Page 2 of Bordeaux Bombshell (Sunshine Cellars #3)

Nate

Seven years ago

There was no way the day could have been any more perfect.

The setting sun cast golden light over the girl I loved as she lay back on the blanket.

We’d have to get dressed soon before the family started looking for us, but for now, I was content to lie here, tracing shapes on the soft skin of her stomach.

Occasionally, I let my thumb brush the underside of her breasts just to hear her tiny gasp of pleasure.

“Do you have to go back?” Sydney didn’t open her eyes, keeping them closed against the bright July sun, but she dropped her hand to the top of my head, running her nails against my scalp. “You’ve been gone two years already.”

I turned to lay my cheek on her skin, her fingertips sending goose bumps down my spine despite the day’s heat.

“You know I do. You still have another year of school, anyway. I want to learn as much as I can before I come back. I want to make this place into something special, and the best way to do that is to keep working and learning at Vignobles Hermouet.”

Ever since high school, I’d been planning the improvements I’d make around here. Diversify our income stream and raise enough money to buy more grapes. Increase production and take our wine into bigger markets. Win awards and open a tasting room in downtown Portland. I had plans.

Plans that included having my hellcat by my side, bossing around everyone at Ridge Runner, and especially me. Kel complained nonstop about his bossy little sister, but I reveled in it, always had.

“You’re going to finish your marketing degree. I’m going to get another year or two under my belt.” I punctuated my words with kisses, working my way down her ribcage to her belly button, then down toward the patch of curls and the secret part of her I could never get enough of.

I slid my tongue along her slit, grinning at her moan. “If we’re going to expand this place, we need the skills to run it.”

“Our little winery empire.” Sydney giggled as I blew against her heated skin. She sat up suddenly, her eyes narrowed. “Promise me you won’t fall in love with some fancy French girl while you’re gone?”

I rolled onto my back, head pillowed on her thighs while I stared up at her. “I will never love anyone but you, I swear.” The promise fell from my lips easily because it was true. I’d dated a few women while I was gone, but they always left me unsatisfied. They weren’t home the way Sydney was.

Before she could argue, Kel’s voice calling for us drifted over the field. “We better get back. Don’t want to miss out on our birthday dinner.” I grinned up at her before pushing back to sit on my heels and pull my T-shirt on.

“Promise me.” There was an edge to her tone, hard enough to make me flinch. Sitting up, she started pulling on her sundress. “If you ask me to wait for you, I will. But if you go and fall in love in France, I will never forgive you.”

I caught her chin and pulled her close for one last lingering kiss. “I promise you, Sydney. I will make the wait worth it.”

We joined the family at the house for my dad’s famous burgers before watching the valley light up with fireworks from the neighboring vineyards. The same way we’d been sharing birthdays for years.

Everything was perfect until the moment my dad cleared his throat from the rich chocolate birthday cake Kel’s mom, Rebecca, had baked.

“Well, folks, since we’re all here, I have an announcement to make.

” He pulled Mom to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist like I’d seen a million times before.

“As I’m sure you’re all aware, Jackie and I aren’t getting any younger, and the vineyard has been tough business the last few years, especially with Nate gone. ”

My stomach dropped, my skin prickling. Why was Dad complaining about me being gone?

Going to France had been a joint idea—so I could go learn from the best before coming back to help run the family business.

Had something happened that I didn’t know about?

Why hadn’t they told me before everyone else?

“Recently, an investor offered to buy Ridge Runner. It’s an extremely generous offer… and we’re going to take it.”

The group exploded with questions on all sides, but I sat silent. My home. My legacy. My plans. Everything I’d dreamed of, gone. And Dad hadn’t even had the courtesy of asking my opinion, of telling me first.

My mind raced, memories and dreams and promises flashing past too fast to hold. The cake I’d been enjoying turned to glue in my mouth, and I forced it down as the discussion flowed around me.

“Did you know?” Sydney slipped onto the bench beside me, her hand brushing the back of my neck.

She’d been sitting beside Kel, his daughter Olive asleep in her arms—I hadn’t seen her get up.

Stiffening at her touch, I shook my head.

She shouldn’t sit so close, not if we were trying to keep the family out of our business, but for the moment, I didn’t care what anyone saw.

“No. I swear.” An undignified crack sounded on the last word, and I swallowed hard past the lump in my throat. “Did you?”

Again, she brushed a hand across my back before settling it on the bench between us, almost touching my thigh. “As if anyone tells me anything.”

I was quiet the rest of the night, not hearing any of my dad’s rationalizations for crushing every dream I’d ever had.

And that night, when I snuck out of Sydney’s bed to disappear back to France to nurse my wounds, I left her a note that I hoped would save her from the same suffocating pain of heartbreak.

Don’t wait for me. I’m not coming back.