Page 44 of The Prince Who Loved Me

“Bonne nuit,mon ange.”

She got up and paced her floor. At least she had talked out what was in her head. He was right the first time. Completely separating Belle’s from the Inn was a bad, bad, bad idea. She’d run it into the ground.

And then it would just be something else she had failed at.

Chapter 10

The GPS address for Brandi’s date led her to a rustic and homey wooden restaurant set in front of fields of green. Nick waited on the porch in a button down shirt, his brown hair neatly combed. He waved when he saw her, one hand behind his back.

Flowers. Appropriate for a third date. She pulled down her rearview mirror to check her reflection, verifying her teeth were free of lipstick and her mascara hadn’t smudged. She also searched celebrity news sites for Sebastien’s name on her phone. Just to check up on what he was doing. Nothing more.

The woman that Sebastien had dinner with looked very striking. Really, they made a striking couple. A very strikable couple.

“Stop torturing yourself,” she said to her empty car. Her phone belonged in her purse for the next couple of hours while she was with Nick. She exited her car and made her way to the restaurant. The wooden stairs creaked as she met him on the porch. He gave her quick peck on the cheek and held out a pink rose.

“It’s lovely.” She inhaled its velvety scent.

“You can say it. It’s cliché.”

It was, but it was also nice. Not as large as the gorgeous bouquet Rob bought Wendy, but still a sweet gesture. “It’s classic.”

He hustled her inside, but instead of stopping at the hostess stand, they went through an open door and down a short hallway. A small woodworked sign hanging on the yellow wall indicated this was The Winery. “I thought we’d try something different tonight.”

The room contained rows and rows of wine bottles against the wall. Every available inch was covered with racks.Several people sat at a table in the center of the room, each place sporting several empty wine glasses. “I’m intrigued,” Brandi said.

A woman stood near the door and greeted them with a smile. “Brandi and Nick? I’m Alberta. Just show me your IDs real quick and we’ll be on our way to the great wine adventure.”

After showing the women proof that they were over 21, Brandi and Nick sat in the two remaining seats. A plate of various cheeses sat at the tables in front of them, with small silver spittoons next to each setting.

Alberta positioned herself at the head of the table and several silent servers poured two glasses of white wine for each person. “Clockwise on your table, starting at twelve o’clock, are our soft cheeses: a raw French milk Camembert, a mild St. Andres, and the Brillat-Savarin. You might find that last one salty. We’re pairing these with Malvasia Rei, the wine on your right, made with grapes produced in Spain. Continuing on at six o’clock on your plate are harder cheese.” She continued listing the cheese types and described the richer chardonnay.

“You brought me to a wine pairing.” Brandi lifted the fruity white and swished it around in her mouth.

“You mentioned wine on our last date so I thought this might be something fun.” Nick spread some cheese on a cracker. “Is this all right?”

Very thoughtful, actually. She nodded, unable to answer with her mouth still full of the liquid. Other guests were lifting their spittoons to their mouths and, well, spitting. It was gross but necessary, unless she wanted to get drunk within an hour.

The wine had warmed, lining the inside of her mouth. It was go time. She lifted her spittoon and twisted away so Nick couldn’t see her undignified actions.

He was laughing when he put his own spit bowl on the table, his brown eyes crinkling. “Apparently I didn’t completelythink this through. Wine, I thought. Wine is perfect. Brandi likes wine. And I like Brandi. How could this possibly go wrong?”

Her body twinged at his confession, as if unsure it wanted the compliment. She shoved the feeling away and gave him a bright smile. “As long as we can agree this is a necessary uncouthness and we don’t hold our spitting accuracy against each other.”

“Deal.” He lifted one of the harder cheeses in a makeshift toast.

She tapped it with hers, laughing when she popped it into her mouth.

“Mmmm, these tannins taste amazing.” Nick took another sip of his wine, then spit it out. “Yup. Delicious.”

“The tannins,” Brandi said. “In the fruity white wine. Taste amazing.”

“They sure do.”

The confidence in his voice made her laugh. She shook her head.

“They don’t?” Nick asked. “Do they taste amazing in the chardonnay?”

“No. They taste amazing in dry reds.”