by Amelia Wilde
“Whitney, forgive me for saying this, but your boss sounds like a class-A asshole. It’s his loss.”
“It was stupid of me to start anything with him in the first place. I’d heard rumors about what he was like.”
Cole shrugs. “Maybe, but it doesn’t make the way he treated you okay. You deserve to be treated like the prize that you really are.”
I hold his gaze and the attraction between us intensifies until we’re both leaning in toward one another. We both move slowly, and I wonder if he wants to remember this moment as much as me. My lips tingle when we’re only an inch apart and my eyes drift shut. I feel his breath inching closer and my heart races, waiting for the touch of his lips to mine.
The loud ring of a phone echoes throughout the vehicle.
My eyes fly open and we both jump apart with wide eyes. I half expect to see my grandpa’s face in the window like when he caught me kissing Bobby Sinclair in his beat-up Honda my sophomore year.
The ringing pierces the silence again, dragging me out of my thoughts. Cole must have his phone connected to his Bluetooth in the car. He pushes a button and the ringing stops.
“Yeah?” he answers.
“Hey, man. I think we might have an issue with one of the batches. Any chance you can swing by to check it out?” a man on the other end of the line says.
Cole glances over at me and I don’t miss the way he tightens his grip on the steering wheel. “Sure thing. Be there in fifteen.” He pushes another button and hangs up. “Mind if we make a quick stop before we go to the next place?”
“It’s not like I have anywhere to be.” I shrug.
“Thanks.”
He doesn’t offer any further info so I don’t ask, figuring I’ll see where we’re headed once we get there. His mood has done a one-eighty from minutes before when we almost played tonsil hockey and I have no idea why, but I have a feeling I’m about to get a better glimpse at who this man really is. And I’m not sure he’s happy about that.
A short time later we pull into a commercial area in the outskirts of the city and park in front of a medium-size industrial building.
“I don’t think this should take very long. Do you want to wait in the car?”
Hell, no, I don’t want to wait in the car. I’m way too curious for that.
“Mind if I join you?”
He seems resigned when he replies. “Okay.”
“So what is this place?” I ask as we walk along a concrete path to the glass doors in the front of the building.
“This is Rock Hard Whiskey. I own this place.”
“Wait.” I tug on his arm and pull him to a stop. “You own a whiskey distillery?”
“Yep.”
“How come you never mentioned it?”
“It never came up.” He turns and continues to the entrance.
I follow him into a small reception area. It’s somewhat dated and appears to have whatever furniture was there when the building was originally built. A woman with long, dark hair sits behind the lone desk working away on a computer.
She glances up when she hears the door open and smiles at Cole as we enter. “Hey, boss man. Did Brady call you?”
“Yep. He out back?”
She smiles and nods.
“Ashley, this is Whitney.” Cole gestures between the two of us.
“Nice to meet you, Whitney.”
“Same here,” I say. Ashley is an attractive woman, probably in her late thirties if I had to guess. She seems genuinely fond of Cole, but not in the same way the bartender who works for him at the Thirsty Monk does.
“Do you want to stay here while I sort this out?” Cole asks me. “If you want I can take you on a tour of the place after I sort out this problem. It’s not much, but—”
“I’d love that.” And I mean it. I’ve never seen a distillery in my life. Actually, I have no idea how you even make whiskey so I’m looking forward to finding out.
I take a seat in one of the three chairs in the small foyer. I have a feeling it’s coming, though it takes Ashley longer than I expect to ask. It’s a full twenty seconds before she strikes.
“So, what’s going on with you and Cole?” she whispers conspiratorially.
I smile. “We’re just friends. His brother is marrying my friend and we’re both in the wedding party. We’re helping them out with the planning.”
She turns her head to the side and screws up her lips a bit before speaking again. “But you like him.”
“Excuse me?” I try hard not to let the shock of what she just said show on my face.
“You can tell me. I won’t say anything to him about it.”
I have a feeling that’s about as far from the truth as you can get. “Like I said. We’re just friends.” I smile again, hoping she’ll drop it. There’s nothing bitchy or aggressive about her interrogation. She comes across more like she’s genuinely curious and maybe wants the inside scoop more than anything.
“Damn. I wish he’d find himself a nice girl.” She sighs and rests her chin on her hand. “You look like a nice girl.”
“Thanks?” She’s quiet for a moment and I decide to change the subject while I have the chance. “So how long has he had this distillery?”
“A little more than three years. I’ve been here since day one.” Ashley sits up a little straighter and puffs her chest out a bit, obviously proud of that fact.
“Is the business doing well?” As soon as the question is out of my mouth I realize what a gold-digger I sound like. “What I mean is, how are things going?”
My remark doesn’t faze Ashley. “Pretty well. We’ve kept our heads above water the past couple years and we’re finally starting to make some headway. Right now, we’re only on the West Coast and mostly just in California. Cole is working on getting a meeting with a big distributor. If he nails it, we’ll have distribution nationwide.”
“Wow. That’s exciting!”
