AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Didn’t like the moscato?” Maggie asks the customers.
“It was lovely, just a little sweet for me,” the woman says.
Maggie beams at Amelia. “I’m so glad my granddaughter set you up with the pinot, then.”
“Oh, no. It was Spencer,” the man says, and Maggie just smiles and nods.
But still, I mark a tick in the win column for Grace.
“What foods does this go best with?” the woman asks, glancing up at Amelia.
Both Maggie and I turn to Amelia, too.
“Oh, uh…” She trails off, clearly out of her element here.
“It pairs really well with beef or salmon,” I say, swooping in. Everything I know about wine, I know because I’ve spent time here, and it’s puzzling that Amelia hasn’t picked up on any of it.
Most likely because she just doesn’t care, and that’s the worst part of it all. The only reason she’s after this place is because she thinks it’ll give her the money or the status she wants. It’s a challenge to her. A way to beat her sister.
But no one will ever convince me that she deserves it as much as Grace does.
I return to Grace’s place—the house to which I now know the code since my wife lives here—and when I check my email, I see a bunch of new correspondence from the Storm.
I have team activities starting in two weeks, which means I probably need to get my ass back to San Diego. I have two weeks to get in the kind of shape that won’t make me look like I took the entire offseason, well, off.
It all kicks off with organized team activities, or OTAs, and we have two days of them in two weeks and three days of them in three weeks. They’re usually voluntary, but since I’m new, I need to be there.
I don’t know many guys on the team very well yet, and this is my chance to get to know them. I can hang with Clay, who’s already introduced me to more of the receivers on the team, and I can get to know the rest of the offense before we head into camp in two months.
OTAs are sort of the unofficial start of the new season for players, and while at first I was upset about this change, I’ve shifted my mindset to try to look forward to it.
It just sucks that it means I’ll have to leave Grace, and it’s not like she’s going to be able to come with me when she’s here fighting for the vineyard.
I don’t want to spend time apart from her—especially not now that I’ve started allowing myself to feel what I’ve always felt for her—but we don’t have a choice. She has her job here, and I have my job there.
This would’ve been easier had I not been released, but it is what it is.
I don’t have much here with me—just what I packed for Vegas, which I’ve washed to wear for this week. But I did pack my Nikes and running shorts in case I had time for the gym, so I decide to gear up for a run before dinner. The vineyard’s walking paths are the perfect setting for a run, and in fact, I’ve done it many times.
I’m digging through my suitcase for the one dry-fit shirt I brought along when I hear the front door open and shut, followed by my name.
“Spencer?”
“In the bedroom!” I yell back, and Grace appears in the doorway a few seconds later.
“Well, well, well,” she says, her eyes falling onto my abdomen. “What did I walk in on?”
I chuckle as I abandon my suitcase to turn fully toward my wife. “I’m getting ready for a run. Want to join me?”
She folds her arms across her chest and leans against the doorframe. “I only run if I’m being chased. By a bear.”
“We should change that. Running can be quite fun, you know.” I take a few steps toward her, and I press a kiss to her lips.
“Fun? Run? I don’t think so.” She purses her lips and shakes her head. “Now drop the shorts and take me to bed.”
“What if I don’t drop the shorts and instead we run to the barn, have wild sex in there, and then run back here?” I suggest, the idea out of my mouth before I can stop it.
“Like I’ll be able to run back here after I’m all satisfied from what you do to me,” she says sarcastically, and she probably has a point.
