Once Tasted: A Silver Creek Novel (24 page)

Ice licked her insides. “Why would he sell it? He built it, planted each rootstock with Roberto and Paul, and designed the layout of the winery. He loves the vineyard.”

“But now he’s moved on. He won’t be coming back here, not when he’s got his Bergerac babe and a new terroir to love.” He waited a beat, letting his words sink in. “But even though selling our place would bring in a serious chunk of change, he obviously doesn’t feel it’s an option. ’Cause if he sold, then he’d have to tell you to go live and work elsewhere, wouldn’t he? And you’d be like a little lost lamb, wouldn’t you?” Relentless, he fixed his gaze on her.

“I—” Swallowing, she tried again. “I don’t think Thomas wants—”

He cut her off as if she hadn’t uttered a syllable. “Lots of things would have been different if Dad and Mom hadn’t taken you in. I’d probably be running the winery now. I’d be the one standing to rake in the profits from the partnership with the Knowleses.”

She recognized the guilt trip he was laying on her. He was a master at manipulation. Even after all these years, she had few defenses against his stratagems. But in this case perhaps the reason she was so vulnerable was that he spoke the truth.

As if sensing her doubts, Jay leaned closer. It took all her willpower not to shrink back against the chair.

“So what about you helping me?” he asked.

“Me?”

“Yeah. It would make this whole situation a little more equitable, don’t you think? You must have funds stashed away. It’s not like there’s anything to spend money on around here.”

Dazed by his audacity, she stared.

“Come on, I know you. You must have a savings account.”

She also had school loans to pay off. “Yes,” she admitted. “But it’s—”

“How much?” Jay demanded.

She opened her mouth, but another voice answered, in a slow drawl that did nothing to hide the steel force behind it. “Whatever it is, it’s surely not enough to meet your needs. So I guess that means you’re out of luck, right, Jay?”

Mia whipped her head around. With her attention fixed on Jay, watching him as one would a jackal, she’d lost track of the goings on in the bar. Reid must have spotted them and, as he approached, overheard the last snatches of her and Jay’s conversation.

Relief washed over her. Belatedly, she realized how hard her heart had been pounding, and not in a good way but in a scary, slasher-movie way, during her exchange with Jay.

Reid came to a stop, standing by her chair. Drawing a shaky breath, she managed a quick smile as she dragged her hair back from her face. Though she’d twisted it into a knot at the nape of her neck, several coils had escaped.

Reid’s eyes searched her face, as if unconvinced by her smile. The blue of his gaze was as intense as any laser. She had opened her mouth to utter something to reassure him, when Jay spoke.

“Hey, Reid! Long time no see, dude,” he said, with a joviality that grated like fingernails down a chalkboard. “Mia and I were just catching up.”

“So I heard.”

Jay nodded energetically. “Fantastic news about our partnership, huh? Whoa, what happened to you?” He pointed to Reid’s eye. “Some irate husband catch you
and the wife fooling around?” He waggled his brows lewdly.

Reid ignored the comment. “I heard you saw Don Polk, so I know you’re clear on the agreement between my family and Thomas. My official title in this partnership is administrative director of the winery. As such, I watch out for all the winery’s interests—that includes the staff’s. My advice to Mia would be to tell you to take a hike. There’s no reason why she should give you even a penny of the money she’s worked for.”

The laid-back cowboy Mia had known for years was gone. In his place was a cold-as-ice businessman dealing with a crooked employee.

Jay’s smile died. “If Mia wants to help me out of a little cash-flow problem I’m having, that’s up to her, not you or anyone in your family.”

The belligerent look on his face made her wonder whether he was going to lunge across the table at Reid. But he surprised her by abruptly throwing back his head and shouting with laughter.

“Aww, I get it now.” Still chuckling, he wagged his finger between the two of them. “I got to admit, Reid, I wouldn’t have thought she’d be the one you’d choose to do the nasty with, man. Wow, Mia, looks like
all
your dreams are coming true.” He shook his head as if in admiration at her boundless good fortune. “I only wish mine could, too. This business deal could really change my life, kind of like it has yours. You know what I mean, cuz?”

