“Oh, okay.” All of those are valid reasons. “So, before I realized you were at a close table, my sister said she wants you to go to some of the wedding events. Are you okay with that? I can always tell her you’re busy. It’s not a big deal.”
“As long as I don’t have anything happening at the winery, I should be able to go.” He reaches across the seat and his hand hovers over my knee. “Is this, okay?”
It feels like there’s a frog in my throat when I nod and say, “Yeah.”
Parker makes me nervous, but in a good way. He makes me want more than I’ve ever wanted before. It’s an odd feeling. It scares me to be honest.
“Anyway, I’m down to do whatever your sister needs.”
“Please don’t say that. She’s used to getting what she wants and it’ll only feed her ego more than it needs.”
“Sounds like we’re a lot alike. I’m also used to getting my way.”
“Spoken like a younger child.” I roll my eyes.
“What does that mean?”
I shouldn’t have said anything. It popped out of my mouth before I thought it through. “Younger kids tend to get away with more than the older ones. Maybe because parents are practicing on us, I don’t know. But we tend to get all the rules and stipulations.”
“Oh. I never realized that.” Maybe he’ll think about his relationship with his brother now. Who knows?
We’re finally at the winery and the parking lot is full. Are they having an event? Maybe Parker skipped out on it to come see me. The thought shoots a thrill through my body to think I’m that important.
He gets out of the truck and comes around to open my door. This is definitely going to win brownie points with my sister. “What’s going on?”
“Looks like another rush of customers.” We hurry inside the building, and he’s not lying. There are a ton of people.
“Thank God your back.” Piper says as she makes her way to the counter.
“Look who I ran into while in town.”
“Oh, hi.” She glances around. “Where’s my food?”
“Crap it’s in the truck. I’ll run out and get it.”
“In a minute.” His sister glances around. “Help me clear these people out first.”
“If you give me your keys, I’ll go get it.” I hold up our entwined hands.
I feel like this is something a girlfriend would do. Piper also looked stressed to the max. The last thing I want to do is keep her from eating.
“You are the best. When you come back in just hang out back here. As soon as we get these customers taken care of, I’ll come to you.”
“Okay.” He lets go of my hand and places his keys in it. “Take your time. We don’t have anything going on and can be here for a while.”
He leans toward me and gives me a quick peck to the cheek before whispering in my ear. “You are amazing. I promise it’s not always like this.”
“No problem.” I turn to my sister and Jacob. “I’ll be right back.”
“Do you want us to go with you?”
“No, just hang back. He said it won’t take them long to clear out.”
“Sounds good.”
Hopefully she doesn’t see me lift my hand to my cheek as I walk out the door. I know I’ve seen this man naked, but these little moments are giving me butterflies. This is not going the way I planned.
Eleven
