Tempest slid to the floor and hugged her knees like a child. No sense mincing words. Today had been a disaster. First Lynk found her, then she’d run off a customer. Maybe the handsome man had been an associate of Lynk’s. Or maybe not. Either way, she hadn’t been professional. Her curt attitude had been inexcusable.
“Hello? Anyone here?” a voice called out.
“Megan?”
“Yep. Tempest?”
Tempest slowly stood up and faced her college-aged assistant. “Hi.”
“What were you doing?”
“Wallowing in my bad day memory?”
It seemed the best answer, and she couldn’t let Megan know about Lynk. Fallen Angels and Elementals had co-existed for centuries because humans weren’t aware of their existence. If they stepped into the public eye, all Hell would break loose. Literally.
“What happened?” Megan asked, setting down her purse and reaching for the Pinot Grigio bottle. “Want some?”
“Yes. Make it a double.”
“Ooh, you got it, boss.” She poured them both large glasses and they sat on the stools.
“I was rude to a new customer today, so if he comes in tomorrow you have my permission to give him some free samples,” Tempest said.
“You’re never rude,” Megan said. “I’m sure it wasn’t bad.”
Yeah, it kind of was. Tempest shrugged. “Maybe not.”
“C’mon, I’ll set up the prep for tomorrow. Why don’t you go home and relax?”
“Good idea. Maybe the guy won’t return.”
Megan straightened out the corkscrews and glasses. “I’ll handle things if he does come back.”
“Appreciate it. What am I going to do when you go off to college this fall? I’m seriously going to miss having you here to help.”
Megan smiled. “Just remember you promised me a recommendation for the horticulture program.”
“Absolutely.”
Tempest strolled around the corner to her loft apartment. She would need to eventually start interviewing people for Megan’s job. If only things could stay the same, but they never did.
#
The following morning, the sun shone bright across Tempest’s bedroom carpet. She squinted and groaned. What a night. Many strange dreams, the kind that made her feel like she’d been in a boxing ring all night long.
She flung off the covers and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. For some reason, the image of Carlo popped into her head. Stop. Focus. Maybe he would return to the winery and Megan could smooth things over in a professional way. No reason to worry about the past.
Besides, she had a winery to run and a wine competition to prepare for. The California wine tasting connoisseur event was coming up. She needed to get everything ready so there would be time to determine the best bottle to enter in the competition. Winning that contest would put her winery on the map.
After grabbing breakfast and coffee, she walked to the vineyard. The white and red varietals looked healthy. No diseases or bugs near the base of the vines. Last year’s crop had been almost destroyed by bugs. This could be her prime year.
She went inside the fermenting room and inspected the containers.
“Have you met our new boss yet?” Camille, one of her employees, asked.
“What do you mean, new boss?”
“You remember how Don had been a silent partner, owning fifty-one percent of the stock?”
Tempest nodded. Don had been the ideal boss. He kept his distance.
“Well,” Camille said, “someone bought out Don’s share.”
What? Why hadn’t anyone told her? Things at her winery had been working efficiently; she had prep down to a science. Another employee, especially a boss, would shake everything up.
“Who is it?” she demanded.
A deep male voice spoke up behind her. “Me.”
Tempest slowly turned around. No. Please no. The customer from yesterday, the man who she’d been so unprofessional with. Not good. Not good at all.
“I’m sorry, what?” Tempest muttered. When did the Earth shift beneath her feet?
“I’m the new silent partner,” he said with a charming smile. “Carlo. Remember?”
Clearly, he enjoyed making a spectacle of her. The heat spread up her neck and across her face until she had to wipe her forehead. Of all the damn luck.
“Um, can you come with me to my office? We should talk,” she said. Though she had no idea what to say, other than apologize.
“Sure.” He followed her, almost walking with a spring in his step. “I take it you didn’t know who I was yesterday.”
Tempest bit her lip. How to apologize without sounding like an idiot?
She led him into her office and shut the door. “I know I behaved strangely yesterday—”
“Nah, not you.” His eyes beamed in full-gloat mode.
“I apologize if I was rude.”
