Chapter 11
eleven
. . .
piper
Beau did everything in his power last night to go over the marketing plans. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but I was exhausted after cleaning up at Starlit Fields.
Pierce left a message on my phone this morning. The winery is closed another day, but we don’t need to come in. He has contractors looking at the roof of one of the warehouses. I didn’t even know there was damage.
Beau is in the living room when I walk in. “Good morning.” My hands are lifted putting my hair into a ponytail.
“Good mo—” The greeting cuts off and his mouth drops open as soon as he sees me.
I glance down to see what has him so flustered and realize I’m wearing what I normally do when I’m alone at home. A long t-shirt with nothing underneath. Not even registering that it’s also slightly shorter because my arms are up.
I immediately put my hands down, letting my hair fall around my face. What I’m wearing didn’t even register when I got up. I should have at least thrown on some leggings.
“I’ll, uh, be right back.” I rush back to the guest room and slam the door behind me.
Spending even more time with him while marketing the winery is going to be torture.
The way his eyes trailed along my body while he sat there with his mouth wide open is something I don’t know that I’ll ever get out of my head.
I should have stayed with one of my brothers. Or, hell, even Paula. Then I wouldn’t be mortified to walk back out there and act like he wasn’t looking at me like I was a dessert.
This will not end well for either of us. I can already tell. The more he looks at me like I’m his, the less I’ll be able to resist taking things a step further.
“Piper? Are you okay in there?” There’s a soft knock on the door.
Shit. I lean my head against the door as silently as possible. I don’t want him to know how small the distance is between us. If I don’t answer him, he’ll barge in. It’s the one thing I can count on from him. Beau is the only person who has been able to read me this well.
I quietly slide away from the door and move closer to the disaster on top of the bed. My clothes are scattered everywhere. There’s another knock. My best friend is getting impatient, but I had to put some physical space between us.
“I’m fine, Beau.” My voice is panicked even though I try my hardest to keep it level and disinterested.
Approximately two minutes. That’s how long I have until he’ll walk through the door. I should have locked it when I came in. This is why I live alone. I could never remember to lock anything after myself. Hell, I don’t even lock my front door half the time.
My clothes fly off the bed as I shuffle through them trying to find a pair of leggings. Shorts. Anything to put under this shirt and stop Beau from looking like he wants to eat me up. Not that I’d mind. Stop thinking like that Piper. You are friends. Only. Friends.
My fingers grip around an item that feels like my workout clothes, and I pull it out just as I hear the doorknob turn. They make a popping noise as I shake them out and slide my legs through. I’m pulling them up just as the door opens.
Thank God, I got them up before he came all the way in. But I’m not completely steady and I teeter backward while adjusting my waistband.
Before I know it, an arm is wrapped around my back and pulling me forward.
Ugh. This is going to be one of those days full of embarrassment, I can already feel it.
Since I’ve known him, I’ve never responded to him in this way.
Well, maybe those first couple of days on the bus when we were getting to know each other, but definitely not since then.
The only difference between then and now… the freaking kiss.
“I thought you said you were good.” He laughs before letting me go. His fingers sliding across the sliver of skin above my waist. My body shivers in delight. Resisting him is going to be harder than I thought. Even though I know that touch was completely innocent.
“I am.” I huff and pull my shirt down. “You opened the door and scared me.”
“You know well enough if you don’t answer I’m coming in.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I wave him away. “You should have grown out of that by now. Besides, my brothers aren’t in the room torturing me.”
“I mean, they could have been. They would never let you answer when we were kids. The only way I could come to your rescue was if I came in unannounced.” He shrugs and walks out of the room. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“Nothing. I need to clean out my fridge and see when the power comes back. My brother said we’re closed again. Something about there being damage on the shops and contractors coming out to look at it.”
“Hopefully, they can get the repairs done quickly.” I can barely hear him as he’s making his way to the living room.
“What did you say?” My steps are quick as I follow after him.
Guilt washes over his face. “I hope the repairs are done quickly.”
“You knew there was damage to some of the buildings?”
Beau all of a sudden finds the floor more interesting than anything I’m wearing. “I saw it yesterday when I was looking for him. He asked me not to say anything because he didn’t want you worrying.”
“Of course he did.” I brush past Beau, knocking into his shoulder.
“You shouldn’t have kept that a secret. We don’t do that.
” Some other expression flashes across his face, but I can’t tell what it is.
“My brother should have told the rest of us, too. He seems to forget that we will all own the winery equally. Omitting problems is not good for the business, and makes me think he’ll never see the rest of us as partners. ”
“He probably didn’t want y’all to feel any added stress.” He shrugs as if it’s not a big deal.
It is, though. We’ll never make it as a business unless he starts treating the rest of us like we are valuable to the winery. At least Dad humors us when making decisions.
“I guess.” It’s the only thing I can say. Mostly I don’t want to fight with Beau, and this would definitely lead to one. “Since we’re closed again today, any chance you can run me home on your way to work?”
“As if you have to ask.” He grins over at me. “Let me know when you’re ready. I’ve already let my boss know I’d probably be late.”
“How did you know?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Seriously? I keep telling you I know you better than you know yourself sometimes.”
It's not completely untrue. Except when it comes to wanting to take things a step further than friendship. There’s no way I can take that leap. Everything between us will change.
“What are you doing here?” Parker’s voice rumbles through the building, and I jump, dropping my phone in the process. Fucking Parker. I bend down to pick it up and inspect it to make sure there’s no damage.
“Why does it matter? Last time I checked I work here.”
