Page 47 of Where We Met

His eyebrows raise in confusion. "Why the hell would my head have a piece of wood sticking out of it? Are you feeling okay?"

Oh, God. He thinks I'm having some kind of psychotic break, doesn't he?

"Yeah, I'm fine." I wave my hand like it's no big deal. "I just heard a loud bang and thought that maybe one of those big wooden beams fell on you, you know, like from Final Destination. But then here you are, nice and safe, healthy, shirt open, muscular, and…"

Shit, Savannah. Stop talking immediately!

His lips turn up in a devilish smirk as he looks down at himself. "Here I am. Shirt opened… safe and sound."

"Ugh, okay. Whatever. I'm glad you're okay. Goodnight," I huff, then spin around and stomp back to my room.

"Goodnight, princess," he calls with a teasing tone.

Too humiliated to respond, I can only hope that I wake up in the morning to find out it was all a bad dream.

Maybe it allwasa bad dream. We've made it through breakfast, and Luke hasn't said anything about last night. He's probably so embarrassed for me that he's just gonna laugh about it by himself behind closed doors.

I can blame it on the jetlag. I wasn't thinking clearly.

"We're here," Giovanni announces as we park along the street on the outskirts of the hilltop town.

"I'm glad you wore comfortable shoes," Giorgio says as he points down at my Toms. "We have to walk to the top."

My eyes follow his finger as I look at the cobblestone streets that just keep going up and up… and up. I think my throat makes an audible noise when I gulp. My glutes hurt just looking at it.

"Well, at least I'll be burning off those calories from last night," I reply.

Giovanni and Giorgio laugh in unison.

"She's beautiful, and she's funny," Giovanni says with a smile.

I notice Luke tense up at Giovanni's words. If I didn't know better, I would say he's jealous. I may need to explore that today, just to see what kind of reaction I can get out of him.

The walk, or should I say climb, to the top is brutal. I'm panting and sweating, which is not sexy at all. Why the hell do the men look like they've just taken a leisurely stroll around a nice, flat sidewalk? I'm the youngest one here. This might be more embarrassing than getting caught ogling my professor last night just after I told him I thought a ceiling beam might have penetrated his face.

"This is it!" Giorgio states as he turns to me, no doubt realizing I'm still trying to catch my breath. "Ah, people wonder why us Italians live so long with our pasta and pizza. We don't put machinery in to take us to the top of these places. It doesn’t matter if it's high, you’re walking.”

Luke chuckles as I place my hands on my knees. I look up at him, confused by how unaffected he is.

“Why the hell aren’t you more tired?” I curse.

“I’ve been doing this for years. I’m used to it. I may have been like you my first couple times until I learned my lesson and took up running."

"A little heads up would have been nice." I finally stand and manage to follow them inside.

The room I walk into is, naturally, filled with bottles of wine. There are shelves covering every surface of the walls, and tables are scattered around the room, held up by oak barrels.

"This is our tasting room," Giovanni says as he leads us in. "Just around the corner here, we will take you downstairs to the cellar."

He opens the steel door, and we follow him down a winding set of cement stairs. The temperature continuously drops the further we go, reaching its coldest point once we get to the bottom. I tuck my hands into my pockets to try to combat the cold as I survey my surroundings.

The cellar is made entirely out of brick, with wine racks and barrels lining the perimeter of the room.

I stand in awe as the men begin to discuss the wine, throwing around words I've never heard before. It's amazing how much goes into the process of making wine and just how little most people—myself included—know about it.

Luke's business side comes out as he beings to ask them questions. If I thought the professor version of him was sexy, it's nothing compared to businessman Luke. As they talk through things and Giorgio points things out in different barrels around the room, Luke listens intently.

I try to follow, but I know that half the process is going over my head.

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