Page 28 of Love Among Vines

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

RETT

“Have you given any more thought to my financial plan?” Rett asked.

Penny had adopted her usual space, sleeping in the middle seat between them. They were on their way to Tom and Cindy’s for girls/poker night. A vase of purple flowers—a hostess gift, Jade had said—sat in the cupholder.

“Yes,” she muttered. “I’ve already cancelled all of my extraneous subscription services and everything else that brings me joy. CrossFit will now have to be done illegally in the middle of the night, probably at a train yard or dock where I’ll be murdered.”

“I’m proud of you. I know it’s not easy to cut back. That reminds me, do you run?”

She brushed her hair over one bare shoulder. She had put on a tight white shirt with no bra, which was making it very hard to concentrate.

“Almost every day,” Jade said. “Why do you ask?”

“Saturday is the town’s annual Pie-K and harvest festival. It would be good for us to make an appearance if you’re up for it.”

She lifted her chin. “Will there be backpack cheese?”

“If by backpack cheese you mean at least four artisanal cheese makers, twelve wineries, and many local artists, then yes.”

“Consider it on my calendar.”

“Good. We should talk about what we’re telling Tom and Cindy about us.”

“It’s probably easier to be honest, right? Your friends aren’t going to rat you out to your parents,” she said.

“Agreed. Why are you mad at me, by the way?”

Something had clearly been bubbling just beneath the surface all evening.

She jumped. “What do you mean?”

He rolled to a stop at a traffic light and stroked a finger between her eyebrows. “You’ve had this line ever since I picked you up. What’s going on?”

She sighed and looked out the window. “Have you changed your mind about our friends-with-benefits arrangement?”

He frowned. “Of course not. Why?”

“You turned me down at the lake the other day. And then after our date last night, you kissed me on the cheek like we were courting in the 1800s.”

“I didn’t turn you down,” he said. What the hell was she talking about?

She squirmed in her seat. “My hand was on your dick, and you told me you needed to get back to the winery. It felt like a rejection. Like after getting to know me better the attraction just evaporated for you.”

Rett took a hard right and pulled into a parking lot by the lake. A full moon shone brightly above them.

He turned to look at her.

“I’ve been a little in my head. But trust me when I say—” He paused to trail a hand up her thigh. “I am very attracted to you.”

Moonlight illuminated half her face. There was still a sadness there, and he hated himself for putting the thought in her head. Any other time he would have just given into temptation. Why did things feel so different with Jade?

“I also want our first time to be momentous. Incredible,” he explained. “Not a frigid bang on a splintered dock. You deserve more. From me, and from anyone you get involved with.”

She turned to look away, but he gently turned her to face him.

“You’re enough, Jade. More than enough. And I’m going to prove it to you on our next date. How about Friday after closing?”

He tipped her chin up and pressed his lips to hers. A shiver shot through his body, followed by a wash of heat. There was a long, slow pull in his stomach as she opened her mouth and let him in.

Penny had apparently decided that was enough and catapulted herself into the backseat. Rett dragged Jade to him, burying his hand in her hair. Strands slipped between his fingers as he plundered her mouth with his tongue.

Her fingers splayed across his chest. Could she feel his heartbeat? It was stuttering along at an unprecedented pace.

He had just meant to show her his attraction was genuine. But now it would take an earthquake to tear them apart.

She climbed on top of him, and her pelvis ground onto his. His hands moved from her back to her front and began a slow ascent to cup those infuriatingly distracting breasts. She gasped and arched her back. Her body responded to him like a finely tuned instrument.

He had never been this hard in his life.

He tugged the neck of her shirt down and took her nipple between his teeth. Her whole body shuddered like a plane battered by turbulence. She reached between his legs and groped over the layer of denim.

Suddenly, something rapped at the driver’s side window. Jade gasped and scrambled away from him.

He bit back a sigh. He was going to have to go around all night with a halfie.

A light flashed over the steamy window as she fixed her shirt. Rett adjusted himself and calmly put the window down.

A stern-looking cop with a beer belly appeared, flashlight in one hand. When he saw Rett, his expression changed instantly.

“Rett?” he asked, visibly surprised.

“Hey, Scooter. Slow night?”

“Sorry, man.” Scooter clicked off his flashlight and leaned on Rett’s window. “There was a complaint. I thought I was about to prevent a teenage pregnancy.”

“No teenagers here,” Jade said with a smile. She leaned over Rett and shook the cop’s hand. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Jade.”

“My name’s Pete, but everyone calls me Scooter.”

“Any particular reason?” She cocked her head.

“In high school, he rode down the hill on Route 54 on two scooters before crashing through a plate-glass window,” Rett explained.

