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“Your sister?” Owen asked. “What about her?”
“She’s been begging me for a project for ages,” I said. “I think this would be perfect for her. She’s a marketing whiz and has been looking for a way to become more involved in the family business. Right now, she manages our social media, but I can tell she’s getting restless. This isn’t quite what she had in mind, I’m sure, but I think you two would work well together.”
“No.”
“No?” I raised a brow.
“She’s too…young. And don’t think I forgot the shit she pulled at my cabin over Memorial Day.”
“She’s only a year younger than me,” I said. “And that’s all water under the bridge.”
Although…was it? Looking back, that night was the beginning of the end for me and Cal. In fact, I hadtriedto end it with him then, and he’d come crawling back anyway, pulling me in with his…everything. Making it impossible to resist him.
And now look at me. Pregnant, single, and without a Chief Financial Officer for my company.
What a mess.
“I’m not doing it,” Owen said firmly. “I’ll find someone else.”
“Just meet with her,” I said. “Please.”
“No.”
“I’ll sell you the land if you do.”
“Are you…bribing me?”
I totally was. “No,” I said. “I’m making you an offer. Meet with Delia, and I’ll sell you the land. I’m assuming you’ve got your eye on a particular parcel.”
He shifted to withdraw a piece of paper from his back pocket, tossing it onto the table between us. I picked it up and unfolded it, studying a copy of a plat map of the northern end of the peninsula and a parcel outlined in red. I chewed on my lip; I could admit, it was the perfect spot. High on the hills above the water that would afford guests with stunning lake views, but flat enough for the distillery and a parking lot, and not too far off the main road that wove like a vein through the middle of the peninsula. Land I had zero plans to develop for the winery in the future.
“How much?” he asked.
“I’ll have to ask my dad and get back to you.”
“See that you do,” he said and he rose to his feet.
“Get that meeting on the books with Delia and I will,” I shot back.
“You drive a hard bargain, Delatou.”
“I’m more than just a pretty face.”
“Don’t I know it,” he murmured as he dropped a kiss on my cheek. When he straightened, he added, “For what it’s worth, kid, I’d give Cal a chance to explain. When he talked to me about you, he was completely spun out, and that was months ago.”
I perked up, surprised. “He talked to you about me?”
Owen gave me a sad smile. “Just talk to him, Mar.”
Then he was gone, and I was once again left alone with my thoughts.
I should’ve gone back to my desk and dug through the mountain of paperwork I had waiting for me, and put the final touches I had to put on the Labor Day weekend festivities, which began in three days. Instead I kicked my heels off, tucked my feet under me, and draped the throw blanket on the back of the couch over my lap, letting my mind wander.
It was a dangerous thing, to give my thoughts free rein like this, but I knew I wasn’t getting anything done no matter what I did. The day dreaming—or whatever the nightmare equivalent was—would happen regardless, so I dropped my head back and closed my eyes.
Immediately, Cal’s face stamped itself on the back of my eyelids. Three months ago, I’d stormed in here after that summer menu tasting with Brie and Ezra, steam practically pouring out of my ears over the nerve of Cal. How he’d put his hand—his hand!—on my thigh under the table and had the gall to ask how wet I was.
I hated how much I’d liked it, though I’d never had any intention of acting on my desires. Desires that hadn’t gone away in five years, no matter how many miles and men I put between me and that night.
