Deliciously Bitter (Naked Brews Book 3)

by KB Jacobs

  “Vincent.” She winced. “Yeah, he’s not at my place anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “I sent him back to his hotel room. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a friend I hook up with when he’s in town.”

  “But not tonight.”

  She shook her head but wouldn’t meet my eyes. “No, not tonight. It didn’t feel right.”

  I wanted to read between the lines of that so desperately. Did it not feel right because of me? Or was she worried that just like her hearing my nightmares, I would have heard them as they fucked, and she needed more privacy than that? I’d admit that had been a worry for me when I’d gotten home, but I hadn’t heard a thing.

  Now I knew why. She’d sent him to his hotel room...alone. I wanted to jump out of bed and do a victory dance worthy of a receiver catching the final touchdown pass in the Superbowl.

  But with my erection popping a tent in the sheet, that wasn’t the best idea.

  She looked at me again, studiously ignoring the evidence of my desire. “Still have any of that popcorn left?” she asked.

  I grinned at her. “Yeah, you up for another movie night?” More time with her? I wanted that more than I wanted my next breath.

  “Yes!” She bounded off the bed. “I’ll be waiting in the living room.”

  Fifteen minutes later, I carried a bowl of popcorn into the living room where Alex sat on the couch, wrapped in a lightweight quilt, looking so sleepy and gorgeous she took my breath away. As I approached, she lifted the blanket in an open invitation to join her.

  I swallowed against my dry throat. Could I sit that close to her for the next two hours and not touch her? But it was the middle of the night, and my resistance was low after the combination of that horrific nightmare followed by the fantastic wakeup. I wanted—no needed—someone like her close, so I gave in and joined her.

  Picking up the remote, I asked, “Any requests?”

  She shook her head. “Let’s just see what’s on.”

  I flipped to the movie section of the satellite, and we started scanning the choices. I immediately saw what I would watch if she wasn’t here, but I might lose my man card if I mentioned it as an option.

  “Ooh, Bring It On is just starting.” She leaned forward in excitement. “Can we watch that?”

  “Um...sure.”

  She squinted at me. “What’s that funny look about? We don’t have to watch it if you don’t want, but I figured...lots of girls in short skirts. What guy doesn’t enjoy that?”

  “No, it’s fine.” I laughed uncomfortably.

  “Then what’s with the face?” She studied me for a moment.

  My skin heated, leaving me feeling exposed. “It’s one of my favorite movies,” I mumbled.

  She choked out a laugh. “You don’t have to make it sound like that’s a fate worse than death. I really like it, too. In fact, if you can promise to keep a secret, I’ll tell you exactly why I like it so much.”

  She glanced around the room like someone waited in the corner with a tape recorder to catch whatever she planned to say.

  I laughed at her theatrics, now really curious. “My lips are sealed.”

  “I’m actually in this movie.”

  “What? There’s no way. You’re not old enough.” But that didn’t stop me from going through the cast of characters trying to figure out which one she was.

  She shrugged. “I was eight years old and just an extra. You can catch a glimpse of me a couple of times in the competition scenes.”

  “That’s awesome. You’ll have to point yourself out when we get to those scenes.” I could just imagine her as a little girl, her hair up in pigtails with big bows, and those glorious freckles of hers standing out on her face like a beacon of happiness and excitement. “I bet you were a cheerleader in high school, too, weren’t you?”

  “Oh, no.” She coughed out a mock horrified laugh. “My mother would have had a coronary. While it was fine for me to play one in the movies, I could never have truly been a cheerleader. Much higher things were expected of me. I had movie premieres and parties to attend. I was all part of the Hugh Nichols and Brittney Boone-Nichols PR machine. No normal middle-class, American-style, bourgeois activities for me because I was their kid. That wasn’t allowed until I made my escape to college in Texas.”

  I swallowed a popcorn kernel wrong and began to choke. After a couple of minutes coughing, I finally could get my voice to work again. “Your parents are Hugh Nichols and Brittney Boone-Nichols?”

