"What's up?" I asked. Whatever it was looked serious.
"There's a beer dinner Saturday in Napa at Porte de Cuisine. It's Angie and I's anniversary so I can't go and we've got all the sales staff tied up at other events that day. I need you to work that night and present our beers."
"Me?" I demanded. My first thought went to my hopeful fancy date with Logan that weekend.
"Yes, you! Please, hun. I never ask you to work weekends but we need someone at this dinner who knows our products. These are Napa wine snobs we're talking about."
"I dunno, why not ask one of the other brewers? I might have plans-"
"Honestly, I'd much rather pay you overtime to look nice in a fancy French restaurant and talk about our beers. The guys might, I dunno, grunt and beat their chests or something."
I sighed like the wind went out of my sails.
"I'll have to see if it affects my weekend plans but if not, then okay."
"Thanks, dear." Marty planted a fatherly kiss on my forehead. "I knew I could count on you!"
"I didn't say yes for sure!" I yelled after him as he went on his way but he pretended not to hear me.
I stuffed my lunch in the break room fridge, wondering what the hell I'd wear to a work event at a fancy French restaurant. Hell, what would I wear to an ordinary date with Logan? What did he consider ordinary? Would I have to go shopping for either occasion? Could I even afford to go shopping for fancy clothes?
As I set to work on the day's brew, I wondered if the women Logan usually dated expected him to buy things for them or if they were just as rich as successful as he was.
So many questions. So little I knew about him.
I was sure of one thing. I wouldn't let him buy me things.
He could take me on dates if he insisted but no random gifts like clothing or jewelry. I prided myself on my self-reliance. Everything I wanted, I saved up the money and bought it myself.
Getting ahead of yourself again, I told myself. He hasn't even bought you a drink yet, let alone a goddamn diamond necklace. Slow. Your. Roll.
The work day dragged on, as it seemed to do lately whenever I looked forward to seeing Logan. I hoped for a moment that my infatuation with him wouldn't kill my passion for brewing. I still enjoyed doing my work, it just felt more like actual work that day.
It'll pass after the honeymoon period. Or after he leaves me heartbroken, whichever comes first.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and tried to concentrate on the work in front of me.
Focus. Positivity. All that shit.
At 3 pm I checked my watch and sighed. Only two more hours to go and still no sign of Logan. Bella would arrive at any minute to open up the taproom and undoubtedly drag me away from work to help her with kegs again.
To busy myself, I checked my wine barrels for leaks or any signs of infection. The barrel room was quiet, closed off and isolated from the rest of the brewery. When I was a bartender I liked running off to that room to think and enjoy the silence.
As I looked the barrels over, I drummed my fingers on the top staves as a small sign of affection. These were my babies. My pet project and the height of my creative expression.
Only certain beers should be aged in wine barrels. A good brewer plans the recipe from the beginning with this in mind. Everything from the past wine soaked into the wood, temperature, time, fruit or other additions all contributed to the taste of the final product. A beer can live in a barrel for as little as three months or as long as five years.
I rested my hand on the final barrel. It held a beautiful Chardonnay it in at one point, I took one taste of that wine and knew I needed to get my hands on the barrels it came from. They were expensive and Marty fought me tooth and nail on buying them, but it was worth it.
The beautiful French oak staves remained pure and unstained, unlike the red wine and whiskey barrels which darkened over time. This one held a Belgian golden ale, one of my favorite styles. It would be at least eight months, possibly a year before the beer would absorb the oak and grape flavors.
"All in due time, beautiful," I said aloud before turning to leave and return to the main brewing area.
I wished I'd stayed in that room even for ten seconds longer. Then I wouldn't have seen my heart get broken right before my eyes.
As I began turning the corner leading to the employee lockers, I heard Bella's voice speaking softly, just above a whisper.
Then another voice. Deeper, male and very familiar to me.
Logan’s voice.
I froze and looked toward the lockers from where I stood, hidden behind a stack of wooden shipping pallets.
Bella and Logan stood very close, intimately close, as they talked. My breathing stopped and my heart jumped in fearful anticipation. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I saw their body language as clear as day.
She put a hand on his cheek and leaned in closer, saying something just inches away from his mouth. He looked away from her and smiled almost shyly, and said something with his eyes downcast on the concrete floor.
And then she kissed him.
My heart dropped to my stomach as his mouth opened to hers and his hands flew to her hips. I couldn't watch any more.
I tore my eyes away, feeling the hot, stinging tears already blinding my vision. I wished with all my being I could erase what I just saw.
I'm such a fucking idiot, I thought.
Of course he was too good to be true. Of course he wouldn't want to date me without having a real hot chick. I was just a backup at best.
Forgetting everything, and feeling nothing but the pain in my chest and an overwhelming urge to leave, I ran back toward the barrel room and pushed open a side door to the outside.
The sunlight was blinding. My tears grew even hotter. Even if I couldn't see straight, the scene played over and over in my head.
How could I go back to work after this? I'd tell someone I felt sick and went home early but what about tomorrow?
Thoughts swam deliriously in my head.
