Taming Reid

by J. Margot Critch

  With another trip across the country on the horizon, Lila wanted to soak up as much of Miami as she could. But Reid’s home was the only place she wanted to be. She lay next to his pool and sprayed more sunblock over her skin.

  Reaching behind her back, she smoothed in the spray as best she could.

  “Want me to get that for you?” The deep baritone that set her panties ablaze came from somewhere behind her. She turned her head and saw Reid walk out onto the pool deck with an easy gait. He was smiling and looked relaxed with the first couple of buttons of his shirt unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled halfway up his corded, tanned forearms.

  He sat next to her, took the bottle from her hands and sprayed the sunscreen on her back and shoulders before spreading it over her skin. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that he looked like he was surprisingly in a good mood. “Look, he does smile,” she teased. He swatted her ass and she giggled and rolled over. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “God, a guy can’t smile once in a while without getting the third degree? I had a good day. It might be too soon to say, but we think we might have solved our supply problem for good. Gemma’s working on it now with her crew.”

  “Oh, that’s great. What is it?” Reid paused. “Trade secrets?” she asked.

  Again, he hesitated. “Gemma may have come up with a way to quick-distill and age the rum.”

  “Oh really?”

  “Yeah, it’s highly experimental. But, besides the prohibition-era recipe it’s pretty much our only option to get all our product on the shelves and to the people who want it. Hopefully it’ll work out. Otherwise, it could be a bust.”

  “I think that if Gemma believes she can do it, she will.”

  “Me too. Any word from your agent?”

  “Yeah, I have to head back to Los Angeles tomorrow. Negotiations for the GO! Channel,” she said with a sigh.

  “You don’t sound very happy.”

  “I know. He isn’t happy I left LA so quickly.”

  “You couldn’t stay away, though, huh?” His smile was cocky as he lay back in the chair.

  “That’s right.”

  “Why exactly aren’t you happy about the TV deal?”

  “I don’t know. I should be happier. This is everything I wanted.”

  “But?” he prompted.

  “I don’t know. Something just doesn’t feel right about it. My agent and everyone else on the team tells me it’s the right thing to do, that it’s a good deal. But it feels like they’re just going to strip me of my independence and put restrictions on what I want to do.”

  “Don’t sign anything if it doesn’t feel right. If you’re going to do it, do it right. Go into negotiations and kick their asses. Get what you want.”

  “What if they say no?”

  He shrugged. “Then you tried. But you’ve got to take that risk, right? But if this is what you want, fight for it,” he told her. He sounded serious. Lila watched him for a moment from behind her sunglasses. He stared off into the distance, as if he was deep in thought about something.

  “Are you talking about my contract, or us?”

  “I’m talking about everything. A very smart woman taught me that life should be fun. Not all serious work stuff,” he said, pouncing on her and rolling back over so she sprawled on his chest.

  “Sounds like a smart woman,” she said, kissing the underside of his jaw. “In the meantime, I have something more fun we can do.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  REID SAT IN HIS OFFICE, working on the next step of their expansion. The team had worked quickly and based on the price quotes and time estimations they received from several contractors, they’d decided to go ahead with expanding the current distillery into the adjacent properties, which they also owned. He was glad that they would be staying in the building. It was part of what tied them to their past. Reid couldn’t imagine going to work every day in another building—nor would he. He would take the old, worn, hurricane-and-sun-battered exterior over any flashy new designs. The old distillery was just as much a part of the business as he and his siblings were.

  He signed off on an invoice for their contractor and scanned over the orders for the new equipment Gemma would need to quick-distill her recipes. He still wasn’t completely on board with the idea. If it failed, it would cost them a lot of resources—a lot of money. And there was the risk that the quality would suffer. That was what didn’t sit well with him. Rexford Rum had a reputation to uphold. It was a huge risk, but if there was anything that Lila had taught him, it was that he should take more risks, live a little. Have some fun.

  Lila. A smile formed on his lips as he thought of her. In such a short time, she had transformed his entire life. He never thought he would get close to another woman, but she had managed to break through each of the walls he’d erected around himself.

  The door to his office opened and he looked up. His smile turned down, as in walked the woman who’d caused him to build them those walls.

  His jaw became tight and clenched. “What are you doing here?” he asked Carolina without standing.

  “Is that how you greet your ex-wife?”

  “It’s the politest way I could muster,” he told her.

  She ignored him. “I’m in Miami with some girlfriends. I thought I’d pay you a visit, and I knew I’d find you here.” She looked around his simple office with disdain. “The place looks exactly the same.”

  “I’ll ask again, why are you here?”

  “I wanted to see you.”

  “Why, old man Cain can’t keep you satisfied?” Reid smiled at the anger in her eyes.

  “He keeps me plenty satisfied. Thank you for your concern. But I’ve seen pictures of you around the internet with that little blogger of yours.”

  “Lila is none of your concern. I’ve had enough of this tête-à-tête. You should leave.”

