Page 29 of Love Among Vines

She smiled. A late-night Google of his mom the night before had revealed a decades-long career. “Well, it’s easy to see where you get your charisma from.” Oops, the wine had brought out the flirting. And not even a very skillful attempt.

Take it easy, dumbass. He’s only your fictional boyfriend.

“And your dad?” he probed.

“Oh, he was just your classic, salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. He was a truck driver, so he was gone a lot. He loved quietly. Sometimes he’d bring me gifts from places he’d been. A stuffed animal from a truck stop, a weird candy from a small town. He was so proud of me for getting into NYU. Sorry, I feel like I’m talking a lot.”

He smiled. “I like hearing your stories. Besides, as your fake boyfriend I’m obligated to obtain an extensive personal history to play the part. Speaking of which, we should probably make our dance floor debut soon.”

Jade dropped her napkin onto her lap. Suddenly, the idea of impressing her ex-boyfriend’s family with her personal and professional growth wasn’t as attractive. She would much rather stay here, under the safety of the tablecloth, with the sexy winemaker and his bedroom eyes.

“I don’t know that I need to prove anything to them,” she said. “I don’t care if Nate’s grandpa thinks I’m pathetic, you know? They’re not going to be a part of my life anymore.”

Rett nodded. “I understand. I just don’t want you to have any regrets. One dance? We’ll make a big show of it and then get the hell out of here.”

She sighed. “Okay, one dance.”

He crawled out from under the table. She followed, and he gently tugged her to her feet. Oof. The wine was definitely catching up to her. She stumbled on the hem of her infernal satin dress, and he caught her. For a moment, they stood there in the dark banquet room, staring into each other’s eyes.

There it was again—the hint of a tingle at the base of her spine. Shit, all of her art supplies were in her big purse at the house. With the amount of wine in her system, any artistic attempt would probably look more like cave drawings anyway.

“Come on.” He led her out the door and into the hallway.

She snuck a look at him. Her head was swimming pleasantly. How was a man like him on the market? Curiosity won out.

“Rett?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are you still single?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on. You’re stupidly hot. And you own your own business. You dress like an adult. Or maybe like a merchant from the early nineteen hundreds.”

He cocked a smile but didn’t say anything.

“You must get a dozen thirsty bachelorette parties a weekend, and you’re polite even when confronted by drunk assholes. How have you not found your soulmate yet?”

He smiled grimly. “I thought I had. But then she found my brother. Since then, I’ve tried to keep things…less complicated.”

“I hear you on that. It’s easier to keep people at a distance.”

“Is that why you’re still single?” he asked as they walked.

Jade sighed. “I have a really unfortunate history of falling in love super quickly and having my heart obliterated.”

“How fast are we talking here?”

“Maybe a week for my high school boyfriend. He made me a mix CD,” she explained.

Rett raised his eyebrows.

“A few days for my college boyfriend. I found him playing the guitar on the back porch at a house party so it kind of felt ‘written in the stars.’ Spoiler alert: it was not.”

Rett nodded, but had a pinched expression like he was trying not to laugh. “And this idiot?” He gestured towards the ballroom.

“A weekend.” He had called her up after the ice skating incident and drawn her into his web almost immediately.

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