скачать книгу бесплатно
“Oh, my,” she breathed. They stopped at the back of the long line for hot chocolate. “At least we didn’t go that over the top.” She arched a brow. “Unless you like over-the-top and I’ll make sure to ramp things up.”
“Move aside, people!”
Maggie glanced sharply toward the covered booth in front of them as the crowd parted. Grady Wilson, who ran the only locally owned gas station in town, made his way forward, elbowing people out of the way as he did. Grady’s grandson was the quarterback for the high school football team, so he and his wife were very involved in the boosters.
Grady grinned at Maggie. “Our beloved mayor and potential beloved town savior shouldn’t have to wait for a hot drink.”
“It’s fine,” Christian called, waving a hand. “I don’t mind waiting my turn.”
“Town savior?” Maggie muttered, shaking her head. “I guess we’ve got over-the-top covered after all.”
Grady approached them with a wide smile, a steaming cup in each hand. “Nonsense,” he insisted. “I gave you both extra whipped cream too. Our Maggie here’s a big fan of whipped cream.”
Christian raised a brow in her direction, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
She felt color rise to her cheeks again. Grady certainly didn’t mean his comment to sound like a sexual innuendo, but somehow it came out that way.
As she thanked him for the hot chocolate, she noticed the assistant who’d filmed the lighting of the town tree earlier standing a few feet to the side, her phone held aloft like she was taking a video of this episode.
“You stick with Maggie,” Grady told Christian. “She’ll make sure you’re in good hands.”
Maggie darted another look at the camera then forced a bright smile. “Everyone in Stonecreek is excited about this opportunity,” she announced. “Aren’t we, folks?”
The people in line gave an enthusiastic round of applause—bless them—and Christian toasted Maggie’s cup of hot chocolate. “To new opportunities,” he said, making his voice loud enough to carry and earning more clapping.
As they turned to head back toward the center of the square, he leaned in closer. “And to extra whipped cream,” he whispered, his voice teasing.
“That did not mean what you might have thought it meant,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “Are we still on camera?”
He shrugged but kept his gaze forward. “Danielle was going to get some extra footage in case she needed filler, but I doubt it will be used and there’s no audio with it.”
“Okay, good. I’m not used to my every move being documented.”
“Aren’t you on social media?” he asked, brows pinching.
“Yes, but I’m not active. It doesn’t come naturally to me.”
“That’s why you need LiveSoft,” he told her. “The app can organize everything for you in a way that makes it less overwhelming and more streamlined.” He pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead. “Now I sound like a walking advertisement for my own company. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. You have a great product. I do plan to use the app, although I’m horrible with technology.”
“I could give you a tutorial,” he offered. “Maybe over dinner one night next week? I’m heading out early tomorrow to get ready for a meeting on Monday, but I’ll be back by the end of the week.”
“Dinner?” she said, her voice coming out in a squeak.
“You’ve heard of it, right?” His smile was teasing and more than a little flirty.
Christian Milken was flirting with her. She fought the urge to check on the camera again. How was it possible that she’d just sworn off men, and suddenly, in the span of twenty-four hours, Griffin had reappeared and Christian was asking her out? Okay, wait. Maybe she was reading too much into this. If Stonecreek was chosen as LiveSoft’s headquarters, he’d be relocating here. He probably was just being friendly...neighborly even.
“Of course,” she said with forced cheer. “Dinner would be lovely.”
“Not as lovely as you,” he murmured and lifted his hand to trace a finger along her jaw.
So much for being neighborly.
A throat cleared behind Maggie, and she whirled around to find Griffin standing there, a wine bottle in each hand. His expression was dark as midnight, his green eyes intense on her.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” he said through clenched teeth.
She shook her head, swallowing down the lump of emotion that welled in her throat at the sight of him.
“Have you met Christian Milken?” she asked stepping back to include the CEO in the conversation.
“That’s why I’m here.” Griffin’s voice was tight but he gave Christian a friendly smile. “I’m Griffin Stone from Harvest Vineyard. We donated a few bottles of wine for the silent auction earlier, and I thought you might like to add a couple to your collection.”
Christian took one of the bottles Griffin held out and studied the label. “Pinot Noir. That’s my preferred type.”
