Something in the Wine (41 page)

Conscious of the people surrounding them, Annie struggled not to pull away before Drew ended the hug. After a moment, she just relaxed and enjoyed the warm, solid feel of Drew’s body against hers. It felt new and exciting, yet at the same time soothingly familiar.

Finally, Drew let go and Annie stumbled to her chair on wobbly legs.

“Are you okay?” Drew asked, leaning forward to look at her with a concerned gaze.

“I’m fine. How was work? Was the tasting room busy today?”

“We got a lot of folks looking for the right wine for Christmas,” Drew said. “And how was the art opening?”

Annie thought of the painting in her trunk. She wanted to tell Drew then and there what she had found, but she bit her tongue. The painting would make a nice Christmas present for Drew. “It was more interesting than I thought.”

“I’m really sorry I missed it.” Drew grinned. “I need to find another way to earn brownie points with your mother.”

“You earned brownie points with me by being here extra-early even though I know you had a busy day,” Annie said.

“I didn’t want to make you wait like the last time.”

The last time.
So much had changed since the last time they’d had dinner here two months before. They had gone from hesitant allies in a plot against Jake to being friends and now potential lovers so fast that Annie’s head was spinning.

The ordering of the food and wine rushed by in a nervous daze.

Calm down and just enjoy the evening.
But that was easier said than done. She reached for her pocket to touch the moonstone, a gesture she found calming, and then remembered that her dress didn’t have any pockets—and that the moonstone was gone. She tugged on her bottom lip with her teeth.

“What is it?” Drew asked. The candle in the middle of the table threw flickering shadows over her face as she leaned forward and regarded Annie closely. “What’s wrong?”

Annie felt like a woman who had lost her lover’s fifty-thousand-dollar diamond ring. “Drew, I ... There’s something I’ve got to tell you.”

Drew blanched beneath her tan. She sank against the back of her chair. “You changed your mind.”

“What?” Annie stared at her.

“About me. About us.”

“Oh. You thought ...? No, no, no. That’s not what this is all about.” Annie leaned forward and touched Drew’s hand that was clamped around her wineglass. It was strangely encouraging to see that she wasn’t the only one feeling insecure when it came to their relationship. “No negative assumptions, remember?”

“Yeah.” Drew loosened her death grip on the wineglass. “I remember.” A tiny smile brought out her dimples.

Instantly, Annie wanted to make her smile again, but instead, she had to give her some bad news. She inhaled and held the breath for as long as she could before she blurted out, “I think I lost the moonstone.”

“Oh.”

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know how it happened. I swear I—”

“Annie, stop.” Drew reached across the table and touched Annie’s cheek. “On the way to the restaurant, I stopped to pick up your Christmas present.”

What did that have to do with anything? Was Drew trying to cheer her up? Annie tilted her head and waited for Drew to continue.

“I think you should have it now, though,” Drew said. She fumbled for something in her pocket. Her eyes shone, and a flush covered her cheeks.

Annie had to smile.
She’s so cute.
Her smile froze when Drew pushed a jewelry box across the table. Annie’s heartbeat thundered through her ears, and she wasn’t sure whether she was scared that it might be a ring or afraid that it wasn’t.
It’s too soon, isn’t it?
With trembling fingers, she took the little box and opened it.

Before her lay a silver necklace. A milky-white stone pendant gleamed against the dark velvet of the jewelry box.

Phew.
Annie exhaled sharply.
Not a ring.

She squinted and looked more closely. “Isn’t that a moonstone?” She looked at Drew.

Drew grinned and nodded. “Not just any moonstone. That’s yours. Ours. I took it from your coat pocket when you weren’t paying attention. I’m sorry I made you think you might have lost it. I didn’t think you would notice it was gone this soon.”

Annie rubbed her thumb over its shining surface and exhaled slowly. The thought of having lost the moonstone had plagued her all evening.

