Taming Reid

by J. Margot Critch

  Reid watched her shake her loose hair—those gorgeous red curls—over her shoulder. His fingers itched, wanting to twirl them around his fingers.

  “All right we’ll get the crews working today.” Reid hadn’t even noticed when Gemma had started talking. “Meanwhile, I’m going to try to figure out a way to get the dark and spiced rums out. But I don’t know if I can. I’m not making any promises.”

  “We just need to keep demand high. We need to sustain this spike, and not just fall off again. The new rum could help. But we need to maintain our online popularity. We’ve got to stay in the public eye. We’re in an interesting position right now. Rexford is a hot commodity. But you’re right. We can’t stay on top forever if we can’t get the product into people’s hands. So that’s why I asked you to bring Lila.” Quin stood from the table.

  “What does Lila—”

  But before he could finish his sentence, Quin had opened the door. “Lila, can you come in here, please?”

  “Sure.”

  She walked into his office, and Quin gestured for her to sit in the chair he’d vacated. Reid still didn’t know what his younger brother had in mind, but he could tell from his smirk that he wouldn’t like it.

  “Lila, thanks for coming in,” Quin started. “I wanted to talk to all of you about this. I’ve got an idea.”

  “What is it?” Reid and Lila asked at the same time, and their eyes met.

  “Here’s what I’m thinking,” Quin started. “Lila, we want you to be our brand ambassador.”

  “What?” Again, Reid and Lila spoke at the same time. He’d had no idea that was where the impromptu meeting Quin had called was leading.

  “We’d like to offer you a corporate partnership to represent our brand.”

  Lila’s eyes found his, and she seemed just as surprised as he was. She turned to Quin. “I’m interested. What exactly do you have in mind?”

  * * *

  Lila ignored Reid’s stare as Quin detailed what they wanted from her. It was everything she’d wanted from them but had not yet proposed.

  “Because of your posts, and the overnight jump in popularity, we have a supply problem,” Quin told her.

  “Quin,” Reid said. “Maybe it’s best if we don’t talk business with outsiders.”

  Outsiders. Even though he was right, she was an outsider, hearing him say it hurt. She had no stake in the business. She’d just hooked-up with one of the owners a couple of times. That was it.

  But Quin ignored him. “Basically, we want you to do what you’ve already done. We want you to promote Rexford Rum on all of your platforms, in your blog. Keep the Rexford Rum brand out there so we have time to increase production and distribution. We’ll pay you, but also feature you and your brand in our own promotions.”

  “A corporate partnership would definitely be beneficial for me as well,” she told them, leaving out that she was in talks for a television show, and that a corporate partnership with the country’s most-wanted liquor brand would make her a hot commodity, as well. “What sort of things do you need me to do?”

  “We can discuss specifics later, and we’ll do up the paperwork. I’m just wondering if you’re open to working together.”

  “Yeah, I am. Send me the contract and the terms when it’s ready. But I just have to wonder, wouldn’t featuring your rum—when you don’t have enough to meet the demand—just piss people off?”

  “Without getting into too many details, we’re hoping to have a new product out soon,” Gemma told her. “We will have rum for sale, just not everything that we have available in the small batches.”

  “We want you to focus on that,” Quin explained. “Think prohibition, bootleggers, a real vintage feel.”

  “I think you’re both doing a lot of talking about the confidential details of our business,” Reid admonished his siblings. “Lila doesn’t need to know all of our plans.”

  “You’re right,” Lila agreed. “But I’m a very trustworthy person, I figured you might agree,” she said with a raised eyebrow. They’d slept together several times. He clearly didn’t trust her. She turned back to Quin.“Let’s work on a contract. But if we can agree to terms, I’m in.” Reid interrupted. “No,” he said, his voice firm.

  Lila joined Gemma and Quin in turning to look at Reid with surprise.

  “What?” Quin asked him. “Why not?”

  “Lila, I know you’re good at what you do. The numbers prove it. We pay a lot of money to marketing firms. I don’t want to pin our distillery’s success, and potential failure on a slick, relatively new, fickle marketing plan like social-media exposure. We don’t need a social media influencer representing our brand.” His tone and words were cruel, and they hurt.

  What is his problem? As long as she lived, she would never understand Reid Rexford. She wanted to work with the brand, but they needed her as much as she needed them. She knew what happened when people and companies failed to capitalize on their success. They were doomed to fail. But Lila knew she was good at what she did, and she wouldn’t put her self-respect on the line to work for a man who didn’t respect her or her job.

  The room was still. No one spoke until Lila took her phone out of her purse. “That’s where your wrong,” she said, moving her thumbs quickly over the screen. “Facebook followers,” she started, “five million. Twitter: 1.3 million, Snapchat: 870,000, Instagram: 10.9 million. That’s organic reach, Reid. Your brother is right. People pay attention to what I have to say. Look at this.” She passed her phone over and showed Reid the pictures she’d posted from the party. She’d looked up Rexford Rum’s social media accounts. The likes, comments, shares were all more than they’d ever received. “And I’m going to need you to apologize for the tone you just used describing my career before we go any further with this discussion.”

