Page 24 of Cru's Crush

“What you aren’t capable of is allowing me to be a gentleman.”

As I walked past him, he swatted my bottom and I playfully yelped. If anything, I wished he’d be far less of a gentleman and do more of what he had earlier this morning when he didn’t even try to hide his erection. I had such fun when we teased each other.

“Is that what will happen if I do something wrong in the vineyard?” I batted my eyelashes.

“If I say it will, I’m afraid you’ll cause problems intentionally.”

“You know me too well.”

“Enzo!” Cru’s mother shouted his given name when we walked in the diner’s front door. “I knew you’d come see your mama this morning.” She pretend pouted. “I miss my Gabriel and Addy already.” I’d only heard Cru’s oldest brother referred to as Brix for so long that I almost forgot his real name. “Daphne, it is so nice to see you too, sweetheart,” she said to me, holding out her hand.

“You’ll be seeing a lot of her, Ma. Starting tomorrow, she’ll be working at Los Cab.”

His mother, Lucia, clapped her hands. “In the tasting room?”

Cru put his arm around her shoulders. “No, in the winery. She’ll be taking over the second label.”

Lucia’s eyes opened wide. “She will?”

“Yes, and she’ll be making fabulous wine.”

His mother tried to smile, but it didn’t come through her eyes. “That will be nice.”

“Sorry about that,” Cru said when we took a seat at the farthest table from the kitchen.

“I take it she doesn’t approve.” When I rested my hand on the surface, he covered it with his.

“It isn’t you. No one other than an Avila has ever made our wine.”

“What about your brothers? None of them wanted to take it on?”

He shook his head. “Cristobal, as you know, is a doctor and lives in Palo Alto. Snapper and Kick are on the rodeo circuit, currently making bank. Brix is out of the picture, and Alex is busy with Maddox at their winery. That leaves Trevino.”

“How is he?” I asked.

Cru pulled his hand from mine. “I worry about him. Ever since the accident…”

It wasn’t really an accident. Two men were able to bypass Los Cab’s security system and had not only kidnapped Addy’s mother, who was staying on the ranch at the time, but they’d knocked out both Lucia and Trevino. What they’d done to Trev was far worse than him simply losing consciousness. While I didn’t know for sure, I wondered if he’d suffered brain damage. “I’m sorry.”

“I guess if you married one of my brothers, you’d count as an Avila.”

He meant to tease, but his comment stung. How was he to know that the only brother I’d marry was him? Not that he’d ever want to marry me.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “It was supposed to be a joke.”

“I know,” I said, picking up the menu and raising it high enough to hide my face.

“Daph?”

“What?” I asked without lowering it.

“Look at me.”

“I thought you were hungry. Decide what you want to eat, so we can order.”

When he didn’t say anything else, I figured he’d done as I suggested. Instead, when I lowered the paper, he was still looking at me.

“It was a joke.”