Chapter 18
Rhonan
Yoga Manipulation
“The new cart is a machine.” My dad stands proudly next to the popcorn cart that Fletcher got him last fall to replace the old one my mother bought when we first started Hart Winery events. “I didn’t realize the new state-of-the-art technology that was available in things like these.”
“Glad it’s working well, Dad.”
I can feel his eyes on me as I survey the grounds of the winery, thinking about what else can be done before the event starts tonight.
Normally, my father only brings out the popcorn cart for movie nights, but Ellis begged him to have it available every time there’s an event, and Elodie agreed the idea was spectacular because both of them are obsessed with popcorn.
“Daddy! Watch me go down the slide!”
I turn my attention back to Ellis as I watch her slide down the twisted slide on the playground at Hart Winery for what feels like the hundredth time.
Spoiler alert—it looks the same each time.
“You’re a professional,” I call back to her before directing my gaze back to Henley, who’s holding his daughter in his arms.
“Is this what I have to look forward to?” he asks.
“Yup.” I reach out and play with one of Remy’s short pigtails. “Sometimes I miss this age because Ellis spoke far less.”
Henley chuckles. “Yeah, she doesn’t ever seem to stop talking now, does she?”
“Ms. Lewis!” Ellis shouts, jumping from the swing and running over to where Vienna is standing.
And fuck me sideways.
She’s wearing a hunter green spandex outfit that should be illegal.
Well, she’s here for yoga, so what did you expect her to be wearing, Rhonan? A muumuu?
Ellis wraps her arms around Vienna’s legs the second she reaches her. “Hey, sweet girl.” Vienna squeezes her back. “Long time, no see.”
Ellis peers up at her. “I just saw you at school.”
Vienna bops her on the nose. “I know, it’s a joke.”
“Oh.” Ellis shrugs and then races back to the playground. “Ms. Lewis, watch me go down the slide!”
Vienna starts heading in my direction, but her eyes remain locked on my daughter. “I’m watching.” She waits for Ellis to traverse the entire slide before clapping. “Amazing! You’re the best slider ever!”
Ellis takes a bow. “I know!”
Laughing, Vienna approaches me, meeting my eyes finally. “Hey there, neighbor.”
I have no control over how my eyes dip up and down her body before I finally find some words. “Hello.”
She moves her gaze up and down my body now. “Is that what you wore to do yoga?”
“I already told you, Vienna. I don’t do yoga.”
She tsks. “Such a shame. You’re missing out.”
Henley nods. “She’s right, man. Once Carol gets here, I can hand off Remy and I’m ready to get my sweat on.”
Joanne walks up to us, reaching out for Remy. “If you need me to, I can watch her too.”
Remy reaches out for Joanne, landing safely in her arms. “I appreciate that, thank you,” Henley says.
Vienna gasps, glancing between me and Henley. “Wait a minute. Your friends do yoga, but you won’t?”
“Nope.” Widening my stance, I cross my arms over my chest. “And trust me, they’ve all tried to get me to join, but it’s not gonna happen.”
“What’s not gonna happen?” Elliot asks as he and Fletcher walk up to us, holding their yoga mats.
I fight my desire to give them both shit in front of Vienna. “Me doing yoga. I was telling Vienna that even you guys haven’t been able to convince me.”
Fletcher rolls his eyes at me. “You’re such a stubborn ass, I swear.”
“Hey, Vienna!” My sister comes walking over, her strides intense and purposeful. “There you are!”
“What’s up?”
“That guy I wanted to introduce you to is here,” Laney says, her smile blinding.
“Oh, yeah.” Vienna turns back to all of us, but locks eyes with me. “See you guys over there.” She follows my sister as they traipse off together, whispering to one another.
My blood pressure just skyrocketed.
“What guy?” I blurt out, my eyes still locked on Vienna as Laney leads her into the main building of the winery.
Fletcher shrugs. “Beats me. Must be something they talked about the other night when they were all hanging out.”
“She can’t talk to some other guy.”
Henley wears a smug smile as he says, “And why not? I mean, technically she’s single.”
