Page 5 of The Cask

I was fuming.

But when his eyes flitted up and met mine, I felt a slight flutter beneath my rage.

He moved across the room without breaking eye contact. He stopped a foot away from me, closer than a professional distance. Searching my face, he was quiet for a moment. “Is everything okay, Ebony?”

“Actually, no,” I snapped. His brows furrowed as I continued. “I tried to speak with the manager about the signage I saw you putting up.”

“Oh? What about it?”

“Mr. Fortune,” Kim called out. “I need you.”

Her tone was an octave higher than it was when she was speaking with me. I glanced beyond him and caught her staring us down.

Interesting,I thought, taking note of what looked like a crush.

“Give me a second,” Omari answered her without looking away from me. Lowering his voice, he took a step forward. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a wine bar right across the street and…” Exhaling, I shook my head and smiled. “Never mind. I’ll handle it.”

“Wait, talk to me.” He reached out, touching my arm. “What’s going on? How can I help?”

The spark I felt took me by surprise, and I shivered. “There’s a wine bar across the street that serves rare wine.”

“I know. The Cask is a nice little place, and they have a good selection. But I have connections that get me access to wine that isn’t even on their radar. So don’t worry about them. They don’t have anything on us,” he claimed, letting a little chuckle slip out. “We have the good stuff over here.”

My blood ran cold. “We?”

He smiled proudly. “Yeah, Luxe is my place. I’m the owner.”

“Oh.” I took a step back as the feelings inside me went from lust to disgust in seconds. “Wow.”

“What’s wrong?” Confusion was etched into his features.

I narrowed my eyes. “Stepping on toes that’ve been here long before you isn’t how you make friends.”

“You—”

“I need to get back to work,” I interrupted sharply.

Turning on my heel, I stormed out of the bar.

Chapter Two

“How did it go?” Alexis asked, nervously rushing my way as I entered the bar.

I took a breath before flashing her a smile. A few of the waitstaff had arrived and were milling about. “We’ll talk later,” I assured her as I headed for the bar.

“But everything is okay?”

“Everything is fine.”

Even though I smiled, I was seething. My staff didn’t need to know what happened.

And I have a theme night to prepare for.

I grabbed the checklist and busied myself with work.

Two hours later, The Cask had a full house. Every table was occupied with the post-work happy hour crowd. I walked around, checking on guests as I made my way to my office. Behind a locked door and down a small flight of steps, my private office was essentially a makeshift room just before entering the wine cellar. It was chilly, but it was quiet and had a private bathroom. Most importantly, it was peaceful down there, no matter what was going on in the bar.

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