Page 171 of While You Were Trending

I amnotpretending that Declan is my brother.

Mabel smirks.

Declan’s clearly grown on her.

I tell myself it’s because of all the work he’s doing while he’s here filming.

Since the cookout, he’s participated in punching down the grape caps for both the merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, helped clean up the fermentation room’s floor, researched bottle shapes and found more affordable suppliers, brainstormed wine name ideas with Dori, and run numbers for Mabel on projected overhead costs so she could get some sleep instead of bouncing between working on custom commissions half the day and getting the winery up and running the other half of the day.

And he’s been funny and charming and self-deprecating and also intelligent and generous and easy for all of us to talk to, from Lav to Pip.

Helpful in every situation, whether it’s changing a light bulb in the barn, doing the dishes after dinner, or assisting Pip in climbing a ladder so that she could peek into the top of the fermentation tank and see what her land is producing.

The more helpful and charming he is, the more I notice how warm and friendly his eyes are, how much I like seeing him smile, and how sexy his ass is.

And the more I admit to myself how much I like him, even when we’re not naked together, the more Mabel warms up to him.

But I don’t think she likes that I like him.

I think she’s trusting him more at the same time that I’m liking him more.

When I let myself think too hard about Mabel trusting Declan—the guy who was enemy number one when he arrived here the morning of Caro’s wedding, a means to an end of getting publicity for the winery when we relaunch in the spring—that’s when the old panic settles in.

That I’m falling for a guy when I have no business being in a relationship, much less a relationship with my ex’s best friend.

“Do you think he’s doing what I used to do?” I ask Mabel. “Going out of his way to be likable around me by doing all of the things?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“I internet stalked him before Caro’s wedding. I think he’s genuinely this helpful.”

“You’re supposed to lie to me when I won’t like your answers.”

She smiles. “Cricket was telling him about her idea to call the wineryFuck the Trolls, but that we don’t want to get censored on public maps and local directories, and he suggested we use it as the name for the merlot instead. As long as we only sell it in-house, it won’t matter what any licensing agencies or distributors think.”

“That’s great,” I murmur while I pull the copper dress over my head, then lift my hair out from under the fabric.

Mabel steps behind me and zips me up. “I can still come with you if you want.”

“I’ve seen every inch of the man naked. I think I can handle being alone for a few hours to do public date-like things with him,” I grumble.

She arches a brow at me, a silentare you sure?

It’s not judgmental. Not mean.

She just knows me.

“Change your mind any time before you leave,” she says. “Even after you leave isn’t too late.”

I need to finish my makeup, so I head toward our bathroom. “If you want to come see the show?—”

“I’ve seen Cherry Slapstick and Peppermint Sinbin’s Christmas special, and I have a project I need to catch up on. But if you need me to go?—”

“No, no, I don’tneedyou to.”

“If youwantme to.”