She stepped outside, stopping in her tracks when she saw Jason climbing out of his truck.
It had been days since she’d stormed out of his house in a fit. She thought maybe he’d call her or come over. Instead, she’d gotten nothing, so she’d assumed he’d thought she wasn’t worth the effort.
Kind of like Owen thought she wasn’t worth the effort.
She narrowed her gaze at him. “What are you doing here?”
He walked up the steps. “I came to tell you I was sorry . . . for several things. First, for starting something and then putting a stop to it. That was stupid. And second, for assuming I knew what was best for you. Clearly I don’t. And last, for not coming after you that night and apologizing right away, which is what I should have done. Instead, I thought maybe giving you some time . . . Well, anyway, that was wrong, too. I’m sorry, Erin. I acted like an ass and I’m here to beg for your forgiveness.”
She was all set to get a good mad going, and then he had to go and come up with the perfect apology right off the bat. Damn him for ruining that for her. “I was planning to yell at you for acting like a misogynistic dick.”
“I did do that. And you can still be mad and yell at me all you want.”
And then he had to go and be sweet and allow her to kick his ass anyway. Damn him again. She stepped forward, inhaling the scent of freshly showered male. The man could almost make her swoon. “You presumed.”
“I did.”
He wasn’t going to take another step, so she did, planting her palm on his chest. “That was wrong.”
“It was.”
Lord, his eyes were beautiful dark chocolate, so filled with soulful honesty. He wasn’t looking down or away, instead directly at her, owning up to the mistake he’d made. That was a man she could fall—
No, she didn’t intend to fall. But she could forgive. “Don’t do it again.”
“I won’t.”
And his mouth . . .
Despite being so pissed at him for all those days, she couldn’t forget what it felt like to be kissed by him. She wanted it again.
“One more thing,” she said.
He nodded. “Go ahead.”
“I’m starving and I need a margarita.”
Finally, he smiled. “Can I take you out for drinks and dinner?”
Her lips curved. “I’d like that. Let me grab my purse.”
“I’ll wait right here for you.”
She went inside and saw Honor, so she told her she was having dinner with Jason.
“And Agatha is out in the vineyards with Dad. Could you let him know I’ll be out for a bit, so he’ll keep an eye on the pup?”
“I’ll do that. Dinner with Jason, huh?” Honor asked with a knowing smile on her face.
“It’s just dinner, Honor.”
“Sure it is, honey,” Honor said as she turned, then stopped. “Oh. I’m having dinner with a new guy, by the way.”
“Yeah? Who’s the guy?”
“Randall Black.”
Erin frowned. “The band guy?”
“He’s a musician. And he’s very nice.”
Erin thought he was one of those singers who thought he was a bigger name than he really was. The guy did weddings, but thought of himself as some kind of superstar rock god.
Randall was anything but.
“You have a good time, honey,” Erin said. “Be careful with Randall.”
“You have fun out to dinner with Jason,” Honor said. “And I’ll do the same.”
Deciding now was not the time to argue with her sister, she went into her office to grab her purse, then stopped in the bathroom to check her face. She was dressed casual today, in capris and a button-down short-sleeve white cotton shirt, with her hair up in a messy bun. But she had makeup on, so she decided she didn’t need any fixing up.
Besides, it was just margaritas and dinner. She didn’t need much sprucing up for that anyway.
She walked outside and, true to his word, Jason was leaning against the side of his truck, one hand casually tucked in his front pocket, one leg hooked in front of the other, looking like a tree she wanted to climb.
She sighed in appreciation.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Definitely ready.”
They caught up on their weeks during dinner, Jason filling her in on his surgeries and some of the animals he’d seen, while Erin told him about some of the wedding swaps.
He took a bite of his food, then a swallow of beer. “Does that happen a lot?”
“No, fortunately. Most people stick to the dates they choose. This is kind of an anomaly.”
“You’ll make it work. If anyone can juggle weddings, you and your sisters can.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
“You’ve always had good organizational skills. Remember when we built the fort out behind the vineyards?”
She laughed. “I haven’t thought about that in years. It was all of us girls, then you and Owen and Clay. How old were we then? About nine or ten?”
“I think so. And we spent weeks building that thing.”
“Yeah. And we borrowed—and I use the word ‘borrowed’ loosely—old pieces of wood from behind the barn.”
“The guys liberated tools from home, plus nails. We’d spend every day—”
“All day,” she added.
He laughed. “Yeah, all day working on it.”
“And Louise would bring lunch out to us, and we’d sit on the ground eating sandwiches and talk about how we were going to decorate on the inside.”
“No, you and Honor and Brenna would talk decorating. Clay and Owen and I would discuss various ways we’d defend it.”
“I beg to differ. I discussed having enough windows to overlook all defense points. Brenna was the one who wanted curtains.”
“Oh, right. And then Owen wanted to boot you off our team because you were a girl, and the two of you argued sexism for at least an hour.”
She grinned. “I believe I made my point clear. That was a fun day.”
His lips curved. “Not for Owen it wasn’t. If I remember right, as punishment, you made him go into the house with Honor to help
