Page 2 of Merry with a Brewmaster
“Yeah, like one of those monster swordfish that takes three guys to try and reel it in but the line ends up snapping because the fish is like, ‘nice try, y’all.’”
“I can’t tell how I feel about you sayin’y’all.”
“That was the problem in my analogy?”
“I found it quite flattering.”
“I bet you did,” he rumbles, the words teasing and gravelly. I can’t help rocking my hips, his cock starting to harden with him still inside me. Wells grunts and grips my ass harder to hold me still. “As much as I’d like to think I could go again right now, I’m gonna need a little recovery time.”
“Ugh,” I scoff, “it’s a good thing this is our last time together. I don’t know how people manage dating old guys.”
His eyes widen and his mouth drops open, and I can’t hold back my giggle at the absolute indignation written all over his face. “I’ll show you old,” he growls, rolling me onto my back andpulling out. Grabbing a tissue from the nightstand, he wraps the condom up and discards it, his chest heaving as he throws my legs over his shoulders and buries his face between my thighs.
I cry out, his tongue absolutely relentless as he punishes me for calling him old and undoubtedly for this being our last night. Because I feel it too.
This thing between us is something special.
But it can’t last.
The good things never do.
1
VIENNA
2 WEEKS LATER
“Hey Vienna, thanks for coming in,” Isaac Nowak says as soon as I open the door to his bar, Love Beach Brews. He’s the fiancé of my best friend, Reece, and also one of my favorite people in this town with his tousled brown hair and surfer vibes.
He has a penchant for kitschy classic beach décor and the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise” by the late great Jimmy Buffett, which he makes us play at the opening of the bar each day. I like to give him a hard time about it, but secretly, I love his enthusiasm and the way he loves Reece just as much. It’s the way I feel about flowers.
Kinda.
Working here has put me that much closer to being able to rent and open a flower shop in downtown Love Beach. Well, the summer rush had put me closer. But with the tourist season winding down, Isaac’s offer of a nannying job for the new brewmaster is exactly what I need. It’s a short-term solution to funding a lifetime dream, and honestly, I can make anything work for a few months.
“So what do we know about this guy?” I ask, hopping up onto the barstool and stealing a cherry from the case on the other side of the bar.
Isaac glares at me, but it holds nothing but humor as he snaps the top of the container shut and dries another glass.
“He’s thirty-five with a seven-year-old daughter and a bunch of experience brewing beer. He had another job lined up but it fell through. He’s Saige’s cousin,” Isaac says, referring to the local real estate agent he got me in contact with when I said I needed a retail space.
“Does he have a name?” I ask as I pull the knotted cherry stem from my mouth and show him proudly. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head because he’s used to my antics.
“Wellssomething—I can’t remember—I have it on his application here,” he says distractedly as he riffles through the folder on the bar, but it doesn’t matter because all the oxygen has been sucked from the room. Because there’sno way.“Oh look, here he is.”
Never in my life have I wanted to disappear faster than right this very second as my summer hookup walks into Love Beach Brews.
The new brewmaster.
Thesingle dad who needs a nannybrewmaster.
My mind latches on to the fact that he’s a father and didn’t tell me—that we hooked up an entire summer and I didn’t know he has achild.
But why would I? We were only supposed to be fucking…
Wells’s soft green eyes widen as his gaze locks with mine.
And he’s wearing the shirt I love so much on him.
