Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

B J watched Penny hurry out the door, quietly muttering to herself. She didn't realize she did that, mutter to herself, but she did. Whenever she was worried or figuring out a complex problem, she always spoke to herself in hushed tones and tapped her finger against her leg. He knew because they'd been friends for over a decade. He knew a lot about Penny. Including the fact that she just lied to him.

His best friend hadn't wanted to talk about the upcoming restaurant opening. No, she had something else on her mind. Something heavy. Why hadn't she shared? Penny could always come to him with her problems. She knew that.

Then why hadn't she?

A mystery he would have to put off for a later time. Right now, he had to concentrate on the pile of frustration in front of him. A dull pounding throbbed behind his eyes as he sifted through the papers spread out on the table. The headache only increased as a loud, familiar voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, was that Penny I saw drive away?"

Sighing—he would never get through this work today—he glanced up to see Charlie stride in from Jacks side door which connected to the restaurant.

"Yeah, she dropped in to get some info on the grand opening for the website." Information she suspiciously left without.

"Dang, I was hoping to catch up with her today." Charlie pulled out the chair across from him and sprawled out with a relaxed grace that could only be achieved by his baby sister. "I think my laptop has a virus or something. It keeps crashing when I open my picture folder and I was hoping she'd look at it for me."

"How many times do I have to tell you guys, Penny is not your personal IT department. She's our website designer. Stop using her as your private company computer girl."

Light blue eyes, the same color as his, narrowed. "First of all, she's a woman, not a girl."

He knew that. They may be best friends, but he was also a man and very aware of the fact that Penny was a woman. Just because he'd never done anything about it didn't mean he never noticed. He valued their friendship too much to risk ruining it with something as stupid as hooking up. Everyone knew getting naked with a friend always ruined the friendship.

"Second," his sister continued, leaning back in her chair, and propping her feet up on the table. "Ace had her fix the office computer last week, so if you wanna bitch someone out, go talk to your twin, Jackasson."

"Dammit!" He hadn't known Ace asked Penny for help. Hell, he hadn't even known there was a problem with the computer. He'd told his siblings to stop asking Penny to fix things that weren't in her job description. The woman had an IQ off the charts and was a magician with anything computer related, but she was also sweet as sugar and didn't have the heart to tell anyone no if they asked for help.

"I'll talk to Ace, but as for you," he pointed a finger at her. "Try turning it off and back on again before you harass Penny. And get your feet off the table. Were you raised in a barn?"

She huffed when he pushed her feet, dropping them to the floor with a sigh. "No, I was raised in the trenches of alpha masculinity, forgive me if I have less than feminine mannerisms."

Being the only girl with three brothers, Charlie had a point. Their childhood had been full of roughhousing, tree climbing, dirt, and more roughhousing.

"What's got your panties in a twist today, brother dear?"

He could have reminded his sister he did not wear panties , but he knew she was needling to get a rise out of him. Charlie's favorite pastime was torturing her brothers.

"Nothing, I'm swamped. I need to replace the sensor on the proofing tank because it's on the fritz again, Ace wants me to check out a new farm up near Loveland because he thinks our wheat guy is gouging us, and I have to pore through all these applications to hire a serving staff in the next week."

She snorted. "You realize all this work is your own fault."

He gave her his best wanna say that again look that had made grown men quake in their boots, but it did nothing to deter his obstinate little sister.

"You're the one who gave Del the week off."

"The guy has been running himself ragged for months. He's got a wedding coming up. He needed a little break to relax and plan with his fiancée."

"Duh." Two thin fingers adorned with dark purple polish on the nails poked his forehead. "I'm the maid of honor. I understand my little brother and best friend are getting married in two weeks. What the hell do you think I've been doing with all my spare time lately?"

"Torturing every poor soul with a penis who crosses your path." Charlie had been pissed off at the entire male species since her nasty break up a few months ago.

"No, Numbnuts. I've been helping Cassie pick out flowers, dresses, centerpieces, and tons of other girly crap for her big day. Ugh, why do women get so obsessed over one silly day?"

He could point out that she was a woman and would know the answer better than him, but his sister seemed to be on a rampage, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Besides, how hard can picking a few servers be?"

Obviously, she hadn't seen the applications. As the accountant for Jacks, his sister rarely dealt with anything having to do with the distillery that didn't relate to budgets and paychecks. She knew who they employed, but she didn't have any hand in hiring them.

Lucky her.

"It would be easy," he said, holding up a stack of applications. "If I was searching through a pile of competent, experienced workers who wanted a job. But every one of these reads like an application to get us into bed."