On the way to my house this morning, Beau and I talked about the images and videos I need to get. It’s one of the few things I can get done without him. Since nobody is supposed to be here today, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity.
“Yeah, but we’re closed today. Or, did you not get Pierce’s message?” He’s eyeing the phone in my hand knowing damn well what the answer to that question is.
“I got the message.” Why can’t he leave me be? I’m not doing anything illegal. “Why are you here?”
“Because I saw your car in front of the office when I was heading to town.” He leans against one of the barrels. “Now, it’s your turn.”
My brother isn’t going to let up. It’s one of the annoying things about the two of us. We’re persistent when it comes to getting to the bottom of things.
“I need to get some video for the social media channels. There’s just enough sunlight coming through that I don’t have to worry about the lack of power.”
“Does Pierce know you’re doing this? I thought he nixed your marketing plan.”
“He did.” I turn to get a better angle of the shot I’m trying to film. “I’m doing it anyway. If he doesn’t have to tell us about things going on with the winery, I don’t have to divulge what I’m doing with our social accounts. And you better not tell him anything.”
Now Parker moves toward me instead of hiding in the corner. “What are you talking about?”
“Did you know about the building damage prior to Pierce’s text this morning? Or, am I the only one who never gets told anything?”
I swear if I’m the only one left out of the loop, I’m going to lose my shit.
Parker takes a couple of steps back. There must be something in my demeanor that warns him away. He’s probably scared I’ll take a swing. As much as I’d like to say he’s wrong, I can’t. He’s one of the few siblings who can correctly guess my mood.
“I knew, but only because I saw it last night when I was walking the grounds to make sure we got all the debris picked up. When I told Dad, he said Pierce already had it handled.”
“Don’t you think that’s bullshit?”
“What?”
I throw my hands in the air. Why must he be so freaking obtuse?
“The fact that our big brother doesn’t think he needs to give us important information about the winery. He acts like we’re children instead of keeping us informed. It’s not like we would have gotten mad or anything. But knowing what was going on is better than not.”
“I kind of get it.” Parker holds his hands up in surrender at my scowl.
“Let me explain before you beat my ass. Dad has been raising Pierce to be the one in charge since we were kids. Does it suck? Yes. But in the end, we all should have equal say and knowledge. Maybe it’s something we can bring up at the next weekly meeting. ”
“That’s actually a good idea.” For once he has a solution to a problem. Maybe I should talk to the rest of the siblings before then to see how they feel. If we come to him as a unified front, it’s possible things will change.
“So, what does all this filming lead to?” He points to the phone in my hand. “I’ve never really thought about what people on social media do.”
Of course he hasn’t. He gets online and watches videos then sends me the ones he thinks are funny.
That’s the extent of his social media usage.
I guess it’s a good thing he’s not in charge of all this.
It’s probably a good thing Pierce isn’t either.
He’s gotten on his socials maybe once and never looked at it again.
“Well, I’ll take these videos and either do a voice over or put text over them. It’s just something to give people the vibe of our winery. If they like it enough, they’ll either place an online order, or come visit us in person.”
“That sounds like a lot of work.” He scratches his head.
“It can be. But I love doing it. So, for me, it’s not really work.”
“Oh.” He glances around the space no doubt wondering how I’m going to be creative with anything in here. “I’m gonna go.” He points his thumb toward the door.
“Actually, I could use your hands for a bit.”
“Excuse me, what?”
“Since you know about this secret, I need your hands to do a video.”
“What exactly do I have to do? It’s not going to be weird, is it?” Concern flashes across his face.
“No,” I shake my head. “It’s not going to be weird. I need you to pour the wine into a glass. Either straight from the tap or from a bottle. It doesn’t matter.”
“Won’t Pierce notice if a bottle is gone from inventory?”
Ugh, he’s making this harder than it should be.
“He would if we were using a bottle from here, but I planned ahead and brought my own.” I reach down to the shelf in front of me and grab the bottle. “If you’re lucky I’ll even let you drink the wine.”
“What do you need me to do?” He glances around the room to find a spot to set a glass he doesn’t yet have.
I grab a glass from the shelf. It’s not too big and has our logo on it.
All the more reason to use it. Plus side, Pierce will never know it’s missing because we have a ton of them.
We give them to customers when they come in for tastings, or when they buy a certain number of bottles.
At least he knows how to play up the customer service in that regard.
“We actually need to go outside for this.” With the wine and glass in hand, I lead my brother out of the building and to the old wooden spool we have set up outside. Setting the glass and bottle down, I pull the wine opener out of my pocket.
“Where do I stand?” He asks as he eyes the bottle. I guess booze is always a good motivator.
I take a minute to walk around the spool, checking for where the shadows will hit. I don’t want it to be too dark. Fun and flirty is the vibe I’m going for. Thank goodness, Parker fits that criteria. My other brothers would be too serious and ruin everything.
“Stand right here.” I point to the left side. “And don’t worry, I won’t show your face. It’ll be chest down.”
“O-okay.” His voice has a tremor in it. Who knew the charismatic person would be nervous about a video.
I pick up my phone, flip to the camera app and start recording. “Go ahead and open the wine. Then pour it like we would for a tasting.”
“I can do that.” He picks up the corkscrew. “Shit. Will they hear all this talking?”
“No. I’ll edit it out. Now pour.”
He does as I ask and I zoom in on the glass as he’s pouring. This is going to be perfect for our socials. Hopefully, Beau thinks so, too. This zero-budget marketing is going to be interesting, but I’m up for the challenge.