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One, I could pretend neither of those incidents happened, go back to pining for him, keeping my feelings a secret, and being thankful for what I had—a house that I was able to pay for, a good job, great friends, and most importantly, a healthy Rich who continued to assure me every day he felt fine. (He actually ordered me to stop texting him yesterday—unless I wanted to—and to enjoy the wine tour.)
Option number two, of course, was to pursue this. Find out what Neo was thinking. See where it might lead. Which meant I’d have to confess everything to Min, admit I’d been lying to her since middle school when I first realized I liked boys, especially her brother. Then what? We would start dating? Run into the same problem as Cosimo and Brooke? That wouldn’t be a good look for Neo, to be dating an employee. And what if it didn’t work out?
Everything you’ve ever wanted is sitting on the other side of fear.
That quote was on my desk. I kept it there as a reminder, but I had it memorized, stored at the forefront of my mind. I could easily picture it in its white frame. So why was I being such a chicken?
Time to put my big-girl pants on, trust Min would forgive me, and just fucking do this. I opened my door.
“Jesus,” I said, startled. “You are literally right here.”
As if I’d summoned him, Neo stood there at my door in jeans and another panty-melting button-down, sleeves rolled.
“I was about to knock,” he said, taking my luggage. “All ready to roll?”
I closed the door behind me. “You came up here just to carry that?” I said, following him down the stairs.
“And because I couldn’t wait to see you.”
It was the kind of thing Neo would have said before this week, but the words no longer had a teasing, big-brother tone. He was serious. But since Neo didn’t turn to look at me, waiting for a reply, I didn’t respond.
So much for forging ahead. Part of me was still afraid. But Ihadto let that go.
“I never know when you’re being serious.”
We reached the lobby. Neo looked at me. “I’m being serious now.”
And there it was. The gauntlet. But before I could respond, a very well dressed gentleman stepped into the lobby of the B&B. “Good morning,” he said, reaching out his hand. “You must be Thayle.”
“I am,” I said, unable to resist smiling. He wore a flat cap, his gray hair peeking out from around the back. And a broad smile too. I liked him immediately.
“I’m Wayne, your driver for the next two days.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
I was really looking forward to the next two days. Although I’d lived my whole life in Kitchi Falls, I could count on one hand how many times we had toured the Cayuga Wine Trail. My friends and I typically stuck to Seneca, to the same wineries we liked. And over the past few years, we’d even stopped doing that in favor of hanging out at Grado Valley instead. Between the Wednesday night small gatherings and other special events Min cooked up—and sometimes I did as well—it was actually a really fun place to be, even if I did basically live there at this point.
But it would be good to get out, see some other places, get ideas and spend time with Neo.
“Holy shit.” I hadn’t expected a stretch limo for the two of us.
“It’s the only one I own,” Wayne explained, popping the trunk, and then he and Neo tossed our bags inside. “I was retired for all of two months before my wife surprised me with it. She knew I was bored, had always talked about driving people, and so—” he opened the door and gestured for us to hop inside, “—my birthday present.”
“Do you like it?” I asked, climbing into the back seat. There was room for at least eight people in there. “Driving people during retirement?”
“I do,” he said as Neo climbed in behind me. “It gets me out, meeting people. And I make my own schedule.”
“Sounds like a good gig,” Neo said, his ridiculously low voice sexy enough to charm the habit off a nun.
“It really is, especially when I get to meet nice folk like yourselves.” Wayne leaned down to peer inside at us. “So today we’re stopping at four wineries, and then I’ll be dropping you off at the Inn at Taughannock Falls for the night.”
“You got it,” Neo said.
“There’s a basket of snacks there for you and a cooler of waters too. I noticed you didn’t have lunch on the itinerary?”
“My brother set this up,” Neo explained, “and we took his place at the last minute. So I’m not sure about that. Is there somewhere we can grab lunch that you would recommend?”
“Absolutely. While you’re at Americana Winery, I’ll get sandwiches at a nearby deli. Lucas Vineyards has picnic tables, and it looks like a perfect day for it. So maybe grab a bottle of wine at the tasting and make it a picnic lunch?”
