“Good man.” Frederick saluted him with his glass raised high. He stopped mid-gulp when he heard a quiet cough next to him.
“Don’t forget,” Bethany said with a hint of a grimace. “We have seven wineries left to go.”
“Leave the man be. He’s among friends,” Tessa said with a shit-eating grin. Frederick narrowed his eyes at her. Maybe heshouldslow down. “Go ahead and let loose, Captain Nam. We’ll take care of you.”
“Yeah, Frederick.” Aiden reached around Tessa and Bethany, clearly intending to clap him on the back, but he only managed to nudge his shoulder with the tips of his fingers. “You don’t let yourself relax enough. You’re not even the highest-ranking officer here. Pete could play the grown-up on this trip.”
“Did I just hear my husband’s name and the wordgrown-upin the same sentence?” Katie poked her head forward from a few seats down.
“Pete isn’t here,” Pete yelled.
“I don’t know what I was thinking.” Aiden palmed his forehead. “I meantKatiecan be the grown-up. She can boss us around all weekend long. I misspoke in my excitement to get Frederick drunk.”
“The captaindrunk? That’s more like it. Nowthisis a bachelor party.” Joe saluted Aiden from the other end of the bar. “Thanks, little brother.”
“I’m not your best man for nothing.” Aiden puffed out his chest.
Frederick drank his Viognier in silence, scowling at his friends. But he blushed when Anne leaned forward to glance at him. God, he hoped she didn’t think he partied like he used to in college. As a matter of fact, he’d stopped partying like that after he’d met her, because getting sloppy drunk got in the way of fully appreciating his time with her. Even when he’d thought they had forever, every minute with Anne had felt precious to him.
He took another sip of his wine for something to do. But when she offered him a small smile, her eyes dancing with amusement, he smiled back at her, relaxing again. Of course she wouldn’t judge him. Anne wasn’t like that.
Anne was perfect. She was the most beautiful woman Frederick had ever met, but she was so much more than her beauty. She was kind, generous, smart, and loyal. And she was courageous. She didn’t assert herself often, but when she believed in something, Anne spoke her mind with blunt honesty, while always remaining respectful toward others. She was like a serene river that ran deeper than you would ever know.
At the next winery, Frederick made no effort not to stare at Anne. He trailed behind their group and walked up to the bar last and positioned himself at the optimum vantage point. He saw no reason to fight the natural order of law. If Anne Lee was near, Frederick Nam gravitated toward her. Staring at her was inevitable. He just had to do it in afriendlyway.
He eavesdropped shamelessly so he could choose the same tasting menu as Anne, then he paced himself so he could taste the wine at the same time she did. He loved watching her reactions—he could still read her face like an open book—then pondering whathethought about the wine.
They mostly agreed on the whites, but she tended to like thefull-bodied reds, while he appreciated the subtlety of a lighter red. It was almost as though they were enjoying the beautiful wine country and its plentiful wines together. Just the two of them. As friends.
Anne used the wine spittoon after a couple of sips, but when she really liked the wine, she finished her pour with slow, savoring sips. As their wine tasting progressed, her cheeks grew rosy, and she laughed more easily, which made him happy. He wasn’t sure if she noticed his blatant shadowing, but when he watched her long enough, she often ducked her head to hide a smile.
Jolie Vineyard and Winery, the penultimate winery on their tour, was situated on the most scenic fifty acres of land in Bosque Verde. The modern Craftsman tasting room stood amid a verdant vineyard, and rolling hills undulated in the distance. And stately, mature trees provided shade for the picturesque seating areas dotting the property.
It was rustic yet sophisticated, and Frederick didn’t even have to look at Anne to know she loved it. But he looked anyway, because… why not? She was there. She was beautiful. And they were going to be friends. He followed close behind her as they walked into the tasting room.
The host led them through the wine store and then out to the covered balcony where a long, rectangular table awaited them. Their group oohed and aahed profusely enough to make heads turn. And they made an even bigger ruckus over the gorgeous view of the property while they took their seats at the table.
Everyone had eschewed the spittoon and imbibed every drop of wine offered to them somewhere between the fourth and fifth wineries. The sober part of his mind cringed with embarrassment at their rowdy group, but every server, and even their fellow wine tasters at smaller tables around them, were indulgent of their tipsy folly.
“Thanks for understanding,” Katie said to the other visitors, entirely too sober. “They don’t get out much.”
Frederick narrowed his eyes in suspicion at his clearheaded friend, but his contracted vision made it difficult to keep an eye on Anne. Why was he squinting in the first place? He couldn’t remember. He rushed to shoulder Pete out of the way to claim a seat next to Anne, and his friend happily stumbled into the chair next to it without so much as a frown at him.Wine, the peacemaker.
But now that Frederick was at Anne’s side, he had no idea what to say to her. His sluggish brain snort-laughed at him.Wine, the idiot-maker.She didn’t seem to notice he was sitting next to her, too absorbed in the beautiful view beyond the railing. Even so, he felt as though he should say something coherent to her.
“Anne,” he said in a deep and gravelly voice. He wasn’t sure if uttering her name constituted a coherent comment, but he loved how her name melted on his tongue.
“Frederick.” She glanced at him with wide eyes, her cheeks glowing a lovely pink. She hiccupped and pressed the tips of her fingers against her mouth. She was so adorable he nearly died. “Uh, hello.”
“Uh, hello,” he repeated like a parrot. The thought struck him as funny, and his face split into a loopy grin.
“Oh.” Her eyes roamed his face, then dropped to his lips. “Oh.”
“Keep saying that…” Suddenly, he was ridiculously turned on and soberer than he wanted to be. “Keep looking at me like that… and I’ll do something both of us will regret.”
She arched a delicately curved brow in blatant challenge. “Oh?”
All thoughts of friendship fled his mind as a low, feral growl rumbled in his chest. Frederick leaned toward Anne in minuteincrements, struggling to remember why this was a bad idea. When their faces were a mere hand’s width apart, a voice jolted him out of his trance.
