Page 14 of Bourbon Wishes (Wine Country Alphas #3)

She blinks wide eyes at me and then laughs abruptly. "If you think your family doesn't already know that you're the reason my office looks like a tornado hit it every freaking day, you're delusional, Bastian."

"Then what's the problem?"

Her shoulders bounce in a shrug, her gaze darting from mine.

I study her for a long, silent moment, trying to figure her out. As much as she likes to push my buttons and test me, I don't think this is that. This is…actual anxiety. I see it in the tension around her full lips, like she's afraid that if we're seen together, it might make what we're doing real.

I think that possibility scares the shit out of her.

So long as no one really sees us together, she can pretend that this is just some game we're playing and there's no chance of anyone getting hurt.

But as soon as we change the rules, everything changes.

There are actual stakes and risks involved, like her heart.

She's fighting like hell to avoid that for a reason…

and I think that reason is because she wants this so fucking badly.

I matter to her. We matter to her. This is, perhaps, the biggest chink in her armor that I've seen all week.

She's cracking. I just need to push her over the edge.

"Please come to karaoke with me," I murmur.

She blinks wide, startled eyes at me. "Did you just say please?"

"Yes. My family wants you there. I want you there."

Her expression softens. "Fine. I'll go, but only because you said please, and you probably haven't used that word since you were a toddler."

This is what it feels like to win a war, I'm sure of it. And then I remember the other reason I called her in here, and the feeling vanishes.

"Thank you. Now, why am I hearing from Gabe that you have an idea instead of hearing it from you?"

She grimaces. "Because your cousin is a traitor."

"Constance." I crook a finger, beckoning her toward me.

She eyes me warily. "If I come over there, are you going to try to get me naked?"

"Probably." I shrug.

"Then I'll stay here. I have to meet Haven in ten minutes, and you are not making me late for something else today, Bastian Grayson. We were already late to work because of that thing you did in the shower where I was on my knees and your dick was in my mouth."

Fuck, I loved that thing we did in the shower where she was on her knees, choking on my cock. And she definitely won't be making that meeting on time because now I want to do it again, behind my desk this time.

"Fine," I lie, pretending to agree to her rule. "Explain. What is this idea?"

"A contest to let one of our social media followers name the next wine.

They'd send in video trailers introducing the wine to enter.

We pick the top five and then let our followers vote for the winner.

We get the publicity and excitement the contest will generate, and they get to be part of something here. "

I turn the idea over in my mind. It has potential.

"Why didn't you bring it to me?"

She shrugs, avoiding my gaze again.

"Why, Constance?"

"I don't know!" she huffs. "I guess I thought you'd hate it. You're so protective of this place and everything involving it. I figured you'd hate turning over naming rights to some random person you've never met. You're kind of a control freak like that."

She's not wrong about that.

"You know we almost went under once?"

"What?" She gapes at me like I'm speaking a foreign language.

"Right after Jareth and I were born," I murmur.

"Massive storms damaged the fields. Our parents lost an entire year's worth of crops.

They were still recovering from an employee trying to sabotage this place and couldn't afford a hit like that.

It damn near wiped them out, but they poured everything they had into rebuilding.

My dad was a cop at the time, but he quit to help out around here because they needed all hands on deck.

" I pause for a moment. "They managed to save the vineyard when a lot of others in the area went under.

Hell, they managed to turn it into what it is today, but it took a helluva lot of effort to make it happen. "

"I didn't know that," she whispers.

"Not many do," I admit. "I only found out when I started digging through business records when I was trying to get ready to take over.

My mom told me what happened. Even though it was well in the past by then, knowing they came so close to losing the vineyard still made her cry.

" I swallow, catching Constance's gaze. "So, yeah, I am a controlling asshole when it comes to this place, baby.

But I'm an asshole because my family has poured everything into this place.

This land is our past and our future. I'm not going to be the one who fucks it up and loses the land that we've poured blood, sweat, and tears into for generations. "

"Bastian," she whispers, her heels clicking softly against the floor as she sashays toward me. She rounds the desk, stopping right in front of me. Her hand brushes the side of my cheek. "You aren't going to lose this place."

