“So we really just stomp on them?” I ask as he leads me up the steps.
“Yep.” He nods, rolling my pants up a bit. The grin on his face is adorable. “Get your feet all up in there.”
“Isn’t that a little unsanitary?”
“Dr. Taylor, the germaphobe,” he teases with a smirk. “Stomping is more about the experience. Although when itferments, all the bacteria gets killed off, anyway. The juice we use for our wine comes from a mechanical crushing system, and it has to sit for a few weeks, so the process takes more time than we’ve got tonight.”
“I see,” I say. “Well, what are we waiting for, then?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Oh!”Maddiecriesout,clinging to my arm and as she steps into the grapes. “That’s kind of cold.”
I chuckle, steadying her against me. “The colder they stay, the juicier they are.”
“I’m seriously impressed.” She looks up at me through those thick, dark lashes. “I had no idea you knew so much about this.”
“Well, that’s the point of tonight, right? Really getting to know each other?” I slant my mouth forward, capturing hers in a quick kiss. “Now get to stomping.”
Maddie grins and gets to work, crushing the grape beneath her feet. She throws her head back, laughing as I join her; it’s a sound I could listen to for the rest of my life. We spend an hour stomping across the bin of grapes until we’re both nearly covered in juice and pulp, thoroughly stained and filthy.
Unlike most of the women I’ve been with, Maddie isn’t afraid to have fun. A lot of women would have been too caught up in their appearance or messing up their make-up to really takepart, but not Maddie. That adventurous spirit might just be my favorite thing about her yet.
“Okay, I had my doubts,” Maddie says as I help her down from the platform. “But that was incredible. By far, the funnest date I’ve been on.”
I’ll take her praise all day, but we’re nowhere near done.
“Good. And now you see why I told you to bring a change of clothes.” I smirk, wiping a bit of grape juice from her cheek. “There’s a shower in there. Why don’t you get cleaned up and we can move on?”
“There’s more?”
“Plenty more. They’re expecting us in the barrel room to make our own wine, and then we’ve got reservations for dinner. Just put your dirty clothes in the basket. We’ve got a cleaning service that will take care of them while we’re eating.”
“You’ve really thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“I wanted this to be special.” I wrap my arm around her waist, bracketing her against my body. Even as a purple tinted mess, Maddie is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
Her smile makes me want to give her the entire world. Every planet, every moon, every star in the atmosphere.
I can’t get enough of how she looks tonight—so happy, so content, so relaxed. Even though this is something we both wanted, she’s been a little hesitant to fully let herself go, and I don’t blame her. I’ve given her about every reason in the book not to trust me, and she’s been slow to. At least, until tonight. Tonight, it feels like she’s letting her guard down. Dropping her defenses. Letting me in.
Twenty minutes later and we’re all cleaned up. If I thought the dress was bad, Maddie’s second outfit might do me in completely. She tucks her tauntingly low cut tank top into ripped denim jeans that mercilessly hug her hips, and her blonde hairspills over her shoulder in a beautiful mess of curls. The look is more relaxed, but it hits in all the right places for me.
“Well, I can definitely say that showering and changing clothes mid date is something I’ve never done before.” Maddie smiles, coming out of the dressing room.
“I’m all about providing unique experiences.”
She lets out a sharp laugh, draping her purse over her shoulder. “That’s for sure.”
Down in the barrel room, Maddie listens to the sommelier detail every step of the wine-making process, and she’s absolutely enthralled. We sample some of the new mixtures and I can’t help but smile as I watch her swish and smell the wine, fully invested. Once we finish, we stroll among the vines. It’s dark, but the moon and stars light the pathways as we walk.
Finally, we make our way to the patio for dinner, sitting on a private terrace overlooking the entire property. I’m here all the time, but the view never gets old. Especially not tonight.
“Ty told me you like seafood, and the chef makes an incredible cioppino. How does that sound?” I ask, scanning the menu.
“Whatever you recommend. Should I be concerned that you’re taking dating tips from your son?”
“I’m just using my resources. The kid likes you almost as much as I do.”
