Chapter 10
“Did I say I want to own a business with my brothers? I was mistaken.” ~ Eli
Eli
Dakota skips into my office with a huge smile on her face.
I groan. “What did you do now? Please tell me you didn’t put salt in Rhett’s coffee again. The last time he threw the coffee maker across the room. It took a week for the replacement coffee pot to arrive. I can’t survive without coffee.”
She clasps her chest. “Me? Put salt in Rhett’s coffee? I wouldn’t dare. He’s my superior.”
I snort. “Which is why you are demure around him and never give him shit.”
She bats her eyelashes. “I would never give anyone shit.”
I chuckle. “You are full of shit.”
“I guess I won’t tell you who’s here to see you then.” She makes as if to leave but I stop her.
“Dakota, who’s here?”
“It’s me.” Paisley strolls into my office. “I’m sorry to disturb your fun. ”
Her eyes narrow on Dakota. Hold on. Is Paisley jealous of Dakota? Maybe Paisley does care. Maybe she doesn’t hate me. Maybe the lady doth protest too much.
“Don’t you worry. I have another Raider brother to bother.” Dakota winks before shutting the door behind her.
Paisley stares after her. “Another brother to bother? Are you sharing her?”
She’s adorable when she’s confused. Her nose scrunches up and her pretty pink lips purse. I want to run my tongue along her lips until she opens on a sigh. I’d thrust my tongue into her mouth and taste her. I’ve spent years wondering how she tastes.
“Dakota’s teasing,” I explain.
Paisley studies me for a moment before shrugging as if it’s all no bother to her one way or another. She can’t fool me. But I let it go. For now.
I stand and round my desk. “Have a seat.” I motion to a chair as I lean against my desk. “What brings you to Buccaneer’s Whiskey & Distillery ?”
She steps in front of the chair but she doesn’t sit. Not my Paisley. She’s too stubborn to allow herself to sit while I’m standing. Usually, stubborn people drive me crazy but not Paisley. She drives me crazy but in a way I could easily become addicted to.
She fiddles with the hem of her t-shirt but when she notices me watching, she stuffs her hands in her pockets. “I’ve come here to discuss the possibility of Five Fathoms brewing beer in your facility. ”
I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. If Paisley is near, I can grind her down until she tells me why she hates me.
“Don’t gloat.”
I hold up my hands. “Not gloating. But I am relieved you’re accepting my help.”
“Relieved?”
“It would be a shame if the bars and restaurants of Smuggler’s Hideaway were unable to carry Five Fathoms beer.”
Her face is full of mistrust but I ignore it. She’s being forced to accept help from her enemy. Her pride must be hurt. I understand how pride can get in the way of help.
My brother, Miles, is the perfect example. His stubbornness makes me want to shove one of his surfboards up his ass until he learns to listen.
She straightens her back. “We need to discuss payment.”
“Payment?”
She waves her hand. “Payment for the use of your facilities. In addition to rent, there will be utilities and water and—
My growl cuts her off. “You are not paying.”
She fists her hands on her hips. “I’m not accepting charity.”
“What’s wrong with accepting help when you need it?”
Her nostrils flare. Uh oh. I poked the beast. Considering how her cheeks flush and nose scrunches making her usually pretty face appear beyond gorgeous, I may poke the beast more often.
“You’re not being charitable. You’re rubbing my nose in your wealth. ”
I’m about sick and tired of her claiming I’m showing off my wealth.
“How?”
She slides her glasses up her nose. “How what?”
“How am I rubbing your nose in my wealth?”
She flings her arm wide to indicate the distillery. “You have this fancy schmancy distillery and our brewery is merely a microbrewery.”
“Your microbrewery closed a deal to supply one of the largest grocery chains in the US.”
She rears back. “How do you know?”
“It was all over the financial news.”
She drops her chin to her chest. “Oh.”
My fingers inch to pinch her chin and lift her face to force her to meet my gaze but I cross my arms before I can give in to the temptation.
