Page 52 of My Forbidden Boss
I smiled dryly. “Well then, what do you have to be afraid of?”
He thought for a long moment, then nodded and grinned. “Alright. Let’s do it.”
My brow arched. “You don’t even want to know what I get if I win?”
Hollis’ eyes sparkled. Silently he shook his head, then couldn’t seem to help himself. “No offense, Tish, but I’m pretty sure that it isn’t going to matter. Normally I’d take it easy on you, but, the stakes being what they are, I can promise you that this is one battle I just am not going to lose.”
I shrugged. “Do you want to shake on it? That way, I can’t go back on my word?”
He grinned and stretched out his palm. Lightly I gripped his fingertips, telling him softly, “Good luck.”
It was like taking candy from a napping baby.
Hollis held his face in his hands, looking distraught.
The sommelier, as Hollis had requested, was standing neatly at the table’s edge, reciting every known fact he had retained within his memory regarding the mystery wine.
I smiled boldly, watching the courage drain from Hollis’s expression. I frowned and glanced over at him, but he was already feeling too undermined to make a joke.
The wine expert suddenly fell silent, looking skyward and mouthing something to himself. He cleared his throat, then addressed us.
“As much as I can recall, that is what I know of the label and vintage in question, sir and madam. If you would like, I could always return to my notes and research, perhaps finding something to match the interest of your query?”
I beamed, happy, and victorious. “No, thank you, I don’t think that will be necessary. Your description was very thorough and very helpful. And thank you for serving the wine for us earlier. It really was exquisite.”
The sommelier bowed and retreated out of sight. Hollis was aghast.
“How? You? How did? You couldn’t? When?”
He sighed exasperatedly. “How?!”
I did my best to appear as airheaded as possible.
“Oh, fancy, mister boss man, sir, owner of thousands and thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of fine wines. You, sir, wish to become aware of how on earth I could possibly know pretty much everything there is to know about the wine in question? Enough so that I felt pretty certain that I recognized its specific shade of regal ruby while it was decanting?”
Hollis nodded, eyeing me in disbelief through his fingers, wrapping his cheeks. “Yes! You cheated, right? There’s no other way!”
“Um… What? No, Hollis, I did not cheat. Not unless you consider being an actual expert in something to be cheating. I trained as a sommelier during grad school. Obviously, I wasn’t an actual expert… that takes years and years… decades, even a lifetime. But I wasn’t exactly a novice, either.”
Hollis growled something into his hands, which I couldn’t quite make out.
“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that one.”
He lifted his head and sighed, appearing to accept his fate at least a little.
“I said, ‘A professional, you mean.’”
The irony hit me, and I couldn’t keep my grin from spreading from ear to ear.
Again, Hollis sighed as I winced dramatically, just imagining how much his ego was stinging. He stood, slouching, and picked up his chair, relocating back to his former position.
I watched him with amusement but didn’t say a word. Instead, I waited.
Maybe two minutes later, Hollis seemed to right himself. He sighed one last time, then inhaled deeply. “I’m sorry, Tisha, I guess I was being a sore loser. It normally wouldn’t be anything, but… you know. Anyway, I have no one to blame but myself, so I accept my defeat and hope that we can just enjoy the rest of everything here together as friends – or coworkers, or whatever. Not as a date.”
I kept my grin at bay, just as he had when sliding over toward me.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Fleming, but I couldn’t quite catch that last part.”