“Who are you calling out?” Riley asks as she walks into the room.
“No one,” I reply immediately, and give Owen the shut-up look, but he doesn’t notice.
“The guy she hooked up with in California. He hasn’t called.”
“Kat.” Riley props her hands on her hips and stares at me as if I’m an idiot. Which I totally am.
“What?”
“You told him it was just a sexcation.”
“So?”
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
“What’s a sexcation?” Owen asks.
“It’s pretty much what it sounds like,” I reply, and bite my bottom lip.
“You didn’t give him your number,” Owen guesses correctly.
“He knows where I work,” I reply. “If he was interested, he could find me.”
“Except you told him he had no chance and to basically not even bother trying,” Riley says. If I was a guy I think she’d slap the back of my head.
Because I am being an idiot.
“What, a girl can’t change her mind?”
“No. Not this time,” Owen says, shaking his head. “Here I was thinking the guy was a schmuck, but he probably thinks he has no chance with you anyway, so why set himself up for humiliation? I’d do the same.”
“I’m a schmuck,” I mutter.
“You’re a woman,” Riley says. “We’re not genetically wired to have sex without feelings. It’s okay.”
“God, I’m a girl,” I mutter.
“Yep.” Riley grins. “You have the wine tour coming in a few minutes.”
“I remember.”
“The owner’s name is Ryan. He’ll have six customers with him. He’d like to taste three to five wines, and Mia has cooked up some small plates to feed them with the wines. We are their last stop, so some of them might already be plowed.”
“Fun.” I smile widely.
“Should I go?” Owen asks.
“You don’t have to,” I reply just as a group of people make their way into my bar. I don’t look up quite yet as I pour Owen one more drink, then place the four bottles of wine I’ll be sampling on the bar, within reach from the table I have set up for them.
“Ryan, this is Kat,” Riley says as I turn around and come face-to-face with him.
“Call me Mac.”
“Mac,” he and I say at the same time. The cold sweat I broke out into on the plane is nothing at all compared to this one. He grins, his eyes eagerly looking me up and down, and I finally find my voice.
“Hello.” I nod once, school my face, and get to work. I turn to the group members, who have found their seats and are chatting among themselves. “Who do we have here?”
“Hi, I’m Marcy,” a cute, young woman says, and points to the man next to her. “This is my husband, Len.” She giggles and looks up at Len adoringly.
“Let me guess. Newlyweds?”
They nod happily and the others roll their eyes.
“I’m Lucy,” another woman says. She’s a bit older, probably more my age. “This is Robert.” The man next to her nods. They’re not touching, and don’t look each other in the eye.
“I got it,” I say, snapping my fingers. “First date?”
They nod and smile.
“I’m good,” I say with a wink, and turn to the final two. They’re both women, in their early forties, laughing and showing things on their phones to each other. “And you two are best friends and you’re celebrating.”
“Guilty,” the blonde says with a nod. “And we’re toasted, so I apologize in advance for our shenanigans.”
“I have a master’s degree in shenanigans,” I reply with a wink, and try to ignore Mac’s smirk. “You’re a fun group. I’m happy to have you. Welcome to Seduction.”
The married woman, Marcy, giggles again.
“Why did you name it that?” Lucy asks.
“Because it’s sexy,” I reply honestly. “We serve aphrodisiacs, which our chef has researched and perfected. Our ambience is sexy, from the lighting and fabrics to the music. Not to mention, wine might be the most sensual thing there is, in my opinion.”
“So a guy should bring a girl here if he wants to get laid,” Len says with a smirk.
“Or, he should bring a girl here to enhance his own seduction of her,” I reply with a smile. “Women aren’t stupid, Len. It takes more than some asparagus and a glass of Chardonnay to turn a girl on. But that’s a lesson for another day.”
The table laughs, including Len, and Mac rubs his fingers over his mouth, smiling at me.
Mia herself comes out of the kitchen with a tray full of the first course of small bites for the group. She talks with them, explaining what they’re about to eat, as I pour their glasses. I glance back at Owen, who is typing furiously on his phone, then return my attention to the others when I fill Mac’s glass.
“You look fantastic,” he murmurs.
I smile widely, curbing the urge to tell him to shove his compliments up his ass.
“Thanks.”
He nods, smiles, and I walk on. I spend the next hour flirting, joking, and entertaining the fun group of people, filling them full of information about the wines that they’ll never remember. But they will remember this experience, and hopefully return again and again with their friends.