Wright Rival (Wright)

I was still staring down at my shirt as everyone went into motion. Julian and Jordan ran for something to clean up the mess. Annie pulled the chairs away from the spreading wine. Blaire and Jennifer pressed napkins to my ruined shirt. And Bradley…he just sat there, his mouth hanging open, utterly helpless. This was far from the first time that wine had spilled on me. It was sort of an occupational hazard, considering I worked at a winery. But this had been avoidable. My anger threatened to boil up and unleash on him.

Blaire stepped between us, as if she could see what was about to happen. “I think I have a jacket in my car.”

“I…I have a shirt. A gray shirt in the side of my gym bag,” Bradley said with a cough. It was as if he had suddenly realized he should do something. “I can go get it.”

“No. I’ll get it. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

“I can go with you,” Bradley offered, a little manically.

But Julian came back with a broom in hand. Jordan threw a towel at Bradley. I’d never been so thankful for the Wrights.

I didn’t so much as flee as stomp angrily through the crowded barn and outside into the chilly night air. My hands were clenched into fists. I wanted to kick something. Mostly my boyfriend.

Bradley’s truck was parked at the back of the lot, wedged between two other giant trucks. I jerked open the back door and grabbed for the gym bag. His shirt wasn’t going to fit me, but it would be better than wearing something soaked in wine. Maybe Blaire could work her magic and make it look okay. After all, she was the famous influencer.

I’d just ripped my blouse off when I heard a low whistle, and a gravelly voice said, “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

My head jolted upward as Hollin Abbey came into view. Just the sight of him made my knees wobble. I wasn’t short by any stretch of the imagination, and still he towered over me. He had on jeans and a white T-shirt, revealing the inky-black lines of his full sleeve. His beard had recently been trimmed. His hair was a soft blond, and his eyes were so blue, as if reaching the endless depths of the ocean. When they caught sight of me, shirtless, my breasts half-spilling out of the nude bra, they rounded wide.

I was too angry to be self-conscious. I balled up my shirt, threw it into the cab of the truck, and put my hands on my hips. “Like the view, Abbey?”

He smirked with the cocky, annoying look he always gave me. “Yeah, I do.”

I huffed. “I don’t want to deal with you tonight.”

He leaned against the truck next to Bradley’s, which I belatedly realized was his. He crossed his muscled arms across his chest. I averted my gaze, so I wouldn’t stare at the bulging biceps and incredible chest.

“Why are you naked out here? If you want more people to come to Sinclair, this probably isn’t the way to do it.”

“Fuck off, Hollin.” I yanked out a gym towel and patted down my skin. “Bradley spilled a glass of wine all over me. I’m getting a shirt.”

He snorted. “Smooth.”

“I didn’t think you were coming out tonight. Missing the one-year anniversary of your own winery for a date.” That was what Julian had said. It seemed low, even for Hollin.

He took a few steps toward me. Always in my fucking personal space. “Jealous?”

“Not in a million years.” I went back to rummaging through the bag to find that damn shirt. “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to be graced with your presence.”

“Don’t worry, Medina,” he said, his voice silky smooth. “I’ll always be around for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Save it for your next conquest.”

When I didn’t find what I was looking for, I opened the side of the bag. I sank my hand into it, and it closed around a box at the bottom. I froze.

Hollin must have read my change in body language. “What?”

With a gulp, I withdrew the box from the bag, praying to all things holy that it wasn’t what I thought it was. In the parking lot light, the black box was very clearly for a ring.

“Oh fuck,” Hollin said with wide eyes. “Is that…”

I gaped and popped it open. A glittering diamond ring peered back up at me. It was…not at all something that I would have picked out for myself. I’d always liked simple things. I wasn’t one for grand displays or crazy jewelry. This thing was almost gaudy.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I breathed.

“Bradley’s proposing?” Hollin asked, his voice had an edge to it that I’d never heard before.

“He sure as fuck better not.”

I closed the ring box and threw it back into the bag like it was a grenade with the pin pulled. I shook my hands out. Fear blossomed in my stomach.