“And sleeping with me,” I add.
Elliot hits me on the upper arm with his yoga mat. “Did you two talk about exclusivity? Because if not, then she has every right to…”
“Motherfucker,” I mutter under my breath, glancing back at the playground to check on Ellis.
“I swear to God, if—” But I don’t get to finish my thought because Vienna comes out of the main building into the courtyard of the winery talking to some guy I don’t even recognize. “Who the fuck is this guy?”
My three best friends turn to assess the situation before Henley speaks up. “I have no idea, man. Maybe he’s new in town.”
My sister crosses the courtyard, headed to her spot on the small hill where she’ll lead the yoga class in about thirty minutes.
“Well, I’m going to find out.”
When I showed up tonight at the winery to help out my dad and, of course, support my sister because Ellis likes to pretend that she knows how to do yoga with her aunt, I never imagined that rage would be a part of the evening’s activities.
After blackjack the other night, I sent a text to Vienna that I was thinking about her. We chatted a bit about our days apart, but I couldn’t visit her again because I had to work two back-to-back shifts. Now, it’s Thursday night and the impending yoga event at the winery is underway.
I just didn’t count on needing to confront my fears so quickly.
I planned on speaking to her once we were back home, alone and away from the crowds. I wanted to show her with my body how much I’d been thinking about her since we saw each other last.
And even though I still don’t know how to communicate what I’m feeling to her, I was thinking that maybe it was time to talk about the two of us putting a label on what we are.
I’m not even sure if that lingo is still relevant because it’s been over five years since I’ve been in a relationship—just another reason why I feel so out of my fucking league here.
But here I am, stomping across my family’s winery, intent on giving my sister a piece of my mind because I need someone to blame for what I’m feeling, and she’s the one who took Vienna to meet this guy.
Dilynne and Elodie join my sister in her usual spot, whispering about something before I reach them.
“Oh. Hi, Rhonan,” Elodie says, alerting my sister to my presence.
Laney pops up from the ground. “Hey, big brother. What’s up?”
“You know what’s up,” I grate out through clenched teeth.
My sister’s brows draw together as she glances at Dilynne and Elodie. “Uh, okay…”
I wave my finger in the direction of Vienna, but when my eyes land on her, there’s now two more men talking to her. What the actual fuck?
I growl in frustration as Dilynne places her hand on my shoulder. “Use your words, Rhonan. We don’t speak caveman.”
Pushing her hand away, I take another step closer to my sister, lowering my voice. “Why did you introduce Vienna to a guy?”
Her eyes widen, but she still looks confused. “I—was I not allowed to, or something?”
“Laney…”
“What? You two aren’t together, and Ryan said that he was looking to be set up. The only single person I could think of was Vienna, so…”
“What about Dilynne?” I say, pointing to her best friend.
Dilynne huffs out a laugh. “That boy is way too soft-spoken for me.”
“I thought that’s how you liked your men,” Elliot interjects as he, Fletcher, and Henley all arrive where we’re standing. “That way you can boss them around, right?”
Great, now the gang’s all here.
Dilynne directs her icy glare right at Elliot. “You mean how you were with Tori?”
Elliot’s smug smile falls from his lips, but Fletcher steps in. “Let’s not start, you two. Rhonan seems to be on the verge of a mental breakdown right now, so we don’t need another situation to manage.”
Dilynne flips Elliot off, to which he returns the gesture, and then Laney rolls her eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re so angry about me introducing them,” my sister continues speaking on our original topic.
“That’s a lie, and you know it.”
She smirks. “Oh really? And why is that?”
Suddenly, I feel everyone’s eyes on me.
It’s now or never, Rhonan. Time to shit or get off the pot.
“Because I want her,” I declare out loud for everyone to hear—and something about letting those words out into the universe makes the knot in my chest loosen.
Dilynne yells. “Hallelujah, folks! Our man just had a come-to-Jesus moment! Everyone, give him a round of applause.”
