Page 47 of Turning Up the Heat

CHAPTER NINETEEN

BYTHENEXTMORNING, Gemma wasn’t feeling any better about the uneasy truce Tom had formed with her brothers. She hadn’t heard from Reid or Quin since they’d parted ways after brunch the day before. That was strange, because they were normally in constant contact.

She sighed as she walked into Reid’s office for their weekly Monday morning meeting. Quin and Reid were already there. The air was ripe with tension. And she knew it was because of her. “What’s on the agenda today?” she asked, knowing full well what they were going to discuss.

“Are we okay?” Reid asked.

“Yeah,” Gemma said.

“Where’s Tom?”

“He went back to New York this morning.”

Quin scoffed. “Reid, I know you aren’t really interested in what Tom is doing. Neither am I. So, let’s just focus on business, without any of the personal stuff getting in the way.”

“Up until now, the distillery was personal,” Gemma pointed out. “But I’d like to carry on like we always have, and just get down to work.”

“Even though you’re sleeping with our biggest competitor.”

“I’m completely over this conversation. Can we just move on?”

“Yeah, I’d like that, but we still need to talk about our goal of moving into the Northeast, and directly competing with Cain Rum.” He looked at her with a frown. “Still think you can keep the personal separate form the business?”

Gemma knew it was coming. It was a plan that they had discussed before she and Tom had become more serious than a casual weekend hookup. Although they’d been racking up the frequent flier miles to see each other, they had never actually been casual. “Absolutely.”

“How well do you think you’ll be able to separate yourself when it comes to taking down your boyfriend’s family business?”

“I’m going to keep making rum. What you guys want to do with it is up to you.”

“We used to make these decisions together,” Quin reminded her.

“I want to do what’s best for the distillery,” she told them.

“Then can I ask you to dump Tom Cain?” Reid asked with a smirk.

She said nothing. She knew that this wasn’t going to go away. For the rest of her relationship with Tom, however long that was, she would have to keep him separate from the other parts of life—her work, her family.

Quin closed his laptop. “Gemma, can I ask you a question?”

“You’re probably going to ask it anyway.”

“Probably. You said that you’re in love with Cain?”

Gemma didn’t hesitate. She wasn’t eager to admit to her brothers just how deeply she was in. “I am.” She shook her head. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. We were just hooking up. I thought it would be like every other guy. But he wasn’t. I didn’t mean to catch feelings.”

Quin nodded, as if he understood where she was coming from. “Happens to the best of us, and we don’t even see it coming.” He nodded at Reid, who was stoic.

“You’ve got that right,” she agreed. “At first it was just about letting off a little steam. It had been such a heavy year for me, and I wanted to forget about all of the pressure for a few minutes.”

“A few minutes, huh?” Reid said with a derisive chuckle, rolling his eyes. Of course, he would take the opportunity to take a dig at Tom.

Gemma whipped her pen at him. “I would have said a couple of hours, but I didn’t think you wanted to hear that. Then when he showed up here one weekend, I thought I could shake him. But I couldn’t. It just kept happening.” She turned to Reid. “You probably think it’s stupid.”

He sighed. “No, Gem, it’s not stupid. Lila turned my life completely upside down. And I know I’d risk everything to be with her. And look at Quin.”

“I scuttled a deal that was worth millions because of Celia.”

“Your situation is different,” Reid said. “But we both understand what it’s like to have someone you can’t live without. But I won’t pretend to like that you found that with Tom Cain. I’m worried that you’re literally sleeping with the enemy, and it could put us in danger.”

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