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I dug the palm of my hand into my chest, attempting to rub the pain away. But this pain was undeterred.
Chardonnay told me I had to fight for Lainey, but what if fighting for her meant something else entirely? What if fighting for her was completely selfless? All I wanted, all anyone wanted, was for Lanes to be happy. Even if that meant I had to walk away and let her be happy without me.
I laid my invisible sword at my feet and left with nothing more than a vision of Lainey in the arms of another man.
Town Hall Meetings were usually my cup of tea. I loved the drama, sitting back and watching Albert and Odette go at each other while Albert dropped an F bomb and Odette lost her mind, but tonight, I had no desire to be here.
I had a family size bag of tortilla chips and a jar of salsa with my name on it at my place. Most woman drowned their feelings in ice cream or sweets, but being around cake all day every day, my guilty pleasures tended to be heavy on the salt.
This was all Nero’s fault, of course. If he didn’t show up at the distillery right when the Shining twins turned into slaughtered carcasses, I might not have been craving salt and season two of Sex and the City. But no. He had to show up, look as if he was searching for me, only to walk away without a damn word.
I almost ran after him. Secretly, I hoped for another coat closet situation, but Damian had wrapped his arms around me. I had thought my gasp was in correlation with the movie, but it was because I’d spotted Nero.
I placed the cake I made for the meeting on the snack table next to the pot of coffee. Albert was the first there, impatiently waiting for me to cut the cake into slices he could snatch up.
“Good evening, Albert,” I said, attempting a smile, but it fell short.
“What flavor do we have today?” he asked, rocking on his booted heels.
“Carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting.” I caught the unmistakable twitch of his lips. “I can take a hint when I get one.” He had given me several bunches of carrots at no charge when I had stopped by his farm stand for apples.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“So you gave me those carrots out of the goodness of your heart?” I slapped my hand over my chest and stared at him lovingly. “I knew there was sweetness beneath all the gruff.”
“Fine, I wanted carrot cake. You happy?”
“Very.” I handed him the first slice that was equivalent to two slices. Though I’d put money down he’d be back for another slice.
“Can I have a slice, or is it only for people who don’t drag you into closets?”
Shock slammed into me, and I spun toward Nero. He was sporting a five o’clock shadow and looked sexy as hell. He swished his lips to the side and shrugged.
“I thought maybe you were still in that closet since I haven’t seen you.” I didn’t dare mention I had seen him at the distillery.
“You haven’t been by the winery.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy to have a glass of wine to unwind?”
“Yes. Why are you here, anyway?” This wasn’t exactly Nero’s scene.
“Phoebe and Laurent had some wedding bullshit. Franc and Quinn are taking Gio to some kid’s movie that came out this week, and well, you know Chardonnay has basically been banned from ever coming again.”
“And Sherry is taking an online seminar tonight.” I tried to talk her into coming with me, but she was adamant that she couldn’t miss the class.
“Yup, and Rose and Wyatt had a dinner party with friends. Which leaves me. The last resort.” His lips pressed into a forced smile.
“You’re not the last resort.”
“I was kidding, Lanes. Besides, we all know Rhone is the last resort.”
A laugh burst from my mouth, and I slapped my hand over my lips. “That’s not nice.”
“Someone has to keep him grounded.”
“Oh good, Nero.” Odette popped up behind us. “I can use a strong, strapping man like yourself.”