“It really is,” she says and then frowns.
“Everything okay?”
She waves me off. “Oh, I’m just a worrier, that’s all. It’s the mom in me.”
“What’s there to worry about?” I set my purse on the chair beside me. “It sounds like everything is going well.”
She glances to the hallway Cole disappeared to moments ago and turns back my way. “It is. I just… I know Cole would like to spend more time here and I fear that he’s going to have to make a decision that won’t be easy for him.”
“Between this and his father’s company?” I ask, figuring it out on my own.
Ashley nods.
“I’m sure if he tried to make a go at this and it didn’t work out his father would welcome him back with open arms, no?”
She shrugs. “It’s complicated.”
Interesting. It seems like maybe I’m not the only one with daddy issues. I wonder if that’s why Cole reacted so strongly when I divulged the information about my parents, or lack thereof.
Ashley and I chat for another ten minutes about our mutual love for classic movies, baseball, and Ryan Reynolds.
Cole finally returns, looking a lot more relaxed than he did when we arrived. “Sorry that took so long. You ready for the grand tour?”
“Absolutely.” I reach for my purse and stand from the chair, directing my attention to Ashley. “Thanks for chatting with me while I waited.”
“The pleasure was all mine.” She turns her attention to Cole. “You’d be a fool to let this one get away, Cole. Better man up before someone else makes a move.”
Maybe I don’t like Ashley as much as I thought.
My face heats and I can’t make eye contact with Cole so I turn and walk back out to his Jeep, pulling my coat tighter around myself. He jogs up from behind me.
“You don’t want the grand tour anymore?”
I don’t turn around when I answer. “We should probably get moving so we have time to hit all the places before they close.”
“Sorry about Ashley,” he calls out from be
hind me. “She can be a little much sometimes.”
I come to a stop beside his Jeep and wonder whether he’s sorry because he thinks she embarrassed me or if he’s sorry because the idea is so preposterous to him.
I decide not to ask. There are some questions you’re better off not knowing the answer to.
21
Finally, near the end of a long day, we’re headed to our final stop. So far nothing has beat the Reserve that we saw the other day and since we’ve both been dragging ass we decide to make a quick pit stop at Starbucks to refuel.
Turns out Cole is a Grande Americano kinda guy.
All afternoon I’ve been wanting to turn the topic of conversation back to his whiskey business, but I’m too chickenshit. Since our day is coming to a close soon I feel like it’s now or never and so I finally gather up the courage to ask what’s been bothering me. “Why didn’t you mention your whiskey business before?” It’s not like he owes me an explanation, but it just seems like something that would have come up before now, given all the time we’ve spent together lately.
Cole sighs and glances away from traffic, over at me for a second. “Are you usually eager to share your failures with someone?”
My forehead creases. “How is it a failure? It looked like a pretty legitimate business to me.”
He lifts his Starbucks cup from the holder and takes a large sip before answering. “Maybe it’s not a complete failure. But some months I’m barely in the black. Something my father never fails to remind me of.” Bitterness creeps into his voice.
“He doesn’t approve?”
I can only see his profile—regardless, it’s clear that he has a frown on his face. “No, my father doesn’t approve of anything that doesn’t involve increasing the Webber family fortune. Why do you think he and Chase get along so well? They’re exactly alike in that sense.”
“I didn’t realize that you don’t get along with your father that well.” I shift in my seat to face him better.
Cole shrugs. “My entire life has been spent trying to prove myself to my father. To him my distillery is a cute little side project that I’m dabbling in.” Sadness and disappointment ring clear in his voice and I want to reach out and hug him or something. Anything to make him feel better.
“But it’s not to you…”
He shakes his head. “No. I’m passionate about it. It’s what I want to build into a big business some day.” He laughs a bit and there’s a nervous edge to it as if he’s said too much.
“I’m sure that will happen.” I can’t help myself. I reach out and squeeze the hand closest to me before I think better of it. It’s not until he turns his hand over and squeezes mine back that I pull away.
“I think I can get an appointment with a distributor I’ve been talking to. If I can convince him to take Rock Hard Whiskey on, I won’t have to worry about breaking even every month.”
“Ashley mentioned that while I was waiting for you. It sounds like a pretty big deal.”
“The biggest,” he says and picks up his coffee cup again. “It’s the biggest opportunity I’ve had since I started the business.” He pauses to take a sip of his drink and then glances at me briefly. “What else did she say?”
My cheeks heat a bit recalling our conversation, which I am absolutely not going to tell Cole about. “Just stuff.”
He chuckles. “Stuff. Hmm. I know what she’s like so I can only imagine what that stuff was.”
Cole lifts his Starbuck’s cup to his lips, but glances over to me at the same time, pinning me with a stare I don’t want to look away from. He brings the steaming cup from his mouth and a small smile tugs at the corner of his lips. God, I want to kiss those lips again.
He glances back to the street and—
“Shit!” Cole slams on the brakes and moves both hands to the steering wheel, dropping his coffee cup into his lap. The cup falls at an angle and the top hits the steering wheel. The lid comes off and coffee sprays all over Cole’s lap.
