by Liz Crowe
“It’s okay. Really. Just an awkward moment we’ll laugh about with our kids someday.”
She snorted. “Sure we will. Just before you dump me and the brats for the trophy wife your mommy always wanted for you.”
He narrowed his eyes, hoping she didn’t realize how close to the truth she’d gotten about the mother-approved arrangements. When she grinned at him, two amazing dimples appeared on her cheeks, making him grateful he was sitting, since his knees had officially turned to jelly.
He looked away from her. Staring straight ahead, making a mental count to ten, he calmed his breathing, reminded himself he was there to work. Evelyn cleared her throat at that moment, effectively ending the internal break-up monologue he’d begun with his almost-fiancée.
Valerie, a girl who would have been a debutante—had such things existed in Grand Rapids, Michigan— as heir to the Masterson restaurant empire. She was an interior designer of some repute, pretty, bossy, and desperate for the Mrs. Fitzgerald designation. He liked her well enough and was so sick of the nagging about his continual reluctance to put a ring on her finger that he’d been ready to close the deal.
He put a hand over his eyes and muffled a groan at the mess he was about to make. All over this one, single, first impression.
But what an impression.
“All right, we’ll swing north and hit the big chain stores first.” She spoke as she drove, and Austin used every ounce of his willpower not to stare at the leg exposed by her short skirt, at the way her thigh muscle flexed when she worked the clutch, gunning the engine too high every time. “I’m close to getting the winter lager placement alongside your amber. Then I know the boys at Beer Baron and Hop Town would love to see your rock-star face, so we’ll stop in there.”
He glanced over to gauge her level of seriousness. The tingling sensation in his scalp at her ironic smile alarmed him all over again. Every single memory and thought of the woman he’d been half-heartedly screwing for years had gone in the blink of Evelyn’s amazing blue eyes. He swallowed hard and listened to her talk business.
“Also, I’d like to drop in on a couple of new boutique beer and wine stores that opened last month. Your esteemed presence gives me the excuse I need.”
“Uh, okay. You’re in charge. Just give me the high sign when I’m supposed to speak.”
“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll figure it out. I’ll have to do some inventory stuff at most of these places, so there will be time for you to bond with whatever management is on hand. A few of them are ladies—you’ll make their day, I’m sure.”
Unable to stop himself, he touched her again, this time letting himself own the heat that passed between them. “Don’t be jealous, honey. I’d never cheat on you.”
“Ha! I’ll farm you out in a heartbeat, sweetie. You’ll do whatever it takes to increase our bottom line. Hope you took your vitamins.” She yanked her hand out from under his.
Smiling at her once more, he shifted in his seat to relieve the pressure building under his zipper.
He’d been damn close to asking Valerie to marry him, willing to leave her and her bitch of a mother to the wedding arrangements, ready to nod in agreement at what he hoped were the proper intervals. His mother had finally stopped haranguing him, left him to run his brewery in peace and he’d made a similar peace within himself, realizing the Faustian bargain he’d struck.
But now, as he sat in the passenger’s seat of Evelyn’s car staring out the windshield without seeing anything, a long-buried urge almost blinded him. And he knew Valerie was history.
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About the Author
Amazon best-selling author, mom of three, Realtor, beer blogger, brewery marketing expert, and soccer fan, Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville currently living in Ann Arbor. She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse.
With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and at times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.
Don’t ever ask her for anything “like a Budweiser” or risk bodily injury.
Email: [email protected]
Liz loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at http://www.totallybound.com.
Also by Liz Crowe
Brewing Passion: Tapped