Saving Grapes - Madeline Kirby Page 0,8

rolled his eyes and kept walking towards the office where the plans were laid out. He had to admit Ross was attractive, in a big, burly way. They’d hooked up a few times, but Ross liked things rougher than Thom was comfortable with, so it hadn’t been difficult to say no when Ross tried for a repeat. Problem was, Ross seemed to take that as a challenge rather than a rejection.

Ross was also well known as one of the best builders in the area, with solid experience building and remodeling winery facilities, so Thom did have to get a bid from him if he wanted the bank to take his loan application seriously. They reached the office and Thom focused on the plans that were laid out. Ross was a professional, and once they got into the details he was all business. He had a good eye, taking notes and asking all the right questions.

“Let’s go take a look at the site,” Ross finally said.

“Sure.”

They climbed into Ross’s truck and drove down to the empty patch of land near the highway. Ross looked over the space, up the hill, across the road, and nodded.

“Looks good. So, you’re finally doing it, huh?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a guy working for me now, full time, so I can concentrate on getting this done. Oh, speak of the devil.” He saw Ben slowing to turn into the drive and waved to call him over. Ben parked next to Ross’s truck and walked over to join the other men.

“Hey Ben, this is Ross O’Connor. Ross, this is Ben Loomis.”

“Hi Ross, good to meet you,” Ben put his hand out and Ross shook it, a little longer than Thom was comfortable with.

“Well, hello Ben. I am very pleased to meet you.”

“Ross…” Thom’s voice had a warning tone to it.

“What?” Ross turned innocent blue eyes to Thom, still not releasing Ben’s hand. Ben looked back and forth between the other two men.

“You know what, Ross. This is not the time.”

“Oh? Already staking a claim? Calling dibs?” Ross looked at Thom, one eyebrow raised in a question.

“What are y’all talking about?” Ben asked, finally pulling his hand from Ross’s grasp. Thom kept glaring at Ross, but Ross just grinned and looked back to Ben.

“So, Ben Loomis, eh? Chuck’s nephew?”

Ben nodded. “That’s right.”

“Ross. Don’t.” Thom was not at all comfortable with where this seemed to be going.

Ross finally turned his attention back to Thom. “You can’t have it both ways, Thom.”

“Leave. It.” He did not want to have this conversation in front of Ben. He should have known better than to introduce them. He should have known that Ross would take one look at Ben and think ‘fresh meat’. Ross was a player, and Thom didn’t want him anywhere near Ben.

Ross just grinned that shit-eating grin of his and winked at Thom. “I’ll get a bid drawn up for you in the next few days, Thom. Glad to see you’re finally going for it. Ben,” he ran a hand down Ben’s arm as he passed him on the way to his truck, “see you around, okay?”

“What the hell was that?” Ben asked as he and Thom climbed into the truck for the drive up to the house.

“That,” Thom replied, “was Ross O’Connor. If he wasn’t one of the best, if not the best, builders in the area I wouldn’t have called him.”

“No, I mean, what was going on with the two of you? And was he coming on to me? Because seriously? Talk about bold.”

Thom was silent, his jaw set as he stared through the windshield.

“Thom?”

“Yeah, he was coming on to you.”

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Nothing. You have to admire his confidence, don’t you?” He glanced over at Thom, who just looked pissed off.

“No. The man’s a menace.”

“Sorry. Did he make you uncomfortable? I mean, the flirting and all?”

“No.”

“I got the impression there was a conversation going on that I missed half of?”

“Leave it, Ben,” Thom grated. He jumped out of the truck before Ben even cut the engine off. Ben hopped out, grabbing a bag of groceries from the back.

“Aren’t you going to help me bring this stuff in?” he called. Thom whirled and came back, grabbing a couple of bags and heading towards the back door. Ben shook his head and followed his boss inside.

Ben didn’t know what to make of Thom’s reaction to Ross. It seemed like maybe the men knew each other, but it also seemed like Ross made Thom uncomfortable. Maybe Thom was uncomfortable with Ross’s blatant