Page 3 of For the Promise (The Raider Brothers #2)

“There’s no reason to be a jerk.” ~ Blossom

Blossom

“I ’m sorry, Paisley.”

My boss frowns at the ruined brewing facilities of Five Fathoms Brewing. The result of a hurricane hitting Smuggler’s Hideaway. For the most part, the buildings on the island were untouched.

Except for the brewing facilities. Although the restaurant of Five Fathoms can be salvaged, the brewing facilities, which are housed in a separate building across the parking lot, are ruined.

As the brewmaster, Paisley is understandably upset. This is a big setback for the growing business. Especially after they just landed a deal with the Gourmet Corner grocery chain to supply their stores across the entire US with beer.

Paisley blows out a breath. “It is what it is.”

I nudge her. “You don’t have to be stoic with me. I get it.”

I’m Paisley’s assistant. She has her four friends with whom she founded the brewery and has been best friends with since they were in school, causing trouble. But I’m the one who works closely with her every day. I’m the one who sees how much she loves this business of brewing beer.

I get it. I love it, too. I moved to this tiny island to work with her. And, also, to flee my past but now is not the time for my past to rear its ugly head.

“At least we can continue to brew beer since Eli offered you space in his distillery.”

She scowls. “He offered the space to the brewery.”

I bite my tongue before I laugh at her response. Eli doesn’t give a shit about the brewery, but he does care about one very stubborn redhead who brews the beer.

Unfortunately for Eli, Paisley hates him. Or, she says she does at least. I’m already making bets with her friends about how long it’ll be before the two are knocking boots.

“We should probably get going or we’ll be late.” Paisley is nearly as obsessed with time management as me.

She glares at me. “You don’t have to look excited.”

I can’t stop myself from smiling. “Sorry. Not sorry. I’ve wanted a tour of Buccaneer’s Whiskey since I arrived on the island but they don’t give tours.”

“At least there’s a bright side to a hurricane destroying the business,” she mutters as she opens the car door.

I pretend I don’t hear her as we drive out of town. The distillery is located in the middle of the island between the towns of Smuggler’s Rest and Rogue’s Landing. There’s one more town on the island – Pirate’s Perch – but it’s tiny and doesn’t have any businesses.

“What do you need me to do once we arrive?” I ask .

“We need to ensure all of the facilities are available for brewing beer – water supply…”

Paisley doesn’t stop listing all the things we need to check on until we arrive at the distillery. It’s a good thing I already spent several days researching the situation since I wasn’t able to make any notes while I was driving. Although, knowing my boss, she already made a checklist for me.

We step out of the car and the door to the offices of the distillery opens and Eli appears. I have no interest in the billionaire, but it’s not hard to admit how handsome he is. Especially wearing a three-piece custom suit.

Paisley scowls at him and I nearly giggle. It’s obvious from the flush on her cheeks and the way her breath catches that she’s into him.

“Why do you hate him?” I ask.

She ignores my question and marches toward Eli. I scramble to follow her.

“Eli,” she grunts in greeting.

He grins and his blue eyes light up. “Paisley.” He grumbles her name and I nearly swoon. Whatever’s holding my boss back from him must be big.

I wave. “Hi, I’m Blossom. I’m Paisley’s assistant.”

“Eli Raider,” he introduces himself as if everyone on the island doesn’t already know his name.

He’s a billionaire on a small island where the inhabitants think gossiping is a sport. Everyone knows every move he makes. Including me .

When silence falls, I rush to fill it. “I’m excited to tour your distillery facilities. I tried to get a private tour, but the master distiller apparently forbids heathens in his distillery.”

Eli grins. “My brother, Jaxon, is the master distiller. He’s very serious about his whiskey.” He motions toward the large garage doors. “Shall we?”

I trail behind Eli and Paisley as we walk toward the doors. Paisley slows down in an effort to lag behind Eli but he slows down along with her. It’s hilarious to watch. It’s as if they’re both dancing but listening to different music.

Eli opens the door with a remote. The door slides open and the distillery is revealed. There’s a large empty area where the brewing facilities will be housed while Five Fathoms rebuilds. On the other side are barrels and kettles and various other equipment to support the distillery.

