Page 4 of For the Promise

She raises an eyebrow. “A reason other than you’re crazy?”

“Crazy is a subjective word.”

She shrugs. “If the subjective word fits…”

“I’m not the one who cuddled an otter she didn’t know.”

“Viking is adorable.”

The man’s gaze ping-pongs between us. “Both of you are fucking crazy,” he grumbles before pushing his way through the line of people and marching away.

“Good riddance.” I wave at him and he gives me the finger. “Wow. Someone didn’t get the message about this place being for children.” I rub my hands together. “Back to our game. I believe you’ve used up three questions.”

“I’d rather hear about why you hate men.”

“I don’t hate men. Men can be very useful.” I waggle my eyebrows.

“But not for anything else?”

I raise my eyebrows. “Are you ready to tell me your backstory?” Her nose wrinkles. “Right back at ya, sister.”

My past is too embarrassing for words. I feel my cheeks heat as I remember what a fool I was. Welp. I’ve learned my lesson. No more falling for men. No more trusting men.

This woman is officially on a no-men diet.

Too bad I’ve never been any good at sticking to diets.

Chapter 2

Jaxon – a man who wishes he could gag his brothers. Not permanently. He’s not a monster. Just for a few hours a day.

Jaxon

Ilower the thief into the barrel through the bung hole at the top. Once it’s been fully submerged, I pull it back up with a sample of whiskey inside. I pour the whiskey into a glass for tasting before setting the thief on the table.

I’m about to pick up the whiskey when there’s a stampede. Three of my brothers – Kai, Zane, and Miles – rush into the distillery. Crap.

“Awesome!” Kai shouts. “I made it on time.”

Zane snorts. “This is the one time you’re not late.”

Miles rubs his hands together. “Whiskey tasting is nearly better than surfing.”

I scowl at him. Nothing is better than whiskey tasting. Although, as the master distiller forBuccaneer’s Whiskey & Distillery,I enjoy the entire process of creating whiskey – from mashing to fermentation to distillation to blending to qualitycontrol – my favorite part is tasting the whiskey while creating new recipes.

I glare at my younger brothers. “None of you will be tasting whiskey today.”

“Why not?” Kai pouts. “I’m the operations manager for the distillery.”

Zane raises his hand. “As the marketing manager, it’s important I know the product in order to market it.”

Miles smirks. “Same. As the sales manager, I have to love the product in order to sell it.”

I blow out a breath. This is why I begged my brother, Eli, not to give managerial positions to our younger brothers. My oldest brother ignored me. The whole point ofBuccaneer’s Whiskeyis to create a business for our family, he said.

Shoes squeak on the distillery floor before my other older brother, Rhett, comes into view. There are six Raider brothers in total. Five too many if you ask me.

“Good. The voice of reason is here.” Unlike my younger brothers, Rhett isn’t a goof-off. He’s the CFO of the distillery, and he takes his position seriously.

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