𝑻 𝑯 𝑬 𝑵 𝑨 𝑵 𝑵 𝒀 (18+)

forty-seven

                             D O M I N I C

She wasn't much of a wine girl. She'd told me that during breakfast, while she zipped up the back of her ankle-length maxi dress, and once we reached the vineyard. She preferred cocktails that were sweet and light on the tongue and if she was feeling adventurous then she'd have a shot or two but never wine. Still, she swirled glasses around and sniffed the rim to fit in with a crowd she was clearly unfamiliar with. She didn't have a clue what she was doing but she was having fun, and that was all I really wanted for this weekend.

I tapped my pocket to silence the phone hidden between it and placed an arm around her waist. She wanted to see how the wine was made, and even though she was two glasses away from being drunk and disorderly I guided her through the crowd and led her to a private viewing I hoped she'd want to watch on her own. The whole thing cost an arm and a leg and I would've left this estate with more than a bruised ego if my assumption was incorrect.

"Do you need to get that?" She looked back at me with a smile. I hadn't realized I was making my annoyance so obvious.

"No, it's nothing," I assured her, tapping the damn thing again.

"It could be Josh and Jamie, aren't you going to check?" Now she was looking at my pocket and blocking our path to a man that was charging me by the hour. I grit my teeth and took a step away from her. She was a vision in green, and the way the sun reflected off her skin left me awestruck. She hadn't put too much makeup on this morning, complaining about it being too hot for foundation. Still, she looked as beautiful as ever and I had to be the luckiest man alive to get to see her like that.

"It isn't," My family had different ringtones than everyone else in my contacts. Saved me the trouble of checking my phone when it wasn't important. This call came from the hospital and right now I wasn't a surgeon, hell, I wasn't even a doctor. I was just a man and this man had a woman to please.

"Then who is it?" She continued to question me. I took the wine glass from her hand and downed the rest of her drink. "I didn't take you for the territorial type Amara. I'm finding out all kinds of fun things about you this weekend."

Her eyes widened before she rolled them at me, "Not territorial, just curious." Her head tilted and a single braid slipped from the claw clip tucked into the back of her hair. I exhaled and handed her the glass so that I could fix it.

"It's work, therefore isn't important right now." I raised my hand and pointed to the building behind her, "Now if it's alright with you I'd like to continue the tour."

Reluctantly, she moved out of the way and took my hand in hers. I had to admit my reasons for taking her so far away from home were entirely selfish. I wanted a moment alone with her with no distractions, no kids, no work getting in either of our way. The summer was drawing to a quick close, and just like the sunset she was basking in she'd be gone soon. Practicality was a foundation Amara stayed grounded on. A few months with me was never going to change that no matter how hard I tried to influence her otherwise.

Perhaps that was better. Perhaps in the long run she'd be doing both of us a favor. The boys would start school again, she'd move out, and I'd start the cycle all over again. I had no intentions of letting her go, the dynamics of our relationship would just have to abide by new rules. Rules I wasn't afraid to challenge but I couldn't be so sure about Amara. So instead of asking what her plans were after the summer was again or ruining her day with the reality of our situation I took her to the countryside.

Even if I only had these three days.

They'd get me through another thirteen years.

"How much wine do you think I've had? I've lost count at this point," she changed the subject. I pulled my other hand from my pocket and began to count, "too many to remember."