Page 109 of Bourbon and Proof

“Five blends,”I say, with my fingers steepled in front of my mouth.

Laney laughs out, “You’re serious?”

My wife smiles as she looks at Lincoln, who’s biting on the tip of his pen, waiting for me to keep talking. We’ve worked together for long enough that he was eager for the other shoe to drop. There was always more with me. However, new blends are something I typically shoot down without pause.

Hadley’s pretty blue eyes shift to me, knowing what else I plan to tell them. They’re going to flip their shit.

“Hadley, if you bounce your legs any faster in that chair, you’re going to take off in flight.”

Giggling with mischief, she leans her elbows on the table. “Then stop stalling and get to the good part.” She waves herhand to urge me to keep talking. “And aside from moral support, I was hoping to fit in a quickie before I need to open.”

Lincoln barks out a laugh and holds up a fist for her to bump.

And I give my wife a look that just reads,you’re in so much trouble later.

As she bites at her lower lip, I focus back on the entire purpose of this meeting—to get them on board with this. I ran the concepts by Griz this morning during breakfast, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man so damn happy.

“Proud of you, Ace,” he said. “For a lot of things, but you listen. That’s not something I take for granted.” It came with a shoulder squeeze and a smile from Shelby, who had witnessed it even though she was pretending she was listening to Hadley carry on about the horse sanctuary they’d been talking about building out.

“We’ll have five specialty blends, providing you both like them and they’re differentiated enough. And they’ll be distributed and exclusive only to five selected resorts worldwide. Plus?—”

Lincoln cuts in with, “There’s a plus?” He turns to look at Grant, head rearing back. “Are you hearing this?”

Grant glances at Lincoln, and then focuses back on me. “I’m right here, Linc. Yeah, I’m listening to this.”

“You’re both so damn ornery sometimes it’s almost funny,” Hadley says.

Lincoln rolls his eyes at her, but he’s still smiling.

“The Den will have one as well, a specialty bourbon that my wife has so kindly poured a sample of for everyone.”

With that, she passes the tray down the long table in the conference room. We could have had this chat after dinner tonight, but Faye and Shelby always looked bored out of their minds when we started talking about business, and Griz wasdoing his best to try to steer himself away from the everyday decision-making.

The glasses are held up to the light—a darker amber than normal, thanks to the double barrel and its storage. “It’s finished in its own smaller barrel, meaning it never leaves oak until it hits your glass. It’s sweeter.” I glance at Lincoln, since he’ll understand the numbers. “It’ll be the highest corn percentage we’ve used, clocking in at 73 percent, with 19 percent rye and 8 percent barley.”

“And what are we calling it?” Laney asks as she sips, humming her enjoyment at the taste.

I glance at my wife and, I’ll be honest, the level of excitement she has right now, I can’t possibly take from her. Giving her a wink, I nod for her to go ahead.

“It’s The Sugared Daddy blend,” she bursts out.

Grant glances at me with a shake of his head as Laney giggles beside him. “You’re serious?”

I shrug my shoulders, wiping my hand over my mouth to keep from smiling as excitedly as Hadley.Jesus, I love this woman.

But she cuts in even before I can start explaining. It’s her logic, anyway. “Grant, this is an exclusive blend being served only at two locations in the world—Midnight Proof and The Den.”

“One,” I correct with a quirked eyebrow. “I said yes to that name because it will only be served at one location. Our adult, invite-only club, The Den. The number of people who will ever taste that blend will be so small that the name barely matters.”

Hadley gives me a sarcastic glare and rolls her eyes. “Fine. The Den.” She covers the side of her mouth and whispers to Laney and Linc, “And Midnight Proof.”

“I like it,” Lincoln says, with Grant nodding as well. “It’s good bourbon, with some bigger adjustments to the mash, but you’re keeping all the rules intact. It’s smart.”

“Alright, my job here is done. I need to get moving,” Hadley says, getting up from her chair. “I love you all—you, especially.” She points at Laney, giving her a big hug, and then slides her ass on the table next to Lincoln. “You, almost the most.” Holding out her fist, they do their ridiculous combination of a secret handshake.

“Are you coming to Lark’s game tomorrow?” Lincoln asks.

“Obviously,” she says. “I told her I’d bring the speaker. I think they could really use some walk-out music when they're going up to bat. Lily has been working on the playlists.”

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