Page 22 of The Sweetness of Life

“What? You bottle in a barn?”

He chuckles at my confusion. “It looks like a barn, but it’s built more like a warehouse. There isn’t enough space down here, and during any given vintage, we can crate between five thousand and six thousand cases of wine.”

“Holy moly, that’s a lot of wine.”

“It is and it isn’t. But, down here, we want this as undisturbed as possible. Opening the door, bringing in groups of people—it would just be intrusive and mess with the overall temperature. So, very rarely do we show it off. Mostly, the tour includes the cellar, and they can watch the bottling or wander around the public rooms of the manor while tasting the wine.”

“Well, thank you for bringing me down here.” I look up at the huge ornate chandelier hanging from the ceiling. “This is seriously one of the neatest things I’ve ever seen.”

Zach purses his lips together and gives me a nod. “Here, come try this.” He walks out of the room, grabs two glasses off a long wall table, and then stops in front of a barrel. I’m fascinated as he turns the spout, fills each glass, and then hands me one. I watch as he sniffs, swirls the wine, and then sips it.

“What is it?” I ask, doing exactly what he did. Bursts of flavors such as cherries, black currants, and a smokiness like that found in a cigar box fill my mouth.

“It’s an eighty-twenty cabernet merlot blend. It’s been aging for about eighteen months.”

“It’s delicious. When will it be done?” I ask, taking another sip.

“We’ll pull it sometime within the next month or two, bottle it, and allow it to age a little more. We’ve been sitting on this one, and I’m excited because I think it will be well received.” He sniffs it again and rolls it around in the glass, watching as the wine rolls down the sides. “This one will be better once it’s decanted.”

“Well, I think it’s good now. Can I have some more?” I hold out my now empty glass.

His lips quirk, and he takes it to top it off.

When he hands it back to me, our fingers barely graze, the contact warm and unexpected. Pulling my hand away too fast, I spill the wine, but I’m too surprised by the small flicker of interest the brief graze of skin against skin ignited to apologize. Zach, however, takes a step back and gives me a curious but guarded look.

Did he feel that?

Every muscle in me tightens, and I silently beg him to touch me again, only that would be really bad. Other than the last hour, which has left me incredibly confused, he’s been terrible to me. He isn’t the guy for me, not even to have a little fun with, no matter how hot he is, so I douse my inner flame with a mixture of reality and a large gulp of wine. It burns a little going down, and seconds pass as we stare at each other.

His lips drop to a scowl. Yep, he felt it.

Here we go.

Nice Zach is gone and mean Zach is back as he moves a little farther away and shoves his hand into his pocket. Just when I think I’m about to get a snide comment about my clumsiness or be chided for my lack of manners, he shrugs and smiles.

“So, this is it,” he says on an exhalation as his eyes move away from me and sweep around the room.

“It really is quite impressive,” I mumble, trying not to poke the bear. As I walk back to the entrance of the cave, I finish my glass of wine and copy him by setting it in a used glass rack with a few others.

Zach, who has been walking two steps ahead of me, clears his throat. “All of the magazine crew except for the photographer left this morning. If you decide you want to go check out the bottling in the barn, text him, and he can go with you. Those shots might be nice. This down here, we like to keep to ourselves.”

“I understand,” I say as he turns to face me.

“And when you decide to taste the wines we stock at the manor, Michelle knows to give him a call so he can come and take a few photos of you then, too.”

“Yikes! Thanks for telling me. I’d hate for him to show up after I’ve been for a run or after I’d cooked all day.” I briefly glance down at my outfit and then at his. Both hands are now stuffed in his pockets, and they’re dragging his jeans down his hips. A chill runs through me from the temperature of the room, and I have an insane urge to slide my hands under the bottom of his T-shirt to feel the warmth of his skin around his waist.

“No worries.” His voice brings my eyes back to his. The light in the cave is already muted, but because of his hat and the shadow it casts across his face, I have no indication of what he’s really thinking or feeling. “Might be best to spread out the tasting over three separate nights, too: whites, reds, and sparklings.”

“Sounds good to me. It’ll give me a day or two in between each to play around with corresponding food pairings as well.” I start walking toward the exit, and he follows.

“Well, if the food tastes anything like what you made this morning, let me know. I’d be happy to taste-test it for you.” His voice is all business but casual.

“Okay.” I give him a small smile as he flips off the light.

My eyes squint against the brightness of the sun, and I pull down the sun hat and take in the fresh air. The day turned out to be beautiful, and right this moment, I’m happy he brought me here versus Michelle. I’m still not too sure about this “let’s start over” Zach, though. I feel like I’ve witnessed firsthand a true Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but I’m going to take what I can get and continue taking things one day at a time.

Frittata