I caught her eyes briefly flick down to my lap before reverting to her glass.
I bit back a smug grin.
God knew I’d been checking her out since I first laid eyes on her, so the reciprocity was nice to see. Lucky for her, I’d gotten my erection under control before her attention had zoned in on it.
And that’s exactly where she’d been looking. I wasn’t blind.
“One in Scotland, one in England, one on the Bourbon Trail, and one I’m about to open in Brooklyn.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Bourbon Trail?”
“Kentucky, legs. Where the best bourbon whiskey in the world is made.”
“Oh. And now you’re trying to break into vodka? That’s what the business with my father was all about, right?”
“I’ve got my hands in nearly every pie of the booze business. I own five breweries, too, as well as a distribution center in the States. It’s the second largest in the country.”
She frowned. “And you run all of them from Brooklyn?”
I tapped my finger against my glass, trying to figure out what that change in her tone meant. “I travel extensively.”
She slowly nodded and took another sip. “And what about this trip to Istria?”
“There’s a winery there I’m considering buying. Wine is my newest venture, and let’s just say it’s in a completely different wheelhouse than my other acquisitions.”
“How so?”
She was actually interested?
The only women I ever discussed business with were usually the ones directly involved in the business itself. The one and only time I brought up my work to a woman I’d taken to bed, she’d gotten a glazed look in her eye, one clearly of boredom. Pretty sure the only reason she’d given me a blowjob after that was to get me to shut up.
“For one thing, vineyards require land with the right kind of soil,” I explained. “Climate and average temperatures are huge factors in location. The storage and aging processes are different for wine than for liquor. Materials, supplies, ingredients… It’s a vastly different industry than distilleries and breweries.”
“Then why pursue it if it’s more trouble?”
I shrugged. “To say that I did.”
She tucked her tongue in her cheek, her expression turning skeptical. “That’s it? You’re just a megalomaniac? The end?”
I winked. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re really just in it for the money? You’re not chasing some sort of dream or trying to accomplish certain goals?”
Maybe.
Only, it was starting to feel like my particular goals would forever be out of my reach.
“Is that your rainbows and unicorns take on life?” My voice reeked of condescension. “You set goals, you achieve them, and everything just magically fits into place?” I clucked my tongue. “Sorry, rich girl. People like me, who’ve had to carve out their success in the real world, don’t have time for fluffy dreams.”
“What a sad, lonely life you must lead. No wonder you went into the booze business. For someone who’s destined to drink alone for the rest of his life, it’s a perfect fit.”
The moment her expression turned pitying, something ugly took hold of my tongue and wouldn’t let it go. I knew I was about to hate myself a little more, but that wasn’t enough to stop me. It was all for the best anyway. This small talk had been flowing much too easily. And feeling much too comfortable.
“At least I work for a living. And I keep hundreds of people employed. What have you ever done, except put on a few outfits and flash your cleavage at the cameras?”
Her face dropped. It felt like she took my stomach along with it, but that was probably because I was drinking on an empty stomach.
“You’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?” Her expression turned stone cold.
“Almost. I mean, what more is there to figure out except what you were hiding underneath all those skimpy bikinis?”
Too far.
My laughter came out flat and hollow. “I guess if I have to have a fake wife, at least she’s not painful to look at.”
Too far!
Something twisted in my chest when her face contorted in disgust. Like someone had taken a wrench to my sternum and cranked it as far as it would go.
Probably gallstones.
I needed to make a doctor’s appointment for all these health issues I was suddenly suffering from.
“You are a despicable bastard.”
I blew her a kiss. “Not the first time a woman’s called me that.”
She shoved to her feet. “And it won’t be the last. Count on it.”