“I hope it’s okay that I had the jeweler cut and polish it,” Drew said. “I know you don’t like sentimental trinkets like this, but ...” She shrugged and trailed off, looking at Annie with a hopeful expression.

Three months ago, Annie would have thought it a childish superstition and a waste of money to put a simple stone from a beach on a necklace. Now the moonstone represented hope, love, and a more positive way of thinking. “Of course it’s okay.” She smiled at Drew. “I love it. I’m finding I like sentimental these days.” She took the necklace from the box and looked at the dangling pendant for a moment before she lifted it to her neck.

“Let me do it,” Drew said. She got up and rounded the table. Her fingers brushed feather-light against Annie’s skin as she closed the necklace’s catch, making goose bumps trail down Annie’s body. “There.” With one gentle finger, Drew touched the moonstone resting on Annie’s chest.

Even though Drew wasn’t touching her directly, Annie felt heat flow through her. She coughed against the sudden lump of emotion in her throat. “I’ve got something for you too.” She had wanted to give Drew the painting for Christmas, but now she could hardly wait to see Drew’s face when she saw it. “It’s in the trunk of my car, though, so it’ll have to wait until later.”

“Some things are worth waiting for,” Drew said and smiled.

Annie didn’t know what to say to that. Her mouth was too dry to speak. Suddenly everything they said and did seemed to be filled with so much emotion that she barely knew how to handle it. When the waiter set down the broccoli pasta dish in front of Annie, she picked at her food and searched for something to say. Whenever they had dinner together before, the conversation between them had flowed, but now Annie was left speechless.

The feeling that the other people in the restaurant were watching them didn’t help. In the past, she had enjoyed the anonymity in public places like this. On all of her other dates, she had been just one of many diners, not standing out from the masses at all. No one had paid her any special attention, and that was how Annie preferred it. Now the feeling that all the other people knew something very private about her, just by looking at her and Drew, made her skin crawl.

“Let’s get these to go and head to my place,” Drew said.

Annie looked up, startled. “Go to your place? Why?”

“Because you’re not comfortable here.”

“No, I—”

“Annie,” Drew reached across the table and took her hand, “please don’t do that with me. Don’t pretend to be fine when you’re not.”

Annie stared at Drew’s hand on top of hers. The touch was soothing yet at the same time uncomfortable. She inhaled deeply and forced herself not to pull away. Drew deserved to know. She would understand. At least Annie hoped so. “This,” she nodded down at their hands, “is hard for me.”

When Drew started to pull back her hand, Annie trapped it against hers with her left hand. “It’s fine. I just need to get over my paranoia. I’m sure most people here don’t notice or don’t mind that we’re two women holding hands.” Maybe if she told herself that a few more times, she would start to believe it.

A sad smile flitted across Drew’s face. “I won’t lie to you. Most people really don’t care, but there are a few homophobic jerks, even here in California. We might get some stares when we’re holding hands. If it would make you more comfortable, we could cut out the affectionate touches in public.” Drew looked at her, clearly ready to accept whatever Annie decided.

Annie studied their hands before she let her gaze stray through the restaurant. A man at one of the other tables was staring at them from behind the cover of his menu. The muscles in Annie’s hand jerked as she suppressed the reflex to withdraw her fingers from Drew’s. Yes, it would be easier to avoid all overly affectionate touches while in public. If she just sat here, enjoying dinner and pleasant conversation with Drew, no one would think they were anything but friends.

But she knew it was the coward’s way out and wouldn’t be fair to either her or Drew. If she wanted their relationship to work, she needed to stand up for herself and not let her life be dictated by the expectations of strangers.

“No,” she said. “That’s not what I want. Just give me some time to get used to it, okay?”

“Okay,” Drew said with an understanding smile. She squeezed Annie’s hand and started to pull back when someone stopped next to their table.

Annie looked up, expecting to see the waiter.

Instead, Drew’s friend Lynn stood in front of them. “Hi, Drew. I thought that was you.” She bent to kiss Drew’s cheek.

