Chapter 7 Wyatt
I wasn’t a morning person. By the time I reached the airport the next day, my head was pounding. When I stepped out of the Uber, I texted Kinley.
Wyatt: I’m already here.
Wyatt: I’ll wait for you in the lounge.
I’d bought business-class tickets, which gave us access to the airport’s lounge. It was packed with businessmen like me. I was wearing a suit and a long-sleeved dress shirt, a look I’d adopted very early in my career, primarily to cover my tattoo.
“Good morning.”
I looked up to see my new hire, who was breathing heavily and very red in the face. She must have raced to get here.
“What happened?” I asked her.
“I got into a panic. Misread the boarding time and thought I was super late. Then midway through my run, I realized we still have plenty of time.”
Damn, she was cute.
“Want some water? Coffee? You look like you’re about to faint.”
She shook her head, then closed her eyes. “I got a bit dizzy.”
On instinct, I reached out, putting a hand on her waist. She drew in a sharp breath.
“Kinley, are you okay?”
She opened her eyes and glanced down at my hand. I immediately pulled it back.
“I’m good now. Thank you.”
I looked at her closely. “Go sit down. I’ll bring you something to drink.”
She cocked a brow. “What’s with the bossy tone?”
“News flash: I am your boss.”
She started to laugh. “Yes, you are, but that doesn’t mean you can just command me around.”
I tilted my head to one side, narrowing my eyes. “Kinley, Kinley, Kinley, what am I going to do with you?”
She swallowed hard, and I cleared my throat.
“What do you usually drink in the mornings?” I asked, deciding not to continue down this dangerous path. I was very close to outright flirting with her. For fuck’s sake, I needed to get myself under control. “Coffee?”
“I already had one, but another one isn’t going to hurt.”
“Sit. I’ll bring it to you.”
“That bossy tone again.”
“I can get even bossier,” I informed her.
Her jaw dropped, and it was so sexy. I looked at her mouth and must have lingered a bit too long, because she quickly closed it. “I’ll go, uh, grab a seat,” she stammered.
“Milk or cream in your coffee?”
“No, just black,” she said.
I got her a cup as she sat down.
“I’m feeling fine, really. I’m just not much of a runner.”
“What kind of workout do you do?” It wasn’t any of my business, of course, but I was interested.
“I don’t really work out.” She smiled sheepishly.
“Damn. Are you even allowed to say you’re a Californian if you don’t like to work out?”
She threw her head back, laughing. I hadn’t seen her do that before, and it made her even more gorgeous. Her blonde hair spilled over her back, and a dirty image flashed through my mind. I tried to push it away before it could take hold.
“I know what you mean. I’m the only one in my family who isn’t crazy about working out. I’ve just never understood the hype about it. In the beginning, Mark—” She stopped suddenly and looked down at the table. “Sorry. I don’t know why I even thought of him.”
“Kinley, you don’t have to explain yourself or apologize.”
She swallowed hard, looking away. Clearly this was still a sensitive topic for her.
“I just...” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
I wanted to know why she’d suddenly gone all rigid, but I wouldn’t pry. She’d tell me if she wanted to.
Clearing my throat, I took out my laptop from my carry-on. I didn’t like dangling laptop bags from my shoulder, so I always brought a carry-on instead. I’d checked a huge bag too.
“Want to go through the schedule?”
“Yes, let’s do that.” She sounded relieved.
Good. I wanted her to be at ease.
She retrieved and opened her laptop, too, and immediately pulled up a list of notes. We went through them right up until we needed to head to the gate.
Fuck yes. Hiring Kinley was the best decision I’d made in a long while. She was even more perfect for this job than I’d imagined. Her energy was pure fire, and the preliminary ideas she came up with were totally doable.
“Have you ever thought about starting a business yourself?” I asked as we took our seats on the plane.
“Funny you should ask. My sister keeps telling me that with my drive, I should be an entrepreneur.”
“So, why aren’t you?”
She shrugged, crossing her legs. She was wearing a casual white dress that was snug around her waist. Unfortunately, it was too long—it wasn’t revealing anything.
“I’m not that kind of a risk-taker. When you go into business on your own, there’s always a possibility of failing. I feel safest being employed. It doesn’t take away from my motivation, though. Not one bit. I thrive best like this.”
I liked that she was self-aware and knew where to direct her energy. I still couldn’t understand how she’d been with that Mark dude for years and not realized he was a con.
