James reached for me, and his strong arms wrapped around my waist as he spun me in circles. “You want to create wine with me? Really?”

“I thought we were doing everything together now. I thought you said this was forever. Were you lying to me, James Russo?”

I leaned my body back in an effort to put space between us, but it didn’t work. His grip on me only tightened.

“Nope. Just glad to hear you’re on board.”

He kissed me hard with a ferocity and possessiveness I never knew I craved. I leaned in, giving it back to him just as hard.

We broke away, both of us racing to catch our breaths and slow our heart rate.

“What about the rest of the plans you have for us? Care to share them with me?” I asked while still in his arms, feeling more emboldened.

“I’m not sure you’re ready to hear them, but I might as well let you know anyway.” He nipped at my nose, kissed my forehead, and tucked a long, dark strand of my hair behind my ear. “We’re going to get married, merge our wineries, and become a powerhouse that no one can touch. Ever heard of the hashtag couple goals? That’s going to be us in this industry and in life.”

“We’re going to get married, huh?” I pushed away from him and started pacing a little as my heartbeat sped up again.

“Not like tomorrow. Jeez, Julia. But, when we do, I was thinking the Russo–La Bella Winery has a nice ring to it.”

My jaw dropped as a look of disbelief crossed my face. “No way. The La Bella–Russo Winery sounds far better,” I argued before realizing what I’d done. “I mean, for marketing purposes. It flows. It just sounds better than the other way, is all.”

James wasn’t listening to me anymore. He had some dopey look on his face, lost in whatever scene was playing out in his head.

“Oh my God,” I shouted, pretending to be offended, and he snapped out of whatever daydream he’d been lost in.

“What?” He crossed his arms over his chest as if to ask, What now?

“You’re just using me for my south side vines, aren’t you?”

“You’ll have to marry me to find out.”

“We should probably start dating first.”

“Julia La Bella, always making me wait unnecessarily when the outcome will be the same, no matter what, but okay, we’ll do it your way.” He pretended to sound bothered, but I knew he wasn’t.

My jaw opened wide as another thought flew into my already-overworked brain. “You’re in on the town bet, aren’t you?”

A loud laugh escaped him. “They won’t let me bet!”

I laughed out loud, crouching over in half. “Did you try?”