Just Like That

by Karin Kallmaker

  It was only half-past nine when she couldn’t stand it any longer, and her footsteps took her from barrel-testing to the house to see how her father was faring.

  “I’m sure I don’t know anything,” Bennett snapped. “It’s not as if he’ll say one word to me, and he knows how it vexes me when I have to guess.”

  “You know at least as much as I do.” Syrah paused to finish a wedge of cheese toast. She was about to brave the office when the clearly audible sound of a car gearing down broke the still of the morning. A few moments later a plain sedan crested the driveway’s steep hill. Curious, she watched the plain sedan turn into their small parking lot. There was nothing plain about the woman who got out, however, and stood looking about her as if confused.

  With a heavy sigh, Syrah went to offer her help.

  “I’m looking for Toni Blanchard,” the woman promptly said. She held out a beautifully manicured hand. “I’m Caroline, Missy’s sister. You must be Syrah.”

  Aware of how tanned and rough her own hand seemed next to Caroline’s delicacy, Syrah could only nod. “She’s inside. I can show you where. Would you like some coffee?”

  “Oh, I couldn’t. Toni won’t want me to linger.” Caroline was, if it was possible to be so, even more feminine and petite than Missy, and their resemblance grew stronger as she talked. “She says I’m distracting.”

  Not sure what to say—or think—about that assessment, Syrah led the way. She didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about high fashion, but between Missy and Caroline she was feeling like a first-class frump. Jeans, old tee, even older boots completed her daily outfit. For haute couture she might find a shirt without some advertising logo on it. Saturday night had been the first time in ages she’d felt attractive and interesting to other women. The numerous dance partners had been very good for her ego.

  “You left your cell phone and it’s been ringing for an hour.” Caroline handed it to Toni, who flicked it open with an expression of annoyance.

  “Thank you.” After a short distracted pause, Toni clicked the phone shut as she rose to make quick introductions. After nods and handshakes, she added, “I’m going to be most of the day, Caroline.”

  “That’s fine. I’m going back to that shop we were at last night and then I thought I might drop by that Laundry place and see about a table for tonight.”

  Syrah choked back a snort. Right. French Laundry took reservations two months in advance and within ten minutes of answering the phone in the morning they were booked. Napa was full of the rich and famous, especially during the summer, and she’d never heard of anyone getting a table on the spur of the moment.

  She watched the way Caroline Bingley’s shoulders moved as she and Toni conversed, how her head tipped and her long earrings outlined the curve of her throat. She was sensuous and Syrah was quite certain Toni Blanchard had a standing invitation to take a bite from the invisible apple Caroline was dangling.

  Toni, on the other hand, was much more subtle, but Syrah equally had no doubt that she found Caroline attractive. The smile was astonishingly indulgent as her gaze traced the line of Caroline’s neck. The two of them needed to get a room. But wait, she reminded herself, Netherfield has dozens of rooms, lucky them.

  “All right then, I’ll get out of your hair,” Caroline finally said, and Syrah offered to see her to her car. On the way through the tasting room, Caroline paused to touch the display of Rieslings. “Syrah, I know this is awfully presumptuous of me, but could I get a bottle of wine for later?”

  “Certainly,” Syrah said automatically. “What did you have in mind?”

  “This Riesling is probably perfect. Well-chilled, for a picnic.”

  “It’s wonderful drunk out-of-doors.”

  Caroline flushed. “Well, I was thinking of an indoor picnic.”

  Of course you were, Syrah wanted to say. “I’m sure this will be perfect. It’s sharp, with a lot of tannin for a white wine, so it fades to a nice afterglow.”

  “Just like some of the best things in life.”

  Syrah laughed—really, it was nearly a giggle, and it was just the two of them, giggling girls together hinting about sex and Caroline giving sly looks in the direction of the closed office door. “I think you’re on to something there.”

  “Well, I hope to be. You can take a credit card, right?”

