Page 19 of Marsala and Magnolias

Wow. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting. “You and me? Date? For real?”

He nodded. “For real.”

“Wow.” She laughed.

Antonio wasn’t laughing. He was watching her intently. “You think it’s funny?”

“No. Yes. Oh, God. I don’t know. It’s just so unexpected.”

“But you’re not saying no?”

She shook her head.

He smiled. “Does that mean you’re saying yes?”

“Yeah. Why not?” Who knew what had come over him that he thought he wanted to go out with her, but yeah, she was up for it. Why not?

He leaned forward and reached for her hand again. “I won’t disappoint you.”

She wanted to laugh but bit it back. He never had yet, but he didn’t know the first thing about that.

~ ~ ~

Muse was starting to get crowded by the time they’d eaten. It was Friday night, after all. Antonio wanted this to be special. He didn’t want to stay here and dance with Mary Ellen then take her home. That wouldn’t be special enough. He’d done that too many times with too many women. “Do you want to get out of here?”

“Okay.” The way she smiled made it plain that she thought he meant the obvious—did she want to go somewhere they could naked. He’d love to, but that wasn’t part of the plan. He was going to wait for that. That would certainly make it special—and different.

Once they were out on the street, he slung his arm around her shoulders. “Do you want to walk?” He figured they could walk down by the river; that would be romantic.

He was surprised when she smiled up at him. “Do you have your car here?”

“Yes. Why?”

She laughed. “You’ll probably think this is crazy, but I’ve always wanted a ride in your car. I think it’s awesome.”

He chuckled. “Your wish is my command.” If she wanted to ride in the Maserati, he’d be happy to take her. He knew exactly where they could go, too.

He opened the door for her to get in and she grinned. “Thanks. This is so cool.”

He smiled back, happy that she was genuinely interested in the car that he loved so much, but a little disconcerted that she seemed more interested in it than she was in him.

The evening was still warm, and the breeze ruffled his hair as he took the road out of town. He looked over at Mary Ellen; she wasn’t one of those women who asked him to put the top up. She sat there grinning with her hair blowing wildly around her face. She was amazing.

Much as he loved his convertible and usually liked the fact that it kept conversation to a minimum, he was glad when he reached the winery.

She raised an eyebrow at him as they waited for the electronic gate to open before them. “You brought me to your work?”

He laughed. “No. I brought you to the place I’m passionate about. I brought you to one of my favorite places in the world.”

She smiled. “Cool. I didn’t know that about you.”

That surprised him. As he pulled the car forward, he wondered who she thought he was, if she didn’t know that his wines were his life.

Chapter Six

Antonio parked the car in front of a beautiful house. Mary Ellen looked up at it and smiled. She’d never been here before, but she’d seen the house plenty of times on the label of the Di Giovanni wines. “It’s even more beautiful in person.”

Antonio smiled. “Isn’t it? I love this place.”

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