Since it was a Monday, she wasn’t very busy, and the last tasting was just finishing up. But when she looked closer at me, she could sense something was wrong.

“What’s with the face?” she asked. “You look like you swallowed a goose egg.”

“I had a weird day,” I confessed. “I think I need to talk about it.”

“What happened?”

“I kissed Noah.”

Her mouth fell open. “Say no more. Dinner tonight?”

I nodded, relieved. “Yes. Thanks.”

While Chloe finished the tour and closed up the tasting room for the night, I wandered around the farm a little. I stopped in the barn to pet the horses, walked along the hilly path that skirted the vineyards, peeked into the building that would serve as Frannie’s reception spot. It was silent, barren and dark today—no linens, no lights, no flowers, no music. But on Saturday, it would be full of life and love as everyone gathered to celebrate Mack and Frannie’s marriage. Would Noah still want to be my date?

I hoped so. I still wanted him to be there with me.

I still wanted him, period.

What the hell was I going to do about it?

“Tell me everything.” Across the table from me, Chloe lifted her glass of pinot noir, her eyes wild with delight and curiosity.

“Don’t you want to order food first?”

“Oh, right. Food.” She glanced down at the menu of the bistro we’d chosen and gave it precisely five seconds. “Okay, I know what I want, do you?”

I gave it a one-minute scan and decided on salmon with a honey-maple glaze, roasted potatoes, and a house salad. Once the server had taken our order, I picked up my wine glass too. “I don’t know where to start. I guess with yesterday.”

“What happened yesterday?” Chloe asked eagerly, taking a sip.

“Nothing. Nothing physical, anyway. We just had a really good time.”

“You guys always did have great chemistry.” Chloe nodded knowingly. “I always wondered why you two never banged.”

“Because it wasn’t ever like that with us. And I never really questioned it, because we had more of that brother-sister vibe. Which was fine with me.”

“He never tried anything? Not once in all those times you guys sat around watching TV late at night?”

“Never. I always assumed I wasn’t his type.”

Chloe took another sip. “Okay, so go on. You were having fun together yesterday . . .”

“Right. And I couldn’t stop looking at him and thinking how hot he was. I started to imagine what it would be like to kiss him. And then by the end of the night, I sort of tried to get him to do it.”

She looked surprised. “But he didn’t?”

“No.”

“Like, you puckered up and closed your eyes and did a dreamy thing with your face, like this . . .” She imitated a kiss-me-you-fool expression and swayed side to side. “And he did nothing?”

I burst out laughing. “Okay, no. I definitely did not do that. It was more like I asked him if he wanted to keep hanging out, and he said he was tired.”

She shrugged. “Maybe he was. Or maybe he didn’t know that by hanging out, you meant you wanted to put your hand in his pants. I bet he’d have said yes to that.”

“I’m just not like that—I can’t be that forward.” I frowned. “I did give him a really good hug at the end of the night.”

Chloe blinked at me. “A good hug? Meg, a good hug says friend zone. It says bye, thanks for coming. It does not say my body is ready, let’s get it on.”

“It doesn’t?”

“No! Men do not read minds. They don’t pick up on subtlety. They see red light—stop. Green light—go. They do not see fifty shades of gray. At least not the good guys like Noah. If he’s not one thousand percent positive you’re into him like that, he probably wouldn’t try anything.” She put her glass down. “You have to make the first move.”

“I can’t make the first move.” I gulped wine at the thought.

“Give me one good reason why not.”

“Because . . . because I’ve never made the first move. I don’t know how. What if I do it wrong? What if he doesn’t understand?”

“Grab his balls. He can’t misunderstand that,” Chloe said, laughing.

“It’s not funny, Chloe. You don’t know what happened today.” Our salads arrived, and as we ate I told her about how I’d flat-out asked Noah at the beach why he’d never kissed me before.

“Damn.” She looked impressed. “That took some guts. So what happened?”

“At first, he just went silent, and I was dying a thousand deaths in the sand. Then I started babbling about being sorry, and how I shouldn’t have asked, and then all of a sudden—he did it.”

Chloe gasped, her fork halfway to her mouth. “He did? With no warning?”

“No warning. Out of the blue.”

“And? How was it?”

I set my fork down and sighed. “Amazing. Breathtaking. Hot. It made my head spin. But then he jumped up and apologized.”

My sister groaned. “That’s the worst.”

I nodded. “He said he’d always wanted to kiss me, but never had because we were such good friends.”

Chloe sighed. “That’s noble. But not much fun, huh?”

“No. But I mean, I get it. He explained to me all the reasons why it would be a bad idea to mess around with each other, and I agree with all of them. Neither of us wants to throw away seventeen years of friendship just to scratch an itch, no matter how long that itch has been there.”

“No matter how good it would feel to give it a good, hard clawing?”

A tingle started between my legs and raced up my spine. I shifted around in my seat. “No matter what.”

Our entrées arrived and we began to eat, although I hadn’t even finished my salad and didn’t feel that hungry. “I wish I had better advice, Meg. I can see that you’re really into him, and I’ve always thought you two would be good together, but if you don’t want to risk what you have now, it’s probably best to remain friends.”

I thought about that as I pushed a potato around on my plate. “Can’t we remain friends and scratch the itch?”

“You mean like friends with benefits?”

“I guess.”

Chloe shrugged. “You could. I mean, as long as both of you understood exactly what the nature of the relationship was and didn’t have any additional expectations.”

“What other expectations could there be?” I sat up a little taller, the possibility sparking something in me. “I mean, I’m only here for the week. After the wedding, I go back to DC. And he told me last night he’s not interested in dating anyone long term. Since his last relationship fell apart, he doesn’t date at all.”

“So this would be just a fling? Something for fun?”

“Right.” I took another drink, feeling more courageous by the minute. “I feel like we both could use a little fun with someone we trust.”

“Then I say go for it. As long as neither of you is in danger of being hurt, I don’t see why you shouldn’t.” Chloe lifted her glass to mine. “Go get him, tiger.”