Deliciously Bitter (Naked Brews Book 3)

by KB Jacobs

  Pity.

  God, I hated that emotion more than any other. It made me feel small, helpless. I was damaged. I knew that. That brought out pity in others. While I could appreciate her effort and what she’d done to help, I couldn’t get attached to it.

  I forced myself to keep walking through the brewery room. No lingering over the way-too-sexy image of Alex tasting beers like a pro. I could just imagine how her lips would taste with the lingering traces of hops and citrus on her tongue as she stroked my...

  No! She wasn’t mine to fantasize about. I shook my head as I pushed into the office.

  Melissa stared at her computer, a huge smile on her face. She glanced up at me and then shot out of her chair and came around to tackle hug me.

  I stiffened, not knowing what to do with the diminutive blonde wrapped around me.

  “Thank you,” she squealed.

  I peeled her off my chest and stepped away. My side suddenly throbbed with phantom nerve pain that caused a shudder of revulsion to ripple down my spine.

  Melissa’s eyes widened as she realized something she’d done had caused my discomfort. Her eyes strayed to my scarred face and then dropped to my neck. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have touched you.” Unspoken questions about how far the scars went down the side of my body lingered in her eyes. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? You’re so big and seem so tough.” She visibly swallowed. “I forgot.” Her eyes welled with tears.

  “It’s fine,” I answered gruffly. “Don’t worry about it. But if you start crying, it might emotionally scar me, and I won’t forgive you for that.” I needed her to relax. Or else I’d be fleeing to the safety and anonymity of the inside of my cabin. “I guess you found the new invoicing system?”

  Her eyes lit up with excitement again. “Oh my god, yes.” She rushed around to look at her screen. “This is amazing. How did you get this set up so quickly?”

  This is what I did best. “Don’t get too excited. I was only able to input two weeks worth of numbers in there, so it needs a ton of data input, but once that’s done, it’s all automated...billing, shipping reminders for packaging, and payables. Everything is set up as a checklist each morning so you won’t miss anything.”

  I came around to the screen and touched a tab on the spreadsheet. “Here’s a list of upcoming details so you can always look with a touch of a button what demands are coming for the brewing and delivery schedule. Using this, you’ll have a better idea of the brewery’s capabilities to handle the demands of a new customer coming in. As I work in the back with Harlan, it will get more and more streamlined.”

  “Wow.” Melissa sighed. “This is perfection.” She glanced up at me warily before nervously biting her lip. “I really want to hug you again. If you know it’s coming, is it easier to take?” Her expression was one of such hope and happiness I couldn’t resist her need to show her appreciation.

  I opened my arms. “Come at me.”

  Melissa launched at my chest just as Alex walked into the office. She stumbled to a halt, a look of hurt and confusion crossing her face as she frowned at Melissa before she cleared it. Her tentative smile seemed brittle. “Um, wow, Melissa. Does Anthony know you like to welcome the new help with such enthusiasm?”

  Melissa pulled away and gave Alex a thoroughly sassy look. “Oh, girl, when Anthony finds out how many hours this guy right here just saved me from having to work, I can almost promise you that he’ll be doing some mauling of his own on Mr. Tall, Dark, and Geeky.”

  I choked out a laugh. “Tall, dark, and geeky?”

  “Hey if the looks, glasses, and computer programing skills fit?” She shrugged but then bounced over to Alex. “Come see this.”

  I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Something about this place just felt good. I felt good here, accepted. I hadn’t felt that since I’d first joined the military at eighteen.

  While Melissa showed Alex the new financial spreadsheets, I opened the other program I’d been working on for Alex’s job within the brewery.

  Alex looked up at me, a new appreciation shining in her eyes. “I see now why she was so excited. This is really phenomenal, Damian.”

  I quirked my finger to motion her over to this desk, and she sat down in the chair I pulled out for her. I leaned over her back to manipulate the program on this computer and was hit with her luscious scent, light, floral, and so damn feminine. I wanted to bury my nose in her hair and explore across her neck just behind her ear.