"I know." I turn my head, nuzzling my face against her palm.

"I work my ass off every day to ensure we're at a point where a bad year or a bad batch of years won't break us.

This place means everything to my family.

It's our livelihood, but it's also our home.

I have to ensure it survives." I nip her palm and then tug her down onto my lap.

"But that doesn't mean I don't know a good idea when I hear it. "

"I should have brought it to you."

"Yeah, you should have," I grunt, burying my face in her throat. "I'm not going to shoot you down for the hell of it. You're smart, baby. I know that. I see it every fucking day. And we hired you because we trust you. I need you to trust me, too."

She sighs softly, melting against my chest. "I'm trying. I just…"

"What?"

"Don't want to screw it up. It matters, Bastian." She peeks up at me, chewing on her bottom lip, and I know she isn't talking about her job. She's talking about this—us. "I don't want us to break it."

I sink my hand into her hair, craning her head back. "We aren't going to break it."

I will never break you.

I don't say that part out loud, but I think she knows. Christ, I hope she knows.

A sking Constance to come with me to karaoke was a mistake, I decide, glaring at her as she dances with my cousins in the middle of the dance floor.

She's all sunshine and smiles. And she looks fucking edible in a dress far too short and tight.

The clingy red fabric skims every delicious curve, and I'm not the only one noticing.

Every prick in the bar has been throwing appreciative looks her way since we got here.

I'm ready to plow my fist into their faces and then drag her to her back on the floor to fuck my kid into her. Maybe then they'll all know she's taken.

She peeks over her shoulder at me, flashing a taunting smile, and my blood boils. She knows what she's doing to me. She knew the minute she chose that dress.

She wants to play with fire tonight.

No, she wants to burn.

"When is Jareth getting back from Tennessee?

" Ridley asks from beside me while I'm staring at Constance.

I have no idea what the fuck he and the rest of my cousins are talking about.

I tuned them out after Oliver launched into a lecture about dresses being a woman's battle armor, mostly because he's not wrong.

Constance is dressed for a war tonight, and I'm already losing.

"Two weeks. They decided to spend a few weeks with Zoya's family since Nadia and Teo are there with the baby," I reply, my eyes still locked on my girl as she lifts her arms over her head, her hips swaying to the beat.

"Hey!" Lucy waddles up to the table with her hands on her hips. "Why are we dancing alone?"

"Uh, because we didn't sign up for this torture tradition of yours?" Tryst retorts, one brow arched.

Oliver smacks him across the back of the head. "You want me to dance with you, baby girl?"

"Yes."

"Then let's dance." He grins at his wife, nudging me to let him up.

I grunt, shifting out of his way, without taking my eyes off Constance. Some prick in a baseball cap is eye-fucking her from the side of the dance floor, but she doesn't even notice. She's oblivious to the way men stare at her wherever she goes.

My hands ball into fists when the bastard licks his lips. I'm either going to kill him or fuck her raw in the middle of the dance floor. Those are really the only two options at this point.

Ridley's chair scraping across the floor is the only thing that keeps me from springing from my seat. I flick a glance in his direction to see him on his feet.

"I'm going to dance with Paisley."

Fuck. Is that why Constance keeps looking at me? Because she wants me to dance with her?

"If by dancing, you mean fucking in the bathroom, I will kill you," Tryst says cheerfully. "I do not need to hear that again."

Ridley flips him off, already heading toward the dance floor. I glance back at Constance. Take a breath.

Fuck it.

I haul myself to my feet.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Liam asks.

"Dance floor," I grunt, not even stopping to look at him as I weave my way through gyrating bodies right to Constance.

"Bastian," she gasps, melting against me when I press up against her from behind. She peeks at me over her shoulder, her cheeks flushed, eyes wide. "What are you doing?"

"Dancing with you before I have to kill someone for touching what belongs to me." I wrap one hand around her waist, the other around her throat. She moans softly as I grind my dick against her ass, swaying with her.

My eyes lock with the prick on the side of the dance floor. Yeah, you little bastard, she's mine. Fuck off.

He dips his head in a nod before walking away.