Page 3 of Tempting Max

“Gus—Augusta, is experienced and seems competent.” I change the subject from the woman who made my life hell to our newest employee. “I wouldn’t have hired her if I thought she was trouble.” Though I can feel in my marrow, she might mean trouble for me.

After a long pause, Liam shrugs. “I trust your judgement.” His eyes scan his computer screen, “That means we just need two more part-timers, and we’ll be fully staffed. Speaking of staff, you seen Elliot this morning?”

I let out a dry laugh and ease back in my chair. “It’s only ten, you know he doesn’t get out of bed before noon and only then if the girl he’s with kicks him out."

Liam shakes his head. "If his social media campaigns weren’t doing so well, I’d kick his ass.”

I snort. Liam is strong—as rock climbers, we all are—but he wouldn’t know the first thing about how to handle an actual fight and Elliot is too unpredictable for Liam’s orderly brain. “I would pay to watch that fight.”

Unamused, Liam eyes me before taking a seat at the bar with his laptop. “Orders for the soft opening are all in, everything should arrive in the next few days. Elliot’s created a nice buzz here in Paintbrush and nearby towns, your brews are off-the-charts good. So, once we get the staff complete and trained, we’ll be ready to roll.”

I inhale and nod, trying to remind myself that this is a good thing, that despite everything that’s happened to us, we’re making it work. We have to, every last penny each of us has is in this place and if it goes down, we all go with it. All of us feel the weight of it. “It’s going to be great. You’ve done everything you can to set us up for success.”

The set of Liam’s jaw tells me more than he would ever say out loud. He’s worried he hasn’t done enough, hasn’t protected us enough. But I trust him. I trust my brothers with my life. They might be the only people I trust on the planet anymore.

“Well,” I say, overloud, trying to clear the tension in the air, “I supposed I should go check the new Kolsch. Should be ready for opening.”

Liam nods and I wander back into the brewhouse. I check the temperatures and progress on each brew, I let my mind wander back to doing the same thing with my father. I could barely walk the first time he took me to the brewery, and I can still remember seeing our reflection in the mash tun—my tall, strong, smiling father, his hand in mine, the bustling brewery all around us.

It would be yours one day, he’d say.

My heart twinges the loss of him to an early heart attack fills me with familiar pain. The edges of that pain are only sharpened by the loss of the brewery, by the stupid mistakes thatI made. By the thought of what he’d think of me now. Would he be disappointed in the man I am now?

Hell, I don’t even know what kind of man I am now. Anchorless, adrift. Frightened as fuck.

Swallowing down the emotion, I focus on my work. There might be nothing I can do to win back Sutton Brewing, but I can certainly make sure that Redpoint succeeds.

I just have to keep my head on my shoulders. And my dick in my pants.

3

GUS

“I’m so happy for you,” Aunt Sally squeals when I tell her I got the job over dinner that night. “You are going to be just what they need.”

I smile. Sally is the best great aunt anyone could have asked for, caring, understanding, and giving to a fault. That being said, her sunshine can be a bit much from time to time. Everything around her, her clothes, her decorations, the barrette in her bright red hair—is yellow. And not a soothing buttery yellow, no, but one that constantly grates the eye with the unnatural cheeriness of a preschool bulletin board.

“I hope so.” I poke at the spaghetti dinner I made—one of the very few edible recipes I have mastered. “I mean, it’s been a few years since I’ve held a real job. I don’t want to disappoint the owners.”

Flashes of Max Sutton’s constant frown make me feel like it’s an inevitability.Especially after I had the nerve to be female. I mean, how dare I?

“Don’t be silly,” Sally pulls me from my thoughts. “You have always been a hard worker, anything you don’t know how to do, you’ll pick it up like that.” She snaps her fingers. “Just like you did with violin, and dance, and that one summer you decided you wanted to be a gymnast…”

I smile and my eyes slide back to my food. I appreciate her positivity, but those days of me being bold enough to jump in and flourish at whatever whim popped into my brain seem almost a lifetime ago. I spent so long letting Ethan cut me down, that I’m not even sure who I am anymore. Let alone what I am capable of…

No, I correct in my head, channeling my therapist.I didn’t let him, he did it to me. It’s not my fault.

Before I slip deeper into my thoughts, Sally’s hand covers mine. “Gus,” she says, her voice softer, making my eyes raise to meet hers. “You are more amazing than you know. Ethan spent so much time trying to dull your shine because he was jealous, not because you are weak. Okay?”

I swallow and fight back tears. Sally’s invitation to stay with her after Ethan announced to the world that he was in love with someone else was a miracle. My parents offered, so did friends, but I knew I needed to be as far away from Chicago as possible. One thousand miles seemed perfect. I fell in love with Paintbrush the moment I laid eyes on it. “Okay.”

“Also, he is an evil little bastard that deserves his place in hell.”

I let out a shocked laugh. “Sally!”

She simply raises her brows and twirls her noodles around her fork like an evil villain. “Am I wrong? I never liked him.”

Shaking my head, I feel all my stress ease out of my body. I can do this and if I can’t, at least I have Sally at my side. “Nope,” I chuckle, “not wrong at all.”

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