  Holy fuck, how did I not know this? No wonder she was so gorgeous and always so put together. She was Hollywood royalty. Her father was one of the highest grossing movie directors of all time. And her mother had won at least three Oscars that I knew of.

  She nodded but then distracted me by pointing at the movie. “One of my scenes is just about to come up.”

  And then there she was, looking just as cute as I’d imagined, rocking out the cheerleading routine on the screen that was more hip hop dance than a cheer routine. I couldn’t stop the smile that broke over my face. “Do you still have moves like that?”

  “Of course. There’s a great dance club out at the Edge. Do you dance?”

  “I used to.” I could hear the longing in my voice. I missed dancing. Before my injury, going out to clubs had been one of my favorite things to do. Not for the girls, although that had certainly not been a deterrent, but because I loved to dance. I just hoped she didn’t notice. That part of my life was gone. I could just imagine how truly terrifying my face would look under nightclub lighting. There was no way I could go out and do it anymore.

  “We should go sometime,” she said.

  I didn’t answer, just pretended to be engrossed in the movie. I could feel her gaze on me, but I ignored it, ignored the buzzing under my skin at her nearness.

  She was the daughter of two of the most beautiful, powerful people who lived their lives in the spotlight. I was a nightmare, trying to stay far, far away from everyone. I couldn’t give into the temptation of her or else I’d get burned. And I was pretty sure that was a scar I wouldn’t recover from.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alex

  The next morning, I walked around my new desk and offered Damian a high five.

  Melissa giggled from her desk on the other side of the room.

  His palm slapped mine, and I ignored the tingle of heat as our skin made contact. “Who knew having you around was going to be so handy? It would’ve taken me all day to get this computer set up.”

  Damian pushed back on my rolling chair and gave me a smile that lit a fire in my belly. It didn’t take much, considering the smoldering coals left over from last night. My lips tingled with the memory of the kiss we’d shared. I reminded myself all morning that it was nothing more than a way to stop his nightmare, but the memory of his fingers, tangling in my hair had said different. I’d fallen asleep on his couch for the second night in a row, snuggled under a blanket with Damian pressed close to my side. I’d never been a snuggler, but Damian had me giving up my pillow top, queen-size bed just to be closer to him.

  “It’s nice to know I’m appreciated for more than just my pretty face.” He smiled again, the mottled skin on the right side of his face puckering up and making him even more handsome, a feat I didn’t realize was possible.

  I leaned against the desk, smiling at him like a drunken idiot, my stomach doing backflips. Butterflies. When was the last time a guy gave me butterflies?

  Darren Kennedy. He’d been the hottest guy in eighth grade in a school filled with Hollywood’s most beautiful offspring. He’d told me I was special, and we’d made out in the back of the student lounge during an all-school assembly. Then he’d told his friends I let him take off my bra and that had killed the butterflies.

  But here they were, swooping around my belly, making me feel things Alexandra Nichols didn’t feel. Things that terrified me. Life had taught me better, and I needed to remember those life lessons. Love was for fools. Not
that I was in love, but I was all about nipping things in the bud before they became a problem.

  “I’m going to go get some tapas.” Melissa stood up and practically yelled the words in slow motion like she was talking to someone who barely understood English.

  I snapped out of my Damian-trance in time to catch her smirking at the two of us.

  “Right.” I straightened up and took a few steps away from the desk to break his magnetic draw. “Lunch sounds great.” I could use some time outside the building and away from whatever was going on between us.

  “Are you in, Damian?” Melissa asked him though she was smiling innocently at me. She might be able to flash her big baby blue eyes at Damian like a Disney princess, but I knew better. This wasn’t an invitation to lunch. It was a calculated plan of action.

  Damian fidgeted in his seat and glanced out the windows toward town. He’d gotten comfortable enough with Melissa and me that he rarely ever touched his face, but the restaurant would be filled with strangers.

  “We could run and grab something to eat here,” I suggested. “What about one of those make-and-take pizzas from the new place in town? We’ll fire up the new oven and test out the kitchen.”