I step closer but a man marching toward us has me stopping. I don’t want to overstep my bounds. Especially since I’ll be working here with Paisley for the next while.

I study the man as he approaches. Unlike Eli, he’s dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He’s tall and the t-shirt strains across his chest. He has a bit of scruff on his jaw but I get the feeling he’s not trying to look cool or hip. He’s also wearing a pair of black framed glasses that scream nerd.

The text of his t-shirt – it says that’s the spirit with an image of a barrel of whiskey below it – confirms he’s a nerd.

If this is what ‘nerd’ looks like, I’m officially a nerd lover because this man is a tall drink of sexy with a side of handsome.

“A word,” he demands of Eli.

“Paisley, Blossom, this is my brother, Jaxon. He’s the master distiller,” Eli introduces.

Paisley offers him a hand but he spins on his heel and marches away without shaking it.

“Sorry.” Eli excuses himself before following his brother.

“Rude,” I mutter as they enter a room and shut the door behind them.

Jaxon may be a sexy nerd but he’s also rude. It’s a good thing I’m off men because I can’t stand rude men.

“Shall we get to work on the checklist?” Paisley forms her words as a question, but she’s not asking. She hands me a printout. Told you she made a checklist. “You can handle the first page. I’ll handle the rest.”

I barely have a chance to say okay before she’s off.

I peruse the list and my nose wrinkles. I can’t check these items off myself.

I need help. I’d love to go into the office and ask Dakota but she doesn’t know much about the distillery.

Her job is working for Eli directly as his assistant and not for the distillery itself.

I wait a few minutes, but when Eli and Jaxon don’t return, I decide to join them. I don’t make it to the room where they’re holed up before I can hear their voices.

“I don’t want them here,” Jaxon grumbles.

“Too bad,” Eli says.

“It should be a decision for the board, not a unilateral decision made by you.”

“This is the decision of the board.”

“I didn’t vote for it. ”

“Jaxon,” Eli growls. “Don’t you want to help out your fellow smugglers?”

“Can’t you just give them money or something? You’re a billionaire after all.”

“This is the best way to help their business.”

“But they’ll be in my way. In my distillery every day.”

I’ve had enough. I throw the door open and stomp inside. “I don’t know what your problem is with us. We don’t have cooties.”

Jaxon pushes his glasses up his nose. “I didn’t say you did.”

“And yet you don’t want us here.”

“It’s not personal.”

“Feels pretty personal from where I’m standing.”

Jaxon frowns. “What does where you’re standing have to do with anything?”

Is he for real? Judging by the confusion in his startling blue eyes, he is. “I didn’t mean literally where I’m standing. I meant from my perspective.”

“Why didn’t you say from your perspective then?”

“It’s a saying. You know what a saying is, don’t you? A maxim, a proverb, an idiom, a—”

He cuts me off with a growl. “I’m not stupid.”

I lift my palms in the air. “I didn’t say you were.” I drop my hands and fist them on my hips. “But I did say your unwillingness to share your distillery with us feels personal.”

Eli crosses his arms over his chest. “Believe me. It’s not personal. Jaxon doesn’t want anyone in his distillery. Not even me and I own half of the company. ”

“Oh.” My anger deflates. “Do you want us to figure out another solution? Paisley is already hurting since her precious brewery was destroyed. I hate to hurt her more.”

Sympathy lights up Eli’s blue eyes. He obviously cares for Paisley. She may claim to hate him, but she doesn’t stand a chance against those eyes.

Jaxon groans, and I glance over at him. He removes his glasses to clean them with his t-shirt. Damn. His blue eyes are even more startling without glasses obscuring them.

My stomach tingles with interest. I remind my body what a jerk he was when we arrived. It doesn’t care. It wants to watch those blue eyes flare with passion before his tongue swoops into my mouth.

“I’ll adjust to the situation,” Jaxon claims before charging out of the room.

I can’t help but notice how his jeans cling to his backside. My body nearly demands I follow him. I ignore my body. It’s obviously forgotten what happened the last time I got involved with a man.

But I haven’t. And I’m not likely to anytime soon.