“I heard.” Griffin flicked a glance toward Maggie then back to Christian. “We’re all excited about the potential of having you make Stonecreek your new headquarters. I can tell you it’s a fantastic place for a growing business. The town does its best to make sure the business community is taken care of.”
Maggie’s fingers tightened around her cup of hot chocolate. Here was one more example of a perfectly innocuous comment sounding vaguely suggestive to her ears. Like she was personally responsible for servicing local business owners. She knew Griffin didn’t mean it that way, any more than Grady had, and hoped Christian understood it too.
“I’m coming to appreciate what Stonecreek has to offer more with each moment,” Christian said, inclining his head toward her.
Griffin’s broad shoulders went even stiffer, if that was possible. Not that Christian would notice. Griffin wore faded jeans, another thick flannel shirt and a baseball cap with the Harvest Vineyard logo stitched on the front. To the casual observer, he’d appear to be relaxed and easy-going, just another resident helping to make a good impression.
But Maggie could feel the tension radiating from him.
“The business owners around here support each other,” she said with patently fake cheer. “It’s one of the things that make us stand out.”
“Among others,” Christian murmured softly.
“Harvest is a great example of that,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Griffin’s father founded the vineyard. From the start, and especially in the past few years, they’ve become a leader in the Oregon wine industry.”
Christian adjusted the scarf wound around his neck and nodded. “I met your brother last week,” he told Griffin. “He has some big plans for expansion.”
“Yes, he does,” Griffin agreed almost reluctantly. “But we’re also focused on environmental stewardship and the type of community we create. Our entire team contributes to the end product. We want to make our company healthy for the land and the people who work for us.”
“I like the sound of that.” Christian’s blue eyes lit with interest. “Work-life balance is one of the tenets LiveSoft was founded on.”
Maggie drew in a steadying breath as the two men discussed company culture as well as environmental building practices. She also had a moment to observe the two of them, both attractive but so different in looks and temperament. Despite his obvious enthusiasm for the topics, Christian remained almost aloof as he spoke with Griffin, every inch the tall and lean corporate executive. Griffin was earthy and raw, gesturing with his hands, his brows furrowing as he considered the other man’s ideas. And when he scrubbed a hand over the stubble that shadowed his strong jaw, Maggie’s insides tightened.
Would she ever not have that kind of visceral reaction to him?
“I’d like to set up a time to visit your operation,” Christian said. “I was only planning on staying in town for a day next week, long enough to shoot footage for the next installment of the social media story. But if you could carve out an afternoon, I can push the next stop on my small-town tour?”
“Sure,” Griffin said, glancing at Maggie. “Happy to show you around. Anything for Stonecreek.”
She knew he wasn’t happy to spend any more time with LiveSoft’s polished CEO than was absolutely necessary. The look he shot her was brief, a slight raise of his brows and a flash in his green eyes. In that moment she understood the only reason he was being the least bit cordial was to help her.
What was she supposed to make of that after she’d just cut him out of her life a day earlier?
“Thank you,” she told him.
“You should come out too, Maggie May,” he answered with a far too innocent smile. “Our plans at Harvest might interest you, as well.”
She opened her mouth to argue but Christian put a hand on her back. “Great idea. We can talk more about how LiveSoft might fit into the current community and what our employees are looking for with regard to the balance between work and their personal lives.”
“Sure,” she answered, her cheeks aching from so much fake smiling. “Um...text me.”
“I will.” Both men answered at the same time, only adding to the awkwardness of the moment, at least for Maggie.
She turned up the wattage on her smile, surprised her cheeks didn’t begin to crack. “Sounds good,” she answered both of them at once. “Right now I’m going to go help with cleanup.”
“Doesn’t Jacob Snow usually handle that?” Griffin asked.
“I’m here to support everyone,” she said sweetly. “You fellas have a great evening.” Without waiting for a response from either of them, she turned and walked away.
After tossing her empty hot chocolate cup into a nearby trash can, she massaged her fingers against her temples. Was it possible she’d sworn off men only to find herself torn between two of them?
* * *
Griffin stalked into O’Malley’s Tavern after finally ditching Christian Milken. The man might run one of the hottest app-development companies in the industry, but he seemed like a total tool to Griffin. His distaste had plenty to do with Milken’s obvious infatuation with Maggie.
