An Exceptional Twist (13 page)

A tan-colored shaggy dog greeted them in the
parking lot, giving her a perfect excuse to redirect her focus.
Bending down, she scratched the back of his floppy ears. “Hey
there, fella.”

She wasn’t a huge fan of dogs and would’ve
normally been put off, but this pooch had the sweetest face. Stefen
didn't appear to be a dog person either as he quietly stepped
away.

Leah stood and followed the group to an old
rustic wooden table to the side of the main building. It was
situated under a trellis. Vines and ripe grapes hung down for them
to pick, and there were dark brown, antique metal candelabras
adorning the table.

In awe of her gorgeous surroundings, Leah
inhaled the fresh air. “Wow, this place is wonderful.”

“Thank you,” a deep
masculine
voice sounded from behind
her.

Spinning around, she met an extremely
handsome, rugged kind of guy. His plaid button-down shirt enhanced
the blue irises of his eyes, and although his jeans fit nicely, she
noted that no man wore a pair quite as well as Stefen.

With a kind smile, he offered a rough,
callused hand to Leah. “I'm Zachary Evanwood. I own and operate the
vineyard along with my father.”

“Very nice to meet you, Zachary. I’m Leah…”
Her voice trailed.

Startling her, she felt a soft, warm hand on
her lower back. “And I’m Stefen.” He extended his other hand to
Zachary.

With a knowing look, Zachary acknowledged,
“It’s very nice to meet you as well, Stefen.” Then he left them to
personally welcome each person in their group.

He was handsome, but Leah didn’t feel
anything. Which was weird. That didn’t, however, mean that Stefen
had the right to act like she needed protecting.

While the rest of their party was
distracted, he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin
on her shoulder. Leah froze, wanting to shrug him off, but couldn’t
find the strength.

“Don’t overthink things, Leah. Stop fighting
this.” He lightly stroked the skin on her hip, just under the hem
of her shirt. She felt his breath in her hair, against her ear. “I
know you feel what I feel.” She fought a moan when Stefen placed a
quick kiss on the side of her neck before releasing her and
strolling away.

Did he
just…Bastard
.

Shaking out of her daze, she focused on
Zachary as he addressed the crowd. “I hope you’re all hungry. We've
prepared an egg, potato, leek and goat cheese frittata for you this
morning.” Beaming with pride, he rubbed his palms together.
“There’s also a spinach salad with lemon vinaigrette. Your meal
will be paired with our two-thousand and twelve merlot. Please join
us in the tasting room when you've finished, and I'll show you some
other selections we have to offer.”

“Thanks, Zachary. You're the best.” The
blonde tour guide, Brittany, fanned her eyelashes, flirting with
him as he walked away with a slight grin. She’d also been keeping
an eye on Stefen and, after he pulled Leah’s seat out, Brittany
rushed to sit on the other side of him.

She propped her chin on her hand and gawked
at Stefen, chattering excitedly. “We always bring our clients here
first since Zachary is the only vineyard owner on the tour who
insists that everyone eats first.” She placed her hand on Stefen’s
arm and smiled sweetly.

Laying a napkin on her
lap, Leah rolled her eyes.
This skank must
flirt with every male she comes into contact with.

Brittany went on, fanning her overly
exaggerated false eyelashes. “He’s also a remarkable chef. I'm sure
you’ll enjoy the food, Mr. Hunter.”

Huffing through her nose,
Leah couldn’t believe this bitch.
Kiss
ass.

Oblivious to Leah, the bimbo leaned in
enough to show off her cleavage and whispered, “I watch what I eat
carefully, so there’s normally a special dish just for me. You’re
welcome to try anything I’ve got.”

Puta barata.
Leah would love to call her a cheap whore to her
face.

Waiters arrived with plates of food for each
person, as well as bottles to fill their wineglasses. Annoyed, Leah
gulped down half the burgundy liquid in one shot. When she put the
goblet down, a shit eating grin came over her face as Stefen gently
took Brittany’s arm off of his and placed it on the table.

Without thinking, Leah gave the other woman
a warning glare as she shoveled a forkful of frittata in her mouth.
She might have announced that they were not a couple, but that
didn’t mean she wanted to see other women pick him up right in
front of her.

Paying no attention to Brittany, Stefen
looked at Leah and licked the olive oil from his lips. “This food
is incredible.”

“Yep.” Leah bobbed her head up and down,
tantalized by his tongue swiping across his mouth.

Zachary appeared with an older gentleman,
who walked with a cane slowly beside him. Taking his time to help
the elderly man, Zachary spoke to their group. “I'd like to
introduce my father, Joel Evanwood. The original owner and operator
here.” Love and respect were evident all over his face.

“It's a pleasure to meet you all.” Joel
braced himself on the cane in his hand. “I hope you’re enjoying the
meal my son and our staff prepared.” Everyone gave encouraging
nods. “Fantastic. Just let us know when you’re ready to move
on.”

Joel turned, and Leah got a peek of his
t-shirt that read, ‘BEWARE, my dog can't hold his licker.’

Giggling, she pointed to the words.
“Actually, he’s a well behaved dog. He didn't lick me once when I
pet him.”

Joel looked down at his shirt, then smiled
back at Leah. “Yeah, that dog has a thing for pretty ladies.”

“Don't we all,” Stefen growled, sending
chills down her spine and blood rushing to her face.

