Page 53 of Give Me a Reason

“Hallo there. Let’s start with you,” he said in a crisp British accent, sliding a bulbous wineglass in front of Frederick. “Pick your poison.”

Frederick stared at that man as though he were speaking alien to him. “What?”

“They have a tasting menu for reds, whites, and a mix of both,” Bethany explained kindly, coming to sit next to him.

“I’m going to stick to reds.” Tessa claimed the spot on Bethany’s other side and leaned forward to wink at him. “Higher alcohol content.”

“Ah.” He nodded like a twat.

“I like how you think.” Aiden stepped up to the bar next to Tessa and hollered to the man in yellow, “The red wine-tasting menu for the two of us, my good man!”

Tessa arched an eyebrow. “I’m perfectly capable of ordering for myself, you know.”

Aiden blushed and gave her a wounded look. “The poor man is serving all nine of us by himself. I thought I’d make it easier on him by ordering for both of us.”

“I’m just messing with you.” Tessa grinned. “It’s fine.”

“Oh, good.” Aiden smiled guilelessly.

The server came back to Frederick, after pouring splashes of red wine into Tessa’s and Aiden’s glasses, and gave him a pleasant but inquiring look. Frederick returned his look with a sullen one of his own.

“If you can’t decide, you should just try the mix.” Bethany smiled at him, then addressed the server, who seemed to have an endless supply of chipper patience. “We’ll have two of your signature tasting menu.”

“Good choice.” The man slapped the table as though that was the best news he’d heard all day. “I’ll be right back with your first wine.”

“Thank you, Bethany.” Frederick cleared his throat and made an attempt to pull himself together. “I was a little thrown by the décor and the British accent.”

“It’s California.” She shrugged as if that explained everything. And maybe it did. “I love how quirky this winery is, and I heard they have excellent wine.”

“Mm-hmm.” He leaned forward as inconspicuously as he could and looked down the length of the bar. Anne sat near the opposite end with Coraline and Joe. He hoped she’d chosen the signature tasting menu as well, so he could taste what she was tasting.Shit.He was fucking doomed.

“Cheers.” Bethany held out her glass.

“Oh, sorry.” The server had filled their glasses with a white wine while Frederick was distracted. The man was apparently as efficient as he was peppy. “Cheers.”

Frederick watched Anne taste her white wine as he brought his glass to his lips. The wine smelled like white peaches and citrus. It tasted cool and tart against his tongue and left hints of vanilla in its wake as it went smoothly down his throat. His gaze dropped to Anne’s mouth as it curved into a smile. She liked it, too.

Shit, shit, shit.

He gulped down the rest of his wine, gripping the fine stem of the wineglass harder than necessary. He relaxed his hold before he snapped the damn thing in half.What a train wre— He sucked in a sharp breath, nearly dropping his glass from the enormity of his epiphany. He and Anne could befriends. That way he could forgive herandkeep his heart safe. He could bask in her lovely company without worrying about losing her.

“I’m a lightweight.” Bethany poured hers out into the wine spittoon. “And it’s a bit too dry for me.”

“It is?” he said absently. He and his soon-to-be friend Anne thought it was the perfect level of dryness. He cleared his throat and pointed to the spittoon. “Wise move either way.”

“Yeah, Anne said we’re going to eight wineries today.” She shrugged shyly. “I’m a goner if I don’t pace myself.”

By the time he tasted the seventh and final wine, Frederick had decided that Tombstone Winery was awesome, and their server, Mitch, was the most excellent human being in the world. He also decided that starting from the next winery, he would use the wine spittoon liberally.

“How was that for you?” The excellent human being smiled and gestured toward Frederick’s empty glass.

“You can’t go wrong with a good cab,” he answered. “But I think I’ll take a bottle of the Viognier we started with.”

“We liked that one, didn’t we?” Their server clapped his hands. “It’s the perfect summertime wine.”

“I highly doubt it’ll last till summer.” Frederick gave him an exaggerated wink.

Mitch raised his finger in the universal sign forhang on a sec. He returned with a bottle of the Viognier and poured Frederick a generous glass. “Why don’t you work on this while I grab your bottle?”

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