The Jeep slams to a stop inches from the bumper of the car in front of us, and my seatbelt digs into my chest. My hands instinctively fly out in front of me.
“Fuck, that’s hot!” Cole yells and then immediately directs his attention to me. “Are you okay?”
His hand is on my thigh as if to make sure I’m still there and even though sex should be the last thing on my mind right now, the skin underneath my jeans heats under his touch.
“I’m okay,” I say in a breathy voice that probably gives away where my perverted thoughts are. “How about you?” I nod to his soaked shirt and jeans.
“Not gonna lie, this coffee is a little hot, but I think I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, but do you mind if we swing by my place so I can change before we hit the next spot? We’re not too far.”
“Of course, of course.”
We make the drive over to Cole’s and every block that brings us closer makes me more and more nervous. The only time I’ve ever been to his house was the night I met him.
Will I walk through the door of his condo and have every action come rushing back to me and if so how will I handle that? With complete mortification or will it make me want him even more? I know myself well enough to know that I won’t feel indifference.
He pulls the Jeep up a few yards from his place and takes the only empty parking spot on the street.
“Come on up so you don’t have to wait in the car,” he says.
I swallow past the lump in my throat. Time to put my big-girl panties on and find out.
22
I walk through the door to Cole’s place and… nothing.
Not one memory rushes forward. Much to my disappointment.
Cole leads me to the comfy-looking living room. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll just be a few minutes.”
“Okay, thanks.”
He heads to his room and I step into the living area. I don’t take a seat on the broken-in brown leather couch because I’m too jittery to relax. Every surface I look at I wonder if Cole pinned me up against that wall and kissed me, or was this couch where he made me come with his hand?
I stand there pressing my thighs together to ease my building need while I envision all the embarrassing acts that may or may not have happened.
“You haven’t told me anything else about that night,” I call out before I can stop myself. “You still owe me today.”
Cole’s heavy footsteps sound on the hardwood flooring and he comes around the corner from the hallway I know leads to his bedroom.
“Would you like me to tell you or show you?” He cocks an eyebrow.
My mouth drops open at both his words and the visual in front of me. He’s already removed his wet clothes, but hasn’t bothered to get dressed yet and so he stands before me wearing only tight, black boxer briefs. Tight, black boxer briefs that do nothing to hide the large erection straining the cotton. There’s no doubt in my mind that he prefers to show me exactly what went down that night.
I’m still standing there taking him in as he closes the distance between us. “Well, what will it be?” His voice has a low timbre that I can somehow feel.
“Did we have sex that night?” I have to know. I have to. Because if I slept with this man and don’t remember it…
“No. We didn’t.” He steps closer toward me and if I reach out an inch I can run my hands down his toned abs. God, I want to feel those hard ripples so bad. “Not for lack of you trying, though.”
I tilt my head a bit. “What does that mean?”
“It means you were drunk, horny, and intent on having your way with me. You got your hands on my unicorn cock—your words not mine—but once I realized just how drunk you were I put a stop to things and tucked you into bed. Hardest fucking thing I’ve had to do in a long time, believe me. I didn’t want you waking up in the morning and regretting anything that happened between us.”
The girly part of me swoons and the womanly part of me simmers.
/> There is so much more to this man than I could have ever guessed. After what happened years earlier, I’d pegged him as a rich snob who was used to getting his way and slept with anything in a skirt. Now I realize that he works hard and doesn’t rest on his laurels. He has goals he wants to achieve and he feels things… deeply, if the hurt I saw in his eyes when he spoke about his father is any indication.
The most disconcerting part of it all is that every new piece of him I’ve discovered, I like.
A lot.
More than a lot, actually.
The only thing I don’t know is what he’s like as a lover. And I’m determined to rectify that right now. I’m tired of being afraid of what he makes me feel.
“I’m glad that nothing happened between us that night,” I say and finally reach forward to run my fingertips over the muscles in his abs.
Cole sucks in a breath and his stomach muscles flex under the pads of my fingers.
“It would have been a shame for me not to remember it.” I flick my gaze up to his eyes and he’s watching my every move like a predator about to pounce. Never have I enjoyed being the prey so much.
“I could have filled you in on every detail.” He sends one hand diving into my hair and pulls me into him, pressing my breasts against his hard chest.
“As much as I enjoy the sound of you talking dirty, I think I’d prefer if you show me all the things that didn’t happen that night.”
Cole growls and then fuses his lips to mine. I don’t resist. Our tongues meet in a frenzy and I wrap my arms around him, enjoying the play of the muscles on his back as his hands explore my body.
He nibbles on my bottom lip and his mouth traces a path along my jawline and down onto my neck. I moan and allow my head to fall back to grant him more access. When I push my hands into his hair and pull, he groans and lightly bites my earlobe.
“That first night you came here there’s a lot of things I didn’t get to do that I wanted to,” he says against my neck as he continues to drive me wild, dragging his tongue along my skin.