My sister nods proudly while clapping her hands. “Glad you can finally admit that.” She tosses her head in Vienna’s direction. “And now that you did, why don’t you go get her?”
When my eyes lock on Vienna, there are now four men standing around her, intensely focused on her face and body, one of them clearly attempting to make her laugh.
Fuck this.
That woman is mine.
My feet carry me across the space, bypassing people attempting to say hello to me and hordes of people entering the property for yoga.
But all I can focus on is the woman that I need to remind of our connection, the woman that I want to claim in front of all of these idiots so they know to back the fuck off.
When I make it to their group, Vienna’s laughter cuts through my intense rage, calming me instantly.
“And that’s when I said, maybe we should get a glass of wine then,” one of the morons says like he’s telling the punchline of a joke.
But when Vienna laughs this time, I can tell it’s fake. That’s not the same laugh that she has when she’s with me and Ellis. It’s not easy and natural, reminding me of the way birds sound when they whistle while flying—effortless and light.
No, it sounds like a cry for help, if you ask me. And I do have a habit of rescuing this woman when the time is right.
“Vienna,” I say, cutting in on their conversation and pulling all of their eyes to me. My eyes remain on her, though.
“Oh. Hey, Rhonan.”
“I need to speak with you.”
She glances around at the men and then back to me. “Uh, I’m kind of busy right now.”
“It can’t wait.”
She takes a step closer to me. “Is—is something wrong? Where’s Ellis?”
Fuck. This woman’s mind instantly went to my daughter and her well-being.
Yeah, I didn’t stand a fucking chance at resisting her.
“Ellis is fine. I’m the one with the problem.”
One of her many suitors glares at me, but I shoot him an equally harsh look and then plead with Vienna using my eyes.
Vienna addresses the men. “I—I’m sorry y’all. I need to step away for a moment.”
As soon as she says the words, I grab her hand and pull her toward the main building.
“Rhonan!” Fletcher calls out to me as we cross through the courtyard, but I wave him off.
“Rhonan.” Vienna’s voice infiltrates my ears this time, but I’m too focused on getting this woman away from everyone so we can speak in private.
“Hey, son,” my father says as I pass him in the tasting room, headed for the hallway that leads to the cellar beneath the building. “Everything all right?”
Pausing in front of him for just one second, I ask, “Is the cellar empty?”
His brows draw together. “Yes…”
“Okay, thanks.” I pull Vienna behind me again and lead her to the heavy wooden door, entering the keypad on the lock and opening it up for Vienna to step through. “Watch your step.”
“What’s going on, Rhonan?” Her hand glides on the railing of the stairs as I step behind her, keeping my hand on her shoulder.
When she finally reaches the cellar floor, she spins around, ready to give me a piece of her mind, but I crash my mouth into hers and back her up against the racks of barrels behind her, pinning her hands above her head.
White-hot pleasure races through me, traveling straight to my cock as I thrust my hips into her stomach, letting her feel how hard I am.
I don’t think anymore. All the words, all the doubts that have been on a loop in my head for nearly two months vanish the second our lips touch—because this can’t be wrong.
Not when it feels this right.
Vienna breaks our kiss, her chest heaving between us. “What the hell has gotten into you?”
“You have, Vienna. I’m waving my white flag.”
“And what exactly are you surrendering to?”
I lock my eyes onto hers, those green irises glittering from the soft lighting above us. “I can’t deny my fucking feelings for you anymore, woman. It fucking killed me watching those men gawking over you…”
Her eyes widen, but she still looks confused. “Right now? You—you came to this realization right now?”
I drag my nose up the column of her throat, nibbling on her earlobe when I get there. “You’re lucky I dragged you away from those men before kissing you the way I just did. Trust me, I wanted to mark you right in front of all of them.”
I don’t miss how her body shivers in response to my words. “I—I’m sorry. We haven’t seen each other in almost a week and now…”
I lean back and stare into her eyes again. “Have dinner with me,” I blurt out, throwing caution to the wind, but it’s now or never. I’m asking this woman on a date, just like my friends told me I should.
I just wish she didn’t pause as she considers her answer.