Page 97 of Gone With the Wine

He looks at me doubtfully.

“Never mind. It’s scrotally unacceptaball.” I crack up laughing.

His body is stiff but one corner of his mouth drags upward. “That’s terrible.”

“Oh, come on. That was hilarious.” I look up at him. “I think you’re more worried about your own bo-jangles. Don’t worry, honey. It’s notyougetting castrated.”

He winces. “Neutered.”

“It’ll be fine.” I squeeze him.

“I know.” He gives a crooked smile. “I’m just empathetic to what he’s going through.”

He loves that dog. If all the toys and treats scattered around Jansen’s house didn’t tell me that, taking him to get neutered definitely does. He already took Moose for his shots, but this is a major admission that he’s keeping Moose. Moose will also have a chip implanted while he’s under because Jansen doesn’t want him to get lost again. Even though he still says he’s not really his dog.

“What is this?” I pick up a card from his kitchen counter.

Jansen glances over at me. “It’s an invitation.”

“I see that.”

“Then why’d you ask, Bianca?”

I repress a smile. His humor is dry, but I’m getting it. “It’s an invitation thatIdidn’t get.”

“Ah.” He moves closer and peers over my shoulder at it, sliding his arms around my waist from behind. “It’s from Belmonte Winery.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe this.” I look over my shoulder at him. “Every year, Belmonte hosts this harvest dinner in the vineyard—a four-course meal with music, lights strung through the trees, and of course wine.”

“You have to buy tickets, so it’s not really an invitation,” he points out. “I assume anyone can buy tickets.”

I nod slowly. “But you specifically got a notice about it. There are limited numbers of tickets. We should be part of that, as family. We never used to need an invitation.”

“How about this? I’ll buy two tickets and you can come as my date.”

I turn in his arms to face him. “We’re not dating.”

We’ve been spending time together but mostly at his place, making dinner together, training Moose, and banging. We haven’t said anything to anyone, not even to Rosa, and during work we keep our distance other than when we need to discuss something.

“We can go to a business dinner together.”

Thoughts flit through my head. We agreed this was casual. What would people think if we show up together? But who cares? Itcouldbe a business dinner.

I lift my chin. “Okay. Sure. Let’s do it.”

He heads out with Moose, who I make a fuss over before he leaves even though he doesn’t know what’s going on, and then I go back to Caparelli.

Jake and Rosa are at the crush pad.

“Hi,” I greet them. “How are things going here?”

“You were gone all night,” Rosa says.

“I was.” I’m not going to be embarrassed about it, but I guess it’s time to come clean. “I was at Jansen’s.”

“Shock,” Jake mutters.

I widen my eyes at him.

---