my pleasure to meet you,” Henri said in his thick French accent.

Elise shook his hand. “I love your wine!”

Satisfied that he’d made a good handoff, Cam excused himself and went in search of Brooke, despite his better judgment.

He found her in the bar area near the window, chatting with someone he didn’t know. Cam went to the bar and refilled his glass while he wanted for an opening. A few minutes passed before her conversation partner departed, and Cam beelined toward her.

“You abandoned me,” he said.

She arched a brow at him. “Not on purpose. I’m networking. That’s why I come to these events.” Her gaze dipped over him. “You look hot.”

He grinned at her compliment. “Thanks.”

She laughed softly. “No, you look hot in that outfit. Why are you wearing long sleeves? It’s like ninety-six.”

He held out his arm and glanced at the French blue fabric. “I like this shirt.”

“I like it too, but you have to have a million others. I’ve seen what you wear—you have no shortage of stylish clothes.”

He took delight in the fact that she noticed. “Anyway, it’s not ninety-six now. The sun’s gone down.”

“True, but I’d say it’s still upwards of eighty-five.”

Probably. Why were they talking about the weather? Because it was safe, and so far it had prevented any weirdness like they’d had that evening at Ruckus. “You look cool and comfortable,” he said, taking in her black spaghetti-strap dress that was longer in back than in the front. “Actually, you look hot—and not the temperature kind.” She couldn’t be wearing a bra in that dress, but he couldn’t see her nipples, so it had to have some sort of built-in coverage. But all he could think was that there was just one layer between him and paradise.

She didn’t respond. Instead, she sipped her wine and looked out the window for a moment before asking, “What happened to Elise?”

“I left her with someone. She’s fine.”

“She was excited to meet you. In fact, she told me before you came over that she was hoping to meet you tonight. Your reputation precedes you.”

He groaned. “Great. Why me?”

Brooke lifted a tan, sculpted, sexy shoulder. “Because you’re attractive, very single, and like I said, your reputation is kind of unparalleled.”

He wanted to know what she was getting at. Specifically. “In what way?”

“Just that you’re known for giving a girl a good time—with or without sex, if you must know.”

“Well, that’s a bit of a relief. I don’t really want to be known as just a manwhore.” Anymore.

“But you kind of are, aren’t you?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re being rather saucy this evening. You know I’ve calmed down my…behavior for some time now. In fact, I’m living like a damned monk at present.”

“You could change that with Elise, I’m sure. Why don’t you ask her out?”

A chuckle rose in his chest. “I fell right into that one.”

Brooke gave him a half-smile, but he saw the victory lurking in her eyes as she took another drink of wine. “In all seriousness, you should ask her out. Why not?”

Because he didn’t want to go out with Elise. He didn’t want to go out with anyone who wasn’t Brooke. “She’s not my type.” And she really wasn’t, even if he had been looking. Which he wasn’t. “Plus, I’m not sure I’m in the right head space to be dating anyone.”

She looked at him in surprise, her eyelids fluttering. “I went on that blind date last night.” She quickly averted her gaze, focusing on her wineglass, and he wondered if she regretted saying it.

Jealousy cut into him, leaving a hot trail of irritation. “How was it?” He knew his tone sounded clipped, but he couldn’t help it any more than he could help asking. Which was stupid because he really didn’t want to know.

“Fine. Forget I mentioned it. We should keep our personal lives personal.”

“Like we did the other night?” He leaned closer and reveled in her scent. “That was extremely personal to me,” he murmured.

“I need to use the ladies’ room, excuse me.”

It was a chicken-shit move—he could see the hunger and the hesitation in her eyes. He watched her go and ask the bartender where the bathroom was, but she didn’t go straight to the back where it was located. Instead, she turned and went up the stairs.

Don’t follow her. Don’t follow her. Don’t follow her.

He downed the rest of his wine, deposited the glass on the bar, and followed her.

He climbed the stairs and wove to the back, where another bathroom was located. He slowed as he approached, his mind warring with itself on whether he should stay or go back downstairs. He should really go.

As he was about to pivot, the bathroom door opened. She stood on the threshold and her gaze connected with his. “You followed me.”

“Guilty.”

“We’re not supposed to do this. Unless you came up here to talk to me about work.”

“I didn’t.” He didn’t bother trying to mask the longing he felt. “I came here because I’m jealous that you went out with some other guy.”

Her chest hitched, as if she’d lost her breath for a second. “You should go. We know what happens when we’re alone.”

And they were quite alone up here. No one would hear them…

“Yes, I should go.” But his feet propelled him forward.
 

She didn’t move, and her gaze was unflinching. “Don’t go.”

Then she reached out and grabbed him by the shirtfront and dragged him—not that it took much effort—into the bathroom and closed the door.

Chapter Twelve

A
s soon as she closed the door, Brooke pushed him up against the wood and locked the knob. She immediately started unbuttoning his shirt. “You shouldn’t have followed me.”

He stared at her, his green eyes blistering with heat. “You’re giving me such mixed messages.”

“Just because I said you shouldn’t have doesn’t mean I’m disappointed.” She finished with his buttons and spread his shirt open, pressing her palms against his smooth, warm flesh. His chest felt even better than it looked. “Do I look disappointed to you?”

He clasped her waist. “God, Brooke.” He pulled her into him and kissed her.
 

She curled her fingers into his chest and met his tongue. Lust—raw, pure, and devastating—raged through her. She pushed her hands up and cupped his neck as she pressed against him.

He broke the kiss and took a gasp of air. “I need to understand this. We can’t keep starting up and…stopping. My body can’t take it.”

He sounded so adorably high-strung. She smiled and traced her finger over his lips. They were so soft and delicious. “Mine can’t either. Clearly, we need to do this, and hopefully that will be the end of it.”

His brow arched up as skepticism joined the desire in his gaze. “So we aren’t stopping?”

She shook her head. “No.” Then she kissed him again with wild abandon. There were no voices in the back of her head telling her to stop, no conscience saying she might regret this. Because she knew, without a doubt, that she wouldn’t. Except…

She pulled back with a groan. “Tell me you have a condom.”

His lips spread in a lazy, sexy grin. “Put a couple in my wallet after the other night. No way was I going to let that happen again.”

“Smart man.” She tugged at his neck and brought his mouth to hers.

They kissed ravenously, like starved animals led to a feast. His hands cupped her ass as he pulled her tight against him. She could feel the length of his cock and couldn’t help but rotate her hips to create friction.

He moaned into her mouth and pushed away from the door. He interrupted the kiss and looked around. She licked along his jaw and spread kisses down his neck.

“God, I’ve waited for this. Dreamed about this. And we’re in a damned bathroom.”

She giggled. “There’s a fairly sturdy-looking cabinet against the other wall.”

He steered her in that direction. “Thankfully this bathroom isn’t tiny.” He reclaimed her mouth just before her backside hit the cabinet. He lifted her, effortlessly, and set her on the top. Something behind her jostled.

She reached back, and her fingers closed around a vase of dried flowers. “Do something with this before we break it.” She thrust it into his hand, and he left briefly to set it on the counter next to the sink.
 

When he came back, he looked at her a moment, his gaze dark and fierce and full of promise. With both hands, he brushed her hair back from her face before lowering his head to kiss her again. This time was softer, less frantic, but every bit as passionate. His tongue made long, searching strokes as his fingers tangled into her hair. This was a kiss that made you swoon. A kiss you’d never forget.

She opened her legs, and he moved between them. She clutched his back, holding on to him tightly because if she didn’t, she might just slide off the cabinet and form a puddle on the floor.