Page 23 of Always a Bridesmaid

“Coco, why don’t you and I go play cars in your room while Papa shows Uncle Hen his new wines.”

“Actually,” Henry said. “Elle here used to be a sommelier. I was thinking she could take us through a few of the highlights.”

Jane nearly choked on air. What the fuck was he talking about?

While she’d had her fair share of wine over the years of being a bridesmaid for hire, Jane’s preference swung more martini than merlot. Sure, she knew words liketanninsandfruit forward, but her limited vocabulary would not get her through a tasting in front of an actual vintner.

“I’d rather learn from a master,” she said, then elbowed Henry in the rib and hissed, “Don’t be rude. We’re in his house.”

“Or you just don’t want to be alone with me.”

There was that too.

7

Henry sat back in the plush leather chair, swirling the tasting of wine in his crystal glass, and realized that, for a guy who was so adamant about not dating, this was the closest he’d come to a real date since his ex.

Every time Elle would move, their knees would accidentally brush beneath the shared space under the intimate table for two. As the sun gave way to an inky sky behind the estate, he was breathless. Goddamned breathless with Elle sitting so close, her perfume mixing with the wine saturating the air.

And her dress—bloody hell, that dress—a mix between high tea and high couture with a dash of sensual allure. It was of the off-the-shoulder, no-straps, one-tug-and-it-would-be-around-her-waist variety. It was edged with a feminine lace across the top that bled into a silky light-blue fabric that hugged her tits and cupped her bum in the most proper way possible.

Every time she so much as breathed, it was like the dress was whispering his name, like a siren calling him to his death.

“Shall we move on to the rosé or are you going to keep staring at me like I’m contaminating the wine with my presence?” she said.

“Maybe I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“What’s to figure out?”

“You’re such a contradiction to me,” he said, feeling free to have this conversation since Louis had finally left them alone. He’d done his whole dog and pony show, taking his sweet-ass time knowing that Henry wanted to be alone with Elle. And Elle hadn’t helped, asking him every question under the sun about his wine and family, making it clear she didn’t want to be alone with Henry. Which made him all the more determined to figure out why.

Now he’d gotten his way, and finally here they were—just the two of them.

“I’m not a puzzle you need to solve.”

“Maybe I want to. Because I’m having a hard time matching up the person Sarah told me about with the woman I met at the airport and then the little Elle who put bleach in shampoo.”

“I told you?—”

“I know,” he whispered. “Kids do stupid shit. Sarah did say you gave her a place that felt like home at a time when she didn’t have a home. So thank you.”

“My parents had just gone through a nasty divorce and Sarah listened and offered me comfort. That’s what brought us together. By the end of the summer it felt like we were sisters.”

“That was a rough year on my family. Especially for Sarah.”

“How was it for you, being so far away from home?”

“I actually came home from training for the offseason to help get everyone settled in the new apartment,” he said, wondering when he’d become the kind of chap who opened up and spilled emotional baggage to a woman. Especially one he barely knew and didn’t really trust. He could blame it on the wine or the ambiance of their surroundings, but he had a feeling it was the woman and that could be a problem.

“I imagine that would have made it hard to focus on your racing.”

“My racing is what grounds me. It’s the one place where I don’t question my decisions. I can let go and the world disappears.”

She studied him for a long, uncomfortable moment and he felt as if he’d just exposed all his cards. “Do you want it to disappear?”

“Hasn’t there ever been a time in your life when you wished it would all fade away?”

“Never. I’ll take the good with the bad. Because once you lose someone, all you have left are the memories. Why would you want to lose those too?”

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