  I cleared my throat. “This is the program I’m building for you. It consists of a searchable customer database. When it’s finished, you’ll be able to find all the sales data for anyone that’s worked with Naked Brews with a single keystroke. It’s nowhere close to done yet, but if you’d like to help, we can customize it to your needs.”

  I leaned over her as I reached around, moving the mouse cursor on the screen to show her the different features of the program.

  “You’re amazing,” she whispered in a reverent voice that went straight to my groin.

  We were so close, I could feel the heat emanating off her body, could barely resist leaning forward just a bit more.

  It had been years since I’d craved physical intimacy. Since my injury, I didn’t like to be touched, anyway, anywhere. Like the hug had been with Melissa, it was uncomfortable. But with Alex, that all changed. I wanted to touch and be touched even as my stomach rolled over with nerves at the idea. No matter how much I knew I couldn’t do that, couldn’t have her, I wouldn’t lie to myself about it.

  I wanted. Her.

  I just couldn’t have her.

  She deserved someone better, someone whole.

  Someone as perfect as her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alex

  “Good night, ladies.” Harlan stuck his head into the new office and tipped his hat like cowboy about to ride off into the sunset. “Damian.”

  “See you tomorrow.” I leaned back in my chair and stretched my arms over my head. Sitting in an office chair most of the day was horrendous on my back, but it was pain I’d gladly take. I’d spent the entire afternoon poring through Damian’s new sales program. He had everything streamlined in a way that would make onboarding the new sales manager ten times easier.

  “I’m going to head out, too. Anthony is picking up pizza, and this girl is starving.” Melissa stood up and gathered her purse. “Hug warning.”

  She walked up behind Damian and wrapped his shoulders in a bear hug. His mouth pulled into a tight smile, but he didn’t push her off. Not the way he jerked away from me whenever I so much as made contact with my pinkie finger.

  “You don’t have to keep thanking me,” Damian told her, spinning around in his chair when she released her hold.

  “Um...I got more work done today than I would normally finish in a week, so I’m pretty sure I’m nowhere near finished thanking you.”

  She squeezed his shoulder, and the muscles in my stomach clenched. Why was it okay for Melissa to touch him, but not me? I thought we had a moment last night, eating popcorn and watching movies. But I had no clue.

  Reading people was where I excelled. I could always read a situation and know where the cards fell. It was why my Hollywood-famous parents used me to handle all their most sensitive PR work instead of the expensive publicists the studios insisted they hire. But with Damian? It was like trying to get a read on a cold fish.

  “Right, Alex?”

  I jerked to attention to find both Damian and Melissa staring at me.

  “Sorry.” I tugged at a loose piece of hair. “I spaced out there for a bit.”

  Melissa shot me a quick look as if she knew what I’d been thinking about instead of paying attention to the conversation. “Maybe you should head home, too. You’ve been a little distracted all day.” She glanced down quickly at Damian and then winked at me.

  Who knew getting some on the regular would make Melissa so sassy?

  “Soon,” I said. “I need to write up this job posting
so I can at least have a few good candidates by the time Lake gets back. Maybe Damian can walk you out.”

  “I’ve actually got a lot to do, too,” Damian added quickly. “Eric was planning to do all the staff scheduling on notecards. I’m creating some basic templates to start him off for scheduled changes and vacation requests.” He looked at me for a second before turning back to his computer. “Maybe we could order a pizza?”

  Melissa took advantage of his back being turned to us and shot me a double thumbs up. “Okay, well you crazy kids have fun.”

  A thunderous crash sounded from downstairs, followed by a loud string of curse words.

  I froze in my seat. The three of us were the only ones left in the brewery, but someone was definitely in the tasting bar. Damian jumped up and silently shut the door of the office, moving faster than a cheetah.

  “Are either of you expecting anyone?” His voice came out as a harsh whisper that sent goosebumps up my arms.

