Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Staying out of trouble? What are you doing tonight?
Hmm, how to answer that question? What did I want to be doing tonight? Every cell in my body answered that question with one simple answer: West. West was what I wanted to be doing tonight. Was it too soon? Was that going to make this like a thing? Definitely not casual if it was two nights in a row. We hadn’t talked about anything. We’d eaten dessert in bed, then licked chocolate sauce off each other, and then had mind-blowing sex again. I’d woken up at 6 a.m. to West sliding from the bed, saying, “No rush to get out of here, but I have to be at the station in an hour.”
“I have to get to the brewery,” I’d answered.
I’d made coffee while he showered. We swapped places, and I emerged in a soft flannel robe I found in his bathroom to a breakfast sandwich waiting next to a steaming cup of coffee. We ate together as if we’d been sharing breakfast our whole lives. West had dropped me at the brewery on his way to work; that was the last we’d seen of each other.
My finger hovered over the keyboard. Yes, or no?
Fuck it. Maybe this was going to burn itself out. Things had been too easy, too good. The more time we spent together, the more we’d find the cracks. The glow would fade, the sex would get mediocre, we’d tire of each other, and all my anxieties would be solved. But right now, I didn’t want to go back to Heartstone, eat with my family, and go to bed alone. I wanted more of West.
No plans tonight. What did you have in mind?
I’ll pick you up at 5 and we’ll figure it out.
I gave his text a thumbs up and squeezed my eyes shut, annoyed with myself. I could feel the dopey expression on my face. The last thing I needed was for Sterling to lock onto that. She’d tease me for the rest of my life.
Was I getting a little gooey over our hot police chief?
Yes, maybe I was.
Did I need anyone to know about that?
I absolutely did not.
I was a grown woman. It was my prerogative to get all dopey over a hot guy who was amazing in bed, even if he was my brother’s best friend. I didn’t owe anyone an explanation. Fine. Good.
Before I could shove my phone in my pocket, it rang. I glanced down, not recognizing the number. I stopped on the first step of the porch, bringing the phone to my ear.
“Avery Sawyer,” I said.
“Avery, hey, it’s Bob James.”
“Oh, hey, Bob. I’ve been meaning to call you.”
Bob James ran Wild Haven Brewing, a small place on the outskirts of town. Small, but bigger than Sawyers Bend Brewing. They didn’t have a taproom, but you could find their six-packs in most local grocery stores. I’d heard through the grapevine they’d gotten distribution to grocery stores in Charlotte and Atlanta. Bob and I had been planning a joint event with a local restaurant. Barbecue, pies from Sweetheart Bakery, Bob’s beer, and my beer. We were wrapping it up into a charity drive—Christmas presents for kids—but we needed to nail down some details.
“I’ve got some time on Thursday. What does your schedule look like?” I asked.
“Yeah, um, that’s the thing...”
I didn’t like the hesitation in his voice. A sense of doom settled in my gut.
“What’s the thing?” I asked, my feet clunking hollowly up the rest of the steps to the front porch of Sawyer Outdoor Adventures.
“We’re, uh, well, we talked, me and Jamie—Jamie runs the restaurant—and, uh, we’re going to do it with Bear Run Brewing. It’s not personal, Avery,” he blurted out. “It’s just, we’ve been hearing things.”
“I bet you have,” I said and immediately wished I’d kept my mouth shut. Bear Run Brewing was Matthew’s new employer, and I wasn’t surprised. I should have seen this coming. “What have you heard?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and friendly, hiding the rage that threatened to explode out of me. I wasn’t going to yell. I wasn’t going to throw my phone. I wasn’t going to murder Matthew. Yet.
“Just that you’re in over your head over there. There’s a lot going on, and now that you don’t have a brewmaster, you’re juggling. We really need this event to go off well, you know, for the kids. It’s important, and Jamie and I feel like coordinating with Bear Run Brewing is just a more solid bet. You understand, right?”
“Have you talked to Daisy?” I asked. Daisy and I weren’t super tight, but she was my sister-in-law, Hope’s best friend, and head over heels in love with my brother, Royal. One of these days, he’d drag her down the aisle, and she’d be my sister too. No way would she pick Matthew over me.