Griffin had come to the Winter Wonderland festival under the pretense of checking on the Harvest wine donation, but he’d also hoped to see Maggie. His life might be an unholy mess at the moment, but he wasn’t ready to give up on her. He understood the way he’d left had hurt her, and he wasn’t ready to talk to her about Joey, but he’d returned to Stonecreek and planned to stay. Now he just needed Maggie to let him back into her life.
Granted, she wasn’t aware of either of those revelations yet. In fact, Griffin had just made the commitment to himself earlier in the day. It was walking the fields with Joey that had done it. The boy had been fascinated by the rows of vines, reaching out to touch the curving stalks and listening intently as Griffin explained the growing cycle of the grapes. As his mother noted, the boy’s interest had reminded Griffin of himself when he was a kid. No matter what had been going on in his life and how bad things had gotten with his dad, he’d always found solace in the fields.
He understood that Joey’s grief from the loss of his mother couldn’t be easily overcome, but he believed with his whole heart that being in Stonecreek would be a help rather than a hindrance to the boy’s healing.
As it had become for Griffin.
Maggie and her unfailing dedication to the community were a big part of what had helped him feel connected to the town again. She had every right not to trust him, but he was bound and determined to convince her he deserved another chance. He’d be the kind of man who deserved her.
Even if that meant helping to convince that far-too-slick-for-Griffin’s-taste CEO to relocate his company there.
After just a few minutes in the guy’s presence, Griffin needed a beer. He’d texted his mom and she’d confirmed Joey was sound asleep. One quick drink before heading back couldn’t hurt.
He waved to Chuck, the bartender and longtime owner of the pub then slid onto one of the wooden stools in front of the bar.
“Fancy meeting you here,” a familiar voice said, and Griffin suppressed a groan as he turned to see his brother, Trevor, in one of the booths that ran along the wall next to the bar.
“I called you earlier,” Griffin answered, slapping down a crisp bill on the bar when Chuck placed a beer in front of him.
“You two plan to meet up like this?” the bar owner asked with a knowing wink.
“Lucky coincidence,” Griffin muttered.
So much for a few minutes to unwind. He picked up the beer and moved to the booth, slipping in across from Trevor.
“To Christmas in Stonecreek,” his brother said, raising a glass of amber liquid for a toast.
“I thought you only drank wine,” Griffin told him.
“I’m making an exception for the holidays.” He lifted his glass and drained it. “One more, barkeep,” he shouted.
“Fine,” Chuck called back. “But I’m cutting you off after that.”
“I can walk home from here,” Trevor protested.
“Understood, but your mom will kill me if you end up sleeping on the sidewalk. I’m not convinced you won’t pass out on the way home.”
“I’ll make sure he gets there safely,” Griffin said, looking back toward the bar owner.
Trevor gave a loud chuckle. “That’s right. My big brother has my back. Ask anyone.” His bleary gaze settled on Griffin. “Like Maggie.”
“I thought we were past that.” Griffin adjusted his ball cap then took a long drink of beer.
“Me too.” Trevor shrugged. “You left again, and it hurt her.”
“That’s my problem,” Griffin said through clenched teeth.
“It’s not right,” Trevor continued as if Griffin hadn’t spoken. “You get to come and go whenever the mood suits you.”
“It wasn’t like that. Not this time or when I left years ago. You know that.”
“Do I?” Trevor flashed a grateful smile at the waitress who set his drink on the table. “Thanks, sweetheart.”
“I’m off in an hour,” the young blonde told him with a subtle wink. “If you need an escort home, I’m happy to oblige.”
“Much appreciated,” Trevor told her. “But this night is all about brotherly love.”
The woman made a face.
“Not that kind of love,” Griffin clarified. “He’s too drunk to make any sense.”
“I make perfect sense,” Trevor countered. “You just don’t want to hear the truth.” He leaned forward across the table. “You can’t handle the truth,” he said, doing a really pathetic Jack Nicholson impression.
The waitress laughed then turned away.
“What the hell is going on with you?” Griffin demanded. “You never drink like this.”
“I got offered a job today,” Trevor blurted then sucked in a breath. He lifted the glass then set it down again. “I turned it down.”
“What kind of job?”
“Marketing director for Calico Winery.”
Griffin whistled softly. “That’s huge, Trev. Calico is the biggest and the best when it comes to Sonoma vineyards.”
