“Why are you looking at me like that?” Easton’s puzzled tone snapped me back from my errant thoughts.

“Like what?” I asked, perfectly aware that I’d been staring.

“Like you’re trying to crack a code,” he said as he got his coat on. His brow furrowed at whatever face I’d been pulling.

“Not a code. I was trying to figure you out.”

“Me?” he asked, as if I’d said something terrifying.

“Yes. You.” I lifted my shoulders as I leaned on the wall waiting for him, and decided to say something that I’d needed to say for a long time. “I was just thinking that you’re sort of an outlier. The more I know, the more I like you. Which is generally not the case.”

“Well thank goodness for that,” he joked, and stepped up to me and smoothly closed the door to his office. His eyes looked tired, but that ever-present playfulness was there. When he leaned in to kiss me he ran his hand behind my neck. I sighed into his mouth, tongues caressing, a reconnection after a long day.

When he pulled back he seemed normal again.

My sunny man.

“I needed that.” He sounded like he’d just taken a bite of the most decadent dessert. “Now let’s go to this fundraiser.”

He looked a little hesitant when he said it, and that surprised me. “You don’t want to go?”

He sighed as we made our way to the elevator, then turned to me, speaking quietly. “Of course I want to be there. I wouldn’t let Nesto down.” His gaze dipped and when he looked up he had the unhappy expression that appeared anytime a particular subject came up.

“Are you parents going to be there?”

He lifted a shoulder in response and we moved to get into the elevator. “I’m not sure, I haven’t talked to them, but my sister will be there. She heads all the philanthropic efforts for the winery, so they may not come. But OuNYe’s is the new hot place in town and knowing them, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re there.”

I was expecting to feel freaked out or uneasy about meeting Easton’s parents, but as we waved at the bailiffs who greeted Easton as if he were their favorite person that feeling of protectiveness took over again. I grabbed his hand as we walked onto the rainy sidewalk and hurried along the two blocks to Nesto’s restaurant. The temperatures had risen since the snowstorm the week before, but the rain still felt like ice on my skin.

Easton didn’t say anything but tightened his hand around mine. “You’re so quiet tonight.”