“We all are,” Janet said softly.
I knew Janet knew all the drama around my dad’s affair with Shelly. I guess I’d just blocked out how much I’d hated it and how it affected me. Sometimes, forgetting didn’t work.
Casey collected our plates and spun away to another table, while Janet and my mother fell into a conversation about mundane things, the kind of calm, easy talk you could only have with people who had seen you through hell and back. I sat there, gathering myself inside, reminding myself that the whole mess was in the past. So far in the past. It was all for the best. It didn’t matter that Shelly was here in town again. It didn’t matter that I didn’t believe in love or didn’t really trust anyone.
It didn’t matter that Kincaid had kissed me and made me feel safe and made me want things I never thought I’d even want. None of that mattered, right?
Chapter Ten
Tori
After finishing up a lunch shift at Fireweed Winery, I was walking out to my car in the back lot when I heard, “Tori?”
Even though I told myself I wasn’t positive that voice belonged to Kincaid, my nervous system sure thought it was him. A frisson of electricity danced over my skin as I turned and saw him approaching, his boots crunching on the gravel.
I stopped, my pulse taking off at a mad gallop. “Hi!” I squeaked.
Seriously? You can speak like a normal human. He’s just a man. Who cares if he kissed you?
But when he stopped in front of me, and his eyes, warm and cognac-hued, locked with mine, I felt all tingly inside and my belly shimmied.
“How’s it going?” he asked easily, his tone calm and level.
“Fine.” Still squeaky. Fuck my life. I couldn’t even talk like a regular person. I rallied and attempted a normal conversation. “Just finishing up work. What are you doing here?”
Still squeaky. It wasn’t quite as bad as if I had inhaled helium from a balloon, but I felt silly. I could feel the heat burning up my cheeks.
“Picking up takeout.” He paused, glancing over his shoulder at the sound of a vehicle backing up. “I have a question,” he added when he turned back.
“Ask away!” I exclaimed, a little too forcefully, but hey, finally not squeaky. For the win.
“We have a fundraiser for the fire station, and uh, I need a date.”
“You need a date?” I parroted back to him because my conversational skills were awesome.
“Yeah, that’s what I just said.”
“Oh, um, okay. Are you looking for recommendations on who you should bring?” I asked next, as if that made any sense at all.
His eyes crinkled a little at the corners, his lips twitching slightly. “Well, I was wondering if you would go with me.”
“Me?” My hand flew to my chest, rather dramatically, as if we were in a soap opera.
“Yes, you, Tori,” he said, that hint of a smile unfurling across his face.
My belly went from a swoop to a full-on gymnastics routine. My hormones? They were doing cheerleading stunts. “Oh.” Holy wow, one word.
“What do you think?” he prompted, oblivious to my internal state.
Oh, my God, this was so embarrassing. I could not behave like a normal human being. “People don’t usually ask me out on dates,” I finally said.
“Well,” he replied with a grin, “I’m asking you out on a date.”
“Oh,” I repeated. “Are you sure you want me to go with you?”
Kincaid tipped his head to the side, studying me quietly. I felt completely unsettled under his attention. There was a rustle of wind in the trees nearby. The lights from the back of the winery illuminated a few loose leaves drifting to the ground. I didn’t know how to handle his calm regard and the inquisitiveness in his gaze. It felt as if he could see right into my heart. Somehow, he reached inside and held it carefully for me.
“I’m sure about that, Tori,” he finally said, his tone low and clear.