  Syrah kept smiling as she wrapped the wine. “Yes, but this is on the house. Welcome to the neighborhood.”

  “Oh, how sweet of you.” Caroline took the wrapped bottle and smiled ever so warmly at Syrah. “My sister has been over the top about how wonderful the women are here and I can see she had cause. Now if I can just get her looking at the right kind of woman, I’ll be very happy for her. Missy has always liked them heavy on muscle and light on brains, so I’m sure it won’t last long.”

  Though her lips hurt, Syrah somehow kept smiling. She waved good-bye like she and Caroline had just formed the very bestest friendship ever. It took all her strength not to change that wave to a one-fingered salute. Her hand dropped to her side and she said forcefully, “Bitch!”

  They were all bitches, these outsiders, thinking they knew anything about any of them. Thinking Jane was stupid and trash because she worked with her hands for a living—and what must they think of her, by extension? Missy was a shallow bubblehead looking for a hot butch to take her to bed and this Caroline creature, what a piece of work. She and Toni Blanchard could have each other.

  She didn’t go near the office for the rest of the day. Another dismissive look from Toni Blanchard was more than she could take.

  * * *

  “Okay, you have to tell me how you pulled this off.” Toni took the heavy menu from the waiter and nodded her thanks.

  “It took two days.” Caroline leaned forward, her shoulders gleaming in the candlelight. “I’m glad you found the time for me.”

  “I want to finish and get back to New York.” Toni’s gaze flicked over the menu. Asparagus soup with black truffle syrup caught her eye.

  “You disappear in the morning already on the phone, come back in the evening already full from another woman’s cooking—”

  “A woman could get spoiled by Bennett’s food.”

  “Sure it’s not other attractions?” Caroline idly ran one finger along her neck.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, I see what you meant by the eyes, that’s all. If she were my type I’d not mind gazing into them for hours at a stretch.”

  “We’ve not talked at all. My business is with her father.”

  “Business, business, business. You spend half the night waking up poor souls in other parts of the world. Who is Crystal and why the long talks?”

  “A colleague and someone who needs to talk.” She wasn’t going to discuss Crystal or Mira with Caroline. “So you didn’t tell me how you managed this. I did call but couldn’t get through.”

  Caroline sat back, looking pleased. It was impossible not to observe the welcoming hollow between her breasts as she moved. “I posted a French Laundry wish on eBay. Someone parted with their reservation for the right compensation.”

  Toni laughed. “How ingenious, and how typical of you. The menu looks wonderful but it may not hold up to that kind of extravagance.”

  “The look in your eyes, just now, was what I was after, not the meal.”

  Toni made herself study the menu. “Fresh king salmon sounds good to me today.”

  “Why do you do that?”

  “What?” She had to glance up.

  Caroline’s expression still had that molten invitation in her eyes, but there was a mild annoyance there as well. “Every time I say something intimate you divert me.”

  Surprised by Caroline’s directness, Toni said honestly, “Maybe I’m avoiding intimacy.”

  “I know that Mira has many things that I don’t.”

  “That’s true.”

  Caroline’s sigh was exasperated. “You really know how to hurt a girl.”

>   Toni frowned as she idly played with the dinner knife. “I don’t understand that. I agreed with you, honestly.”

  “Sometimes a girl doesn’t want honesty.”

  “If I’ll lie to you about something trivial, how will you trust I’m telling you the truth when it’s important? Mira has qualities that you do not.” Caroline took a quick breath and Toni instantly regretted her lack of clarity. “Caroline—I’m sorry. Most of the qualities Mira has that you do not aren’t good qualities. You are a much nicer woman than she turned out to be.”

  “Oh.” Caroline’s lower lip quivered for a moment. “I thought you meant—”

  “She is beautiful.” Toni shrugged. “I’m not going to lie about that. You are as well. That dress is a walking crime.”

  “I thought you’d never notice.”

  “I noticed the moment you came down the stairs. Mira is beautiful like a razor. You’re as beautiful as that wine you opened last night. Warm and light.”