The kiss lasted a bit too long for Annie’s taste. She found herself glaring at Lynn’s hand on Drew’s shoulder. The possessiveness of that gesture made her want to rip off Lynn’s hand.

When Lynn straightened, her gaze fell on Annie’s and Drew’s still joined hands. She glanced around the restaurant before she grinned at Annie and bent to whisper, “Still trying to trick your brother?”

Drew and Annie exchanged a glance, then Drew gave her a nod, leaving it up to Annie to decide on what to tell Lynn.

Annie hesitated. Pretending not to care about what strangers might think was one thing, but facing Drew’s friends was another. She gave herself a mental kick. “No,” she said, forcing herself to meet Lynn’s gaze. “This doesn’t have anything to do with tricking Jake. Drew and I ... we’re ... together.”

“Woohoo!” Lynn slapped Drew’s shoulder. “So you finally earned that toaster oven?”

At Lynn’s loud cheering, the people at the neighboring tables looked over at them. One of the waiters stopped in the middle of pouring wine and stared too.

Lynn grinned at Annie as if she were just one in a long row of Drew’s conquests.

Annie couldn’t stand that grin any longer. She let go of Drew’s hand and pushed away her plate. Instead of jumping up as she wanted to, she mumbled, “Excuse me,” got up with as much dignity as possible—which wasn’t much under the circumstances—and fled to the ladies’ room. Maybe if she hid out there for long enough, Lynn would just disappear.

* * *

Drew threw down her napkin. She wanted to throw it into Lynn’s face but restrained herself. Making even more of a spectacle wouldn’t help. “Great.” She stared at the door of the ladies’ room that had just closed behind Annie, then pivoted to glare at Lynn. “You’re as diplomatic as a sledgehammer.”

“Me?” Lynn dropped into Annie’s chair. “What did I do?”

Drew ground her teeth. “That toaster oven comment wasn’t funny.”

“Oh, come on. People said the same thing when I first slept with you.”

“That’s different.” Drew rose to go after Annie and make sure she was okay.

Lynn refolded the napkin Annie had dumped on the table. “Why?”

Drew put both hands on the table and leaned forward to tower over Lynn. “Because we didn’t ...” She stopped herself from telling Lynn she hadn’t slept with Annie yet. In the past, telling her friends about her sex life hadn’t been a big deal, but with Annie, it felt like a private, almost sacred thing that she didn’t want to share with anyone else. “Because comments like that make Annie feel like she’s a notch on my bed post. Just one of many. And she’s not.”

Lynn stared at her. Her fingers tightened around the napkin. “And I was?”

“No.” Drew stopped herself from reaching across the table to cover Lynn’s hand with her own. She didn’t want to send mixed messages. “Please don’t think that. It just wasn’t working between us. I’m sorry. I know you hoped we’d get back together.”

With her free hand, Lynn scratched at a tiny sauce stain on the tablecloth. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“I’m not blaming you for that. But you being a bitch to Annie ... that’s got to stop. Right now.”

Lynn snatched her hand away from under Drew’s. “I’m not—”

“Yes, you are.” Drew glanced toward the ladies’ room again. “From the moment you met Annie, you’ve been teasing and needling her.” She leaned down to make sure Lynn caught each and every one of her words. “You’re my friend, but if you don’t cut out this kind of behavior, you’ll make me choose between Annie and you. And believe me, you won’t like my choice.”

For a moment, even the clinking of glasses and the conversation of other guests seemed to stop.

Drew bit her lip. She felt bad about hurting Lynn, but it needed to be said. She had left too many things between them unresolved after their breakup the year before.

A bitter snort from Lynn interrupted the silence between them. She folded her arms across her chest. “Why didn’t you ever fight for our relationship like this?”

Drew squeezed her eyes shut.
Not that again.
She didn’t have the patience to deal with this now. She wanted to go after Annie. “Jesus, Lynn, why don’t you finally get over it? We were together for all of three months, and we fought like cats and dogs for half of that time.”