Page 53 of A Taste of Chardonnay

“No!” she exclaimed. “What if it’s—?”

“What if it’s who? Nero and Wyatt have already caught us together.”

“My sisters cornered me here.”

“Exactly, which means the entire town knows by now.” It was the biggest downside to small town life. I was a private guy, but privacy meant shit to the people of this town. It was why I lived tucked away in the woods.

“Still. Just stay here.”

She stepped into her pants and yanked them up, grabbing her blouse as she made her way downstairs. Jack followed her, and I didn’t stop him.

The door opened, and Franc’s voice filled the house. “Brady here?” he asked, sounding confused.

“Why would you think that?” Char asked, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“His truck is in your driveway and… Hi, Jack.”

I pulled on my clothes and hurried downstairs. “I’m here.”

Char turned to me and sighed before pushing the door wide. She grabbed Fanny right before the cat made a great escape.

“What’s up?” I said to Franc as if me being at his sister’s house was totally normal.

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you. You’re not answering your phone.”

“Battery died.” A wave of concern slammed into me. “Everything okay?”

“Fine, but you left me hanging yesterday. I wanted to make sure everything was okay. By the looks of it, I’d say he’s still alive.”

“The doctors said his vitals were fine, but because we didn’t know how long he was in the house with the propane, they wanted to keep him overnight for evaluation. I was going to the hospital once I dropped his cat off at my place.”

“I need to get to work, but I’ll stop by the distillery later.”

That was code forwe’ll talk then. God only knew what the hell he wanted to talk about. The last conversation I wanted to have with my best friend was anything pertaining to me sleeping with his sister.

“Sure thing. I’ll be there.”

Franc looked around me. “Running a little late today, Char?”

She ran a hand down the front of her pantsuit, trying to swat away the cat hair, but she was still holding Fanny, so it was futile.

“I was distracted,” she said. I bit back the laugh begging to escape and shot her a knowing smirk.

“I feel like I’m in the fucking Twilight Zone,” Franc said as he made his way down the stairs and to his truck.

“That went well,” I said as I closed the door.

“He didn’t punch you, so I say it was a win. Besides, we’re two grown adults who can make our own decisions without comments from the peanut gallery.” She grabbed her bag. “Now I really need to get to the office. Can you lock up before you leave?”

“You’re trusting me to do that?”

“I think you’re capable.” She pressed up on her toes and kissed me. It was too damn fast, and I wanted more, but she was quick to pull away. “Be nice to Fanny. She had a traumatic experience last night.”

“I think she’ll survive.”

Char got on her knees and gave Jack some love before grabbing a lint roller, giving me one last kiss, and stepping outside.

“Be careful,” I called after her.

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