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“No time for fun.”

“Shame. Bet I could get you to smile.” Ten minutes and a dance with me and I’d blow his fucking mind.

“Darlin’, all you’re doin’ these days is giving me an ulcer the size of Texas.” The rumbling annoyance in his deep timbre makes me smile.

“So you’re saying you think of me?” I cock my head.

It’s fun to flirt with Cole. Mostly because I don’t know what he’s thinking. Those clenched fists. That square jaw. Stormy blue eyes. Call me a sucker, but I like to see the man come undone. He’s so stoic, so serious. I like to push his buttons. Push him until smoke’s coming out of his ears.

He looks down at me, and our gazes lock.

Everything inside me sparks as something fiery and kinetic pulses between us. Attraction, curiosity, and a strange magic that makes my heart race.

Which is ridiculous.

I don’t even know him.

Except, it feels like I do.

The spell’s broken when Cole takes two stomping bootsteps back.

“I should go. I’ll let you get back to your…” A smile ghosts my lips as he trails off, then says, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

My breath hitches. “What’s tomorrow?”

He gives me a look. “Work.”

“Right. Work.”

Then he’s gone, closing the screen door behind him as he exits the Creek House.

I straighten and shake off my daze.

Keep my head down. Do my job. Forget all about Cole Weston.

10 Cole

I may raise barrels, but Delilah’s raising fucking hell.

For the past hour, I’ve tried to stay focused on work. Never mind the fact that I can hear Warren’s deep baritone coming from down the hall, followed by Delilah’s silvery peals of laughter. Or the fact that my raisers are acting like a bunch of goddamn teenagers.

Cy sets a barrel on the hydraulic press. “You see the new girl?”

Leon whistles. “Think everyone in town came to see the new girl.”

“Back to work,” I bark at Bo, who’s lingering in the archway.

He glances over his shoulder to look at me. “There’s a line, boss.”

I grit my teeth. There’s been a line for the last week.

Everyone from Tempest has come to gawk at the new out-of-towner. Tempest loves gossip. Hates strangers. Delilah’s the perfect person to feed the rumor mill.

It doesn’t help that the girl’s got legs for days, a garter that hugs her slim thigh, and a mouth that won’t stop.

Still, everyone coming to stare bothers the shit out of me.

Bo saunters back to his place on the line. “She’s good for business.”