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“Daisy,” I say by way of greeting, not wanting to treat her any differently than I have been, although the corners of my mouth are quirking.

“Connor,” she says, and Sawyer clears his throat next to me.

“Daisy, nice to finally meet you. I’m Sawyer.” He holds out his hand, and Daisy leans over to shake it.

“Nice to meet you too, Sawyer.”

My shoulders lower, her voice hitting my spine, instant relaxation of just being around her evident.

“The bottling machine is down again,” Dad says, looking at me, and I stroke my beard and open my laptop to get my head into the meeting.

“Again?” I ask, frowning. “I heard from the team in California this morning. The storm last night hit our crops.” None of this news is good, since both issues will put a stop to our production in some way or another.

“Oh my God. Sorry!” Victoria says, spilling her coffee, and she and Daisy jump up, fetching tissues to mop up the mess.

Dad looks at me and frowns.

“What the hell is going on today?” he asks everyone.

“Mercury is in retrograde,” both Daisy and Victoria say simultaneously, like it’s a normal thing. They both continue cleaning and talking, as if what they said makes any sense, and the three of us men just look at each other in confusion before I feel Sawyer lean over to me.

“Holy shit, they are so alike… they could be twins,” he whispers, and my hand flies out to hit him in the arm. Not my finest moment, and certainly not professional, but our team is close, more like family, and everyone’s used to these antics.

The girls don’t pay any attention. But Dad does, and his eyes on me are burning as his lips quirk.

“Payback’s going to be a bitch,” he murmurs, and I smile, not able to hide a thing.

20

DAISY

Ikissed him. I kissed him, and I loved it, and I want to do it again. Over and over again.

It wasn’t a drunken night out or a pity kiss at the end of a date. No, it was a scorching hot, bruising kiss that lifted me from my feet. We both wanted it, and God,, it felt good. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Sure, my history with men isn’t excessive; in fact, it’s almost embarrassingly nonexistent, but Connor and that kiss, there was no faking that. That was too good.

Even now, I touch my lips, remembering it in detail as I look at him across the boardroom table as he, his father, and the lawyer named Sawyer all discuss insurances and liabilities in regard to the spa and the mineral springs. His attention flicks to me, dropping to my lips, watching me brush my finger across my bottom one, and his eyes fill with heat and longing. I swallow, the tension between us so thick you could light a flame with it. Then he returns his attention back to Sawyer, to the conversation at hand.

Obviously, we can’t even go there. That’s why we stopped it yesterday. We can’t entertain anything. But as I sit in this meeting, trying to understand insurances and legal costs, I feel my already hot cheeks get hotter, because the man across the table from me continues to look at me like he wants to eat me whole, and I want to let him.

I couldn’t sleep last night. The kiss just played over and over in my mind on repeat. It left me wanting, my body in a new state of heightened tension that needed a release. So I retrieved the little bag that Trisha threw into my suitcase, the one that contains my battery-operated friends, and sent a thanks to the universe for having Trisha in my life.

I came so hard that I had to bite the pillow, for fear my sexy neighbor would hear my screams. But I shouldn’t be worried; I’m sure the walls in my place are soundproof because I hear nothing. A person could walk right into the house, and I wouldn’t even know.

“Okay, I’ll file these copies, and then Griffin can start the path. I think everything you’ve said makes sense and should cover us completely if there were to be any incidents,” Sawyer says as he shuffles some paperwork that Tanner and Connor just signed.

He looks at me and smiles. He’s done that a few times in this meeting, and I’m starting to get a complex as I look down at myself, wondering if I have spilled something on my top.

“I would just like to raise something else?” I ask the room, and all eyes are on me.

“Go for it.” Connor nods, looking at me intently.

“When we were at the springs yesterday…” I start and can't help but look right at him. I see him swallow, and I continue. “The local kids came, and while they obviously love the springs, kids running and jumping is not something that encourages relaxation,” I tell them, and Victoria nods.

“You’re right, and in the height of summer, it’s even busier.” She nods.

“Well, it's private property. We can just close the access down,” Sawyer says with a shrug, but Tanner and Connor growl.

“Not happening,” Connor says quickly.