Page 42 of Meet Me in the Vines
“She’s broken. When she came in through the door for the first time in nine years, I let out a breath I’d been holding. I looked into her eyes, and they were empty,” he murmurs, his eyes fixed on me. I know what he means. I saw the emptiness and brokenness too. But then I’d watch her come back for a fleeting moment, gone as fast as it came.
“She wouldn’t talk to me about New York, you know? About Kellan? So, I stopped pushing,” he sighs, resting his hands on his hips as he looks out at a wall of barrels.
“Look, all I want is for Audrey to be happy. And I’m saying you’ve got a chance, kid. So get her back,” he says, poking his index into my chest.
Get her back? As easy as that, huh? Audrey slipped right through my fingers when I’d begged for her to stay with me. She chose to stay withhim. She chose her life in New York, making it crystal clear that there was no longer space for me in her life. Over the last month, I’d gotten used to the dull ache in my heart. An ache that yearned for her so desperately, no matter how hard I tried to let her go.
“Have you talked to her since she left?” he asks. I dig my thumb nail deep into the cork I picked up earlier, leaving a half-moon indent before stuffing it in my pocket. “No. By the way things ended last month, she doesn’t want to hear from me again,” I mutter, wiping the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. Noah scoffs and tilts his head.
“Son, I was married for sixty years to the same woman I was in love with since I was eighteen years old. Quit being stupid. She wants to hear from you again. You just need to step up and fight.”
I put my hands on my hips and look down at my boots.
“Noah, I did that?—”
“So do it again,” he clips, quirking his brow with a sly smirk on his lips.
“So what, I fly to New York and get her back?” It doesn’t sound that crazy when I say it out loud. I wasted too many years on sulking and blaming everyone else. Jess, Duke, my dad, but never me. I did this. She doesn’t even know why. If I have any chance of getting her to forgive me, I need her to know the truth. And I won’t stop until she hears it from me.
“That’s exactly what you do. You love her, don’t you?” The question hits me hard. Do I love her? Do I think about her every second of every day? Do I live for her laugh, her smile, the way she says my name? Do I love the way she fits in my arms, and how we touch and play?
I love her. I love Audrey.
“I do, Noah. I really do.” He smiles.
“Well, son, I think I got inventory covered for the next couple of days,” he says casually as he makes marks on the clipboard he was holding, a subtle curl in his lips.
I stand there, my heart pumping blood through my ears. Am I really doing this? Noah puts his hand on my back and says, “Well, what are you standing here for? Don’t you have a girl to win back?”
That’s all it takes for me to take off running out of the cellar and straight to my cabin to arrange a flight.
Time to get my girl.
Chapter Fourteen
AUDREY
Cool air whooshes across my face as I open the door to the penthouse. It’s silent and dark, with only the light of dusk seeping through the windows.
My heels echo through the empty kitchen, glancing around for any sign of life. “Hello? Kellan?” I call out, only hearing the faint sound of the air conditioning whirring. He must be working in his office.
I place the takeout I picked up for dinner on the dining room table, slipping my heels off in relief.
I wiggle my toes and stretch the arches of my feet while unpacking our dinner, pulling pad thai and spring rolls out of the plastic bag and arranging them at our place settings.
I call out for Kellan, letting him know dinner is ready. Silence. I sit down against the plush velvet chair and bring my leg across my knee, massaging the pads of my feet after walking in stilettos all day.
My mind takes me to Donovan, as it usually does. After talking to Jess, Donovan has taken up permanent residency in my thoughts these days. I wonder if he’s out in the vineyard, his skin gleaming under the sun. Does he think about our kiss?Or the way our bodies melded into one another? Like they were made for each other?
I startle out of my thoughts when I hear Kellan’s voice carry down the hallway. “Little bird, come to my office.”
I take a deep breath and saunter down the hall. His door is slightly ajar, and I lean on the door frame to find him sitting on the leather couch.
“Hey. I picked up Thai. Your favorite,” I say softly.
His eyes are dark, narrowing at me. A glass of cognac sits on a coaster in front of him. His legs spread open as he leans back on the couch, the top buttons of his dress shirt undone. His hair is unusually disheveled—a far cry from his typical uniform quiff, slicked to perfection. An uneasiness creeps over me, a heavy rock sitting in the pit of my stomach.
“Come here,” he says huskily, beckoning me with his finger. I walk toward him, bracing myself on instinct. I lower myself onto the couch and Kellan’s body moves swiftly on top of mine. He pins my arms above my head and bites my neck. Hard.
