“You work for me, at least for the summer. And hopefully, not just part-time as an associate. I’d love to have you full-time, with Min leaving, to take over planning and marketing the Harvest Festival.”
“Wait, what?”
“I know it’s somewhat outside the scope of what you’ve been doing, but with your background, it should be a walk in the park. You’re clearly capable, and definitely overqualified to spend all of your time on the floor. Although we would still need you there too. And before you say no, I want to show you something.”
Not taking any chances, since Brooke really was our best shot at salvaging this festival, I walked around her and opened the door. A shocked Brooke followed me down the hall in the opposite direction of the tasting room, toward an empty office that I knew would seal the deal. Or at least, I hoped it would.
Unlocking the door, I pushed it open and walked inside. Brooke joined me, her jaw once again dropping. “Are you serious right now?”
“It was my mother’s office. When she retired, she moved everything out, knowing that if she left even one of her favorite pens she’d be tempted to use it as an excuse to come back. And probably start working again. Best view on the estate, in my opinion.”
I headed to the sliding glass doors, pushed them open and walked onto the balcony, where Brooke joined me.
“This was the first section of the building that was renovated. The only office that has a private balcony.” From here, a split in the trees offered a clear view of the lake. To the right, vineyards. Straight ahead, the lake. To the left, the lakefront lawns. “It’s far enough away that you can’t really hear customers unless there’s live music. But we tend to have that on the big lawn.”
“Except on Wednesdays,” she said, gripping the railing and taking it all in.
“Right. Except that.”
“Holy shit, Cos. This is incredible. Like the view from your house, but better. With the vineyards and all.”
The look on Brooke’s face was so pure, I wanted to cup her cheeks in my hands and somehow soak all that joy in for myself.
“This would be your office if you agreed,” I told her, in case it wasn’t clear.
“Why aren’t you or your brother in here?”
“I haven’t gotten around to moving my things. Neo doesn’t have an office. Doesn’t want one. He spends most of his time with the vines.”
“And in the winter?”
“Traveling, visiting other vineyards. Researching. When he’s here, he likes to flit around the estate, mostly bothering us.”
“He has no home base.”
I shook my head. “Neo has ADHD. The constant change of scenery is good for him, he says. A lot of times he’ll set up shop in the tasting room with a laptop, like Min does in the Barn. I would think that would be pretty distracting, but who am I to say? I long ago stopped trying to figure out his brain and just roll with it.”
Brooke didn’t say anything for so long, I began to worry about what she was thinking. I was about to ask her when she blurted, “I’ll do it.”
My shoulders relaxed. It was the best news I’d gotten in a week. “Great. We can talk specifics and compensation—”
“On one condition.”
I braced myself. It had only been a little more than a week since Brooke Ellis stormed into my life, but I already knew to expect the unexpected with her. “Shoot.”
“There’s no weirdness between us.”
I met her gaze with a straight face. “After what I told you back in my office?” I grinned, adding, “Never.” Then, more seriously, “How do you define weirdness?”
“Not giving me a private wine tasting, which I could probably use, because of a mutual attraction between us.”
Damn. I wasn’t the only one dropping truth bombs today. But because I was a responsible business owner and didn’t fancy playing with fire, I ignored the “mutual attraction” part of her declaration. “Any other stipulations?”
“I’m serious, Cos. After what happened at Avec Coeur, you can be sure I will never, ever again test the ‘can two people be in a relationship and work together’ theory. Especially if said person is my boss.”
“Fair enough.”
“If we can’t share a glass of wine on your deck, or be in a room alone without the possibility of something inappropriate happening, then this job probably isn’t for me. Especially since I’ll be here more often working even closer to you than before.”