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The fact that I hadn’t done anything except put on some makeup and a nice dress, and Lucas reacted this way? It made me very much excited for the rest of the night and ready to put aside our disagreements and simply enjoy.
“So,” I said as he began to drive. “What’s next?”
“I had a chat with Marco Grado.”
“Love the Grados,” I said. “But who doesn’t? Marco is a real pistol, isn’t he?”
“I agree. Great family, but Marco and I have definitely reconnected.”
I laughed. “Not surprised you gravitated to the firecracker of the bunch.”
I realized we were heading toward Grado Valley Vineyards. But they were closed by now. “He’s really cool. Owns the vineyard next door to GVV. They have an interesting arrangement. At this point it’s almost like a given, since they have a path from one to the other, that if you’re tasting at Grado, you’ll hit Sunset next door, and vice versa. Speaking of, it seems suspiciously like that’s where we’re headed, but I know they’re closed. And you mentioned dinner?”
“Someone hungry?”
I could take that in lots of different directions, but I chose to keep it clean. “I actually forgot to eat lunch. So yes,” I admitted.
“Forgot? How do you forget to eat lunch?”
Lucas pulled into the empty parking lot of Grado Valley Vineyards. It was one of the larger ones on the lake, with two separate wineries and even a brewery. But, as I thought, it was very much closed at this hour.
“Um?” Because I was too nervous and excited to eat.
Parking, he turned off the engine and started to get out. I did the same, but he stopped me. “Lemme get it.”
There was something about seeing Lucas grab our bags from the back seat and walk around the front of his truck to open my door that was endearing. Sexy, even. Even more so when he held out his hand to help me step down.
“You clean up nice,” I said. “I can’t decide what’s hotter. . . T-shirt-with-tattoos-showing Lucas or this suit-wearing one currently helping me out of his truck.”
Lucas closed the door behind me but didn’t let go of my hand. “I might work in the mud, Charlee, but I play in the clouds.”
I laughed. “What are these clouds you speak of? I love this place, but it’s closed.”
“Mmmm.” He was being even more coy than usual. “Or is it?”
Sure enough, there were lights on in the larger of the two buildings, the Wine Barn, where Lucas had come to meet me that day in the vineyards. When we walked up the stairs, hand in hand, and were greeted at the door by Marco, vice president of Grado Valley Vineyards, I knew something was up.
Lucas, two bags slung on his shoulder, dropped my hand to shake Marco’s. “Thanks for doing this,” he said.
Marco smiled devilishly at me. Yep. Definitely something was up.
“My pleasure. Everything’s all set. Here’s the key,” he said. “First cottage on the lake, front porch light is on. Everything is all set.”
“Thanks again,” Lucas said. “I owe you one.”
“I’ll take payment in ink,” Marco said.
“Anytime, come on in.”
“Will do.” Then Marco said to me, “Have a great night. Good to see you, Charlee.”
“You too,” I said, slightly bemused. We left, back down the way we’d come, but this time we went around the Wine Barn on the path that led to the lake.
“Okay, talk to me.”
“Well. . .” Lucas took my hand again. “As you’ve probably guessed, we technically didn’t need these.” He gestured to our outfits. “But I really wanted to see you in a dress.”
“Oh my God.”
