Merry with a Brewmaster (The Love Beach Holiday Collection)

4. Vienna

4

VIENNA

P addleboarding with Jace had been what I needed. There wasn’t much that the open water and breeze in my hair couldn’t fix. I hadn’t needed it because I didn’t know what answer I planned on giving Wells; it was because I already knew what I’d say.

I’d been blindsided and angry, but most of the latter had worn off—not by the first, but by the second time he’d pulled me to a stop. I liked the chase—I always have.

And even though there couldn’t be anything between us, I still liked that he needed me to listen—to give him a chance.

Honestly, it would probably be easier to help him find someone else to watch his daughter and then rekindle our sex-only relationship. But the thought of someone else being in his house had possession flaring in my gut along with another feeling I didn’t dare name.

Relationships have never been my thing, and I don’t need Wells Reiser to be my reintroduction into the dating world.

Pulling out my phone, I type out a text and snort out a laugh when his reply is immediate.

VIENNA: Meet me tonight at Book & Barrel at nine

WELLS: I’ll be there

VIENNA: That was quick

VIENNA: Not how I remember you

WELLS: I’m at your mercy Vienna

WELLS: And you know I’ve never been afraid to beg

Good Lord, I missed him.

Clenching my thighs together, I try to think about anything other than the memory of us tangled between the sheets, but it’s damn near impossible. Our chemistry was just that good. I must take too long to reply because my phone vibrates in my hand.

WELLS: I’ll see you tonight

With a spring in my step, I make my way into Reece’s bedroom and flop down on her bed.

“Did you tell Isaac that I’m still mad at him?” I ask with an arm flung over my eyes.

She chuckles, and even though I can’t see her, I know it’s accompanied by a shake of her head too. “I did and I think his exact response was how the hell was I supposed to know that was the guy Vienna was banging all summer? Or something like that.”

It was exactly what he’d said to me and completely reasonable too. I’d never told them Wells’s name or anything about him. My best friend giggles and pulls my arm from my face, her blonde hair swinging around her as her blue eyes flash with amusement.

“Of all the beach towns…” I whine.

“Did you decide about being his nanny?”

“Haven’s nanny,” I correct, causing her shoulders to shake with silent laughter.

“That answers that question.”

“I’d be stupid not to take the job when things are slowing down at the bar. And I want to be able to start looking at properties with Saige. I sent her an email this morning.”

“I think Isaac said Wells is her cousin.”

“He is,” I confirm.

“On the plus side, maybe you can get some kind of family discount when you go to buy the shop.”

“I don’t think that’s how that works.”

She laughs and grabs a couple of things from her closet and throws them in a bag. It’s the first time since college that we won’t be living together, and even though we’re well on our way to thirty, it still hits me that this is the last time.

“Don’t make that face,” Reece says, pointing a finger at me.

“I’m not making a face.”

“You’re making an I’m sad face, but you’re supposed to be the strong one out of the two of us.”

“I know.”

“This isn’t goodbye—we’ll be right down the street.”

“I know.”

“But you’re still making the face.”

“Listen, you’re moving in with your guy and I’m moving in with a man I’ve seen naked, had spectacular orgasms with, and no longer can see naked.”

“Why can’t you?”

I blink at her and when she just stares back, I narrow my eyes. “Because I’m going to be his nanny and agreeing to be responsible for his child?”

“People sleep with their boss all the time.” She grins like the cat that ate the canary, and I can’t hold back my laugh. Saying that Isaac was only her boss would be a huge understatement because of their history, but deep down, I loved their love story.

“No one is surprised you slept with your boss—literally no one.”

“My brother was,” she says with a smirk and I roll my eyes.

“That’s only because your brother refused to see what was right in front of him.”

She lifts a shoulder and lets it fall, her expression dreamy. “But it worked out for all of us in the end.”

“It did,” I concede. “But also make sure Isaac knows I still get dibs on girls’ nights”—I pause and amend—“girl dates, including but not limited to all meals, bookstore visits, grabbing coffee, and movie nights on the couch.”

“Promise.”

“Good, can we get drinks now? I have to meet Wells tonight and I don’t know if I can do that completely sober.”

“Let’s make you look hot instead.”

“But also wine?”

“Also wine.”

“Thanks for meeting me,” Wells says as he awkwardly stands at the same time I sit down next to him at the Book & Barrel. I’m right on time, but if the half-empty glass of red wine in front of him is any indication, he’s been here a while.

This bar is one of my favorite places in Love Beach. The former church is now filled with chic white leather chairs, bookcases, and the original stained glass windows. In fact, Vivian kept a lot of the original elements, most notably the cathedral ceilings, and turned this into a one-of-a-kind spot in our little beachy town.

“Can I have glass of white wine, please?” I ask Sam, my friend and bartender, before catching up quickly and promising to get together soon. It also allows me to ignore Wells until she walks away.

A necessary but small reprieve.

I can feel his eyes on me, feel his gaze raking over the leather mini skirt and tank top Reece picked out that I paired with my boots. It’s casually sexy, and I don’t miss the way he watches me recross my legs. “Stop staring.”

“You look hot, and you did it on purpose,” he says with another shameless perusal of my body.

“Are you saying I’m not hot all the time?”

“I’m saying that you knew you’d drive me fu—” Sam sets down my drink, and Wells swallows the curse as I thank her for my drink. “You knew you’d drive me crazy in that,” he hisses.

“I did.”

“Vienna,” he warns as I take a sip of my drink, my eyes never leaving his.

“I’ll do it.”

Dragging a hand over his face, he mumbles something unintelligible before glaring at me. “I should be happy. I should be fucking thrilled, but my dick is hard and I can’t do anything about it.”

“Restraint can be sexy.”

“You’re gonna need to cut that shit out.”

I throw my head back and laugh, my smile wide when I look at him, amusement replacing the all-out sexual frustration of moments before.

“We’re going to need ground rules,” he says. “Lots of them.”

“It won’t be that bad.”

“Yeah, I’m going to have to respectfully disagree on that.”

“I promise to behave.”

Snorting, he gulps down the rest of his drink and turns in his seat, his knee brushing against mine and causing sparks from that simple touch.

“Me too. For both of our sakes.”