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Even with these guys here to help, I didn’t make any decisions without Liam’s input. Liam had only been employed by Chateau Delatou for a handful of years, joining us after finishing some fancy bio-agricultural studies program out in Napa Valley. He’d introduced some truly amazing practices and changes into our harvest techniques that made the vineyard more environmentally sustainable.
He was also a genius mixologist, which reminded me…
“When we get back, I need you to come inside. We have to get something on the books to sit down and finalize the canned cocktails.”
Liam’s gaze darted to me, both eyebrows raised. “Cal gave you the go ahead?”
“He sure did,” I said, shooting Calvin a wide smile. “So we need to put our best foot forward with these recipes.”
Liam simply nodded. “Whatever you want, boss.”
I snorted. “This is your brain child too,” I reminded him. “Don’t sell your involvement short. I can’t get these out to market without you.”
Liam blushed, offering me a small smile, and I grinned in response.
Truthfully, I enjoyed Liam’s company. He was around my age, warm and kind. Despite the brisk air, he had his shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows, displaying corded forearms decorated with an impressive assortment of random tattoos.
“So what’s the plan for today?” Liam asked me.
“There’s that empty plot down the hill from the newest Riesling vines? I’m curious if it would be a good idea to add some more on that slope. Riesling is our best seller, and I’ve got a hookup with a guy out in northern California who can get us ten acres each of them, Pinot Grigio, and Muscat for a steal. But I wanted you to come take a look at the soil, and see what the developers say about the growing potential in that spot.”
“How much are these ten acres going to cost?” Calvin asked.
I ignored him as Liam launched questions of his own at me, which I did my best to answer truthfully—even with my limited knowledge.
Trust me, if I knew what I was doing one hundred percent of the time, I would not be in this side-by-side, smushed between Liam and the spawn of Satan.
There were a lot of things I was good at, but the agricultural side of this business was not one of them. I was grateful for Liam, who had treated me with respect and easily adapted to the change from my father to me. He was patient and kind, even when I asked stupid questions—which, embarrassingly, had happened quite frequently in my early days. He was knowledgeable enough for the both of us, and honestly, it wasn’t my job to know everything. The mark of a good leader, in my opinion, was the ability to seek help when my own expertise failed. Running a business, I could do. Everything that happened outside the offices I left to Liam and Vic, their team, and the developers.
At last, Liam pulled to a stop at the crest of a hill, looking out over a field of grass and random brush. He turned to me. “Ready to kiss these guys’ asses for the next half hour?”
“No,” I groaned. “Don’t they realize they should be the ones kissing my ass?”
“I don’t think they care,” he said as we exited the vehicle. I didn’t even bother to see if Calvin moved, simply slid out on Liam’s side. “They see your tits and figure there’s nothing worthwhile in your brain.”
I glanced down at my chest, at the ample gift I’d been given. “It is a pretty great rack.”
Liam snorted, covering his laugh with a fist over his mouth, smoothly turning it into a cough as we approached the developers. “That it is.”
I shot him a cheeky grin, which he briefly returned before turning his attention to the developers.
“Excuse you,” Calvin said haughtily from behind me. “This is a work meeting. Act like it.”
“Oh, fuck off, Ryder,” I said, moving to follow Liam down the slope.
Liam’s comment about my rack stuck in my mind, and I couldn’t help myself from openly admiring the man. His thick forearms, dusted with dark hair, beautifully tatted, and deeply tanned from all the time spent outside. His broad shoulders and chest, tapering into a flat abdomen and trim waist, his thighs straining against his well-worn pants.
He and Calvin could not be more different. Liam, with his tattoos, beard, dark, shaggy hair trapped under a Chateau Delatou ball cap, Carhartt work pants in a deep green, dirt under his fingernails and tee sticky with sweat exudedworking manenergy.
Calvin, on the other hand, in his pressed chinos, long-sleeved, collared Ralph Lauren button-up shirt in a pale blue gingham pattern, deep red-brown hair perfectly styled, hands that I was sure he had regularly manicured, and clean-shaven face, looked every inch the white collar man he was.
Naturally, I was far more attracted to the pretty boy I shouldn’t want, the bane of my existence and the one man I couldn’t shake from my thoughts no matter how hard I tried. The one man I refused to let anywhere near me.
“So…you and Liam, huh?”
Goddamnit, why couldn’t he leave me alone?
I snorted. “Absolutely not. He’s my employee.”
