Page 29 of Lochlan

“Don't try to convince me I'm wrong, lass. I see the way he looks at you. Take comfort in the fact that our charade will only be for a few weeks. I'm sure you can patch it up with him later, if he hasn't moved on.”

It's obvious Lochlan takes enormous pleasure in being a giant douche.

I trail back to the tasting room to get my bag, hoping the space will be packed with customers and they'll be too busy to notice when I slip in so I won't need to talk to Connell or Patricia. This is not my lucky day. No one is in the tasting room, and I receive their immediate attention when I enter.

“What did Lochlan say?” Connell asks. He's trying to act like it's a casual question, but his gaze is too intense to pull that off.

“He wants me to work on a presentation with him for the Wine Association meeting.”

Patricia leans on the bar, suddenly interested.

“I'm not sure I can talk about it,” I say and grab my bag.

“Why you?” Patricia gives me a dismissive huff. “You have no wine knowledge.”

Putting this witch in her place would really feel good right now. “My business degree is from Berkeley,” I toss out. I want to add the word “bitch” to punctuate the statement, I'm that over everything. It's not worth pushing this one step further. “Lochlan will supply the wine knowledge for the presentation.”

Patricia's lip quirks up on the side. “Is that so?”

The innuendo is rife in her tone. There's no denying what she thinks, and now Connell is doubting me as well.

“I've got to go,” I say and head for the door. I'm out on the path before another word is spoken. The information I'll have to compile for the presentation occupies my mind.

“Wait up, Kenzie. I want to talk to you,” Connell shouts.

I freeze on the path while he catches up to me. “Why didn't you call me yesterday when you were finished with Lochlan, if it was a short conversation?”

“I wanted to be alone after that jerk in the tasting room.”

“Do you think you might finish by the end of the shift so we can grab something to eat? I can go over your first lesson.”

I chew my lip, dreading what I'm about to say, because if there was no Poppy, there would be no Lochlan, and there was no way I would have met Connell. “Connell, about that. Your offer to tutor me is great, but I don't think it's a good idea.”

He steps closer to me. “Kenzie, I like you. It's more than teaching you about wine; I want to get to know you. I thought that's what you wanted until we were interrupted.”

Lochlan is going to make me be a dick to this really nice guy. I breathe in. “The truth is, I'm interested in someone else.”

Anger tightens his face. “You mean, it's Lochlan. You said you had no interest in him. Were you just pumping me for information all this time? Was he your intended target all along?”

“That's not what happened.”

“Then explain it to me.”

I look at Connell, begging him to understand, but it does no good. I can't tell him what happened or why; there's too much at stake. When I say nothing, he turns away from me, striding down the path.

CHAPTER13

FAUSTIAN BARGAIN

LOCHLAN

Kenzie hasn't arrived, but I'm looking forward to working with her today. If she's as good as her boast, I might have a chance of salvaging this project.

Keeping up the appearance of a cold, hard bastard has become a habit that's not easily broken, and it's good she isn't helping me because of my personality.

There are only a few who have looked past my exterior, like Geordie, Layla, and the women I've had affairs with. No one beyond that tight circle cared to look much further, and I don't go out of my way to let anyone in. When I see Kenzie, who's not scared by my darkness, I think maybe there's still some goodness left in my black soul. That hope lasts only for the time I'm with her. Even in a crowded tasting room, she makes me feel something.

We'll conduct the work in my room. I've sent her a text instructing her to bypass the tasting room and meet me here. I'm doing a cleaning of sorts, hiding last night's drinking and shoving the appetizer plates we had yesterday into the refrigerator. There's a wee kitchen that doesn't get much use. I look over the room one last time to see if I've missed something. The equipment we'll need is set up at the dining room table. This is not social, which is good because I'm out of practice entertaining. I'll send out for food if I need more.

---