  Damian stilled, and the tension in his face slid away. “I’ll buy if you fly.”

  Melissa grabbed her keys off the desk and dashed to the open door. “Actually, I’ll do both. See you guys in roughly twenty uninterrupted minutes.” She winked and marched out the door before I could say a word of protest.

  Damian stood and took a few steps in my direction. My body reacted to his closeness, and I sucked in a deep breath. We were isolated here in the new office space, but the brewery wasn’t empty.

  “Should we heat it up?” he asked, his gaze focused on my mouth.

  I licked my lips and the butterflies broke out into a Bring It On style cheer routine. “Here?” Yes, please.

  The left side of Damian’s mouth quirked into a half smile. “Melissa will be back soon, so we need to move quickly.” His voice was gravelly with desire.

  My back arched in anticipation as he took another step closer. My brain struggled to remind me of all the reasons getting involved with Damian was a horrible idea, but those damned butterflies didn’t give a flying rat’s ass about reason. It had been way too long. Who was I to deny the desires of the sexy, consenting man that had me dripping in anticipation?

  I ran a finger down his arm and relished in the goosebumps that followed my touch along his skin. “Okay.”

  Damian nodded and dipped his head toward mine, his eyes dark with desire. “I can already taste it.” His breath whispered across my cheek, lifting my face to his like a moth racing toward a flame. He chuckled lightly and then stepped back, walking to the door. “Let’s go.”

  “What?” The word came out breathy and confused by his sudden change in direction.

  “Let’s go get the oven heating up.” He leaned against the doorframe and watched my brain catch up to his words, a smug smile spreading across his face. “If we get it going now, it’ll be nice and hot by the time Melissa gets back.”

  Without waiting for me to respond, he walked out the door and headed down to the kitchen.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  I fanned at my face and took a gulp of air to calm my racing heartbeat. Two seconds ago, I’d been ready to lock the door and find out how fast I could get out of my pants. My core clenched at the loss of what I’d thought was going to be a hot-and-steamy office shag session. If Damian thought he could get me riled up and then leave me hanging, he was in for an education.

  Blood boiled in my veins for a very different reason as I marched out of the office and back downstairs. “Damian,” I called out toward the kitchen. “A word please.”

  The dark-haired demon poked his head out of the kitchen door, that smug smile still plastered on his face. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to slap it off or kiss it away. Maybe a slap first and then a kiss that made him regret the two minutes he just wasted while teasing me.

  “Who do you think—”

  A loud boom followed by the sound of twisting metal erupted from the back of the brewery. Damian jumped and covered his ears, his eyes scrunched closed against the grating noise.

  Alarm ran through me, not only for whatever had happened inside the building, but for Damian who’d frozen in panic. I ran to him, all thoughts of slaps and kisses disappearing from my brain. “Are you okay?”

  Damian didn’t respond to my words. He stood in the doorway, his body hunched over in a protective mode, trembling from head to toe.

  I reached over, hesitant to touch him but unable to keep myself from trying to help. I ran my hand on his back, moving in small concentric circles. I whispered in his ear, “I’m here. You’re here. We’re okay. Everything is okay.”

  Except I didn’t know that. It sounded like something exploded in the brewery, and there could be serious damage or injuries back there. But I couldn’t be in two places at once, and Damian needed me right now.

  I kept up my steady stream of soothing words and touch until he finally relaxed his tense body and came back from whatever nightmare had a hold on him. He stood and looked at me in confusion. It was the same look he gave me when I woke him up that first night. And just like then, all I wanted to do was wrap him up in a hug and help him fight back the demons.

  “Alex.”

  I turned to find Harlan and Warner rushing into the room, their eyes wide with panic.

  “What was that? Is everyone okay?” I kept a hand on Damian’s back, afraid if I severed the contact he’d lapse back into whatever horror haunted his memories.

  “The bottling machine. No one got hurt.” Harlan rubbed his hands over his face, making him look older than ever. “You need to come see.”

