Page 59 of Enchanting the CEO

I got out of the car and headed inside the house, taking the stairs two at a time and yawning as soon as I stepped inside my bedroom. My head was pounding, but I was hoping it was simply because it was very late. Nothing a good night's sleep wouldn't solve.

I undressed and grabbed my phone to set the alarm clock as I slipped between the covers butt naked.

I had a message from Gabe.

Gabe: Cal said he’s dropped you off. Call me if you can. If you’re too tired, we’ll talk tomorrow.

Oh, no way could I talk now. I was exhausted, but I smiled just before I closed my eyes. How could this man make me swoon so much?

Chapter Sixteen

Gabe

My motto in life was "Don't worry about something until it happens."

Worrying simply wasn't productive, unless, of course, you could proactively do something. I was good at problem-solving. Local management in Texas was grateful I’d flown down and worked overtime along with everyone else. I never asked anyone to do something I wasn't willing to do myself. That was another rule I lived by.

As a result, we got everything up and running faster than I’d initially assumed, so I returned to Boston earlier. There was another crisis here, although much smaller. We’d done a limited-edition series of aged bourbon bottles and were including a pack of playing cards. But the packaging company screwed up the measurements, and the packaging machines couldn't automatically put the cards with the bottle. They had to be fitted manually. Everyone in production was on it, but I was going to join them, too, once I finished the tasks for today.

I texted my brothers and half brothers before I boarded the plane.

Gabe: I’ll be back today already.

Maddox: All good?

Gabe: In Texas, yes. In Boston, we need to manually put some promo material on 3000 bottles.

I touched down at four o’clock in the afternoon and headed straight to the office, where I had several fires to put out. At six o’clock, I went to the distillery.

I couldn't wait to go home, relax, and check on Diane. I’d messaged her twice today, but she hadn't answered. What was up with that?

There was a flurry of activity in the distillery, and to my astonishment, my half brothers were here.

"When did you arrive?" I asked them.

Maddox, Leo, and Nick had their shirt sleeves rolled up to their elbows and were packing the cards with the bottles.

"Just now."

"Did I ask you to come and I forgot?"

I wouldn't put it past me. I was exhausted from the past few days.

Nick chuckled. "No. You said you're playing catch-up, and we came to help."

"The rest of the crowd is coming too," Maddox said. "I talked to Jake earlier."

It still amazed me that Maddox and Jake had managed to form a tentative friendship. Natalie working with Maddox definitely helped. They'd barely exchanged a few words before that.

"Thanks. All right, I'll start with that stack." I pointed at a huge pile of overturned boxes. They were stuffed with bottles and promo cards, waiting to be manually sealed.

"Don't. You've been burning the candle at both ends this week. We've got this," Leo said. "And with Jake, Colton, and Cade, we'll do this quickly."

"Thanks, man. I’m dead on my feet; otherwise, I wouldn’t even let you do this. Let's talk this weekend. We'll do something together so I can make it up to you." Then I reached for a box. Despite what they said, I didn't want to just leave them to do all the heavy lifting.

Nick cocked a brow. "You don't need to make up for anything. This is what family is for. And anyway, we don’t have time to meet this weekend."

He exchanged a glance with Maddox and Leo.

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