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Both men then turned to me with questioning expressions. The manager was probably wondering about our situation, which was quite simple. Neo and I could not share a cottage. They were small, with just a bedroom, bathroom, and sitting room in each. That wouldn’t work for many, many reasons.
“Excuse me,” the man said, his phone ringing.
As he stepped to the side to take his call, Neo and I looked at each other. It was the oddest glance we’d ever exchanged. Panicked, at least on my end. But excited too. I tried to imagine being in the same room as Neo for two nights. We would be staying in this area for the next few days of tastings.
“Unfortunately,” he said, returning to us, “the hotel is no longer available. It seems we aren’t the only ones in town affected by the power outage.”
The manager’s eyes darted to the east cottage that was lit. Neo and I exchanged another glance. As much as it was a really bad idea, I wasn’t going to be the one to say it. To make the call. Because part of me really, really wanted this anyway.
A big part of me.
The part that wasn’t thinking straight.
“There are other towns,” the manager said, “and of course I will make calls to find you another alternative.”
“They won’t be as nice,” Neo said, thinking aloud, mirroring my own thoughts. Of course the other hotels wouldn’t be as nice. This was one of the fanciest places I’d ever stayed in my life.
He was asking my permission to do this.
“I was really hoping to hit that wine wall again,” I admitted. It was true. But it was also zero percent the reason for my quick acquiescence.
“Do you have a cot?” Neo asked the manager.
Mr. Lamant assured us he did. And would take fifty percent off our stay and include a voucher for the restaurant. Neo didn’t need either, but that was beside the point.
I would be staying, for two nights, in the same freaking room as Antonio. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
“What do you think?” Neo asked me. Again, as nonchalant as could be.
I tried to match his tone. “Fine with me.”
More than fine. It was a wonderfully horrible, fantastically terrible, magically bad idea.
“Okay,” he said. “We’ll follow you to the lobby, I guess? We’ll need to move our stuff.”
“Of course.” The manager thanked us profusely, as if the poor guy had chewed the electrical wires himself.
I felt badly for him, though I recognized the hospitality business wasn’t for the faint of heart.
“And of course, we will get you more wine,” Mr. Lamant said, the guy really warming to me.
“Now you’re talking,” I said. Neo turned to look at me and winked.
He frickin’ winked. Had I just seen that? I was pretty sure it was in response to my super funny joke, but still. Neo had never once, in all the years I’d known him, winked at me.
And suddenly, that was my new favorite thing. I wanted him to do it again.
That and much, much more.
NINE
neo
I liftedmy hand to knock, then paused, reminding myself how this had to go down. We would finish our wines, go to bed, sleep, wake up, and hit two wineries tomorrow afternoon. This was Dominica’s Thayle. Her childhood friend. The same girl I’d gotten into my only fistfight over, which I’d do again in a heartbeat. The one who laughed at her own jokes. And the one who was also currently my employee.
The fact that we were sharing a room changed nothing.
Until I knocked and she opened the door.
