Page 6 of Love Among Vines

CHAPTER FIVE

RETT

Rett froze at the counter as the door swung shut.

What the hell had just happened? The leggy brunette from yesterday’s trouble group had waltzed in with the most beautiful dog he had ever seen, shared a sob story that could have been a plot line in one of his mother’s soap operas, and called his wine transcendental.

Elaine stared at him with her eyebrows raised.

“I’ll be right back.” Before he could consciously decide what he was doing, he had pushed open the door and stepped into the humid midmorning air.

The woman was fast. She was halfway to the parking lot already, bottles clinking together in her backpack.

He broke into a light jog. “Jade, was it?”

She jumped and whirled around. Her brown hair was smoothed back into a ponytail, and her blue eyes were the same hue as a sapphire. Her legs seemed to stretch for days.

“Uh, yeah,” she said.

Had she noticed his eyes dipping? Shit, what was he doing out here?

“How long will you be in town?” he asked.

It would be insane for him to ask a complete stranger to be his date to the anniversary party. It would be even dumber for him to ask her to be his fake girlfriend. And yet, something told him he would never forgive himself if he didn’t.

“Just until Sunday morning. You know, after the wedding that I was incapable of shutting up about.”

His heart fell, and he shifted his gaze to the lake. He should have known. Bachelorette parties tended to blow into town as quickly as a typhoon and leave a flood of Solo cups and plastic tiaras in their wake.

“Did you run out here to convince me to join your wine club?” she asked after a beat.

A laugh burst forth from deep inside him. Cute and funny. What idiot had dumped her?

“No. Although it is a great deal—four bottles a month for the price of three, first dibs on tickets to our events.”

She cleared her throat. “I probably should have mentioned that in addition to being a sad-sack ex and a failure in my career, I’m also incredibly broke.”

He looked into her eyes. Her tone was light, but it didn’t mask a sense of deep suffering.

She shuddered despite the heat. Something stirred in him.

“I’m guessing you live in Manhattan,” he said.

She nodded. “That’s where the art world is.”

The dog dragged her forward, circling once and sitting in front of him. She looked up with a goofy smile until he bent down to pet her again.

“Who’s this?” he asked.

“Penny,” she said with obvious warmth.

“It’s a pity you’re leaving,” he said with a glance. “I was hoping to give you that tour you asked about. It’s dog friendly. There’s a lot to see here in the Finger Lakes.”

Jade’s gaze moved past him to the sweeping hills. “I kind of wish I didn’t have to leave. I honestly love it here. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Rett would never know if he didn’t ask. Maybe he could present it as a mutual benefit.

“I have a proposition for you.”

Her eyes widened.

“I think we can help each other,” he said before she could reply. “You need a date so you don’t have to show up to this wedding alone. And I need a date for the vineyard’s golden anniversary in two weeks.”

She blinked. “Your girlfriend won’t be accompanying you?”

An involuntary flashback of Alexa hit him like a punch to the gut—blonde hair flashing in the sunlight as she ran laughing through the green vines.

He shifted his gaze back to the lake, and something hardened in him. There was no way he was ready to share that particular story. “No girlfriend. Let’s just say I am intimately familiar with your situation.”

“Oh.” Her voice softened. “Why do you need a date for the party? Won’t you be busy running around as man of the hour?”

“If you met my family, you’d understand. They’ve been playing matchmaker and hounding me about settling down since I finished school. I just want to be left alone. Luckily my parents live in California, so they don’t know that I’m not actually dating anyone.”

Jade shook her head. “I feel for you. I do. But I won’t be here in two weeks. I have to go back to the city and figure my life out so I don’t go homeless.”

So much for that idea. But he couldn’t give up without a fight.

“You could come back,” he suggested.

She bit her lip. “I can’t…drive.”

Rett stared at her. “You don’t know how to drive?”

She crossed her arms and frowned. “I’ve lived in the city my whole life. Do you have any idea how expensive and unnecessary it would be to have a car in Manhattan?”

He hesitated. It was clear this wasn’t a good match.

She had her own life and her own problems that frankly were a lot more dire than his.

But something wouldn’t allow him to let her go.

She was smart, funny, cute as hell. She apparently struggled with money management, but that was fixable.

She didn’t deserve to struggle this way.

He could help her if he could convince her to stay.

“I’ll pick you up,” he said. Was he starting to sound desperate?

She looked at him, posture rigid. “We don’t even know each other. How do I know you’re not a crazy person who murders women and throws them through a wood chipper to fertilize your vines?”

He smiled again. “And how do I know you’re not unhinged? Who runs to a vineyard in stifling humidity with a backpack full of vending machine cheese?”

She laughed, and the sound warmed him from the inside.

“That’s fair. Okay, so it’s an equal risk situation here.”

Her arms relaxed, and she looked over the vineyard, seemingly making up her mind.

“Why are you offering this after I sweated all over your counter? Don’t you see like thirty bachelorette parties a day? You could ask anyone to be your date.”

He took another step closer to her. “I told you. I know what it’s like to be where you are. I know how lonely it is. And I really could use your help for the party. You’re an artist, right? I bet you’re great at creating atmosphere. I can handle the wine, but I’m useless at décor.”

Penny jumped up on Rett and licked him full in the face. He laughed and scratched her cheeks. Who cared if dog hair got all over his suit? It would be a reminder of this humid morning even if Jade said no.

“Okay,” she said. “We’ll do it. Give me your phone.”

He bit back the “really?” that had almost come out and handed over his phone. There was time to figure out logistics later. Hopefully she was okay with being picked up after the winery closed. It would be a long night. But he hadn’t been sleeping much anyway.

Her phone rang, and she passed his back. “There. Now we have each other’s numbers. I’ll text you later with details, but I have to get going. It’ll take at least an hour to get back to the house, and I have rehearsal dinner duties.”

“Where are you staying?”

Jade pointed across the lake. “On the eastern side.”

He scoffed. People drove like idiots on the state highway. She would be run over before ever making it to town. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll take you back.”

He wouldn’t be gone for long. It was probably a twenty-minute round trip. He just needed to run inside and grab his keys.

“That’s not necessary. I’m perfectly capable of?—”

“Hang out by the truck.” He hitched a thumb at the dusty pickup. “I can’t have you dying of heatstroke on my property. It’s bad for business.”

“You really don’t have to?—”

“Think of your cheese,” he called over his shoulder.

Leaving at the beginning of the workday felt wrong. Customers would arrive any minute. What if something happened? A half dozen scenarios flashed in his mind—broken pipe, shattered case, medical emergency.

Rett sucked down a deep breath. Maybe, just this once, it would be okay. It was only half an hour. And Jade needed him, even if she didn’t realize it.