Page 12 of Wildflower and Whiskey
Eric watched me like I frustrated him. “Well, it’s nice you’ve given her a job.”
I nodded. It was the least I could do. What I really worried about was the fact she was living with her piece of shit father.
“I better get to work. I’m running a little late,” I said to my brother.
“Have a good day,” Eric said. He was a happy-go-lucky guy. Always had been.
“You too,” I said, and I made my way into the parking lot of the brewery past the patio and through the front door. Dominic was already here setting things up. Cooper came through the kitchen door carrying a cardboard box filled with condiments for the tables.
I bid them both good morning and slipped through the back kitchen door into the warehouse where I made beer, my beer house, I called it. The air back here was thick with yeast and steam, the heartbeat of the whole operation. I had a crew of solid men working the tanks, but I liked to keep my hands in every stage.
I found Tim, my foreman, and we made the usual rounds. I checked the brew kettles and whirlpool tanks, made sure the malt-to-wort conversion was running smooth, then moved on tothe fermentation and bright tanks. Everything hummed like it should. Tim and I went over the specs on a new malt I’d been considering, then I left him to it and headed back toward the restaurant to make sure the staff was filtering in on time.
That’s when the front door swung open and Elyna walked in, her baby balanced on her hip.
I stopped dead.
“Good morning,” I said, my voice rougher than I intended. My eyes flicked to Braden, his small hand tangled in his mom’s hair. I wasn’t used to babies. The only ones I ever saw were on weekends when families poured onto the Maple Valley property to pick apples, walk the trails, stuffing their faces with pie before piling into my restaurant for burgers and beer.
“Don’t worry, I plan on working,” Elyna assured. “Angela wanted to meet me here. She’s taking Braden through the corn maze this morning.”
Guilt burned low in my chest. I’d told her flat-out not to screw this job up, like she was still that reckless teenager I remembered. I hadn’t stopped to consider that she’d grown, she wasn’t the same girl anymore.
“I’m not worried, Elyna.” And I wasn’t. Not when I looked at her like this.
Her blond hair spilled in soft waves over her shoulders, and Braden’s tiny fingers played with it absently, tugging, twirling. I found myself wondering what it felt like, how it would slide through my fingers.
She wasn’t in uniform yet. Just a white tank top and a pair of worn jeans that hugged her every curve. My gaze lingered too long, my body reacting before my brain could slam on the brakes. I forced myself to look away, to focus, to act like her boss instead of some starved man who couldn’t keep his eyes off her.
“Phoenix!” Angela’s voice carried across the dining room, bright and easy like it always was. She breezed in with her purseslung over her shoulder, smiling as soon as she spotted Elyna and the baby.
“There’s my little man,” she cooed, reaching out for Braden. Angela smiled at Dominic and he returned that smile with a loving grin. They shared three grown children and seemed to still be in love. It was something I didn’t understand. Growing up, I thought my parents had been in love. They didn’t fight. Dad was a cop. Mom took care of us kids. Everything felt so normal, until we got the devastating news that Maggie Chabot had been killed in a car accident. After that, life as we knew it changed. Mom was devastated but we all thought she would pull through. She and Maggie had been more like sisters than best friends. But within days Mom withdrew into herself, and after the funeral she took off and never looked back. As a teenager, I had felt abandoned by the one person who I never believed would abandon me. That feeling laid the groundwork for my twenties. I was up for a good tumble in the sheets, but I didn’t believe in love. I didn’t trust someone would stick around long enough. I had my father, my three brothers, and my sister to depend on. I didn’t need more than that. Besides, my business was very lucrative and kept me busy all the time.
Elyna shifted Braden and passed him into Angela’s arms, her hands lingering as if to make sure he was secure before letting go. I caught that hesitation, the quiet protective instinct that said more than words ever could.
“Say hi to Auntie Angela,” Elyna murmured, brushing her son’s cheek with her thumb. I should’ve walked away. This interaction was none of my business, but I couldn’t manage to pull myself away. Watching Elyna as a mother was just too intriguing.
The baby giggled. Angela laughed as she bounced Braden against her hip.
“You two are going to have the best morning,” Elyna said to her son. I sensed how hard it was for her to part from him and felt a soft squeeze inside my chest.
“Don’t worry, mama bear. We’ll stick to the maze and then I can take him home for a morning nap.”
Elyna smiled and I saw the tension slide off her shoulders.
I continued to stand here like an idiot, watching her. Watching the way her eyes stayed on Braden until Angela carried him out the door, the way her fingers twitched against her thigh like she already missed the weight of him in her arms.
She wasn’t the girl I remembered. And something about that hit me harder than the tank room heat ever could. I dragged a hand down my face, irritated with myself. This wasn’t who I was anymore. I wasn’t the kind of guy who pined for a girl. Yet, I found myself completely enamored with Elyna, and it wasn’t just her mothering skills. It was her beauty, her sexy body, the emotion that rolled off her in spades. I was screwed. That’s one thing I knew for sure, because something was shifting inside me.
CHAPTER 7
Elyna
I tied my apron a little tighter and stacked the clean glasses on the shelf. My hands were still trembling from handing Braden over to Angela. I hated being without him, even for a few hours. It felt like a piece of me was missing, and the only way to keep from unraveling was to stay busy.
I bent to grab another box of glasses, the cardboard digging into my arms. It was heavier than I expected, and before I could shift it properly, a large hand closed over the side.
“Here,” Phoenix’s low voice rumbled against my ear. He eased the weight of the box out of my arms like it was nothing. I straightened quickly and accidentally brushed against his chest in the process. Heat flared under my skin, and I forced myself to take a step back because I needed the space. What was happening to me? I had no time to react to a man. My past had been filled with a list of bad decisions. I’d chalked it up to not having a proper father figure in my life, which meant I was attracted to the wrong kind of guy. That’s why this electric sensation inside me from Phoenix’s touch could only mean one thing. I was falling for the wrong guy. I knew all the Thorne menhad an aversion to relationships and after the way Helen took off and didn’t turn back, I couldn’t say I blamed them.