With that, he shoved back his chair, the legs scraping loudly against the bar floor. “So, good luck with the harvest, guys. Hope it’s bitchin’.”

Unable to think what else to say, Mia managed a mumbled “Thanks.”

“And if you decide to share some of the good fortune
you’re enjoying with your closest relative, I’d appreciate it.” To Reid, he gave a jerk of his head. “Later, man.”

It was only after Jay had left that Mia realized he’d stiffed her for his whiskey. “A drop in the bucket,” she muttered.

“What was that?” Reid asked, pulling out the chair next to her and folding his lean frame into it. She tried not to stare hungrily. Dressed in wheat-colored jeans and a gray T that hugged his chest and biceps, he looked divine, never mind that the skin around his eye was now dark lavender bordered by yellow-green.

“Nothing.” As relieved as she’d been to see him, embarrassment had entered the mix. She was horrified that he’d witnessed Jay’s selfish greed and general loutishness, and she was mortified that Jay had guessed she and Reid had slept together. Was it so obvious, her helpless attraction to Reid still stamped on her face?

It was bad enough that Jay could spot it, despite her attempts to keep her longing for Reid in check—what if Reid could see it, too?

She should thank him for delivering her from her cousin. “What are you doing here?” she asked instead.

“I heard something about Jay wanting to meet you. Couldn’t imagine that was a good situation, so here I am, partner.”

“Quinn told you, huh?” Sometimes she wished her friend didn’t share quite so much with her family.

“She’s got good people sense. Five minutes with Jay made her want to shower off the lingering stench.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

Nell came by their table. “Another glass of Pinot, Mia?”

“Yes, please.” She definitely needed something to wash down the bitter taste left by her meeting with Jay.

“And you, Reid?”

“I’ll have the Russian River IPA,” he said, naming a local brewery.

When Nell returned with their drinks, Reid took a few gulps and set the glass down. “Mia.”

“Yes?” She fiddled with her coaster.

He waited her out. Reluctantly, she met his gaze. “You’re not going to fall for the garbage Jay was spouting, are you?”

“No, of course not.”

Something in her tone must have given her away. He shook his head. “Come on, you of all people—”

“Exactly. I’m the one person who made it so Jay didn’t get the attention he craved.”

He shook his head. “That is total BS. I can’t believe you’re falling for the ‘poor, pitiful Jay’ crap—that if your mother hadn’t died and Thomas and Ellen hadn’t taken you in, he’d be a successful churchgoing pillar of the community, bowling with the guys on Tuesday nights and generally making Thomas strut with pride.”

Mia rolled her eyes at the description. “Let’s get a little real here. Jay feels I edged him out. He’s always felt that way. Maybe it’s not true, but he thinks it is.”

“Sure, I can see that, because Thomas was such a cold and distant father, and Jay was such a mild-mannered kid,” Reid shot back.

Reid was right about her cousin’s personality, but Mia now understood the enormous pressure Thomas had felt whenever Jay approached him for money. Guilt certainly did a number on one’s reasoning. She was actually considering emptying her savings account, if only to show him that she did care, that she did want him to find happiness and success.

Reid set down his half-empty beer. “What did he want the money for?”

“A business deal of some sort.”

“Doubtless the deal of the century. Did he offer any details?”

“No, he didn’t.” Her tone was weary. “He only told me he needed the money soon and that it was a terrific—”

“—opportunity, the chance of a lifetime,” Reid finished. “Don’t fall for his scam, Mia.”

Rather than answer directly, she picked up her glass and took a fortifying sip. It had a velvety smooth finish, and she liked its light note of licorice. The taste reminded her how hard Thomas and she had toiled to grow the grapes and to shape this wine. Jay had never professed the slightest interest in working alongside them.

“Mia?” Reid said again.