  Both Quin and Gemma looked to Reid, but he said nothing.

  “Goddammit, Reid,” Quin said.

  “You’ve seen what I can do,” she said, her lips curving upward in an innuendo-laced grin. “But if you don’t want to be in business with me, Reid, fine.” She looked at Quin and Gemma. “Thanks for the meeting. It was great meeting you.” She stood, gathered her phone and purse and headed for the door.

  * * *

  When Lila walked out and slammed the door behind her, Quin turned to Reid and punched him in the arm. “What the fuck was that, man?”

  Reid wasn’t sure. He knew he would have to give them more of an explanation than that. But what could he say? That he didn’t trust himself around her, that when she was around, he could barely focus on anything but her? That by leaving the party to be with her last night, it showed that he wanted her beyond everything else. And that terrified him.

  He couldn’t have her connected to the distillery, he couldn’t keep her in his life, even if it meant missing out on the opportunity of what he knew would be a successful campaign. But if he couldn’t do his actual work, what was the point?

  So, he lied to his siblings. “I didn’t think it was a good idea.”

  “Bullshit,” Quin said.

  “How do you think that?” Gemma asked. “You saw what she’s capable of. Look at this demand. And you just sent away the woman who can keep the buzz going and sell our new batch.”

  “Stop being so dramatic. We’re already successful. Sure, the boost is nice, but it’ll still lead to long-term success whether we use Lila, or not.”

  “Stop being so pigheaded. Is this because you slept with her?”

  “How did you know?”

  “I saw you guys at the party last night. There was definitely a connection between the two of you. Why were you such a jerk to her?”

  He wasn’t sure why he’d been so cold to Lila. But he knew that he couldn’t have her in his vicinity. Whether it was good for the business or not, he knew it wasn’t good for him. And it certainly wouldn’t be good for her
in the long run.

  “You said it yourself,” Quin said simply. “We have a great marketing firm, but in the business world, especially some of the older guys have been slow to catch up to recent developments in social media marketing. She’s got her finger on the pulse and can reach millions of people, who would consider us to be the rum brand their grandfathers choose. We need to get younger, sexier. We started with the party. This is how we position ourselves, and you basically chased away our shot. I don’t care what happened between you guys, go get her,” Quin urged him.

  “And make sure you apologize,” Gemma told him.

  Reid knew he wouldn’t win, and even though he was caught between chasing her and letting her walk out the door, he stood. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll get her.” Whether or not she’d want to talk to him, well, that was another story.

  * * *

  Fucking Reid. Lila walked down the hallway. Where did he get off, treating her like that? Well, she knew exactly right where he’d gotten off, she remembered with an eye roll. In her bed. Stopping at the main door, she flipped through her phone to a ride share app to summon a car, but she paused when she heard the even, sure footsteps approach her from behind.

  “Lila, wait.”

  What now? Why had he followed her out the door when she’d made her indignant exit? “What do you want? A second opportunity to disrespect me and the work I do?”

  “No.” He paused. “I’m sorry about what I said.”

  “Why did you say it, then? After I explained to you everything I do. How much I told you about it. I thought you understood how much work goes into it.”

  He sighed and looked away. “I don’t know. I panicked, maybe.”

  “You panicked,” she repeated, not understanding him.

  “Lila, we were supposed to be a one-night thing. An anonymous thing.”

  “We blew that out of the water, didn’t we?” He said nothing. “We agreed on one night, and you want me gone.”

  “Yes.” Her eyebrows rose. “No, not like that,” he stammered. “I like you. But that’s where the trouble lies. All I want to do is be near you. And when I see you, all I can think about is taking you to bed. And when Quin suggested you work with us, all I could think about was how dangerous that was.”

  “Dangerous? Reid, you aren’t making any sense.”

  “I know. It doesn’t make any sense to me either. But I know that having you promote us does make sense.”

  She sighed. If he couldn’t be clearer than that, there wasn’t a point in her sticking around. “Well, that’s too bad. I thought I liked you, Reid. But you’re just like the rest. What I do has a real value, and I can be good for your company.”

  “I know, and that’s why I chased you out here.”

  “Not just because your brother and sister made you?”

  He paused for too long, and Lila noticed her car pull up in front of the distillery. “Goodbye, Reid.” She patted his chest and dragged her fingers over his nipple, and he flinched at the contact. His reaction made her laugh. She winked. “This time is for good. Congratulations on all your success. I had a lot of fun, and I did want to work with your family.” She shrugged. “But you blew it.”

  * * *

  Reid didn’t move until Lila’s car was completely out of sight. Blowing out a heavy, frustrated breath, he pushed his fingers through his hair. That hadn’t played out exactly how he’d imagined it would. And he had no one to blame but himself. He’d been cruel to her. And he wasn’t even sure why. He’d enjoyed her company and had shown an interest in what she did. But the prospect of having her work with the distillery had caused him to panic, and he’d lashed out.