  Melissa shook her head, her eyes as wide as one of her precious collector’s tea cups. I swallowed a lump growing in my throat and shook my head as well.

  “Where’s your bat?” he asked me.

  I nodded at the corner where an old wooden bat leaned against the wall. I’d threatened to take Damian’s head off with it yesterday, but somehow, that was different. He leaned across me, his chest brushing against mine, and grabbed the long bat. Even with potential danger on the other side of the door, the light touch lit my body on fire. Good god, I was a mess.

  “Stay here.” Damian slid out of the office door before I could even tell him to be careful.

  Melissa grabbed my hand, and we stood in the middle of the office, staring at the door Damian just walked out of. I held my breath, waiting for the sounds of shouts or a baseball bat taking someone down, but I couldn’t hear anything.

  The door flew open, and Melissa and I took a collective jump back.

  “Hey there, gorgeous,” a familiar voice said. Two men filled the doorway, one a complete surprise.

  “Vincent? What are you doing here?” I stared back and forth between Damian with the bat propped on his shoulder and Vincent Becker, the guy from Denver that I was maybe, kinda sometimes dating. What was he doing here? We weren’t serious enough that I wanted him to meet my friends. They’d make a big deal about meeting him, when that wasn’t the kind of relationship we had. We were all about convenience and physical release, nothing else.

  The two of them were a study in contrast. Damian was impeccably dressed, but the way he always turned his face to the side and slouched his shoulders made him look like a guy trying to disappear. Vincent almost always wore jeans and a flannel, making him look more like a lumberjack than a businessman, but the gray at his temples and the way he held himself gave him the air of a man completely comfortable with who he was.

  With both of them in the same room, I was ready to crawl out of my skin.

  Vincent took two long strides into the room and gripped me by the shoulders, planting a hard kiss on my cheek. “Surprise. I felt bad that I couldn’t go with you to the wedding last weekend, so I moved around a few meetings to get down here for the night.”

  I’d invited him to the wedding in a moment of madness when I’d been feeling pathetic around all my friends who were in love, but it had been a relief that he couldn’t make it.

  “Ahem.” Melissa coughed next to me in the most non-casual way possible.

  “Right. Sorry...uh.” If I had an easy button that could open a hole in the floor for me to fall into, I would have pushed it already. “Melissa, this is Vincent. We’ve gone out a few times when he comes into town for business.”

  Melissa flashed her eyes at Damian, but not fast enough that it wasn’t obvious she was checking for his reaction. I wanted to check, too, but I couldn’t do it. I kept my gaze focused on Vincent who had showed up at the worst moment possible.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Melissa nodded her head but didn’t offer him a hand.

  Vincent turned toward Damian, and the room dropped into silence for an uncomfortable moment. Awkward. Just so much awkward. “And this is Damian.”

  Damian only tightened the grip on his bat.

  “Nice to meet you both.” Vincent grabbed my hand and rubbed his thumb in a quick circle over my palm. “Anyway, I’m only in town for the night, but I thought we could go grab some dinner and catch up.” He winked at me, which only made things worse.

  Vincent and I had a bit of an understanding. He worked in Denver but traveled to Aspenridge about once a month. Whenever he came to town, we got together and...scratched our mutual itches. It was simple, no strings attached. The perfect type of relationship for me. The only time I heard from him was a text to let me know he was coming to town, and I liked it that way.

  Until Damian had showed up. Now it felt all sorts of wrong. I’d have to take time to examine why that was...later. When I could think clearly again. When both men weren’t in the room watching me expectantly. This was all kinds of awkward, and I didn’t do awkward.

  Not that I owed Damian anything. Except there was definitely some chemistry going on there even if neither of us would admit it. And last night was...comfortable. Which was normally a feeling that had me running in the opposite direction. Except I wasn’t running yet. Why wasn’t I running?

  “We were actually just about to order a—”

  “You should go.” Damian leaned the bat against the wall and walked past me to his desk and sat down. “I can close up here.”

