Gabby walked to the back of the storeroom. She and Phoebe had arranged a makeshift wine cellar in the back for their pricier stock. It was almost guaranteed that a couple or a group would come in on a Saturday night and order an expensive bottle to share.
After pulling a couple of bottles of chardonnay from the rack and slipping them into a case, she searched for a bottle of a specific petite Syrah. Finally, she located it on a shelf above her.
The step stool was nowhere to be found, so Gabby sighed and stretched her arm out for the bottle. Just as her fingers brushed it, a large, masculine hand closed around the bottle, followed by a hard, warm body crowding her from behind.
“What the hell?!” Gabby yelped, twisting her head to glare at the sneaky bastard who scared her.
Logan Westfall’s amused grey-green eyes met hers. “Here, let me get that for you.”
“Uh. Ah.” Gabby cleared her throat. “Um, thanks.” She tried to step to one side and put a little space between them, but Logan’s body was too close, crowding her against the shelves. His other arm was braced against the wood to her left, right by her rib cage, and when she shifted, the side of her breast brushed his thumb.
Though the slight touch sent shockwaves through her body, Gabby managed to feign composure.
“Here, let me move out of the way,” she suggested.
“I’ve got it.”
He was standing so close she could feel his breath on her cheek as he spoke, and he smelled like summer and sunshine.
Finally, he stepped back. Gabby turned, pressing her back against the shelf, and took the bottle he held out.
“Thank you,” she muttered, holding the bottle against her chest.
“You’re welcome.”
Since he seemed completely unaware of his effect on her, Gabby squared her shoulders. If he hadn’t noticed that she could barely string together a sentence, then there was no need to draw attention to her nervousness.
Logan looked around the storage area. “You and Phoebe have done a great job with this place. And The Wild Vine. That’s a great name.”
Gabby smiled. “Thanks. Our dad suggested it.”
“Really? I would have thought he would want you to name it after the vineyard.”
Blake St. John was a second-generation Texas vintner. St. John Vineyard was one of the most successful in the state.
Gabby smirked. “He suggested it. Then we told him that we intended to sell other wines in addition to St. John’s.”
Chuckling, he asked, “And how did that go over?”
With a laugh, she hugged the bottle of wine closer to her chest. “Not well. But he got over it. He even sold us the first hundred cases of St. John’s wines at a reduced price.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t just give them to you.”
Gabby shrugged. “He tried, but he raised us to always pay our own way, so we insisted.”
“I’ll bet you did,” Logan murmured.
Carrying the bottle to the case she loaded the chardonnay into, Gabby added the petite Syrah.
“Well, I need to get these out front. It’s going to get busy soon.”
“Have dinner with me Monday. We can catch up.”
Gabby’s head twisted around. “I’m sorry?”
“Let’s have dinner Monday night. It’d be nice to find out what you’ve been doing the past fourteen years.”
Since she wondered the same about him, Gabby gave in to her curiosity. “Okay, dinner Monday sounds nice.” Just a friendly dinner with the man who made her tongue-tied. That didn’t sound like a recipe for disaster at all.
“Great, I’ll pick you up at seven.” He pulled a business card out of his pocket. “Will you write your phone number and address on this?”
Gabby took the card and ducked into the small office she and Phoebe shared. Quickly, she jotted down her number and address. When she turned around, Logan was leaning against the doorjamb.
She approached him and held out the card. “Text me so I’ll have your number too, okay?”
Nodding, Logan took it. After a moment’s hesitation, he leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to her cheek.
Smiling, he pulled back. “I’ll see you Monday.”
As he turned and sauntered away, Gabby lifted her hand to her tingling cheek. When he was gone, she laughed. Fifteen years since she first laid eyes on Logan Westfall and decided he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, Gabby finally had what she wanted most of all in high school; a date with her teenage dream.