  I threaded my arm through Damian’s and guided him back through the brewery, past the break room and into the bottling room. Dust and smoke filled the usually pristine room where all of Naked Brews beer was bottled for retail distribution. What used to be the bottling system laid in a mangled heap on the floor.

  “What the hell?” I asked.

  Joe stood next to the machine, staring at the wall behind us in horror. I turned to see a piece of metal lodged into the wall above the door.

  “It just...blew up,” Joe stuttered, flinging his fingers out like an explosion. “We were running the line, and everything was fine. Until it wasn’t.”

  Warner walked over and kicked at what used to be the conveyor belt. “This thing has tried to quit on us half a dozen times in the past year. Lake always managed to whip it back into shape.” He knocked over a piece of metal, and it crashed to the concrete floor with a bang. “I don’t think she can MacGyver it back together this time.”

  No amount of duct tape in the world could fix this one. This wasn’t just a mechanical breakdown. “I need to call your brother.”

  Warner looked over at me, his eyebrows crinkled over his eyes. “Why?”

  “Because he’s the lead detective on the recent attacks at the brewery, and something tells me this wasn’t an accident.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Damian

  The Naked Brews crew milled around the tasting pub, talking in low tones, but their focus stayed on the three guys from packaging who’d been there when the equipment had exploded.

  The police and fire department had immediately been called. That was fifteen minutes ago. Detective Murdock ushered in a uniformed police officer and K9 through the pub without looking at any of us.

  My stomach clenched.

  “Why do they have a dog?” Melissa asked as the animal crossed into the brewery.

  “I’m guessing it’s trained to sniff out bombs,” I answered.

  Alex shivered and took a step closer to my side. I had to force myself not to reach for her and bring her into the comfort of my arms. At this point, I wasn’t sure which one of us I’d be comforting, her or me. I’d completely lost it when the bottler exploded, but like with my nightmares,
she managed to pull me out of the flashback faster than any other method ever had before.

  We’d already posted a sign closing the pub and brewery for the day due to “unforeseen difficulties.” The police were back in the packaging room, examining the equipment for visible signs of tampering. They had asked for the employees to stay out of the brewery so we’d all be out of the way.

  All the construction workers had been sent home, although we’d written down the names of every one of the guys who’d been on the premises...just in case. The issues within the brewery had begun before construction had begun, so the odds of them being connected were fairly slim.

  I watched the faces of the Naked Brews employees, trying to see anything that might look like guilt, but generally the mood was simply worried. There had already been too many incidents like this, costing the brewery money. None of these guys wanted to lose their jobs.

  Twenty minutes later, Detective Murdock strode into the pub and beelined straight toward the girls. Before he had a chance to say anything, a pounding erupted on the front door. We all turned.

  “Anthony.” Melissa rushed toward the door, unlocking it and letting him in.

  He swept her up in his dark, muscular, thick arms, kissing her fiercely before setting her down and looking her up and down searching for signs of any injury.

  “Why didn’t you call me? Are you okay?” He gently brushed a lock of her hair off her face.

  “I’m fine. I was nowhere near the equipment that blew up.” She ran a soothing hand up and down his arm. “Everything’s fine, Anthony.”

  Fury brewed in his fierce gaze. “No, it’s not.”

  If I couldn’t see the tender way he continued to touch her, I might have been worried for a moment for her safety. But instead of turning that anger on his girlfriend, he aimed it straight at the detective. “What are you doing to catch this maniac? This has got to end.”

  The detective lifted both hands in supplication. “I agree, and we’re investigating.”

  He turned his focus toward Alex, Melissa, and I. “It looks like the machine imploded. Right now, we can’t find any evidence of tampering, but we aren’t ruling it out yet. You all have had too many things happen here to think this is just a coincidence in timing. The guys are fingerprinting the equipment right now. Hopefully, we’ll catch a break or a clue there. There are no other indications of imminent danger right now. In the meantime, I need to interview everyone here.” He focused on the girls. “Do you have a place where I can do that?”