  My heart clutched. Damian wanted me to go with Vincent? I didn’t want to go with Vincent. I wanted...

  “Perfect.” Vincent didn’t wait for me to say another word. He reached over and threaded his arm through mine. “Again, nice to meet you both.”

  Vincent led us out of the office and through the newly renovated tasting room. I marched next to him in silence, wondering when my uncomplicated life became so damn complex.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Damian

  I glanced in my rearview mirror at the white UN vehicle following closely behind our MRAP. This was a peaceful mission. The group we escorted was filming a documentary on women’s civil rights in Afghanistan, but the back of my neck itched. The IED team had cleared the roads just an hour before. There was no reason for this sensation.

  I glanced over at Irish, who sat in the passenger’s seat. “Keep an eye out for dirt.”

  He nodded. Dirt was anything that looked out of place along the side of the road. It could be as simple as a bush that looked like it’d recently died or a few misplaced rocks. Anything that might signal a buried IED, a bomb meant to blow us to smithereens, despite the fact we had the latest development in vehicle armor on our truck.

  Ice glanced down at me from the gunner’s turret, located between Irish and me. “You have a feeling?”

  “Yeah, keep an eye...”

  The world exploded.

  The vehicle rocked onto two wheels, and I tried to hold onto the steering as heat and noise and horrific screams bombarded me.

  Then it exploded again. Heat and pressure careened into my right side.

  The ghastly noise became muffled, but I knew that wasn’t real, just my eardrums blown to hell.

  Everything was black. Hot. Smoke.

  I tried to move, but Ice’s body pinned me to my seat, half his head gone. I didn’t have time to mourn him. Fire consumed the vehicle, which was filled with the screams I could hear despite my blown eardrums.

  My friends.

  Dead. Dying. Burning to death.

  Pain.

  Heat.

  Melting.

  I had to get out. I couldn’t move.

  Pain.

  Screams.

  I awoke with a gasp.

  Soft, plush lips pressed to mine. A soft, floral scent I recognized immediately replaced the smoke and dust and horror that had been filling my senses.

  Alex.

  I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close.

/>   I was safe. In Colorado. With everything I wanted in my arms. I tightened my hold, deepened the kiss, and groaned at the pure goodness of this. My heart still raced, but now for another reason completely.

  The taste of her was coffee and chocolate and all things decadent. Forbidden.

  I wanted more. I wanted everything. Her hair felt like silk under my fingers as I threaded my hand through it to cup her scalp. My body throbbed with want. More. I wanted all she would give me. It had been so long.

  Two and a half years...

  Oh, shit.

  I pulled back with a gasp. “What the hell are you doing in my room?”

  The small light on the nightstand was on, so I could see her glazed expression as she licked at her wet, swollen lips. My dick pulsed. But that light meant she could see all of me, too. My fists clenched in the sheets as I fought the urge to hide the side of my face and exposed body like a virginal bride.

  “You had a nightmare again. I heard you.”

  I glared at the dark, open window. I’d debated closing it after what had happened last night. But there was no way I could sleep in the stifling heat. Even though the nights were plenty cool, we’d had a record high today that had made it hot in the house without central air. A light breeze blew in through the window, leaving a trail of goosebumps over my over-heated, sweaty skin.

  “Then I couldn’t get you to wake up, so I tried another method.” Alex ducked her head as her skin flushed. The red extended from her cheeks down her neck and across her chest, all the way into the top of her tight tank top. The swells of her breasts tempted me. I wanted to see just how far that pink skin went.

  I shook my head. She had a boyfriend, and I’d just tried to maul her. Even if she’d started it, that was no excuse. “I’m sorry. Tell your boyfriend I’ll close my windows from now on.” Maybe I could get someone out to do a rush air conditioning install.

  Confusion marred her brow.

  “His name was Victor, Vance, something like that.” How did she not remember her own boyfriend?