Love and Chaos: A Growing Pains Novel (22 page)

“They lost the bet years ago when they married you!” Cassie yelled down the limo.

All the women starting laughing uproariously. Demetri whipped out his camera, pointed it in Nick’s general direction even though his head was still between his knees. “Photo BOOM!”

At the next winery, another larger scale affair, they drifted to the side and found an unoccupied table.
Since it was harvest season, and the weather in this part of the world was still sublime, most of the gardens and other tables were occupied. They found a table near the back of a large grassy area with an empty bottle and two glasses.

Demetri put his hand on the table top and sa
id, “I claim this table for king and country.”

“Well said, honey. No
w move down.” Rachel cleared the dirty items to the side. With Jenn’s help, the two women pulled food out of coolers and bags.

“This is a huge spread, Rachel!”
Cassie marveled.

Jace looked at the table, seeing
the fixings to make sandwiches, chips, fruits, salads, vegetables—pretty much a whole deli.

“D
id you cater this? When did you have time to do all this?” Cassie was still staring at the table with wide eyes.

Rachel
put out some sparkling water. “I have three boys in the house. They’re always munching. I can put this together in the same amount of time it takes you to get lost and have to be rescued by a motorcycle driving thug.”

“Ouch.” Jace
sat at the table with a grin, snagging a piece of cheese off a plate.

“And my mom helped not at all, eh?” Demetri swayed toward her. Then he swayed away.

“Bro, you’re not going to make it.” Nick popped an olive into his mouth. “Did you not hear about us winning the bet? I need you conscious for that.”

“Or two of the girls passed out.” Peter stacked together a huge sandwich from the fixin
gs on the table.

“Not going to happen. Not even close.”
Jenn shook her head.

Everyone looked up at Cassie. She shook her head,
too, daintily collecting items for her own sandwich. She was regal and poised even when seriously buzzed. Jace couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the beauty with her hair mused and a lazy smile on her face. She’d look like a million dollars in his tee-shirt first thing in the morning.

Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath and forced himself to look away. He didn’t trust himself at the moment. 

“I don’t pass out, I freak out. If I can keep standing, I’m all set,” he heard her say in her pleasant, musical voice.

“I will be sprinting for the goal line, don’t you worry! Boom!” Demetri stuffed
random sandwich items into his mouth without reservation. Or decorum.

“What happens when you get home? Who’s going to look after your kids?” Peter poured himself a glass of wine. He’d already wolfed down half his sandwich.

“Hungry, Pete?” Jace asked
as he gathered up food.

“Drunk. There’s a difference.”

They all were. Even Jace, who had a pretty solid tolerance, could feel the haze creeping into him. It made the situation more dire. His control was fleeting, at best, and with Cassie so close, and so entrancing…

“My mom and my beautiful wife.” Demetri
answered Peter’s question as he patted Rachel on the head.

She scowled, pushing his hand away. “They’re older. They take less work than the kid sitting next to me.”

About forty-five minutes later, after everyone had started again on the wine, Rachel, the time keeper, said, “Okay, it
’s about two o’clock. Let’s get this cleaned up.”

“The last winery closes at five. Plenty of time.” Nick shoved a
chip into his mouth and stood. He wasn’t as bad off as Demetri, but he wasn’t great. His foot got caught on the bench, sending him staggering off into the grass.

Jenn
pointed and started to laugh. “Where’s the camera?”

Jace stood, cleaning his area up and throwing the garbage in the bin a little ways off. When he got back, he noticed Cassie struggling to get out of her seat without scraping her pants against the dirty table. He jogged over to help, noticing Peter bent over the table with his head in his hands.

“Hold on, I gotcha,” Jace said, hoisting her up and helping her out.

“Thanks,” she sighed, leaning forward and resting her cheek against his chest. Her body followed,
her front resting against his.

Jace froze. Her heat bled into his body, stirring something way down deep. His groin tightened right before an erection started, pleasure from her body overriding the fear of touching a taken woman.
He widened his eyes and sought out Peter, not sure what to do. Not sure if this was okay. Not wanting to move in case she backed off. Hating that she felt so good leaning on him, needing him. Hating that he couldn’t give in to it and put his arms around her.

“Look,” Demetri pointed at him. “He’s terrified.”

Cassie straightened up and glanced toward Demetri. Her gaze came back to rest on Jace a moment later, leaning back to look up into his face. Chilled air replaced her feminine warmth from a moment before. “Poppycock.”

“Huh?” Jace asked stupidly.

“There’s the accent. Oh God.” Peter grinned and then flailed backward. He clutched the table to keep himself from falling. “Two more wineries, honey? Is that really wise?”

“No.” Rachel tucked the last leftover into the cooler. She turned to Cassie. “You want me to leave out something for the ride back?”

“Snacks. Yes. Come here so I can hug you.”

Rachel smiled as she motioned for Jace and Nick to grab the coolers and take them back to the
limo.

Jace put his hands on Cassie’s shoulders to move her
away gently. She glanced up at him with a smile before noticing the chocolate at the end of the table and sauntering that way. Remembering to breathe, Jace grabbed one of the coolers and started walking toward the limo with Nick.

“It strike you as odd that Peter doesn’t seem to care if his woman hangs out with you?” Nick asked
a moment later when they were out of earshot of the others.

“He asked me to look after her because he was getting drunk.”

“Yeah. Exactly. I mean…that’s weird, right? I wouldn’t ask you to watch my wife. And they never hug or kiss or anything. You notice that?”