How could he. How could I. Why me.
I walked stiffly in the direction of home, trying and failing miserably to keep myself together. I could cry and let it all out in bed but not in public.
Getting home and collapsing on my bed in sobs was a relief. Even if I put on a tough girl act sometimes, I understood the power of a good, ugly cry.
I dared to say I even felt a bit better after sobbing for half hour or so. My hurt feelings for Logan crashed around me like a hurricane and now the storm was passing. It would be hard but I didn't know him for very long. I could pick myself up eventually.
The small, sweet relief I felt from my good cry crumpled back into searing pain when my phone beeped with a picture message from an unsaved number.
CHAPTER 15
LOGAN
I was fuming mad.
No, make that fucking furious.
I had been in a good mood, looking forward to seeing my sexy little vixen Aubrey after spending most of my day at the office, then Bella had to come out of nowhere and be inappropriate.
As I paced through the brewery looking for Aubrey, I gritted my teeth and considered the ramifications of firing Bella.
She was a good bartender. With some training, she could be great. But if she wasn't going to stop flinging herself at me, there would be consequences.
That kiss was unexpected. I didn't think she'd have the gall to do it in front of everyone at work but she must've been more desperate than I thought.
Even though Aubrey's curves drained all the blood from my brain to my cock, I still had enough sense to fuck her after everyone else had gone home.
Bella's flirting and teasing I could handle and shut down respectfully. I've done it a million times. But if she'd been a guy and I a woman, she'd be out the door so fast for sexual harassment she wouldn't know what hit her.
"Hey, Rob. Have you seen Aubrey?" I asked the tall, lanky brewer.
"She went home early, boss. Said she wasn't
feeling well."
Hmm, that's strange.
She never said anything to me. She knew I'd be here in the afternoon.
I pulled out my phone to call her. It went to voicemail during the third ring, indicating she ended the call.
Maybe she's resting, I hoped and quickly tapped out a text message.
"Hey beautiful, call me when you can. Heard you're not feeling well and I'd love to take care of you."
Something about it didn't sit right with me though and I wondered if it had anything to do with her dipshit ex-boyfriend texting her again.
I memorized the number from when I saw her phone and had Christian look into it that morning. He found out it was a Google voice number. Anyone could change their Google voice number at least once or just set up multiple new Google accounts to have as many numbers as they wanted. Unfortunately for Andy, he did it all from his home Wifi network. Tracing him was as easy as looking up his IP address. The scumbag wasn’t nearly as smart as he thought he was, but they rarely are.
Even more, Christian's PI guy found that Andy's internet company flagged his account and were paying close attention to his internet habits. That could mean any number of things such as downloading music illegally, going on the dark net to play in black markets, or even worse, sicker things that shouldn't be repeated in any conversation.
But what mattered was they were watching him like a hawk, ready to call the police on him if they noticed him take one more step out of line. That would make it all the easier to bring his sick game with Aubrey to light.
I was eager to tell her, only to find out she wasn't there.
During a brief meeting with Marty to discuss financials, I kept checking my phone anxiously. No matter how many times I looked at the screen, she never called or texted me back. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong beyond a simple sickness.
Damn, you're really stuck on this girl.
I chuckled to myself. It was true.
Something about Aubrey brought out a protective side of me, the part of that I normally reserved for my family. Maybe it was because she put on a such a strong, sassy front trying to hide that she was really vulnerable and hurting.
She protected herself and I wanted to remove that burden from her and carry it myself. I wanted to shred anyone that crossed her and wear their blood on my hands proudly.
It had been a long time since I felt that way. Ever since I protected my family with just an inch of my life remaining.
By the time our meeting wrapped up, my finger was already set to call her again.
"Good talkin' to ya, Marty. We'll check in again next month to see how that new distributor is doing," I said as I made a beeline for the door.
"Oh yeah! By the way Logan, you should go with Aubrey to the beer dinner at Porte de Cuisine on Saturday. It'll be a great way to show the new face of our company."
I paused to consider it. Dinner at Porte de Cuisine would make a fine date. "Great idea. I love the food at that place."
"It'll be nice to be out among your own people, eh?" Marty said good-naturedly.
I chuckled politely as we parted ways. He assumed I was a trust fund baby, born into a rich family and knowing nothing else, like everyone else who ate at French restaurants in Napa. I wondered how he'd react if he knew I never owned new clothes until I was thirteen. Dad struggled with seasonal work until he landed a steady job in the oil fields, so my mom bought everything at Goodwill before that.
The moment I was alone, I tried calling Aubrey again and got her voicemail during the second ring.
"Fuck," I muttered and tapped out a text while speed walking to my car.
"I'm coming over."
The reply came immediately.
"Don't bother."
What the fuck?
I shoved my phone in my pocket and started up my black Aston Martin Vanquish.
Too fucking bad, babe. I'm getting to the bottom of this whether you want me to or not.
CHAPTER 16
AUBREY
"I'm not leaving until after we talk, Aubrey."