  Caroline laughed, her sultry smile completely restored. “And oh so good going down?”

  Toni gasped with laughter and was glad the waiter had reappeared. Choices were discussed and as always Toni liked that Caroline knew exactly what she wanted and would enjoy. “Tiger prawns in spicy remoulade?”

  “I’m feeling very like that tonight.” Caroline glanced at the waiter. “Is there an Ardani vintage you’d recommend for our main course?”

  But as always with Caroline, Toni reflected, there was a moment when she didn’t know if she was being nice or just being the Caroline who could combine nice with just a touch of spite. Did Caroline suspect that the Ardani review was turning out to be painful for her? She liked the old man, she really did, and yet there was no money to bail them out.

  The wine was ordered with no input from Toni and she decided that Caroline had meant to compliment, not annoy. “That dress really is a walking crime.”

  “It has some secrets. If I move my left shoulder just so…” Caroline gave a little shrug as a hint. “The entire thing will end up around my ankles, and wouldn’t that be a shame?”

  “I don’t think anyone with eyes would mind.”

  “What about you?”

  “I appreciate beauty and art.”

  Toni could tell that wasn’t quite what Caroline wanted but she let it go. The meal was delicious and wonderfully presented. Caroline’s pleasure in the food was engaging as always. They shared tastes and stories of mutual friends and Toni even found herself telling Caroline how close Mira had come to wearing her salad on their last so-called date.

  They were finishing the fifteen-year-old Ardani Cabernet Sauvignon as the waiter cleared their entrée plates. “You know I’m not much of a wine drinker,” Toni said, “but I can really taste the difference with this one.”

  “Compared to that little wine last night? It was tasty enough but, yes, this one is in a different league.” Caroline held her half-full glass up to the candlelight and the deep cherry-burgundy color blossomed into a multi-layered shimmer of pinks and reds. “Not that I want to be grateful to Syrah Ardani for anything.”

  “Why not?”

  “As if you don’t know. You went on and on about her fine eyes.”

  “I did not.”

  Caroline took a slow sip from the glass, her gaze never leaving Toni’s face. “I’ve known you ten years, at least, and you’ve never said a word about any woman’s eyes. So mentioning them at all is tantamount to a love letter.”

  “I’ve never mentioned your eyes?” Careful, Toni, a little voice said, but something about the wine made the cautious voice very faint. “I’m no poet. Right now I can’t think of any other word than blue, but they are beautifully blue. Don’t tell Missy, but I like your eyes better than hers.”

  Caroline blinked. “Don’t play with me, Toni. I thought you’d agreed to be honest, even if I don’t like the truth.”

  “I am being honest.”

  “I think if you just gave us a chance, we could find something more than me fishing for compliments and you being just tipsy enough to give them.”

  Was she tipsy? She gazed into the depths of her wine, wondering if it was higher in alcohol content than she anticipated. Away from the candle the deep reds seemed almost black and she fancied she saw a flash of gold. They were fine eyes. She ought to tell her father he’d been right about a little girl who had grown up to become Sophia Loren. “I don’t think I’m drunk.”

  “Maybe not drunk, but you did flush, just now.”

  “It must be the peppery aftertaste.”

  “Just a few days and you’ve picked up all the lingo.” Caroline wasn’t really smiling.

  Dessert, a delicate caramel brulee with apricots poached in white wine, seemed to melt in her mouth. She was indeed tipsy, Toni realized, and dwelling far too much on Caroline’s undeniable charms. Caroline was no angel but she didn’t deserve to be used merely because Toni was suddenly aware of how long it had been since she’d felt a woman’s body against her own. Mira had been adventurous and Toni suspected Caroline wasn’t shy. That Caroline had made it plain she wanted Toni didn’t make it smart to give in.

  “Let’s walk a bit,” Caroline said. “I don’t think either of us should drive right now.”

