Page 39 of Bit's Bliss

He got closer, but I took a step away.

“Hey, what happened between the time we left the cottage and now?”

I folded my arms, and my eyes filled with tears. “I can’t tell you.”

His brow furrowed. “Why not?”

I looked up at the sky. “Because I’mfeelingreally stupid right now. I know you told me not to say things like that about myself, but I can’t help how I feel. And if you don’t want to hear it, you shouldn’t ask.”

“Can I touch you?”

“Yes.”

He took two more steps and put his hands on my shoulders. “I remember the first day we worked together. We were in this very spot, and you shared your ideas for the old winery with me.”

“That isn’t helping,” I muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“I already said I was feeling stupid. I know I overstepped that day.”

He shook his head. “What you did was dazzle me, both with your exuberance and your vision. Then, when we went inside, rather than seeing a filthy, dilapidated space, you told me to picture a couple dancing.”

My cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and he stroked my face with his fingertips.

“When Alex announced the details of the date I offered in the bachelor auction, it didn’t dawn on you that what I planned was in an effort to recreate our time together that afternoon?”

“It might have.”

He smiled. “Can you say—honestly—that you didn’t realize how often I invented ridiculous reasons to stop by here when I knew you’d be working? That the reason I did was so I could see you?”

“I thought I was imagining it because I wanted it so badly.”

Trevino leaned down and kissed me, then stroked my hair. “I can’t stop you from feeling regret about the things that are happening with your father, but none of it is your fault or your doing.”

“That wasn’t what I was thinking about.”

“Will you share with me what it was?”

I gulped and took a deep breath. “I’minexperienced.”

“And you think I don’t like it?”

“Maybe you do now, but what if you get, you know, bored?”

“I worry more that the way I am will be too much for you.”

“I like it,” I whispered.

“Little dove, we have barely scratched the surface of how I am, what I need.” An alarm went off on his phone. “Dammit, I’m sorry, but we need to leave.”

I dropped the arms I’d put around him, but he put them back.

“Later, we’ll talk about the things we should have already. For now, we need to make sure your house, and maybe even the winery, is protected. Okay?”

He kissed me again when I said it was.

“Know this. I won’t get bored, Eberly.”