Page 40 of On the Rocks

“Hopefully these bottle designs make the cut,” he said teasingly.

“I told you,” I said. “It’s all about how it feels in the hand.”

His eyes narrowed playfully, and his gaze lingered on me. Heat crawled across my skin again. “Anyway, I just wanted to say how impressed I am with how quickly this team has pulled together and how productive you’ve been. Especially you, Cora. You came in, ready to match my vision, filled with ideas of your own. We never would have accomplished so much so quickly without your expert leadership on this team.”

My pulse skipped at the warmth and sincerity of his words. Emotion hummed in my throat. Was this the same man who I could barely stand the sight of when he’d walked into Bottom of the Barrel?

“Masked Mixer for the win!” Chris said, calling it out like an announcer at a wrestling match. Dot whooped, and Javeed clapped me on the shoulder.

“I really don’t know where we’d be without you,” Aiden said, cutting into the celebration. “If you keep this up, Elixir isn’t going to want to let you go when the project is over.”

I’d assumed I’d have one foot out the door the entire time I was here, but now the idea of Elixir, ofAiden,wanting to keep me around? It sounded good.Verygood.

11

AIDEN

Ialready hated today, and it had barely even begun.

“What do you mean they’re talking about a temporary shutdown?” I said to George, my production manager, as I stepped off the elevator, phone pressed to my ear. Our manufacturing facility was undergoing one of its regular inspections to ensure we complied with health, safety, and quality standards, but I was not expecting to be threatened with a shutdown this morning. “I thought we were in good shape?”

“I don’t know, boss. They’re saying we’re non-compliant.”

“How are we non-compliant?”

“They want the records for production and inventory, but we can’t access them on the computer.”

“Why not?”

“Some system glitch. Apparently, there was a software update, and now we can’t get access to the digital records until IT has that sorted.”

“Okay, let’s get them the paper copies in the meantime.”

“That’s exactly what I went to do. Then I realized those are in Sheila’s office, which is locked, and she’s on annual leave.”

“Did you explain that?”

“Yeah, I did. But they don’t care. This guy’s being a real son of a bitch. He says until I produce the records, we don’t technically comply with federal regulations, so he can shut us down until we do.”

I rubbed the space between my eyes. God, the last thing I needed was some power-tripping federal inspector on my ass. I knew it was part of the job, but I hated this bureaucratic bullshit. It was time-consuming and costly and?—

The elevator door opened behind me. I stepped aside as Cora emerged.

“Did Sheila not do a hand over with anyone before she went off?” I asked George.

“Yeah, that would be Graham, but he’s down with the flu, and we can’t get a hold of him. Probably passed out on cold medication.”

“So what you’re saying is I’m the only one with the keys to Sheila’s office.” But more importantly, the locked filing cabinetinher office.

“That’s what I’m saying, boss.”

Looked like I was taking a trip up to Newburgh. “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Offer to take the inspectors to brunch until I get there.”

“Will do.”

I hung up the call.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Cora said, handing me a piece of paper. “I was just dropping off the finalized recipes for the two samples you tried the other day.” She tilted her head, eyeing me. “Everything okay?”

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