Yes, Jace had. It was just another oddity in their whol
e situation. “Jenn say anything?”

Nick stopped behind th
e limo as the driver got out to open the trunk. An uncomfortable expression crossed his face. “Yeah, but…I mean, she’s reading one thing, but…I mean, maybe it’s just dad, you know? Ever think Peter just brought her along to shut Dad up? You did that once, remember?”

Jace had to admit, it was possible. “But why not admit it to us? We’d be fine with it.”

Nick dropped the cooler into the trunk and turned for the one Jace held. Jace made sure to rescue the snacks off the top.

“I don’t know. This year’s trip has been really fun so far—more fun than usual
, actually—but kind of weird.”

Jace had to agree, but it meant he got to hang out with the most interesting and beautiful woman he’d ever met. He might never get to touch her, but what he did get would be enough. It’d be more than he was expecting, at any rate.

They met everyone back at the front entrance and all walked in together. He fell in beside Peter, who was next to Cassie, only to have Peter fall back. Before he could wonder about it, Cassie gave him a light nudge with her shoulder. He looked down, meeting her gaze and basking in that smile.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey.” He couldn’t help but smile back as they rounded a corner.

“You have such a pretty smile. Why don’t you use it more
often?”

He put his hand on the center of her back lightly, guiding her through the bustle.
Why did it feel so natural? “Don’t have a lot to smile about, I guess. And don’t tell a man he’s pretty.”

“Why? Is that guy code, or something?”

A long counter spread out before them, buzzing with tasters and activity. The group, led by Jenn mostly, who was easily the most sober, chose the far end near the wall. Three people could touch the counter, and the other four would have to stand behind, tasting on the hover.

“Guy code?” Jace asked as he took his glass. Peter
stepped up next to them again, his eyes half closed. He leaned heavily on the wall behind him.

“Yeah. All that made-up stuff guys live their life by. Can’t cry.” She ticked a finger. “Can’t hug. Can’t talk about feelings…My friend Krista has a huge long list. You should hear her busting my brother’s chops.”

“Ah.” Jace passed his glass forward to get a taste. Why they didn’t just keep them all on the counter until the wine was poured in the first place, he didn’t know.

“So you can’t give a pretty smile because you’re too busy swinging the ol’ penis around, is that it?”

“Wow.”

“And the dimple.” She reached up with a delicate finger to touch the dimple in his face.

His balls tingle
d at the touch, the spark from her finger igniting his skin. He couldn’t help the intensity he knew burned behind his eyes. She stared, apparently transfixed for a moment, before she ripped her gaze away and resettled it back on her glass.

Jace
looked at Peter, fear clawing at his gut.

Peter was staring, analy
zing him with a straight face. Peter said, “I wish I got that dimple. That’s a crowd pleaser.
My milkshake brings all the boys
—“

Cassie threw a fierce elbow into Peter’s ribs. He let out a loud grunt and bent over, holding his glass up so nothing sloshed out. She gave an apologetic glance
at Jace. “Sorry. He knows I hate that song.”

Jace couldn’t do much bu
t blink in shock. It was a well-placed elbow with a lot of force. And Peter just took it.

But then, so
had Jace earlier, so…

“Are we having
Wrestlemania here or
what?
Because buy me a ticket, I am
in!”
Demetri downed the contents in his glass.

“How was that, Demetri? Delicious? Was that the best wine you’ve tasted all day?” Cassie finished her own glass and handed it forward.

“Oh, I
like
her.” Rachel smiled back at Cassie from the counter. “We need to keep you around, girl.”

“Why, yes,” Demetri responded, ignoring his wife. “It tastes just like water. And you? Are your taste buds flourishing?”

“Quite.” She put her nose in the air. “Lovely, yes, yes.”

“Is that supposed to be an English accent, or…” Jace
gave her a light nudge.

“If you knew anything, you’d
know
that was an English accent.”

“Here!” Nick handed the newly filled glasses back
.

“So, now what?” Cassie asked him, ignoring Peter’s wheeze behind her. “What are your plans now? Free agent, right? Where do you live? Or is this painful
…”

Jace could feel the weight settle in the pit of his stomach.
He watched the contents swirl around in his glass. “I don’t know.”

“You…don’t know what’s next? Or where you live? Or…”

“Finish up, you two. We have four more wines left to taste.” Nick held out his hand for the empty glasses.

“Pushy,” Cassie muttered as she
handed her glass forward.

Jace did likewise, knowing the wine was quality, but not knowing exactly how. He’d be flying blind in the taste buds department from here on out.

“I sold my house,” Jace said quietly. “Gave her the car. I have my bike and an old truck.”

“Wait.” Cassie shi
fted. She put out a hand toward the counter and seemed totally unsurprised when a wine glass filled it a moment later. Nick handed Jace’s glass through next.

“This is stupid—let’s just buy a couple bottles and go drink them. No one is really tasting anything anyway,” Peter said, his eyes glossy.

“We are wine tasting, damn it!” Demetri shook his fist at Peter.

Cassie continued as if no one else had spoken. “You gave her a car, even though she obviously sucks, and took the old truck?”

“The truck can pull a trailer. A trailer can haul my bike. I’ve got all I need.”

“Why not just ri
de the bike?”

“Where would I put all my clothes?”

“Knapsack?” She grinned at him, her gaze snagging on his, and holding. He fell into that vivid blue, feeling his heart lifting within that smile.

“Glasses you fools! This is getting irritating.” Nick
yanked him out of his reverie by nudging him, his hand stuck out for glasses.