I could easily ignore Logan's repeated knocking, texts, and calls. But the last thing I wanted was to cause a scene in front of my neighbors.
Only when he started yelling through the door did I unlock it.
Every bone in my hand felt as heavy as lead as I opened the door to him just wide enough that he could see me. Every cell in my body pulled in opposite directions. I wanted to see him, but I knew it would only hurt me.
He stood on my front porch, more clean-shaven than yesterday but no less devastatingly handsome. His sky-blue eyes looked straight into me, narrowed and filled with concern.
What a great actor. Did he really have no idea what I saw?
"Hey, can I come in?" he asked softly.
"No." I put one hand on the doorjamb for support. Crying for hours left me exhausted and I hadn’t eaten anything all day. My appetite disappeared along with my dignity and my tolerance for his excuses, no matter how hot he looked.
"There's nothing to say. I don't know why you're here," I croaked.
He blinked, taken aback. "Aubrey, babe, what brought this on? I was looking forward to seeing you all day."
Damn, he should get an Oscar.
"Don't 'babe' me!" I growled, feeling my heart splinter at his brief pet name for me. "Go make Bella your 'babe'! Isn't she what you really want?"
I was less than a second away from slamming the door in his face. More tears threatened to cloud my eyesight again and my whole body shook.
Fuck, I actually caught feelings for him after he fucked me at work. He probably planned to use me from the beginning. This was too fucking painful.
"Oh God... Aubrey, wait!"
I moved to close the door and he shot his foot out at lightning speed to stop it.
The door bounced off his shoe but he didn't even flinch. I shrieked, certain that I'd broken his toe but he just looked at me through the gap in the door.
"She kissed me and I pushed her away. I'm this close to firing her for inappropriate behavior. What you saw is not what you're thinking."
I hesitated, carefully weighing his words. My heart wanted it to be true, begged for it to be true.
"You touched her. You kissed her back," I choked. "I saw you do it."
"I told her to stop. I was pushing her away," he insisted, wedging his hand through the space in the doorway to grab mine. I didn't pull away.
"Aubrey, I don't go behind people's backs. Especially not women I'm... seeing." He squeezed my hand and my heart felt like it was being squeezed as well. "Don't doubt me, babe."
Those words again. Would he really toss them around so casually? Was I a fool for wanting to throw open the door and collapse against the strong, support of his chest?
"If you don't want to be with me, that's fine," he said, although the look on his face said it was anything but fine. "But don't base your decision on a lie. I only want you and not some desperate bimbo like Bella. That's the truth."
His fingers moved down my arm, trailing a gentle caress to my face. I didn't move, I couldn't move. His touch felt like it healed me. How could a man who touched me like this also kiss a coworker behind my back?
"Please believe me, babe."
"I want to." The words tumbled out of my mouth like a drunk confession. "But I don't know..."
"I'll do whatever it takes, Aubrey." His thumb stroked gently across the apple of my cheek, wiping the tear that fell there. "Just name it and it's yours."
Sincerity and promises poured from his voice. I wanted to believe him so badly. But my heart broke after barely knowing him. How broken would I be if I actually gave him another real chance?
His skin on mine felt so soothing. I wanted to press my cheek against his hand and kiss it. Not only that, I yearned to feel his fingers dig into my hips again as he pounded orgasm after orgasm out of me until I collapsed.
In every way, no one else made me feel as good as he did.
"I
'll think about it. But I need some space," I said finally. "If it's possible, maybe don't come to the brewery tomorrow? I just need a day without... distractions."
His mouth lifted in a half smirk as he withdrew his hand from my face and his foot from the doorway.
"Sure, babe. But a day's all you get." He stepped away from the door and walked backward slowly off my porch. "I can't go much longer without that sweet pussy of yours."
He turned to his car and I slammed the door shut. He said that last part a little too loudly but I found myself smiling, feeling better than I had since I first came home.
Bella already showed that she wasn't above throwing herself at Logan, so his claim wasn't too far-fetched. I wanted to believe him, I really did, and wasn't sure if I'd trust anything Bella said if I talked to her.
I flopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling, opposing thoughts swirling in my head. Andy always said I was in my own head too much. You're your own armchair psychologist, he'd tell me. Maybe that was one thing he was right about.
Absentmindedly, my hand drifted toward my groin and brushed against my clit. I shuddered, surprised at how sensitive it was. Could it still be from last night?
Sliding a hand into my underwear, I gasped out loud at how wet I was.
Just seeing Logan for a few brief minutes did that to me.
His last comment about my pussy repeated in my head as I circled my clit with my fingers. What an ego stroke it was.
I smiled to myself as I remembered how he teased and devoured me. It felt so nice to be irresistible for once.
A small orgasm shuddered out of me before I even realized what happened. It felt almost disappointing.
I sighed as I laid outstretched on my bed.
If he was lying to me, I really was in a world of trouble and hurt.
Because I couldn't go much longer without his cock either.
CHAPTER 17
AUBREY
Somehow I slept soundly and dreamlessly that night. It was like my body already made a decision and was at peace with it.
Big Bad Boss: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 8
