She really is impressive at playing host. Seeing her command the room like this has me falling for her even harder if that’s possible. God, after our conversation last night during dinner, I felt like a proposal might slip out of me if I wasn’t careful.
“We have three wines to choose from on the table. The red here is the Vega. This is the same one we just finished tasting from the barrels. It’s the same grape from the same block of the vineyard, but we had much more rain the year this was produced. You’ll notice a deeper flavor with earthier notes than the barrel wine.”
“Where are you sitting?” Tristan asks Liv. I suppress the growl forming in my throat.
“I’m not. Take a seat.” She coolly walks away from him and joins me and Owen where all the tech is set up.
“Are you okay?” I whisper. “He’s on you like fucking glue.”
“I’m good. I still need to get him alone to talk about the deal though.”
“Alone? No way.”
“Definitely not.” Owen and I speak at the same time.
“I thought you trusted me?” She ignores Owen but looks at me, her face full of steel.
“I do. He’s the one I don’t trust.”
“I can handle it, I promise.”
Liv’s presentation goes flawlessly.
I’m not sure why she wouldn’t let me look at it before now. She put together an entire storyboard of how marketing a business mirrors creating a fine wine.
Each of her metaphors work seamlessly, comparing a/b testing different channels to mixing different grapes, and getting your hands dirty on your own “turf” instead of outsourcing to agency partners (or other winemakers). My favorite was the one where she compared choosing Sizzl as your platform to selecting the best terroir for farming.
I’m in awe of this version of her. She’s never sparkled more than right now.
I look around the room to find every guest focused on her. Daanesh and Mario are both smiling, whispering back and forth and I already know they can see this for the success that it is. Part of me wishes Mitch were here to see too. The other part is glad he’s still in Portland, unable to ruin such a perfect day.
“Thank you all so much for letting me share my wine obsession with you. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with me and my family and that you’ve also seen how much our team at Sizzl cares about our partnerships with all of you. If you’d like to bring any wine home today, we’re offering our friends and family discount on anything you’d like. Enjoy the rest of your lunch.”
As soon as Liv concludes her speech I stand up, desperate to hug her. But she doesn’t come to me.
Owen puts a hand on my shoulder, either to console me or stop me from doing something stupid. We both watch as she taps Tristan’s shoulder, and then as he follows her into the cave.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
OLIVIA
“Alone at last,”Tristan says, smirking.
I take another step away from him.
“How’d you like the tour?” I ask.
“Very much, actually. I’ve visited here before. But it’s much more fun when I’m coerced.” He folds his arms across his chest.
“Well, I’m glad you feel that way. I had to get creative.”
“Don’t tell me you did all this just for me? There are much easier ways to get me alone, Olivia.”
“You’ve made that very clear,” I murmur. “But you’ve turned down all my attempts to get you involved in business conversations.”
“I told you, I’m letting Darnell handle it. He asked for more responsibility. Did you get the impression I was avoiding you?”
“I did, actually.” My words come out a little softer than I’d like. I lean my hip against one of the barrels. “I’ve tried my best to keep our relationship professional, as hard as you make that for me. And I have been working well with Darnell. Unfortunately, all our recent communications have him saying he’s waiting on leadership. And I’m pretty sure that’s you.”