  He walked back to the distillery. He’d hoped his siblings had taken the opportunity to leave and move on to other tasks, but he had no such luck. Gemma and Quin watched him as he wordlessly walked in and took his seat next to Gemma’s desk. Their faces showed contempt, anger, disappointment and—he wished he had better news for them—hope that Lila had decided to forgive him.

  A heavy silence filled the room until Quin cut through it with a clearing of his throat. “Is she going to do it?” he asked.

  “She’s gone.”

  “Goddammit, Reid,” Gemma scolded him. “What is wrong with you?”

  Not interested in being on the receiving end of an inquisition, Reid wanted to be left alone. He stood. “I’m done. We should get out there and help the crew. We’ve got bottles to get out.”

  “Not quite yet,” Quin said, stopping him. “We’re not done. And we’re not having this disagreement out there on the floor in front of the workers.”

  “Yeah, I’m confused about what happened here today,” Gemma said. “It looked like you guys were getting along last night. I mean, it’s obvious you did.”

  “We did.” He offered nothing else in response.

  Quin snorted. Despite how angry he was at Reid, his younger brother loved needling him even more. “If I walked in on what I think I did, the tour probably went better than any other we’ve had.”

  Reid flipped him off without saying a word.

  Quin put up his hands. “Don’t get mad at me.”

  No one said anything until Gemma spoke again. “So why were you such a jerk to her? This is a good thing for us, and you know it. The fact that you sabotaged it doesn’t make any sense. You’ve always done what’s best for the distillery. What’s going on?”

  He didn’t want to respond. But he knew his siblings wouldn’t let it go unless he did. He didn’t want to get into the real reason he’d dismissed her and let her leave. That she was a temptation. He tried to tell himself that the attraction was physical, but he could feel something more building there. If she was connected to the business, there was no way he could keep his feelings in check. “I told you. I don’t think we should be pouring our money into some slick social media campaign. That’s not us.”

  “It’s the 21st century, Reid,” Quin scolded him. Reid wasn’t used to being berated by Quin, and he didn’t like it. He’d always been the more practical sibling. “Magazine and television ads don’t cut it anymore. It’s all about social media, word of mouth, an online presence, getting clicks. You need to make this right with her.”

  “I can’t,” he conceded. “She’s gone.” And rightfully so. Reid realized that he didn’t deserve Lila’s time or presence. He couldn’t blame her for walking away after he’d treated her so shabbily. But it was best that parting happened like it did—with her walking away. He couldn’t stand to be around her and not have her. The temptation would have been too much to bear.

  Gemma’s mouth dropped, and he saw the understanding come over her face. “I get it now,” she said softly. “This is actually about Carolina, and what she did, isn’t it?”

  Reid frowned. He wanted to pound his fist on his desk and tell his brother and sister that his ex-wife was the furthest thing from his mind. It’d be a lie, of course. Every business decision he’d made since their divorce was at least partially colored by her betrayal. “This has nothing to do with her,” he said, in a feeble attempt to convince them.

  Quin shook his head. “I don’t know, Reid, I would think that your lack of trust has a lot to do with a woman who betrayed you a couple of years ago.”

  “Can we just get to work?” Reid asked, wanting to put the issue behind them.

  “You’re sure that’s what you want?”

  “That’s all I want. The business is my priority. You know that.”

  “What if the business wasn’t your only priority?” Reid shook his head. The one time he’d dropped the ball and let a woman in, it had almost cost them everything. “It’s too late for that. Let’s get to work and sell some rum.” Reid was ready to roll up his sleeves, do some work to forget about the woman who’d somehow managed to turn him completely inside-out.

  CHAPTER NINE

  FROM HER V
IEW at the table of the beachfront restaurant, Lila watched the ocean crash against the sand. She closed her eyes, sipped her mojito and listened to the roar of the waves hitting the shore.

  It was late in the evening, and she watched families pack up their belongings, sun-kissed and smiling from a day at the beach. There were just a few hours before she needed to be at the airport. But Gemma had contacted her after she’d stormed out of the distillery, begging her to meet her for a drink before leaving town. Lila almost said no, still angry at Reid. But she relented. She liked Gemma and it wasn’t her fault her brother was an asshole.

  Again, she sipped her drink. Before arriving in Miami, she would never have called herself a rum fan, but she was starting to develop a taste for the stuff. It was like an elixir. With every taste, with every smell, she felt Reid. His essence had stayed with her, in her system, and all she could think about was getting her next taste. She was never one to fall quickly for a man, but the physical attraction between them was stronger than she’d ever experienced. It had been a while since she’d been with a man. Maybe she’d just been hornier than she knew.

  Ugh. Reid. She didn’t have the time or patience to figure out what was going on in his brain. He was hot and cold, night and day, a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and so on.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Gemma said, coming up behind her. “Traffic was insane. Typical Miami, right?” Lila hadn’t spent much time in the city, but she’d been there long enough to know that traffic was a mess. “Have you been waiting long?”