  Caroline’s hand through Toni’s silk blouse felt warm and familiar. Yountville’s small town square wasn’t far but most of the shops had closed. The streets were slowly going quiet.

  “How much longer do you think you’ll be here?” Caroline paused to look at artisan glasswork in a window.

  “Just one more day at the winery. Then I can do my report for the court.”

  “So you’re going home.”

  “I do need to get back, but with satellite hookups and wireless connections, nobody is missing me. As you noticed, I’m on the phone a lot.” Doc Burbidge was eager for her to dig into his proposed merger, but she could easily do half the analysis next to the now sparkling pool for a day or two. Her team members knew where she was and the staple of her seven a.m. hour was a long talk with the Admin Queens.

  “I’d like to think you’re staying because of the scenery.” Caroline turned from the window, her tight silk dress slipping a little on her left shoulder.

  Oh, hell, Toni thought, too late, because Caroline was already on her tiptoes, pulling Toni down to her for a kiss that was as easy and heady as the wine at dinner had been.

  When she could talk, which was several minutes later, she tried to find some reason. “I don’t want to lead you on, Caroline. It wouldn’t be nice.”

  “Tonight, I don’t think I care about tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow you will care about tomorrow.” The curve of her shoulders was tantalizing.

  Caroline’s hand slipped to the back of Toni’s neck. “Kiss me again.”

  She was irresistible, even though Toni knew it was a mistake to kiss her then, to kiss her as they slowly made their way back to her rental car, to kiss her once they were locked inside.

  “Toni.” Caroline’s small moan ignited something inside Toni’s mouth and the kiss turned hotly passionate. “I’ve wanted you for so long.”

  Toni couldn’t say, “Me, too,” because it wasn’t true. Instead she found a real truth, which was, “I know.”

  “Touch me.”

  “Cari, we shouldn’t do this.”

  “I don’t care.” The next kiss bruised Toni’s lips. “I want your hands on me, Toni. I don’t care who you’re thinking about, or what. Just make love to me tonight.”

  There were alarm bells, deep down, sounding like an urgent order to sell the stock before she got burned. The prospect of getting burned was too pleasurable and the heat she found as Caroline straddled her was too tempting. Her fingers tingled and Caroline’s sharp cry made the bells go away.

  “Please, there.” Tears were choking Caroline’s voice and Toni shushed her.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

  “Please,” Caroline gasped. “Toni, please.”

  Caroline gr
ound down on Toni’s palm with a ferocity that made Toni momentarily pull back. Then Caroline’s hand was wrapped around her forearm, pulling Toni hard against her as she shook. Her dress slid off her shoulders, leaving her breasts bare. Toni’s fingers ran from collarbone to nipple and they kissed again as Caroline gripped Toni’s arm even harder.

  “God, yes.”

  Caroline was beautifully passionate in her abandon and Toni wanted to fall into the depths with her. It had been ages since sex had seemed this simple. But even as she felt yet more wetness against her palm and Caroline froze against her, she realized she had no idea, and had never had any idea, why Caroline was attracted to her. At least it wasn’t my money she craved, Toni thought. Caroline is not Mira wanting my checkbook more than me.

  She cuddled Caroline against her, shushing the soft tears and feeling like a cad. This obviously meant something to Caroline.

  She finally found a tissue in the glove box and Caroline blotted her eyes and nose.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get so emotional. I love the way you touch me, Toni.”

  “I wasn’t even thinking about you,” Toni could have said. “At some point, anybody could have done that for you,” she might have added, wanting that to be true. Wisely, she said nothing of the kind. Other truths, luckily, were easy to find. “You are beautiful, Caroline.”

  “Thank you.” Caroline melted into her arms and they stayed like that for several minutes. Finally, she stirred. “You have always excited me.”

  “How?” Please don’t let her be in love with me, Toni pleaded silently. She had never wanted to hurt Caroline that way.

  Caroline slowly raised her head, her smile slow and sated. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No, I’m not. I don’t try to excite you, I really don’t.”