Some utter fluff born of my Dizzie withdrawal. After things have settled down, Lizzie agrees to spend a Saturday with Darcy on a real date. He surprises her with a wine tasting day in Napa Valley. From Darcy's point of view.

I may have made some changes to my behavior since I'd met Lizzie, but some things were firmly ingrained in me, such as planning. I had been thinking about this day for some time. Now that things had calmed down again, I'd asked Lizzie to spend the day with me. I'd scheduled a limo and driver for the day.

When Lizzie answered her door, her eyes had only lighted on me for a moment before she noticed the limousine on the street behind me.

Her eyebrows shot up. "A limo? Really, Darcy? Isn't that a bit excessive?"

"Actually, it's a practical measure in this case."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You still won't tell me where we're going, will you?"

I shook my head. "It's a surprise."

I'd arranged private tours at a few wineries in Napa Valley, starting with my favorite one. I kept Lizzie guessing about our destination for as long as possible.

When the road signs began to make our destination obvious, she gasped. "We're going to Napa, aren't we? I've never been!"

I smiled, "Yes, I'm taking you to some of my favorite wineries."

She nodded, finally understanding. "You got the limo so you can drink too. Smart man."

I smiled as I let her compliment sink in. Gigi had assured me that Lizzie would enjoy wine tasting, but I was still nervous. What if she didn't like the wines at the wineries I'd chosen?

When we arrived at the first winery, a winery representative met us at the car. We walked out among the rows of vines as the rep described the soil characteristics and its effect on the grapes. When the tour was over, the rep instructed us to meet him back inside at our leisure. Lizzie's hair glowed like flaming copper in the rays of sunshine that escaped from between the clouds. She giggled and ran down a row of vines, her skirt flowing behind her. She looked back at me as she ran and beckoned me to follow her. I chased after her. She stopped at the top of the hill, looking around at the view of rolling hills covered with rows of green grapevines. She turned to me, her blue eyes sparkling in delight, "This looks like a painting." Her porcelain cheeks were flushed rosy pink from running.

As I looked at her rather than the scenery, I said, "Yes, the view is beautiful."

I had the urge to kiss her, but I was terrified of spoiling our day when it had just begun. Lizzie's eyes grew wide as we were locked in each other's gaze for a long moment.

Lizzie flinched as a large droplet of rain landed on her cheek, breaking the spell. More raindrops soon followed.

I said, "We'd better head back."

To my surprise, Lizzie took my hand and pulled me along with her as we dashed back to the winery building. We made it back before we got soaked.

As I held the door open for Lizzie, a party of six women approached. I did the polite thing and continued to hold the door for them. By the time I finally entered the building, Lizzie had gravitated toward the crowded tasting area.

The winery rep saw me and waved me over. I nodded and went to fetch Lizzie. I took advantage of our newly established closeness and took her hand when I approached, enveloping her small cold hand in mine.

I said, "You're cold."

She shrugged. "Oh, I'm fine."

I quickly took off my blazer and draped it over her bare shoulders. I was surprised at how much I liked the way she looked wearing my clothes.

"Thanks." Her smile melted me. "Such a gentleman."

I tried not to blush as I took her hand again. "This way, Lizzie."

She looked confused. "Oh, ok."

We met up with the winery rep again. He led us past the crowd in the main tasting room.

Lizzie looked around. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

We went down the stairs to the cellar below. At the bottom of the stairs, the winery rep said, "Welcome to the VIP tasting room." We rounded the corner to a round table covered in a white linen tablecloth and place settings for two.

Lizzie shook her head at me, but a giddy smile quickly erased her scolding look.

I held Lizzie's chair for her.

When we were both seated, Lizzie said, "This is too much, Darcy."

I shrugged. "This is my favorite winery. It's a perk of being a good customer."

They brought us some excellent aged white cheddar and delicate crackers to pair with our flight of wines to taste. The rep explained how everyone tastes different flavors in wine even though the flavors are solely derived from the effect of the soil and weather on the grapes.

Lizzie's eyes lit up when she tasted the last wine, the cabernet sauvignon. "Ooh, this one tastes like raspberries and dark chocolate."

"Like your favorite Ghirardelli."

She blushed. "You remembered."

"Of course." Our tour of San Francisco wasn't that long ago after all.

Lizzie liked the cabernet best, so we ordered full glasses after we were done tasting. The wine reps told us to take our time enjoying the wine and left us.

When we were alone, Lizzie looked around at the rows of barrels and whispered, "This is amazing."

"Thank you for accompanying me today." I raised my glass in a toast. "To new beginnings."

Lizzie raised her glass, "To new beginnings and second chances." After taking a drink, Lizzie grinned. "I didn't realize how good wine could be. I guess I usually drink the cheap stuff."

I didn't want to focus on prices. "I'm glad you like it."

Lizzie jumped up. "Let's explore this place!" She reached for my hand. My heart glowed as it started to feel natural to have her hand in mine. I followed her down a row of stacked barrels of wine.

She turned toward me, her eyes wide. "It goes on forever!"

I nodded. "It's one of the largest cellars in Napa Valley. The wine ages down here for…"

She put her index finger on my lips, stopping me mid-sentence.

I nodded. "Uh, sorry. That was boring."

She said, "Shut up and kiss me."

My brain nearly overloaded again as I tried to decide if I'd actually heard the words from her and not from the desires of my own subconscious mind. She looked at me expectantly. It seemed like she'd meant it. My heart raced and I couldn't breathe. My hands started to shake. I had to get a hold of myself. This was not the time to freeze up or malfunction. I'd thought about kissing her so many times. I just needed to push past my anxiety and do it. I closed my eyes for a brief moment and focused.

I slowly leaned down and took Lizzie's face in my hands, my fingers tangling in her hair the way I'd imagined so many times before, and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close. She tasted like strawberries and felt like home.