Page 16 of Until It Was Real

“Fine. You can answer the riddle. I’ll be inside on my second glass of moonshine by the time you figure it out.”

“Moonshine?”

“The island’s famous for it.”

My brow wrinkles. “Is there anything this island isn’t famous for?”

She bursts into laughter. “You’re getting it.”

Warmth fills me. I didn’t understand half of what she said and I’m confused about the speakeasy and live mascots, but I don’t care. I made a friend today.

I only hope she’ll remain my friend when she figures out I don’t have money to spend on a girls’ night out.

Chapter 6

“Pranks are forbidden in the office from now on.” ~ Rhett

Rhett

“Dakota,” I grumble in greeting as I pass her desk.

She smiles at me and her green eyes sparkle. “Good morning.”

I narrow my eyes on her. Why is she being pleasant? Is she up to something?

She blinks up at me. “Can I help you? Technically, I’m Eli’s employee and not an employee of the distillery, but I can try to help.”

Ah, now I understand. She thinks she’s won. She has no idea who she’s dealing with.

I grunt before continuing to my office.

“A grunt is not an answer,” she hollers after me. I shut my door in response.

I don’t have time to unravel the mystery of Dakota this morning. I need to finish the quarterly reports. I roll up my sleeves and get to work.

“What the hell?” I mutter to my computer. I backspace and retype the word ‘report’ but the second I finish typing the word ‘report’ becomes ‘banana’.

In Q2, Buccaneer’s Whiskey & Distillery demonstrated strong financial performance with notable increases in revenue, gross profit, and net profit. This banana provides an in-depth analysis of key financial metrics, expense categories, and sales performance.

“This banana? It’s supposed to be report. What is wrong with my computer? KAI!”

If my brother pranked me again, I’m going to throw him into a vat of whiskey and Jaxon won’t be able to stop me.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Kai asks as he strolls into my office.

I point to my computer. “What did you do?”

He rolls back on his heels. “What do you think I did?”

“Answer the question,” I demand.

“I can’t answer the question if I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I jump to my feet. “You know what you did. Now, fix it before I bash your head in with my monitor.”

He tsks. “Now. Now. Now. You shouldn’t threaten violence at the office. I believe human resources would frown upon any and all violent actions.”

“Good thing I’m in charge of human resources and decide what’s violent or not.”

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