Scooter tutted. “That’s why all these are fake.

” He tapped his top row of teeth. “Hey, listen,” he said to Rett.

“I don’t mean to be a buzzkill. I’m all kinds of excited to see you getting back out there.

But maybe in the future, try not to do it at a public park that’s closed. It’s kind of illegal.”

“It was my fault,” Jade said. “I got carried away.”

“I don’t blame you, miss. He’s a good-looking fella.” He mussed Rett’s hair, then drew back. “You all skedaddle and have a safe night.”

“Thank you, officer,” Jade called as he left.

“Now you’ve done it,” Rett said.

“Done what?”

“Scooter is married to Hammondsport’s biggest gossip. We’ll be the talk of the town by morning.”

“Whoops. Well, poker night awaits.” Jade smoothed her hair back and smiled. Her perma-frown was gone. It felt better than it should have to see her smile again.

“In here!” Cindy’s voice called when they arrived five minutes later.

Music thumped from the kitchen. Rett guided Jade with a hand on the curve of her back. They passed a small office on the right before continuing down the hallway to a lake-themed living room with luxurious furniture and vaulted ceilings. Rett gently nudged her to the right.

Cindy and Tom were in the open-concept kitchen, wearing matching aprons and dancing to The Killers.

“Oh, I love this song!” Jade dropped Rett’s hand and rushed in, fist pumping and hopping to “Mr. Brightside” until the song came to an end. Even Penny joined in, dancing on her back legs and doing a couple turns. Branson came to investigate.

Rett stood at the kitchen island. The wild, bra-less dancing was not helping the pants situation.

“I’m so happy you’re here!” Cindy said breathlessly, pulling Jade in for a hug. She lowered the volume on the music.

“Excellent dancing.” Tom offered a fist bump.

Jade happily accepted. “It smells amazing in here. Oh, here.” She retrieved the flowers from Rett and presented them to Cindy.

“These are gorgeous. Thank you so much. I hope you like lasagna.” Cindy carefully set the flowers so they were exactly in the middle of the spotless island.

“I love lasagna,” Jade said.

“Speaking of love, we have to talk to you guys about something,” Rett said.

Tom dropped the spatula he was holding. It clattered to the floor. “You’re getting mazzed! Of course I’ll be your best man!”

He rushed Jade for a hug.

“Mazzed?” she mouthed to Rett over Tom’s shoulder.

“We’re not getting married,” Rett clarified.

“Oh.” Tom took a step back, clearly disappointed.

“Kind of the opposite, in fact.”

“So you’re breaking up?” Cindy looked at them with concern.

“No,” Rett said. “This is all fake.” He gestured between the two of them.

Cindy’s face changed from concerned to interested. She walked over to a bottle of wine and plunged a corkscrew into it.

“Right. Rett helped me out by pretending to be my date for my ex-boyfriend’s wedding last weekend. And I’m helping him by pretending to be his date for the anniversary party next weekend.”

“We wanted to be transparent. I know I can trust you to keep it under wraps around my parents. You know how they can be.”

Cindy nodded and poured wine into two glasses. She handed one to Jade. “So all of this is fake. There are no feelings involved.”

“Correct,” Rett said.

Cindy looked between the two of them with her eyes narrowed. She and Tom exchanged a glance. “Well. That’s disappointing.”

Rett clapped his hands. “Now that that’s out of the way, we’re leaving. I’ll bring Tom back and pick you up.”

Jade shook her head. “You don’t have to. I’m sure Penny and I can walk.”

“In those shoes?” He stared pointedly at her feet, which seemed to be encased in some kind of torture device.

“Fair enough. Thank you.” She leaned in for a hug, and the smell of her perfume gave him half a mind to drag her back out to the truck.

With one hand on her waist, he tipped her chin up to kiss her. An action that felt almost automatic. Her cheeks flushed.

“For practice,” he announced to the room. “I’ll see you later.”

Cindy’s eyes narrowed again. “Apron,” she called to Tom, who had disappeared down the hallway.

“Crikey. I nearly forgot.” He reappeared and ditched his apron in a closet. “Bye, love,” he said to Cindy.

Rett waved, and they left. It was a relief to have Tom and Cindy in on the secret.

“So,” Tom said the second they sat down in the truck. “Why are you just fake dating her, mate? She seems great.”

Rett sighed. Why did they have to talk about this? Couldn’t Tom just be happy that his best friend had stumbled into a friends-with-benefits situationship with a smoking hot artist?

“She’s only here for two weeks,” he said. “I can’t get involved.”

Tom tsked. “You’re already involved.”