Page 4 of Hot for the Jerk

I could tell my insult landed based on the flare of her eyes, but she wasn’t going to dignify me with a response.All she did was smirk and step down off the stage.

With bloodlust coursing through my body, I exited the stage and joined my family, glaring at all of them.

“Anybody else get hot just watching that?”Brooke asked.

Vica, Justine—Bennett’s woman—and Chloe, all fanned themselves.

I flipped them double middle fingers and stomped off through the crowd, shoving my hand into the swinging door that separated the kitchen and the bar.

Never again.

That shit would never happen again.

It was a small island, and I couldn’t avoid Raina all the time, but like hell would I allow myself to be manipulated into something like that with her again.

Nobody besides her and me knew what happened between us when we first met, and I intended to keep it that way.I was a private person, and the last thing I needed was for our quirky little hippy island with gossipy weirdos spreading rumors about the youngest “Brew Brother” and the youngest “Vino Vixen,” as they were called.

I pulled in a deep breath through my nose and started to count to ten to calm myself down.

One of my favorite songs had just been ruined.

What else was that viper going to ruin in my life before I finally decided to just jump ship and leave the island altogether?

CHAPTER TWO

Raina

Isatinthefront passenger seat of Gabrielle’s SUV as we drove home from the McEvoy’s pub and Christmas party.My cousin, and the appointed matriarch of our family, glanced sideways at me.“You’re not still upset about the duet, are you?”

Her two kids—Laurel, who was eleven, and Damon, who was fourteen—were in the back with my son, Marco, who was nine.The kids were pretty quiet, but they were absolutely listening.

“I just don’t like being made to do something I don’t want to do,” I said, keeping the inflection in my tone to a minimum.

“Right, because we put a gun to your head and said, ‘Sing or die.’”Gabrielle shook her head, focusing once again on the road ahead of her.The entire Pacific Northwest was getting absolutely hammered with winter storms this year.Debris from all the trees littered the road and the wind gusts made the vehicle wobble like it was trying to roll us over.Our cousins, Danica and Naomi, were behind us in another vehicle, with their children.

“I just didn’t want to look bad in front of all the islanders,” I argued, my arms crossed over my chest.“We’re trying to make ourselves look good, remember?There were Island Elders there.”

“Of course, I know that,” Gabrielle quipped.“I spent nearly an hour listening to Jolene Dandy prattle on about the latest gossip.Ninety-five percent of it isn’t even true.You know she actually tried to tell me a rumor she heard about me?She said that she heard I was dating a younger man.”Gabrielle snorted.“First of all, I wish.Second of all, I’m not dating anybody else, let alone a younger man.”

“How young?”Damon piped up from the backseat, his tone not lacking in fear or disgust.

Gabrielle snorted.“I didn’t ask.Because it’s not true.I think I’d be the first to know if I was dating anybody.Anyway, I was quick to shut her down.Nobody in our family is dating anybody, least of all, a younger man.”

The turnoff for the winery that we all owned came into view and I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.We had generators for if the power went out, and although we were located on a bluff and often got hit with some wicked winter wind, we were also not surrounded by trees like the brewery was.So the likelihood of a tree smashing through any of our roofs was slim to non-existent.

“I know I’ve asked this before,” Gabrielle said, taking the turn, “but what is your beef with Jagger McEvoy anyway?”

Rather than answer, I inflated my cheeks and glanced out the window before blowing the breath out slowly.“You ready for the booze bonanza in Seattle?”I finally asked, changing the subject very blatantly.

Gabrielle snorted again, and I could see her glance at me and smirk in the reflection of my passenger window.“You mean the Winter Wine and Beer Fest?Yes.I just have to double-check that the swag bags I ordered will be delivered in time for next weekend.”

“You know the McEvoys are going.”Why did I do that?Why did I swing the topicbackto what I was deliberately trying to avoid?

“I would be surprised if they didn’t, considering they run a very successful local brewery.Clint and I briefly discussed it today.Seems as though our tables are next to each other.”

A growl built hot and prickly in my chest just as the porch lights for our little wine-scented haven lit up the night in front of us.“Of course they are.”

“Clint actually suggested we put together a couple of gift baskets together and do a joint giveaway drawing.We’re going to go and pick up some island-made goods like Barrington’s honey, some cider from the cidery—since they’re not going—and a couple bottles of spirits from the distillery.”

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