“Yes, I heard you.” She sighed. “I won’t do anything hasty, but if he calls—”

“Come on—you know as well as I do he will.”

“Then I should at least find out what this business deal is about. It’s possible it’s legit.” Hearing Reid, who had such a loving and supportive family, criticize Jay made Mia wish for the miraculous, that her cousin had finally changed his spots.

She heard him mutter something under his breath about eternally stubborn women and was about to offer a retort about obnoxiously high-handed cowboys, when a flash of canary yellow distracted her, the color extra bright against the bar’s simple white walls.

Since Jay’s departure, the evening crowd had trickled in and Beau had turned the volume on the sound system up several notches. Beau did love the Rolling Stones. Some couples had migrated to the dance floor, strutting their stuff to “Honky Tonk Women.”

The bright canary yellow came closer. Now Mia could see who was wearing it. It was Maebeth Krohner.
She advanced with a swing of her hips that showed how determined she was to catch someone’s attention.

No need to guess whose.

“Oh, boy,” Mia said under her breath.

“What?”

“One of your fan-club members is coming over,” she informed him, dredging up a cool smile. She hoped it wasn’t going to hurt too much to watch Acacia’s beloved Romeo in action.

Reid’s eyes narrowed at her reference to his fan club. Then he spotted Maebeth, and a muscle jumped beneath his tanned cheek.

But that was his only reaction. It struck her again how good he was at hiding his thoughts. He could have been overjoyed, bored, or dreading the prospect of Maebeth batting her lashes at him and leaning over, the better for him to appreciate her cleavage.

Maebeth’s emotions were unfortunately all too easy to read. She gasped in horror at Reid’s bruise. “My God! I ran into Jay in the parking lot. The dope didn’t even bother to mention you were sporting a shiner to end all shiners. Boy, that must have hurt.” She leaned closer, clucking sympathetically.

Too bad Maebeth didn’t really look like a big chicken, Mia thought. Or a canary on steroids.

“It’s nothing,” Reid said.

It was only because Mia was listening extra carefully that she caught the faint irritation in his voice. Maebeth missed it completely.

“I bet you got it wrestling a cow, right?”

His lips quirked as if suppressing a smile or, worse, a guffaw.

Threatened by a wave of humiliation, Mia made to rise from her chair and escape but was stopped. Reid’s hand shot out, latching on to her arm. She glared at him and mutely tried to shake him off.

“No, it was a wildcat,” he said, still holding on to her.

As if from a distance, she heard Maebeth say, “Holy crap, I heard they’re around these parts.”

Locked in their battle of wills, neither she nor Reid acknowledged her comment.

“I have to go.” Mia spoke through molars clenched so tightly they hurt.

“I’ll see you home.” His voice, too, was tense and determined.

Mia and Maebeth responded simultaneously. “Not necessary” competed with “What? You’re leaving already?”

“ ’Fraid so. See you later, Maebeth.” His hand still wrapped around Mia’s arm, Reid rose to his feet, bringing her with him, and then led her away.

“Y
OU ARE
NOT
driving me home. I’ve had all of one and a half glasses of wine,” Mia hissed through gritted teeth after Reid tossed two twenties on the bar, waved a goodbye to Nell, and hauled her out the door to where her truck was parked.

“You’re right; I’m only following you home. I need to make sure you’re safe and sound.”

Coming from Reid’s lips, the words were swoon-worthy. She did her best to resist their lure and ignore how the rough timbre of his voice thrilled. “I don’t need a bodyguard, for Pete’s sake.”

“Too bad. Get in, will you?” He gestured to the cab’s interior.

With an aggrieved huff, she climbed in and started the engine. A second later, she saw a flash of light as Reid opened the door of his own truck. Then the twin beams of his headlights pierced the dark. When they circled toward her, she pulled out and hit the gas.

“It’s nothing. Don’t make this into more than it is.” She repeated the words like a mantra on the drive back to the house, hoping they’d calm the racing of her heart, quiet the shallowness of her breathing, and stop the aching need spreading through her.