AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So damn bossy,” I muttered as I followed. Kira had gone from my right-hand employee in the orchard to my staffing manager for the ever-changing seasonal needs during our growing and harvest seasons. I’d always known she was far too brilliant to be stuck in the orchard. It felt as if I was missing an arm in the orchard some days, but I’d known she would be perfect to run the Brothers Three Taproom.
It had taken some convincing, but in the end, she was even better at the job than I’d hoped. It had taken a load off of me knowing she could handle anything that came her way when it came to our newest venture.
She was also my best friend and the only person besides my siblings who knew me inside and out.
“I just wanted to raid the kitchen.” Even to me, my voice sounded damn whiny.
Her eyebrow rose. “How do you know I have food here? We aren’t open.”
I collapsed onto the worn leather couch in Ronan’s thinking area. Probably other things happened on the damn couch knowing them, but I was too damn tired to care. “I can smell it from here.”
My stomach growled at the familiar scent of Kain’s famous Hawaiian pork. He was probably bribing his kitchen staff with some crazy changes for the new season. The man was never satisfied with the menu for someone who wasn’t technically a chef.
She sat across from me and tossed her hair over her shoulder. I still wasn’t used to this ultra-feminine version of Kira either. She had gold flashing at her ears, neck, and fingers. Now more often than not, she wore dresses, makeup, and she was rushing around in stilts that made my feet pinch just looking at them.
“Did you really race off with a chick on the back of Storm?”
I slid down and laced my fingers over my belly. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
She slid off her sandals and crossed her legs under her, then propped her elbows on her knees and leaned forward. “You disappear with some icy babe, and I’m not supposed to ask questions?”
I frowned. “She’s not icy.”
“Is that so? How would you know?”
I crossed my arms to hide my fisted hands. I didn’t want to pick apart my very obvious one-night stand with Kira. “Can we talk about what you asked me in here for?”
She grinned wider. “Deflecting. Point two in the ‘I don’t wanna talk about it’ arsenal of Beckett Manning. Let me see what this girl looks like.” She leaned back and took her phone out of her pocket.
“Give me a break. I don’t want to talk about Helena.”
She gave a delighted laugh that grated on my nerves. Then she waggled her eyebrows and turned her phone around to flash me a photo from the wedding. Helena was smiling, but it was a distant, sad smile. Not like the ones I’d seen up close.
She turned the phone back around to flick her thumb over the screen. “She’s…not your type.”
“How do you know my type?”
Kira snorted. “Hot, a little dangerous, ready to fuck and run.”
I shifted on the couch. She wasn’t wrong and I wasn’t sure why it suddenly bothered me. “Why do you care? You weren’t even there.”
“I know. I’m sorry I missed it. Especially after I found out how exciting it got.” Her dark eyes went from shiny with glee to serious in a heartbeat. “I’m glad Willow is okay.”
I sighed. “Yeah, we are too. Scared the shit out of us.”
“But then the next day, all the fireworks.” She flipped the phone around again and this time there was video.
“Put that away.” My voice was flat with warning.
She cackled, completely undeterred. “You swooped her up in your arms like a Disney prince!”
“Shut up. She just needed some help is all.”
“Oh, I bet she got it.” Her head fell back as her laughter thickened.
“Can you not?”
She dabbed at her eyes. “Oh, stop. I know you’re honorable. Probably too much so.”