  “I just wanted to stop by and congratulate you, Quin and Gemma. I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about Rexford Rum.”

  “Get out,” he told her, not wanting to discuss rum, or anything else with the woman who’d almost ruined him.

  “Word on the street has it that Gemma is up to something here. She’s placed orders for some very specialized equipment. Just makes everyone wonder what she’s up to. Seeing as how you’re the hot commodity right now, and I know how long Gemma ages her stuff. I don’t have any idea how you’re going to fill the demand your popularity has created. You haven’t got enough stock, have you?”

  He wasn’t about to confirm or deny anything she thought. “You’re lucky I don’t pick you up and bodily remove you from my building,” he warned her.

  “You would never do such a thing, Reid. I know you. I also know you guys aren’t as slick as you pretend to be. Whatever you’re planning down here, and I think I know exactly what it is, just give up, because you’re going to lose.”

  “What do you think we’re doing?”

  “Those five-to-ten-year batches that Gemma is so proud of, there’s no way they’re ready to hit shelves. My theory is that Gemma’s found a way to quick-distill rum.” Reid kept his face impassive, not letting on the anger or surprise he felt at finding out their little secret wasn’t so secret. “I know Gemma is smart, but that’s pretty good.”

  “Is that what you think? Where did you hear that?”

  She shrugged. “A little bird told me. Don’t think that the master distiller at Cain Rum isn’t currently working on a way to do the same.”

  “Carolina, I could stay here and chat all day, but I’ve really got to go. I have actual work to do. Like you would know anything about that.”

  “So, it sounds like nothing’s changed for you, then. Work, work, work. That’s too bad.”

  “Did I say that I had to go? I clearly meant you. Leave before I call the police.”

  “Fine, you’re no fun. G
ood luck, Reid.”

  Carolina turned and with a swivel in her hips that he’d once found appealing, she sashayed out of his office, and hopefully out of his life for the last time.

  In the silence of his office, Reid stewed over his ex-wife’s visit. How had word gotten out what they were doing? They’d kept it in house. The only people who knew were him, his brother and sister, Gemma’s workers in the distillery...

  And Lila.

  “Fuck,” Reid muttered. Had Lila sold him out? She was the only person on the outside he’d told about the expansion and their new production plans. And she was alone in his house. Following a hunch, he turned to his laptop and typed the names Lila Campbell and Carolina Cain. The results were what he’d suspected and yet hoped to never see.

  There were pictures of Lila and Carolina attending the same Cain party. The women were all smiles as photographers captured them deep in conversation, smiling for the cameras, their arms around each other. Reid slammed his laptop shut. He’d trusted Lila, let her in, told her things. Is this why she was here? Why she’d stayed close and gotten under his skin?

  He pushed back from his desk. Lila was at his house right now. He had to go there and get to the bottom of this.

  * * *

  When Reid came into the house, Lila could tell something was wrong. He said nothing, and she followed him to the study, where he stalked to the wet bar and poured himself a glass of the ten-year-aged dark rum that she knew he preferred.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  He didn’t say anything for a moment, as he watched her over the rim of his glass. His eyes were full of fire, but it wasn’t from passion, how she’d grown accustomed to having him watch her. There was anger there. He lowered the glass. “No,” he said finally.

  “What’s up?”

  “What do you know about Carolina Cain?”

  She thought for a moment. “Carolina? Carolina Cain?” She flashed back to several Cain rum parties and events she’d attended, and the tall, slim, glamorous woman she’d met. “I can’t believe I never connected it before. Carolina is your ex-wife?”

  “As if you didn’t know.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You didn’t think to mention you were at any of their parties?”

  “I go to a lot of parties, Reid. I greet the hosts. I know Carolina by name, and that’s it.”

  He didn’t seem to hear her. “I told you. I told you everything. About me, Carolina, about the distillery, and the whole time, you’re playing me for a fucking idiot.”

  “Whoa,” she said, putting up a hand, cutting him off. “What are you accusing me of?”

  “You sold me out.”

  “To who?”

  “Carolina.”

  “I met the woman two or three times in my life, and I haven’t seen her since I went to their Labor Day party in the Hamptons last year.”

  “Then how did she know all about our plans at the distillery? Why was Gemma ordering new equipment even on her radar?”

  “I don’t know. Are you accusing me of leaking your secrets? You barely tell me anything about the distillery. Do you think I have such little integrity?”

  “I know that Carolina and Cain Rum will pay any price to take us out.”

  Lila figured it out, and the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. “You never trusted me.”

  “I trusted you enough to tell you about our plans, to leave you alone in my house. And this happens. Christ!”

  “No, you didn’t trust me. You gave me a basic run-down of what you were doing. Then you changed the topic to sex—like you always do when we’re having a deep or intense conversation. And then you think I did what, exactly? Went right to Carolina and told her everything while she cut me a check?”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened.”

  “I know she screwed you over. But I’m not her. And the fact that you don’t trust me, after everything we’ve been through? That you think I can do that?”

