Page 8 of Until It Was Real

Buccaneer’s Whiskey & Distilleryis not located in one of the towns on Smuggler’s Hideaway. It sits on its own land halfway between Smuggler’s Rest where theMermaid Motelis and Rogue’s Landing. The other town on the island is Pirate’s Perch, but I haven’t had time to visit it yet.

“Why are you…” He trails off and swears under his breath. “You’re Dakota.”

I hold out my hand. “Dakota Bell.”

I don’t add how it’s nice to meet him because – despite what he thinks – I’m not a liar.

He shakes my hand and I nearly jolt when I feel a spark of electricity. His eyes widen and he drops my hand. I guess he feels it, too. And, guessing by how quickly he dropped my hand, he’s not happy about it.

I get it, Mr. High and Mighty. I don’t want to be attracted to you either. Even though I’m happy to discover my libido didn’t die with my husband.

“Rhett Raider,” he grumbles.

Raider? As in one of the founding brothers of the distillery? Well, shit. This day just went from bad to worse, and the clock hasn’t struck nine yet.

“Eli told me you’d be starting today. I’ll show you around.”

He pivots and marches to the building. I grab my purse and slam my car door shut before rushing after him. By the time we reach the building, I’m gasping for air.

“If I had known about today’s race, I wouldn’t have worn heels,” I mutter.

Rhett’s gaze drops to my feet. His appraising look has me wanting to squirm. I lock my muscles before he notices the effect on me. This is my new boss’s brother. And he’s a jerk. My body is confused because it’s not used to getting any attention from men, is all.

“We’re pretty casual here.” He unlocks the door and motions me inside.

Casual? He’s wearing a pair of khakis with a button-down shirt. And Eli was wearing a three-piece suit when he interviewed me. Granted, he was at his office in California, but still, I wasn’t going to show up wearing a sundress. Not on my first day at least.

“This is your work area.”

I glance around the room. It’s basically the foyer but there’s a decent-sized workstation set up in one corner.

He points to a piece of paper on the desk. “Your username, password, and keys to the building.”

I set my purse down and reach for the piece of paper.

Rhett clears his throat. “I’ll show you the rest of the offices and the distillery and then you can get settled. Eli said he’d email you a list of things he needs you to do since he’s still in California until next week.”

“Okay.”

I follow him down a corridor of offices. “This is Eli’s office. I’m next door. Zane and Miles are across the hallway.”

“What is your position? And what do Zane and Miles do?”

“As little as possible,” he mutters before raising his voice. “I’m the CFO. Zane is Head of Marketing and Miles is Head of Sales.”

The corridor ends at an industrial sized door. “This is the entrance to the distillery. You probably won’t need to go in here often.”

“Okay.”

“Jaxon will give you a tour if you want one.”

Of course, I want one. I technically work for Eli and not the distillery. But I’ll be working here at the distillery every day. I want to know everything about it. Making whiskey sounds way more interesting than plumbing, which is where I worked before.

“I’ll ask him when I meet him.”

“Good luck with him. He’s a bit shy.”

I flash a smile at Rhett. “Don’t worry. I’ll charm him.”

---