Page 83 of The Fate Factor

I laugh. “I’m not taking any credit, Noel.”

“But you should! It’s no different than myintervention.” She whispers that last part, and I instinctually glance behind me at Wes. Of course he’s watching me. Us.

“Well, I think it calls for a celebration, either way,” I say. “I’m off in an hour. I’ll take you out.”

“Cara asked if we had plans tonight. She said maybe we could all go out, her and Em.”

I can tell she’s excited about this too, and I jump at the chance to tuck her deeper into my life. “Will you sleep in my bed afterward?”

“Yes,” she says, bouncing on her toes. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

This fucking girl. “Then it’s a date. Sit here,” I say, heading back behind the bar. “I have to work, but I want to look at you while I do it.”

She settles on a stool, slipping off her coat and pulling the elastic band out of her hair. Her smile is enormous, and I can’t take my eyes off of it.

Which is probably why I didn’t notice Wes until he moved closer, leaning his arms over the back of the stool beside Noel.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your girlfriend, Jamie?” Wes says, and my teeth grind together. If he ruins this good mood for her, I swear to God…

“Noe, this is my brother Wes. Wes, Noel Kasey.”

“Oh, hi! It’s so good to meet you!” Noel puts her hand out, smiling. She doesn’t know he’s being a dick. Why would she? She didn’t grow up with his mood swings and there really shouldn’t be any reason for tension. But there are landmines everywhere in this conversation, buried way before she got here.

Wes leans forward, clasping her hand, shaking it. “Ah, the famous Noel.”

“I don’t know about that.” Her smile fades, and she shoots a nervous glance at me.

I warn him with a look, but he ignores it. “Well,” he says. “You’re practically his other business partner, right? Or advisor, I suppose. As an obviously interested party, I have to ask: Did Jamie ever mention how he failed his attempt at a business major? He had to do a fifth year to even graduate. It must be important to your process to have all the information, right? So he surely wouldn’t leave anything out.”

“Enough,” I snap, and Noel gapes at me.

Wes takes the last sip of his beer and pushes the glass at me with a smug smile.

Damn it. I rarely let him get to me, and I know he considers it a win that he made me break character just then. “It’s been a pleasure, Noel,” he says, slipping on his jacket. Turning to me, he lowers his voice. “There’s a reason you didn’t try to run this place yourself. You’d be wise to remember that.”

twenty-six

Noel

“Whydidhesaythat to you?” I have to nearly shout this because Jamie is power walking ahead of me, long legs eating up the cobblestone street. We’re almost to the restaurant where we’re supposed to meet Em and Cara and I don’t want to let this go until afterward.

Jamie seems to realize I can’t keep up and finally slows. “It’s the price of doing business with Wes, Noe. It’s fine.”

“It was awful.” As the captain of Team Jamie Bishop, Wes is now squarely on my shit list.

“His moods are factored into my salary.” His cheek hitches up in his Jamie Smile but I know how well he wields that charm, and I’m not falling for it. I tug him to the edge of the sidewalk, and he follows reluctantly. I can tell he’s bracing for something.What, I don’t know, but there’s aplease don’tin the slump of his shoulders.

“Jamie.” I press in close and take his face in my hands, scratching at the stubble that’s starting to become a beard.

It’s a testament to the rightness between us when his body loosens like an untied knot. “It’s an old dynamic,” he says quietly. “Like I said.”

Except he didn’t. Not more than that simple platitude. I know all about Jamie taking a chance after my reading, turning down the job, getting the investment, but I don’t know how Wes fits in. “What he said, about you not doing it without him. Why didn’t you? Why factor in his moods at all? You could just take your idea and run with it.”

He pulls away, huffing a laugh. The edges of it are sharp.

“What?”

“You heard what he said. Brewing beer is one thing, Noe. Turning it into a business takes a certain skill that I don’t have.”

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