Hijo de puta!

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, this
place was far nicer than he thought it would be. Aside from Leah’s
kiss earlier, the food was the best thing he’d tasted since he left
Chicago. He did, however, have a problem with the stolen glances he
kept catching the owner giving Leah after she announced, once more,
that she and Stefen were not an item.

Sitting in the tasting room, he draped an
arm on the back of Leah’s stool, sipping a bit of the wine left in
his glass as Leah chugged another sample.

“You’d better slow down,” he warned her.
“You’re going to be buzzed before we even get to the next
vineyard.”

“Too late.” Her half lidded eyes were
evidence of that fact. “Hey did you hear Zachary’s coming to my
shop? Yeah, he wants to discuss using me as his florist for the
weddings they host.” She smiled, completely buzzed.

“Yes, I was sitting right there.” He
sneered.

“Oh,” she giggled, a little sloppily. “Well,
did you hear that he wants to come get a feel for my style? Isn’t
that exciting?”

Her unfocussed eyes
would’ve been cute if he wasn’t so irritated.
Is she trying to rub this in my face?

“Yep, heard that, too,” he
grit out.
I wonder what else Mr. Evanwood
wants to get a feel for.
Stefen tipped his
head back, polishing off the last drop of wine in his glass, when
Brittany announced they were moving on to the next
winery.

Leah swayed a bit when he
helped her up from the bar stool.
How is
she going to make it to the next couple of vineyards?

Still, he was relieved that they were
leaving. He reached for Leah’s hand, but she pulled away,
sauntering over to Zachary. They murmured something Stefen couldn’t
hear, but he caught Zachary glancing at him as Leah shook her head.
Zachary gave her a knowing look, and Stefen squinted to read his
mouth.

“Trust me,” it looked like he said.

Looking over her shoulder, she caught Stefen
glaring at them, then twirled around to join him.

“What was that about?” Stefen grumbled, his
lips forming a flat line.

“Some nonsense about finding ‘the one’ and
not letting them slip away. I don’t believe it, though.” She waved
her hands, dismissing the conversation.

Infuriated, Stefen’s blood
boiled.
Who the hell is this guy? He just
met her and was suddenly declaring that she was ‘the one’?
What the fuck?

Stefen shot daggers in Zachary’s general
direction as they slipped out the large rustic wooden doors into
the warm sunshine. They’d just made it to the vehicle when Zachary
came jogging up with two bottles of wine.

“Here, try these and tell me what you
think.” Pride radiated off of the vineyard owner.

Leah kissed Zachary on the cheek as he
handed the bottles to her. Stefen almost growled aloud, about to
lose his shit, when it hit him like a ton of bricks—Leah was egging
him on. This was on purpose.

Son of a bitch.

His lips curled up. This day was about to
get even more interesting. He narrowed his eyes, steeling a
sideways glance as Leah fluttered her eyes innocently, running a
cute little hand through her hair.

Two can play at this game, sweetheart. And
I’m a fucking expert.

Climbing into the waiting vehicle, Leah’s
head began to spin. She would need to hold off on the wine at the
next stops. Plopping herself down, she made sure to leave room for
Stefen. But when she looked around for him, she saw him squeezing
between Brittany and another flirty blonde that Leah had caught
eyeing him earlier.

Confused, she patted the seat next to her,
but he announced loudly, “Nope, I’m fine over here.”

Everyone heard. Leah sank into her seat,
embarrassed.

Damn, I’m buzzed. Did Stefen really turn
down sitting next to me? Prick.

Mixing alcohol with a temper was never a
good idea. It would be better to just ignore him. With a little
effort, Leah managed to get her phone out of her skintight pocket,
surfed her social network page, and pretended like she didn’t give
a crap what was going on in front of her.

She was impenetrable. Untouchable.

He can’t hurt me. He
doesn’t affect me.
At least that’s what
she tried to convince herself.

As much as she didn’t want it to, his voice
traveled back to her. “Yeah, I’m a lawyer in Chicago at my family’s
firm.”

Unable to help herself, Leah turned her
head, letting her hair create a makeshift barrier so she could spy
on them without being detected.

He smiled at both woman as they ate up the
bullshit he was dishing them. “Oh, Mr. Hunter, that’s so
impressive.” He did nothing to stop the second blonde from running
her hand down his chest while the son of a bitch stared directly at
Leah.

“Please, call me Stefen.”

Leah peeked over and caught him raising an
eyebrow, giving Brittany a playful grin.

Ugh.
She’d had enough.

Thankfully, the next winery was just down
the road, and Leah had no intention of spending another minute with
Stefen. Once they stopped, she threw the door open and darted out
in search of a restroom.

After she patted her face and neck with a
cold, wet paper towel, she took a deep breath, looked in the mirror
and gave herself a pep talk. “You knew what kind of guy he was.
Stop acting childish. It’ll be much worse if you don’t ignore him.
He was never and will never be yours. Now put on your big girl
panties and go have another drink.”

Exiting, she bumped smack into Stefen. He
grabbed her arms to steady her.

“Oh, there you are. I wondered where you ran
off to. Are you feeling all right?” Although she’d love to think he
was concerned, his eyes and smile said he was goading her.

Smoothing her hair down
with her hands, she assured him, “I’m fine.” Her buzz was
lessening.
I definitely need more
wine.
Raising her chin, she put her plan
to ignore him back into action.