Chapter 02
Letting Rhodes dress me and realizing he was better at it than I was should’ve been illegal. Why was he better at dressing me than I was? Probably because he cared more than I did. Admittedly, since getting out of the Army, I’d become a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl or a gym rat. It was what I felt most comfortable in. Anything else was too much. Too dressy. Too girly. Too colorful. Too flashy.
The list went on and on.
Like the lacey top and high-waisted jeans the man had put me in. Yes, I looked fan-fucking-tastic, but I never would’ve done this for myself. He said I needed to make a good first impression; I tried to talk him out of having to go. Obviously, he won because here I was, pulling into the brick-paved parking lot of Wildflower Vineyard.
At least the top was black.
Sunflower season was my favorite in Florida. It was a little indulgence of pleasure that I allowed myself. So when Sadie reached out to ask me where I’d do this thing if I could pick anywhere, I told her Wildflower Vineyards. They were supposed to have the most beautiful sunflower fields in the south.
Honestly, I didn’t expect her to pull it off. The vineyard was an A-listers-only kind of place. People paid thousands to sit around, gossip, and taste-and-spit fancy wine. Who did that? If I was paying for fancy wine, I was downing the whole bottle. You didn’t let fancy wine go to waste by spitting it out. That was just ridiculous.
But this whole plan also hinged on us liking each other. We were about to be stuck inside a nice-as-hell vineyard for at least an hour. Probably longer if we were stuck navigating around crowds. I knew for a fact this place was always busy, especially during sunflower season.
The potential for a big crowd of people made my heart pound a little faster. I didn’t like crowds. Always trying to keep an eye on everyone and still have a safe escape route was hell on earth.
Before I could deeply ponder the potential escape routes—one of which included burning everything to the ground—my phone buzzed, practically dancing along the dash, and I scrambled to grab it.
“I’ve decided you can back out if you really want to,“
Rhodes announced when I answered.
“Oh, now you’ve decided?“
I demanded with a roll of my eyes, and, even though he couldn’t see me, I knew he could feel it. We had that kind of friendship.
“I still strongly believe that you need to get out and meet some people,“
he said. “I can’t be your only friend.”
“You’re not my only friend!“
That was a lie. I was fooling no one.
“I’m just saying, if you don’t want to do it, then don’t do it. I know you’ve got a lot going on with… you know.”
“We don’t talk about that,“
I snapped.
“I know,“
he replied quickly.
Rhodes and I were both less than a year out of the army and our last deployment. To say we weren’t faring great with readjusting to civilian life was the understatement of the century. Rhodes dove headfirst into kinky things and hookups. I, on the other hand, liked to punch things. I was so wound up with anger, and I didn’t know what to do with all the feelings. Instead of going to law school like I’d planned to after the military, I was taking a year off to avoid bar fights and hit punching bags.
We were coping. Sort of.
I sighed. That was also a lie, but we were doing our best to fool everyone with that lie.
“All right! I’m going in,“
I said. “And I’m going to have a hell of a time.”
“Just don’t punch anyone.”
“Oh, come on!”
“We don’t have bail money!”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Honestly, that’s what I’m afraid of.“
Rhodes chuckled.
“I love you,“
I replied in a sing-song voice as I climbed out of the car.
“Love you too, Koala.“
The nickname before he hung up made me smile. Only Rhodes was allowed to call me any version of a nickname. Koala had become a special term of endearment regarding the never-ending hugs I gave him. Sometimes, the man just needed a damn hug before he could work through his issues.
Pausing, I took a moment to adjust the high waist of my jeans and the front of my blouse. I looked good—I knew that—but that didn’t stop the nerves from making me question otherwise.
Was it too much? Maybe I should’ve gone with the t-shirt after all. Or hell, maybe I should’ve worn a sundress of some sort.
I shoved that thought aside. Worrying about my outfit now wouldn’t do me any good. I walked to the entrance, doing my best to stay out of my head.
Wildflower Vineyard screamed old money from its aged bricks and cobblestones to its elegant stained glass windows and pristine landscape. There were surprisingly few people present for their busy season, and the only people I did see were staff, minus the woman standing by the door grinning all too happily at me.
Sadie Clarke looked every bit the photographer she was, from the massive camera bag on her shoulder to the expensive equipment she had hanging around her neck. Her brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, and her smile was too big for her face. Overall, the vibes were good on my first impression of the woman.
“Sariah?“
she greeted with the kind of voice that could only be described as pleasantly warm. As soon as I was close enough, she extended a hand for me to shake. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!”
“Yes! Same. I’ve been looking forward to this,“
I said, lying through my teeth and hoping to hell that I was convincing enough. Based on her enthusiastic nodding, I was. “I’ll admit, I was surprised when you said we were doing the shoot here—in a good way! I swear. I’ve always wanted to come here.”
“Oh, it’s a dream location,“
she replied. “When you said sunflowers and I saw this place, I just knew. And then I sent it to the other participant, and she immediately rented it out for the night.”
“Rented it out?“
I repeated stupidly.
“Yes,“
Sadie affirmed.
“The whole thing?“
My gaze shot back to the main building. The main building was huge in and of itself. That didn’t account for the distillery, the fields, and the restaurant. There was no way someone rented out the whole thing. “No fucking way.”
“Yeah.“
She laughed. “She wanted the freedom to not have to deal with anyone else today.”
“That’s…”
“Amazing!“
she finished for me. That was certainly one word for it.
I scanned the vineyard once more—I couldn’t help it. That was a lot of money to shell out for a volunteer photoshoot. Who the hell had that kind of money lying around?
“Who the hell is this woman?“
I murmured.
That big smile of Sadie’s was back as she gestured for me to follow her.
“Why don’t we go find out?”