Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“Evie Jo? Is that really you?”
I groaned. “No, no, no,” I muttered under my breath.
But I turned around anyway to see Rusty Cook eating up the short distance with his long legs. I straightened at the sight of him, my back going up to protect myself. He was a man in his fifties in tattered overalls and a flannel underneath with oil-rig-tanned skin and greasy hair, pulled back into a ponytail. And unfortunately, I’d known him most of my life.
“Evie Jo, that is you.”
“Hello, Rusty.”
Whitt looked between us, adjusting his posture so that he appeared even taller than he was. As if he could be a physical shield between me and this man. I didn’t know how he’d read me that quickly, but I hadn’t wanted to see anyone that I knew from home. Not with Whitt at my side. Not when I was dressed like I didn’t belong here anymore.
“Shoot. I almost didn’t recognize ya,” he said with a head tip in my direction. “Look at that fancy outfit. Ya look like a classy lady.”
“Thank you.”
“Who’s ya friend?” Rusty asked.
His expression wasn’t exactly kind as he looked at Whitt. No one around here liked outsiders. And Whitton, with his fancy suit and shiny shoes, definitely didn’t belong.
“Rusty, this is Whitton. We work together. Just here today for business. We actually have to get going.”
“Well, I don’t wanna keep ya, but I had to come say howdy.” Then, he continued on as if I hadn’t said we needed to leave. Typical. “Saw your pa round church last week. He misses ya, ya know? Good man, your pa.”
I jerked slightly backward at that phrase. A good man. A good man. “I’m so glad, Rusty, but really, we have to go.”
“Course, course. I’m gonna tell him that I saw ya. Ya been down to see him yet?”
“No,” I bit out. “No, I haven’t.”
Whitton didn’t miss my inflection that time. He took the step between me and Rusty, who was still running his mouth off, and cleared his throat. “We’re going to be going. Have a nice day.”
Rusty finally shut up. He looked up, up, up at Whitton’s intimidating frame before nodding. “Oh, sure. Good seeing you, Evie Jo.”
I waved good-bye and let Whitt hustle me out of there. By the time I was back out in the fresh air, I’d let the anger pass, and I was tired all over again. I should have thought about who I’d see at Lee’s, but I’d been so excited to take Whitt out of his comfort zone that I hadn’t considered what stepping into mine would mean.
To Whitt’s credit, he didn’t ask me any questions. He must have seen that I didn’t want to talk about it. Bless him.
“So…” he finally said once we were back on the road. I braced for the worst. “You know the closest liquor store?”
I whipped my head to him. “What?”
“Is there a liquor store nearby?”
“We’re in Texas. There are liquor stores on every block.”
“Good.”
“You want a drink?” I asked in surprise.
I’d heard West joke that drunk Whitt was the best Whitt, but I’d never seen it before. He’d always been buttoned-up Whitt in my presence.
“You said we were off the clock, right?”
“Yes…”
“We should celebrate our success today.”
Just like that, he’d walked away from the complication that I didn’t have any interest in addressing and pulled us right back into the game we’d been playing since he’d gotten back from Seattle.
I grinned devilishly. I could use a drink. “Turn left.”
9
Whitton
“Still can’t believe they had Wright wine in the liquor store,” Eve said as we carried our purchases upstairs. She hefted the bottle of red for me to see. “It has your name on it.”
“Yeah. It’s weird.”
Wright Vineyard had been started by Jordan, Julian, and Hollin as a joint venture. Between Jordan’s business acumen, Julian’s charisma, and Hollin’s vineyard work, it had taken off beyond their wildest dreams. They’d won state wine awards, and they were now distributing into most of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Colorado.
“Is it weird, working at a company of your namesake?”
“I’ve gotten used to it.” I swiped the key card against the door and gestured for her to go in before me.
To be honest, working at Wright was both as weird as she’d made it out to be and more incredible than I’d imagined.
Eve stepped inside, glanced at the bed, and then quickly away.
My eyes landed on it, too.
One bed.
Fuck me. How had my assistant gotten this so wrong?
Not that I didn’t want to hoist Eve over my shoulder, throw her down on the single bed in the room, and bury my cock in her. But there was more than one complication with that scenario. Starting with colleagues and ending with what had happened after the wedding. And everything in between was the way I wanted to wrap my hand around her throat and hold her down as I fucked her…and how that would probably scare her off forever.