  “No. I don’t know. I barely know you. But I do know what Carolina is. And she’s capable of charming the devil. This is why I didn’t want you working for us. I wanted to keep you separate from the business. But I couldn’t. That’s why I knew this was a bad idea.”

  “You want to keep me in a separate box? That’s not good enough for me, Reid. I don’t want to be involved in one part of your life. I want all of you.”

  “Clearly, I can’t give you that.”

  “You know, you’re a lot more fun when you’re away from work.”

  “Is that right? Because not all of us have the luxury of traveling and eating and taking in festivals for income. I have responsibilities. I’m not like you. You don’t even have a home.”

  She shook her head in disbelief. “You’re just getting all your shots in now? You think I don’t have any responsibilities?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Yes, it is. You still don’t take me seriously, do you? You think I’m breezing through life. I tried to show you how hard I work, how my life isn’t all a party.”

  “You can agree that our lives are very different.”

  “Yeah, because you close yourself off to joy, and love, and everything else but your fucking office and bottles of rum. You’re going to work yourself to death.” Lila took a deep breath. “I should leave.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I don’t know. The airport, I guess, seeing as how I don’t have a home or anything.”

  “Lila, don’t, wait.”

  “What?”

  “Don’t go. Let’s talk.”

  “You’ve already said enough. But what I need to know is this—did you say all those things, try to hurt my feelings in order to push me away?

  “Are you going to take the chance, and welcome me into your life, or are you going to keep me separate? Because I don’t do half measures, Reid. I don’t settle down, especially not with someone who won’t make me a priority. Hell, you won’t make anything but your work a priority. You’re too settled down, if you ask me.”

  He turned away from her, not bothering to answer all of her questions. “I don’t have anything to give you, Lila. I’m needed at the distillery and keeping it running smoothly is what I do. It’s my family, my name.”

  Reid wouldn’t look at her, and she didn’t believe he meant the hurtful words he’d said. She hadn’t known him long, but she knew him well enough to read his face, his actions. But she wouldn’t chase a man who didn’t want her. Her head bobbed. “Okay. You’ve made your decision, I guess. I should go.”

  “Should we get together to nullify the contract we signed?”

  “If you want to get out of it, we can arrange it. But I don’t think we need to cut professional ties. Just whatever this—” she motioned between the two of them “—was.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll just contact Quin for anything I might need,” she told him.

  “I’ll let him know.”

  They were both quiet, and Lila knew the conversation was over. This was it. “I’ll go get my things.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  LILA STOOD IN front of the camera, and with a shake of her head, tossed her hair over her shoulders. The microphone buried between her breasts was invisible to anyone who looked at her, but it felt as foreign as she did in front of the green screen in the studio. She should be outside, using her phone’s camera, speaking to her audience, not to the besuited men in the room who looked as bored as she was.

  “Okay, from the top, Lila,” the cameraman said in an indifferent tone.

  “Hey, it’s Lila Campbell and I’m coming to you live from—” she looked over her shoulder at the screen that would project an image later “—where am I again?”

  “Spring break in Cozumel,” one of the s
uits told her without looking up from his phone.

  “Spring break? It’s summer.”

  “This commercial will launch in March, during spring break. We’re going to send you there.”

  “You know I’m in my thirties, right? Spring break isn’t exactly my thing.”

  “Well, you look twenty-one in TV years. Should we remind you that this is what you’re being paid for.”

  “From the top again,” the director said.

  She looked over at herself in the monitor and saw that they’d projected a video of raucous spring breakers behind her. But she stared at herself. Her hair and makeup done within an inch of her life, the wardrobe that she would have never picked for herself, and she frowned.

  Lila took a deep breath and turned on her brightest smile, reminding herself that she was living every online influencer’s dream—a deal with a television network, worldwide exposure. She tamped down her frustration and looked back into the camera lens.

  “Hey guys, it’s Lila Campbell...”

  * * *

  Later, she was seated at a table in the conference room above the studio. Across from her sat her three studio executives from the GO! Channel.

  “Ms. Campbell,” the woman started. “We loved your reel from this morning. We’re so excited about this partnership.”

  “Thank you. It was definitely a different experience for me. But I’m used to being a little more hands-on when it comes to my content.”

  The male exec in the middle waved off her concern. “We’ll get you out in the field soon. But you’ll find we record a lot of segments here in the studio. It’s cheaper, easier and safer than some of the exotic locales you may be used to.”

  “That sounds pretty inauthentic. Why would a travel channel operate like that—”

  “Ms. Campbell, here is your updated contract.” The third executive slid the papers across the table. “I’m sure you’ll see the contract is in order and contains the provisions we discussed previously.”

  Lila nodded. She and James had negotiated an excellent contract for her. GO! Channel was going to pay her handsomely. But it was the heavily detailed itinerary that bothered her the most. Even with the segments that would be produced in-house, it was loaded with stops, and some left her in a town for only a day at a time—some places for a few hours. Also included was something new she hadn’t seen before—a list of brands she could use and advertise on her personal blog.