When boarding was completed, a flight attendant came to us with a tray of glasses.
“Champagne?” she asked.
“Nonalcoholic?” we both said at the same time.
“This is apple juice.” The flight attendant pointed to the left side of the tray.
We both reached for a glass. Our hands collided, and Kinley almost dropped hers. Out of instinct, I grabbed her wrist with my free hand, and she sucked in a deep breath.
Nope, she wasn’t immune to me, nor I to her. We’d have to be careful.
“I’m good.” Her voice was a bit more high-pitched than usual. She laughed nervously. “Sorry, I’m all over the place this morning.” She quickly took a sip of her juice and looked anywhere but at me.
I disagreed. She was very much on point when it came to talking about work.
“So tell me, why did you add a winery to your business?” she asked.
“My brothers and I were tossing around ideas. We started talking about wineries, and then we acquired this one in Napa.”
“You often have meetings with your brothers?”
“Yes, once a week. We discuss the status quo at Sterling Investments, if we should adjust our portfolios of investments based on the current changes in the stock market, things like that. But we also brainstorm on other potential business ideas.”
“Do you think I could attend one of those meetings sometime?”
That caught me off guard, but it sounded like a great idea. “Sure, why not? It’s usually just us and management at Sterling Investments, but...”
“Oh, never mind, then. Although I’d love it.” She took another sip of apple juice before asking, “What’s the long-term plan with the winery? Growing and selling it?”
I shook my head. “No. We very rarely sell businesses. I like to make them profitable and then keep expanding them.”
“That’s a great approach. I don’t like it when everyone just wants to grow for the sake of selling.
That’s often the case in tech. I never liked how that industry operated.
They typically burned through investor money in the hope that someone would eventually want to buy them off.
I don’t think that’s a sustainable way to do business. ”
“You think you’ll miss the tech industry?”
“No, I’ve had a good run. I honestly wanted to get out earlier because the place was draconian, but...” She hesitated.
“Go on.”
“Mark convinced me to stay with the company because he needed someone to pin everything on, apparently.” She jerked her head back and nodded stiffly.
“In retrospect, it’s all clear. But at the time, it felt very romantic.
He kept saying that he wanted us to build something together, and.
..” She closed her eyes. “God, I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I’m truly sorry.”
“You’ve had a traumatizing year because of that jackass. You need time to process things.”
“Thank you for saying that.” She looked at me with a strange expression in her eyes before averting her gaze.
I couldn’t help myself and used the opportunity to check her out. I could even smell her soap or shower gel or body cream—whatever it was.
I mentally shook my head to clear my thoughts. It was in my best interest to keep talking about today’s schedule so I wouldn’t be tempted to flirt.
“If you have any specific questions about the winery, you should ask Sage. She knows the business inside out.”
“Sage used to be the manager there, right?”
“Yes. How did you know?” I asked in total surprise. We hadn’t yet talked about the employees and who Kinley would meet.
“I read a bit about the winery online. It’s got some great history. And they’ve never had quality issues, which I think is because they’d run it like a small business, never overextending themselves.”
“No, the product is top-notch. Efficiency was their problem.”
“Interesting. I can’t wait for the tour.”
I’d scheduled an easy first day for us, as I wanted Kinley to take in the comings and goings of the winery before jumping in headfirst.
* * *
After we landed and got our things, Sage picked us up from the airport.
“So nice to meet you, Kinley,” she said once we were in the car. “I was surprised that you two were coming this week, but everything is ready for you both.” She looked at me in the rearview mirror. “I’ve arranged the house next to the winery for your stay.”
I stayed there every time I visited. It had two bedrooms and a living room, but it was close quarters. It seemed claustrophobic even when I was there by myself.
“Oh,” Kinley said. “I figured we’d be staying at a hotel.”
“There’s no decent hotel near the winery,” I informed her. “Trust me, I checked.”
“I would offer for you to stay with me,” Sage went on, “but I think you’ll be more comfortable at the house.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Kinley’s cheeks were red.
“The house is fine. Thanks for arranging everything.” She hunched her shoulders, putting an elbow on the window and staring outside.
“I’m joining you for the tour,” I told Sage.
“Really? But you know all this stuff backward and forward.”
Sage was in her fifties and liked to challenge every word I said. Though she was like that with everyone, so I didn’t take it personally.
“It’s been a while since we did a full tour. I might learn something new.”