“There’s more to life than sex, Dutch.”
“Yeah? Well, there’s more on the menu than spaghetti and meatballs too. It just so happens that that’s my favorite thing to eat. Doesn’t mean I’m never going to eat anything else.”
Malin laughed. “That is a terrible analogy. Or are you saying that I’m your favorite, like spaghetti, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t going to see other people?”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Remember this is all pretend, Dutch. When life goes back to whatever normal is for you and me, neither of us may want to continue spending this much time together.”
He put one arm behind her knees, the other around her waist, and lifted her off her feet, carrying her over to the porch swing on the porch of the main house.
When he sat, he kept her on his lap. “I’ll remind you that I offered to buy you an island. Would I have done that if I didn’t want to spend every day and night with you?”
“You weren’t serious.”
“I wasn’t? You sure about that? Are you sure that I haven’t already talked to Doc, Gunner, and Razor about it?”
“Have you?”
“You’re damn right I have.”
“That’s for you, Dutch.”
He brought his hand back up to cup her cheek and looked into her eyes. “No, Malin, it isn’t for me. It’s for us. You may not want to spend all your time with me, and I guess I’ll just have to accept that. But for me, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week sounds just about as perfect as I could imagine.”
She moved her head back just slightly, and Dutch dropped his hand.
“I know how easy it is to get caught up in everything that’s going on in there. Marriages, babies, people who were once independent no longer being so, but tomorrow, when everyone goes back home and it’s just you and me, will the allure of doing what everyone else is, still be so attractive?”
“I have no idea what you just said, or what it means. I don’t give a shit what anyone inside that winery, or even anyone else in the world, is doing. I want to be with you. That’s it.”
“You can honestly say that Mantis and Alegria’s engagement has nothing to do with you wanting to be with me? As she’ll be all too happy to remind me, you mean a lot to her and
she intends to look out for you.”
Dutch stood back up with her still in his arms and walked back toward the winery.
“Put me down,” she said, kicking her feet. “I don’t know what you’re about to do, but I beg you, please don’t.”
Dutch kept walking, seemingly ignoring her.
“Don’t do this,” she said again, trying to wiggle out of his arms.
Once he got to the door, he set her on her feet.
“I’m asking you to come back inside with me. I won’t force you, but I’d really like it if you would.”
“What are you going to do?”
“We’re gonna play a trivia game—the Dutch Miller version.”
—:—
He walked in, holding Malin’s hand, and looked around the room until he spotted Mantis and Alegria. With her hand firmly in his, he led her over to where they were seated.
“Hey, Mantis, Al,” Dutch said, using a shortened version of her code name that she detested. “I feel like Malin and I haven’t had five minutes to catch up with you two.”
“Alegria was just wondering where you’d run off to,” said Mantis with a glint in his eye that told Dutch he knew he was up to something. “How’s life been, brother?”