“Tell me something,” he said, getting comfortable in the spare chair in her office. “Why did you treat me like you did? That’s all I want to know.”
Because I thought you were working with a Fallen Angel gang to ruin my winery?
No. Not the best answer to give anyone.
“I...I wasn’t myself.”
He pointed toward the main room where they racked the wine. “You have a nice setup here. The makings of a great winery, but you need a little help on the customer service end. We can’t be treating our customers like they’re criminals—”
“Trust me. I won’t behave that way again.”
He tilted his head, a charming but quizzical look on his face. “I believe you.”
For a split second, she couldn’t speak. If the situation were reversed, would she believe herself? Probably not, but he seemed willing to give her a chance.
“So,” she finally said in a scramble for conversation. “What made you buy out Don’s share?”
“I wanted to become my own boss.”
She reached for a pen and jotted down some notes, mainly an effort to keep her hands busy. “Don was the type who remained a silent partner, preferring to let me run things—”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen with me.”
She sat motionless for a second, taking in the meaning in his words. Did this mean she’d now have a micromanager breathing down her neck every second of the day?
“Maybe we should discuss your expectations of me,” she said in a respectful tone. “If you intend to change things.”
He briefly narrowed his eyes at her. “Change is good, it means things are progressing.”
Not always.
“You have an efficient winery here,” he continued, “but Megan needs to handle the customers. She’s excellent with the public and you…well, you…”
The lump in the pit of her stomach grew exponentially. How dare this guy come in and redo everything she’d worked so hard for! She leaned forward across her desk, trying to appear intimidating.
“Do I understand you right? You don’t want me to interact with the customers?”
He shrugged, apparently not intimidated at all. “Relax. You run a decent business, but Megan is better with people.”
Tempest opened her mouth. Nothing came out. This human wanted to come in and turn her world upside down?
True, she had been rude. However, she’d adhered to the rules of her mission by attempting to stop evil from entering the winery. Lynk’s threat had taken her aback and she overreacted, but so what? Following the rules was a good thing. No chemist having a midlife crisis was going to march in and cause her to fail at her cover job.
“If I’m not allowed to handle the customers, what else am I not allowed to do?”
Her voice betrayed her by cracking slightly, but she swallowed hard and recovered. She wouldn’t let this guy get under her skin.
Carlo reached into his pocket and took out a small notebook. “I’m a chemist. Your blend of wine yesterday was delicious. I hoped you would help me create a new wine that would allow us to enter the California wine contest. From what I hear, whoever wins that gets a ton of business and promo.”
She stared at this reasonably handsome human sitting across from her. He wanted the same thing she did? Even if he was the new boss, maybe he wasn’t so bad.
“You’re right on the contest. I’ve been planning to enter our Sauvignon Blanc if we can be ready in time.”
“Great,” he said with a big smile. “Let’s get to it.”
“Your chemistry background will give us an edge.”
“I have a former lab north of here, with two of the best guys I know. I’ll hire them to do any yeast formula modifications or anything else we need. Tell me your best tips for making that fantastic blend of wine I tried last night.”
Tempest cleared her throat. “I’ll need to meet your lab staff. Our winery is efficient because we all have a say about potential employees—”
“Don’t worry about my guys. They’ve been with me for ten years. Best crew I could ask for.”
“That being said, I’d like to meet them. Don always—”
“Tempest,” he said gently. She could see the warm brown in his eyes. “I’m not Don. I want to work with you on this, but I’m not going to do everything the way he did.”
The back of her neck grew hot. If only she was alone, she could summon a draft of air to cool her down. Carlo was already getting under her skin.
“I didn’t mean to question your business practices—”
“Then we understand each other. My guys will run the lab. You and Megan can run things here, but Megan works with the public.”
“Um, sure.”
What else could she say? Obviously he was taking charge and she had no choice in the matter. If he wanted to use his men, then fine. She would simply need to keep an eye on them—and everything else—in the winery.
“Excellent,” he said. “Email me your suggestions on creating that delicious wine and anything else you think would be helpful to my guys.”
“Sure,” she muttered.
He offered a polite smile before standing up and leaving her office. Once the door shut, she sighed. The day was just getting started. What other changes were ahead?