“Have a good night,” Reid told her, dismissing her, not wanting to discuss his social life—or lack thereof—any further. “Be safe.”
“You know I will.”
“Don’t forget, we have a party to prepare for next week,” Reid told her. “There’s still lots to do.” Every year, they threw a party for their employees, industry insiders, and preferred customers. This year, however, they’d decided to go bigger. They’d spent the entire year planning a huge party at a hip beachside rooftop bar in South Beach. They’d shelled out huge cash for one of the country’s most popular DJs, and in addition to their regular guest list, they invited celebrities and members of the press. More Quin and Gemma’s doing, the party wasn’t his kind of scene, but he was hoping to make some serious connections and it would help put Rexford Rum on the map.
“I haven’t forgotten, Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes, earning herself a glare from Reid. She raised her hands in surrender. “Believe me, no one is forgetting about work, or the party.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Love you guys. Bye.”
“Make good choices,” Quin called out to her, and that earned him a middle finger over her shoulder as she made her way outside. When she was gone, Quin pointed a finger at him. “Speaking of the party, we’ve been meaning to talk to you about this—at least try to look like you’re having fun. You don’t want to be mistaken for one of the bouncers with that serious look you normally have on your face.”
“Fine, I’ll smile more. Will that make you happy? But sorry, I won’t have time to schmooze with celebrities. Some of us will have to make sure things are running smoothly.”
“That’s why we hired a very capable event planning company,” he told him. “Who we’re paying very well to make sure everything is okay. I know it isn’t normally your scene but promise me you’ll have fun. It’s going to be great for us.”
“Fine, I’ll have fun at the party. I just hope the cost will be worth it to the business.”
Quin sighed and poured himself some more rum. “It will be. We went through the projections ourselves. With the press coverage and the online buzz we’ve already created...dude, it’s going to be amazing.”
Despite his reservations, Reid smiled at his brother. He’d been a hard sell when it came to the party. He thought the it was an egregious expense, one that could put the distillery at risk—not only financially, but its failure could hurt their brand. They had some of the best event planners in Miami working on it, but he wasn’t sure he could put the faith in it like Quin and Gemma did. “I hope so. I hate to think we bankrupted the company for an excuse to invite a certain professional wrestler-turned-actor to our party.”
“Already RSVP’d,” Quin said with a wink, reminding Reid that despite his opinion of the event, the Rexford party was looking like the hottest ticket in Miami. He knocked back the remainder of the rum. “And on that note, I’m out of here, too.”
“Yeah?”
“A friend of mine has Heat tickets. Courtside.”
Reid nodded in approval. “Nice. Close enough you can yell at the coach again?”
“If only he’d listen to me.” Quin shook his head.
“Have fun. Don’t get arrested. We have too much to do in the next couple of days and I don’t have time to bail you out.”
“You can count on me, bro.” They bumped fists, and then Quin was gone as well, leaving Reid alone at the table with a mostly full rum bottle and the bill. “Typical,” he said to the closed folio, which held the bill. But it didn’t matter to him. What good was money if he couldn’t use it to treat his siblings at their favorite restaurant?
He nodded to the server, who quickly came over to collect his credit card, and she smiled as she leaned over the table, giving him a peek at her ample cleavage. They made eye contact, and she said, “Thank you, Mr. Rexford,” in a sultry, breathy whisper. He sat back, away from her—his body language putting a barrier between them. She picked up on his cues and straightened, immediately reverting back to being his waitress. He handed her the rum bottle. “Can you see that Arlo gets the rest of this?”
“Of course, I’ll put it in his office.”
“Thank you.”
He watched closely as she walked away. While the waitress was gorgeous, and they would definitely have a great night together, it wouldn’t do. She was his regular server at his favorite restaurant, and even though Reid could barely remember her name, she was much too close to him, and knew exactly who he was. But as his eyes followed the sway of the server’s hips, his attention caught on the cloud of red hair of the woman sitting at the bar.
The curve of the woman’s spine and her smooth skin tempted him, as did the completely open back of her black dress, cut just above what looked to be an ample ass. The woman laughed at something the bartender said. Her laugh was loud and vivacious, and rang out in the quiet, dark space of the restaurant. But neither her volume nor the looks it garnered from the other patrons seemed to embarrass her. He could feel the energy emanating off her, bouncing against the cellar walls, hitting him square in the chest. It sounded stupid, corny, but the small restaurant felt brighter with her in it.
He couldn’t help but watch her as she brought her glass to her lips and sipped. Her eyes closed, and her full lips turned upward in a delicate smile and she said something else to the bartender. She was easily the sexiest woman in the room.
He smiled and stood. Checked his
