Page 22 of The Billionaire's Bad News Baby

“It’s a surprise,” he said pertly.

“Well, that’s not ominous at all.”

“You can be very pessimistic, you know.”

“I’m realistic.”

“You’re not realistic, you're insane.”

“Hmm, maybe.”

It was so easy to talk to her. Elio had never met anyone this easy to carry a conversation with, even if it was about nothing, just tit-for-tat banter as they strode towards the vineyard. He led her down the path which was now littered with leaves and sticks after the chaos of the storm, with plenty of puddles and stones still slick with rainwater. Kayla didn’t seem to mind though, peering about her with no mind of where her feet were landing, a contented look on her face. Soon enough, they made it to the chairs and table that Elio had set up at the bottom of the slope long ago. They’d been knocked over by the wild winds but had dried enough in the early afternoon sunshine that they could sit down without getting wet.

Elio took the bottle of wine out of the bag, setting everything down and motioned for Kayla to take a seat.

“A picnic?” she asked.

“It was the best I could come up with on short notice,” Elio said, trying not to sound defensive.

“I don’t know… I don’t think I could get much better than this,” Kayla said and nodded out across the vineyard, behind which was the ocean and a sky as blue as it was possible to be.

They were nestled in amongst the vineyard, which smelled fresh and sweet after all that rain, the leaves bright green and bunches of grapes starting to blossom. Elio couldn’t help himself and reached out to several of the blooming blossoms, stroking fingers over the delicate petals, eager for the fruit that they would bear.

“So that’s all future wine, then?” Kayla asked, watching him with that bright gaze of hers.

A little embarrassed, Elio pulled his hand back. “Yes, yes, it is. If nature continues to do its work and everything else falls into place. It should become a bottle just like that.”

He nodded to the bottle of Oro on the table, and Kayla, without hesitation or shame, uncorked it and sniffed at the bottle. Her eyes widened and she pulled her head back for a second as if the smell were too potent for her, and Elio felt himself preen. It was a simple pleasure in life, to know that you’d done a good job on something.

“Is this from your company as well?” she asked, sounding sincerely interested.

Elio nodded. “But it’s different to what I served with dinner. This is the newest line; a better, improved line.”

“It smells really sweet. Is that what Oro means?”

“I thought your Italian was ‘decent’?”

“Decent, yes. Perfect? No.”

“It means gold.”

Kayla rolled her eyes. “Billionaires,” she scoffed. “You’ve always got gold on the brain.”

“Yes, well, that is usually how one becomes a billionaire.”

“Are you going to pour me some?”

“I…” Elio hesitated, suddenly realizing that despite his frenzied efforts in the kitchen, he’d forgotten something. “I didn’t bring any glasses.”

He expected Kayla to sigh with disappointment, put the cork back in the bottle and set it aside. Instead, she shrugged and took a sip straight from the bottle as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“That’s really nice,” she said, passing him the bottle. “Maybe the name gold isn’t so presumptuous after all.”

Elio took the bottle from Kayla, but instead of drinking as she had, he just looked at her, trying to figure her out.

“What?” she asked, narrowing her eyes under his scrutiny.

“You’re very carefree.”

---