Her eyes grew wide as she reached across the table. "No way, for real? Let me see."

Snatching the papers from his hands, her gaze raced over the applications, smile growing with each new page. When she got halfway through, her lips parted, snorts of laughter escaping her.

"It's not funny."

"Oh, come on, BJ. This woman put excellent oral skills under the special skills section. She even added a winky face. And this one put One night with the twins under desired salary."

Charlie dropped the papers, laughing so hard tears formed in the corners of her eyes. His lips curled. Her infectious laughter got the better of him as a chuckle escaped.

"Okay, it's kind of funny."

"Freaking hilarious," she panted, trying to get her amusement under control.

"Fine, it's a laugh riot. Still doesn't change the fact that we need knowledgeable staff and there's no one to choose from in this pile of come-ons."

"I think you'd be happy with every woman in Kismet throwing themselves at you for a little hanky-panky."

At one time in his life, sure. Five or ten years ago, he'd be more than happy to indulge in a little late-night mambo with a charming, willing woman. But he was thirty-four. Age and life had caught up with him, and he was beginning to want different things. Flings didn't hold appeal anymore. He wanted something real, something…more.

Not saying he wanted a white picket fence and happily ever after. He wasn't naive. He knew that didn't exist. Hell, look at his parents. You couldn't find two people more in love than his mother and father. They were a freaking storybook come to life. But life never gave you that fairytale ending. When he was seventeen, his father, a lifelong Marine, died overseas. The news had devastated his mother. Broken her.

It hurt all of them. Almost tore the family apart.

BJ and Ace had stepped up to the plate working any job they could to help support the family. At eighteen, the twins had followed in their father's footsteps and joined the military. For eight years, he and his twin sent every paycheck home. Charlie had handled the family's finances, keeping the bills paid and saving the rest so they could open Jackson Family Distillery, a lifelong dream of their father's.

Their way of keeping his memory alive.

Eventually, his mother found her footing again, but she'd never fully recovered. The bright, bubbly woman had dimmed. Sadness crept into her eyes from time to time. He saw it and it gutted him. No way did he ever want to fall in love if that was the pain it brought. Still, he wanted something more than the going nowhere dates of his past. Something in-between love and sex. Whatever the hell that was.

"For shit's sake, BJ. Stop looking like a pathetic puppy. I'll go through the applications."

Hell must have frozen over because his sister just offered to help.

"I'm not a puppy, Charlie."

"Of course not. You're a big bad ex-Marine who could kill me with a glance, right?"

It would be much more believable if she said it without the snide look on her face, but he answered anyway. "Oorah."

"Fine, Mr. Big and Bad who's afraid of a couple of females on the prowl, you're not a puppy, but since you sent Del off and this stuff needs to get done, I am graciously offering my skills as horny poontang filter."

Oh hell, there was a phrase he'd hoped never to hear his baby sister say.

"Filter out the serious applicants and leave them on my desk, please." He handed over the massive stack of applications.

"Yes sir." With a sarcastic little middle finger salute, she grabbed the papers and headed into her office in the back.

"Shit." He rubbed his hands over his face. He could really use a drink. Good thing he sat a few steps away from Kismet's finest distillery.

Standing, he headed toward the swinging door that connected the tasting room to the restaurant. The after-work crowd had started to trickle in. Kelley stood at the bar, making some drinks for a couple seated at the bar. She nodded to him as he came behind the bar.

"Need any help tonight?" He was swamped with a million things to do, but he wouldn't abandon an employee if they needed him.

"Naw, I got it for now, but I'll holler if things get too out of hand."

She probably wouldn't. Kelley was good. She could handle things even if they got busy. It's why they paid her so well.

"Sounds good. I'll be in back if you need me." He poured himself a club soda—because as much as he wanted a drink right now, he was still working—adding a lemon twist before he headed to the back where the stills were.

The multitude of tasks weighed heavily on his mind. They had a lot to do before the restaurant opening in a few weeks. Busy, but all good to be sure. This restaurant idea Del had would be good for them in the long run, even if it was currently giving him a migraine from hell.

As he did his daily check of the stills and mash, checking temperatures and measurements, his mind wandered back through the day, landing on Penny's visit. He still had no idea why she seemed so nervous or what she really wanted to talk to him about, but he was going to find out. He might have a ton on his plate right now, but just like with his employees, he'd never neglect a friend in need. From what he witnessed earlier Penny was in need. No matter how much she denied it.