“ Five Fathoms isn’t some unknown microbrewery. And I didn’t offer you space in the distillery because I feel sorry for you. I offered you space because we have it and you’re a smuggler. Smugglers help other smugglers out.”
The stiffness leaks out of her shoulders. “It’s easy to forget you’re a smuggler.”
I ignore her comment. She’s not the only one who’s mentioned how much I don’t resemble a smuggler recently. I need to work on it. But it’s a concern for later.
“Let me do this for you now. When your brewery is back up and running, we can discuss some kind of repayment. ”
“You’re not doing this for me. You’re doing it for the brewery.”
I clear my throat. “Of course. I misspoke.”
I didn’t misspeak. I am doing this for her. But she doesn’t need to know how much I long for her. Especially not considering how she hates my guts.
“Do you want a tour of the facilities?” I motion to the door.
Her eyes light up. I knew she’d want a tour. Paisley is as interested in the actual mechanics of the production as Jaxon is.
She clears her throat. “I believe a tour would be handy. I can plan out where to put equipment.”
I duck my chin to hide my amusement at her attempt to tone down her excitement. She’s cute when she’s excited. I wish I could make her excited more often. And not merely intellectually excited.
I open the door and Kai practically falls into the room. I glare at him. “How old are you?”
“Uh oh. Eli is getting senile in his old age. Do you remember my name at least?”
I grit my teeth. “Don’t make me smack you in front of company.”
He waves to Paisley. “Hello, brewer girl.”
I move to block his view of her but Paisley responds before I have the chance. “Brewer woman. A girl is a female child or adolescent.”
He salutes her. “My apologies. Brewer woman, how are you? ”
“I’ve been better.”
He frowns. “I’m sorry about the brewery.” He opens his arms. “Do you want a hug?”
I shove him and he falls to the floor while laughing.
“You shouldn’t shove your brother.”
I raise an eyebrow at Paisley. “And you never shoved your friends in high school?”
“Nova deserved it. Her eavesdropping on Hudson caused me to be late for my AP test in Chemistry.”
“Yes. Let’s pretend it only happened once.” I chuckle. “You forget I was in your grade in high school. I was a witness to all of your shenanigans.”
Kai sits up. “Shenanigans? Tell me more.”
I ignore him and motion down the hallway. “The distillery is this way.”
Rhett steps out of his office. “Did she agree?”
I snort. “Don’t pretend you haven’t been leaning against the wall with a glass to your ear for the past hour.”
“Using a glass doesn’t work,” he claims.
“Actually,” Paisley says. “A glass pressed against the wall focuses sound waves into a small area. If the shape of the glass is a curved cup-like surface, it can direct sound waves more effectively to your ear.”
Rhett’s mouth drops open. “Paisley is a female version of Jaxon.”
I growl. “Do not make fun of Paisley.”
“Why not? You used to make fun of her all the time in high school. ”
I was teasing her. Not making fun of her. There is a difference.
“Yeah. Well. We’re not in high school anymore.”
I place a hand on Paisley’s lower back to guide her away from my idiot brothers and toward the distillery. She shivers and my blood heats.
How I’d love to move my hand from her lower back to her ass. Her ass is magnificent. My cock hardens and lengthens as ideas of what I could do to Paisley’s ass flit through my mind.
“Ground Control to Major Eli,” Jaxon says and I realize I’m standing in the entryway to the distillery staring into space.
I force my attention back to the present. “Jaxon, have you met Paisley? Jaxon is our master distiller. Paisley will be joining us as she’s the master brewer for Five Fathoms Brewing. ”
“Nice to meet you,” Jaxon says. “I’d love to pick your brain about hops sometime.”
They shake hands and I have to stop myself from pulling her away from his touch. I need to get this obsession with Paisley under control.
She drops his hand and steps back from him. Or maybe not. Maybe I need to stop obsessing and make a move.