Page 6 of Beyond the Hate

The door opens and the senior management team begins to file in. I check my watch. They’re late. All of them are late. Which is highly unusual.

“Is it over?” Jennifer, the human resources manager, asks.

I study the team and notice everyone is averting their eyes. Were they warned about the prank? “Is what over?”

She motions to my laptop. “Whatever juvenile prank happened I do not want to know about it.”

Jennifer tries to keep everyone in line and ensure there is no bullying or mistreatment of employees. Considering we’re a company of people who’ve mostly known each other since college and believe pranking is the highest form of affection there is, she’s often forced to look the other way.

I sigh. “I can’t wait to get back home.”

“What’s on this island you can’t stay away from?” Jeremy asks. “Maybe we should visit for a company retreat.”

“No!”

“Testy. It’s probably because the woman who rejected him is there.”

Paisley never rejected me. I’ve never had the chance to ask her out considering she runs the other way whenever I’m around. Hell, she even hid behind a bar once.

The woman does not like me. I wish I could say the feeling is mutual.

“Are we going to conduct this meeting or not?” I make a show of checking my watch. “I have a plane to catch.”

“You own the jet. I think they’ll wait for you to arrive.”

“I bet we could fit all of the senior management team in his jet,” Chuck, the operations manager, says. “I can be packed in five minutes.”

I growl at him. “You’re not coming to Smuggler’s Hideaway with me.”

The island is my sanctuary. No one treats me like a billionaire there. To them, I’m Eli. The oldest son of Jessica. The oldest brother of Jaxon, Rhett, Kai, Miles, and Zane.

No one kowtows to me because of my money on the island. They don’t care. One person in particular who I want to care, doesn’t give a shit about me.

And there I go thinking about Paisley again. I need to figure out a way to stop obsessing over her.

Chapter 3

“Next time. Call someone else.” ~ Paisley

Paisley

I finish mixing the ingredients together and swirl them around in the beaker. This is my favorite part about being a brewer – coming up with new flavors. As a microbrewery,Five Fathomshas the freedom to create fun and unique beers national brewers can’t take a chance on.

My phone rings and I check the time. It’s ten a.m. This is my favorite time to concentrate on work. Which is why my phone is onDo Not Disturb.Even my girlfriends don’t bother me at this time. There must be some kind of emergency.

“Paisley!” Parker shouts when I answer the phone.

I frown. Why is the owner ofPirate’s Pastriescontacting me? Don’t get me wrong. Parker and I are friends. She was a class behind me in school but on an island the size of Smuggler’s Hideaway one year doesn’t make a difference.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“I need you. Can you come to the bakery?”

I stand with a sigh. “Of course. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

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