Page 2 of Kiss and Tell

She was smiling as she approached—and Joey knew without a doubt, he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.

“Joey?” Miles prodded. “Who is she?”

Joey grinned, unable to look away from her. “The woman I’m going to marry,” he replied, only half joking.

Miles turned to look at him, snorting…until he saw Joey’s face. Then he looked confused. “You know her?”

“Never met her.”

“Jesus,” Miles muttered, but before he could give him shit for saying crazy stuff, the woman reached them.

“I can’t believe you’re both really here,” she gushed. “When Levi told usManPowerwanted to film a show about Rain or Shine Brewery, we thought he was pulling our leg. Although to be honest, Levi isn’t usually the joking type. That honor falls to my youngest cousin, Jace, who’s always pulling pranks and cracking us up with his farfetched stories. We’re all—the whole family, I mean—big fans of the show. I especially liked the episode where you went lobster fishing in Maine and that big storm rolled up. Oh my God! I suffered some serious secondhand anxiety watching that.”

Joey wasn’t sure what part of this one-sided conversation he enjoyed more, listening to the woman talk or watching Miles’s expressions, which ranged anywhere from awe to horror.

“That was a good show,” Joey interjected, amused by how fast the woman was talking. “And terrifying.” He crooked his thumb at Miles. “This guy was in danger of puking his guts out the whole time.”

Miles grunted because the truth was, they were both green around the gills by the end of filming, and the first thing Joey had done when he got off the boat was beg for ginger ale and saltines to settle his stomach.

“I can imagine. I’ve seen all theManPowerepisodes a few times and I still can’t watch that one without freaking out. And I know how it ends!” she added, eyes wide with humor. “Oh crap, I’m rambling, aren’t I? My grandma always said I was blessed with the gift of gab, but there were times when I’m pretty sure she substituted the word ‘cursed’ with ‘blessed’ to soften the blow. She was kind of wonderful like that.” The beautiful woman laughed, and Joey couldn’t help but join in.

Miles, who hadn’t said anything—probably because he couldn’t find a break in the conversation—was studying her with furrowed brows. His best friend was a happy-go-lucky guy overall, but during times when he was stressed out or upset, his resting bitch face was fierce. It was in full force right now.

“Well,” Joey said. “Obviously, I’m Joey Moretti, and this is Miles Williams.”

The woman threw up her arms. “Dear God, I’m an idiot. Just pounced right on you, didn’t I? Completely forgot to introduce myself. I’m Lucy Storm, one of the brewmasters.”

“Lucy,” Joey repeated, surprised. “Wait. You’re Lou?”

When Levi informed him that Rain or Shine Brewery had two brewmasters, Sam and Lou, Joey had assumed they were both men.

“You thought I was a guy, didn’t you?” she asked. “Lu is short for Lucy, which is the nickname my family insists on using. Fortunately it’s not contagious, because everyone else in Gracemont calls me Lucy.”

Joey laughed. “I tried for years to get people to call me Joe, but my family refused to conform, and their insistence on adding that damn ywascontagious. Eventually, I just gave up and embraced it, though every now and then, Miles treats me to the shortened version because he’s kind of wonderful like that,” he said, repeating her joke.

“How about you?” Lucy looked at Miles. “Any dreaded nicknames?”

Miles shrugged. “My name is straightforward, without much room for creativity.”

“That’s true, I suppose,” she said, her smile wavering at Miles’s uncharacteristically gruff tone.

“You have a beautiful home,” Joey said.

Lucy looked over her shoulder. “This farmhouse belongs to my cousins, seven guys in one place. My sister, Remi, calls it the frat house.”

Joey hadn’t lived with his brothers since they were all old enough to move out of their dad’s house. He’d roomed with his oldest brother Tony for a time, but that hadn’t worked for long as Tony was a neat freak and Joey was cleaning challenged. Or, as his family put it, “a fucking slob.”

“I know Levi said he would give you a tour, but he had some trouble with a tractor this morning, so he’s elbow-deep in machine parts, trying to figure out what’s wrong with it. I volunteered to take charge.” She pointed to a beat-up truck that looked older than Joey with the wordsFarm Usespray-painted on the door. “The property is quite large and spread out. How are you guys for steps?” she asked.

“Steps?” Miles repeated, confused.

She grinned as she pointed to her Apple Watch. “You know, the step counter?”

Miles frowned, his tone downright sarcastic. “We’ve been in the car all morning.”

Joey shot his friend a look, wondering where this asshole attitude was coming from. “Miles and I are gym rats most of the time, so steps aren’t something we usually look at.”

“Oh. I got this Apple Watch last year for Christmas, and I’ve become obsessed with hitting a certain number of steps every day. I’m too competitive for my own good, even if I’m only competing with myself. I set these ridiculous goals. Drives Sam crazy when we’re at work because we’ll be sitting down discussing something, my watch will beep, and then, well, I have to get up and start moving,” she said, as if that should be obvious. “So…a gym, huh? You mean like weights, or are you treadmill guys?”

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