Apparently, it wasn’t only our bodies that had intertwined last night. Something deeper had also shifted, and a new bond had formed. I could feel it living and breathing inside of me, begging for more of James, itching for permanence.

But I couldn’t give it what it needed.

After pulling myself together and one last swipe under my eyes to dry the tears, I decided to distract myself with work even though it was technically my day off. Winning the competition meant that I had a new limited-edition stamp to make and a new wine to bottle, and I was excited to get started.

I still hadn’t unpacked my car from the other day, and I needed to do that first before I could head into the bottling barn. The second I rounded the corner for my car, I saw James and his father on opposite sides of the barn. Chills raced down the length of my body as I tried to pretend like I was unaffected by his presence and didn’t notice him.

James cleared his throat, but I refused to make eye contact. He did it again, but I still resisted. My dad would come unglued if he saw us talking, especially after the warning he’d doled out this morning. Plus, seeing his dad out there made me nervous as well.

How would he react to the idea of us being friendly? I wondered.

“Are you really going to pretend like you don’t see me?” he shouted across our lots, and that got my attention.

I cast him a wicked glare before glancing to see if his dad was watching us or not. He wasn’t, but if looks could kill, I knew mine would have knocked James right on his ass.

Was he insane? Was he trying to get me in trouble?

I pressed the button on my remote and watched the trunk pop open, ignoring James even though I could see that he had stopped whatever he was doing and was facing my direction.

“We’re back to this? Are we really back to this?”

Glancing at him once more, I softened, my eyes pleading for him to please be quiet when the sound of my parents’ front door opened. I didn’t even have to look up to know my dad was coming. I’d long ago memorized the sound of his feet slamming against the ground with every step.

“Julia, get inside the house.”

“Dad, stop. It’s not what you think.” I swallowed around the ball now firmly lodged in my throat because it was exactly what my dad thought.

“Get inside the house now!”