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“What’s up with you?” he asks, and I sigh.

“Some guy is here at the distillery. I don’t know him, and I don’t like it,” I tell him honestly. We run a tight ship here, now more so than ever. We don’t like having a lot of outsiders in our space, especially people we haven’t met before. It’s hard to manage, though, as we’re a business that’s open to the public, which means we have strangers come and go every day.

“What guy?” Dad quizzes immediately, and I cringe. I should’ve been more sensitive. Ever since the incident next door at Marie’s Place with Victoria and Lacy, he’s been super protective of Victoria, our business, and this town. I need to be more mindful.

“A spa supplier. He’s in with Daisy,” I explain.

“A friend of hers?” he asks, clearly wanting more information. He was a weird-looking guy. An old hippie, if I can call him that. Tall, thin, not much to him, but very centered in an unsettling type of way.

“I guess. Not sure. Looked like a hippie who rose from the Garden of Eden,” I mumble, thinking of a suitable insult but coming up short.

“Are you jealous?” Dad asks, and I pull back.

“Pfft. No, why would you think that?” I jump up and walk back to the window. The feeling in my gut tells me that he could be right, but I push it away, not wanting to even start thinking like that about a person on my team. My hand automatically runs down my beard.

“You’re touching your beard, aren’t you?” he says, and I drop my hand immediately.

“No.” My body feels antsy, and I move again, back to my desk, shuffling some papers.

“You like her, just admit it,” he presses, and my jaw tics.

“We don’t get along,” I tell him, shaking my head at the thought, even though those words are no longer one hundred percent accurate. A week ago, we could fling insults at each other like we were professionals at it, but now, after working together all night on the staffing issues for the spa and bouncing different ideas off each other, that could not just benefit the spa but also my business overall, it’s clear we do actually get along and my admiration for her has grown.

“God, it feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this day,” Dad says, and although I can’t see him, I can tell he’s smirking.

“What day? What are you talking about?” I ask, wondering what in the world he’s thinking.

“The day where you would meet someone you felt was worthy of your time.”

“I didn’t say that,” I spit out at him, refuting all his nonsense. It can’t happen. This is a professional workplace. I’m the fucking CFO.

“Oh, Connor, remember how much teasing you had for me when I met Victoria,” he says slyly, and my eyes narrow.

“What are you talking about?” I ask him, sensing something’s up.

“My boy. Payback’s a bitch.” As he laughs, I drop my head, shaking it, a small smile threatening to dance on my lips.

“No need for payback. She’s just a staff member. That’s all,” I tell him with finality.

“Great! Well, then you won’t mind taking our new staff member to the mineral springs tomorrow. Victoria is meant to do it, but she has to go away for the day with Griffin for another project,” Dad says, and I don’t need to hear his laugh to know he’s grinning.

“I can’t, I’m busy,” I rush out, though not with any real determination. Taking Daisy to the mineral springs would be like putting chocolate in front of a dog. The deep desire to have it will overrun the sense not to touch it.

“Too bad. Make room in your busy calendar. She needs to see it, and we need to look at the best ways to walk clients down there so they don’t trip and break their legs and sue us for damages in the process,” he grumbles, and I know he’s right. One of us needs to go and assess things and then talk to Griffin about a pathway plan.

“Fine. I’ll take her, then I’ll speak to Griffin and get the path sorted once we know the best and shortest way to get there from the back door of the spa.”

Putting the entire trip into the work box of my brain and not the box that sends any type of signals to my growing infatuation with the woman down the hall, I try to shake it off.

I also know that Griffin is waiting for me to start talking to him about my empty plot of land up near Dad and Victoria’s on Billionaire Boulevard. I should start building soon. While my place here on the distillery grounds is nice, I’ve been thinking about it a bit lately, especially since we also need to finalize the plans for our accommodation over on the other side of the distillery. Six luxury villas, all with mod cons, and I already know they’re going to book out as soon as we open, and my once peaceful country home will become less private and have less security for me.

I have my penthouse in New York and my place here at the distillery, but I’m not getting any younger, and while I thought I might’ve found somebody to build my new luxury ranch with, single life is looking more and more like my future.

Except for the woman currently residing in Dad’s old house next door. She’s someone I see every night. Someone I can barely get through the day without thinking about.

And I’m not sure how to reconcile that in my mind. Because it can’t happen.

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