Page 7 of The Cask

I pursed my lips and kept quiet. I didn’t want to disrespect him. He was my mentor, my pseudo uncle, and I loved him.

“I have to get back upstairs,” I told him before we exchanged our goodbyes.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to let my anger go, but it had already taken root. But I had a business to run and goals to accomplish. I rolled my shoulders back and checked myself out in the mirror. I slathered on a coat of red lipstick and then pushed my braids over my shoulders.

“I’ll deal with it later,” I whispered as I turned around to check out my ass.

I needed more time to figure out what I was going to do. But my first priority was to ensure that my patrons were having a good time.

Grabbing my main keys, I closed and locked my office and then jogged up the stairs. Taking the small skeleton key from its hiding place on me, I inserted it within the tiny hidden latch at the top of the door. I turned the knob to exit, tucking the key back into the secret pocket I’d sewn into the lining of my dresses. The secret safety measure was to protect my office, the wine, and the safe. Fortunately, no one had ever tried to enter the private space without authorization. Rolling my shoulders back, my lips curled into a smile as I made my way back to the action.

“How are you doing?” I questioned patrons as I worked the room.

“Coming here is the best part of my week,” a man with a large mustache told me as his eyes dipped to my cleavage.

Quickly moving on, I greeted a group of middle-aged women enjoying a night out. They raved about everything from the wine to the ambiance. Walking away from those patrons reminded me of all that I’d accomplished in such a short time. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and that lifted my mood tremendously.

“There’s a man asking for you,” Alexis informed me as soon as I reached the bar.

“Who?” I wondered as she grabbed a bottle of Richebourg. “Did someone order that?”

She grinned as she grabbed two glasses to go with the thousand-dollar bottle of wine. “Yes.”

I looked around. “Who?”

“The man who is looking for you. I told him I’d go find you once I finished what I was doing. But now that you’re here…” When I turned to face her again, she was pushing the glasses and bottle into my hands. “I need to go check on something in the kitchen.” She nodded toward the door. “He’s just outside on the sidewalk. He said he had to take a phone call, but he’d wait to speak with you.”

“Do you have a name? What does he look like?” I called out behind her as she started to walk away.

She fanned herself and wiggled her eyebrows. “You can’t miss him.”

“Alexis!”

She threw a smile over her shoulder as she continued to the kitchen. “On the sidewalk,” she directed.

With a shake of my head, I made my way toward the exit and out the door. There was a slight breeze in the air and a chill ran through me just as I spotted a broad-shouldered man in a suit. His back was to me, but I knew it was him. It had to be since no one else seemed to be waiting. He turned as the door slammed shut behind me. My eyes widened as his profile came into view.

“Ebony,” Omari said my name and his eyes danced around my face.

I sucked in a sharp breath. “Omari.” He had changed his jacket from earlier, so I didn’t recognize him from behind. But those intense eyes and sexy lips were unmistakable. The instant attraction gave way to anger in a matter of seconds. Rounding my shoulders, I stepped toward him. “What are you doing here?”

He smiled ruefully. “I’m here to speak with you.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

He glanced inside The Cask through the big window. “I hope I didn’t get you into any trouble. I asked for you and the woman behind the bar looked surprised.”

“I think you said everything I needed to hear from you earlier.” I curled my lip in disgust. “And no, you didn’t get me in trouble.”

“Will you have a drink with me?”

I pursed my lips, placing the glasses and the wine on the table next to him. “No.”

“I was informed that all of the wine at The Cask came with a biography if requested.” He took a seat at the table. “And the woman inside said that all of the wines at this price point came with a personal biography and I requested mine come from you.”

I glared at him as my policy was coming back to bite me in the ass. I sneered at him as I asked, “Would you like to taste the wine you purchased?”

Or did you just pick it because it was the most expensive?I wondered, keeping my face as neutral as possible.Amateur.

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