I’m shacking up with a billionaire heir, will we be looking at exclusive high-rise apartments with a killer view of Lake Superior? Ooh, and can we have a pool table and an air hockey table? Maybe a bowling alley?”
“Take your expectations down a notch, Gabriella. My billionaire heir days are behind me. I’ll be a working man, on a budget, so don’t get your hopes up about a life of luxury.”
“Shoot.” I sighed. “I’ll just have to be content living with you, even if it’s in a closet. Because that’s truly where I’m at. At peace and excited as hell to be starting this stage of life with you, Nolan, no matter where we end up.”
“Babe. I’m still a millionaire, so it’s not like we’ll be roughing it in a fishing shack.”
I cocked my head. “So now that you’re a working man, does that mean you’ll start buying your clothing off the rack? Yourself?”
He literally shuddered. “God forbid.”
I laughed.
Nolan pointed to my beer. “Taking your time with that.”
“Beer is not really my thing.” I smoothed my hand over his hair and down his neck, letting my thumb rest in the hollow of his throat. Feeling that slow, steady heartbeat and seeing the happy glow in his eyes, I realized no matter what happened job wise, he and I would thrive together. “I’m wondering why I suggested it.”
“Me too.”
I noticed he’d barely touched his glass either.
“Actually, I’m hungry. Wanna take a drive?”
“Sure. Where’d you have in mind?”
“A seafood joint in Duluth I know you’re gonna love.”
“Lead the way.”
Epilogue
NOLAN
DULUTH, MINNESOTA . . . FIVE MONTHS LATER
I looked at my phone for the tenth time in the past five minutes. No messages.
A shadow fell across me and I glanced up at the bartender.
“You sure I can’t get you anything while you wait?”
Maybe it was ornery to say, “What do you have for nonalcoholic liquor?” but I asked anyway.
“You mean like nonalcoholic beer?” he said.
I shook my head. “No. I mean like nonalcoholic gin or vodka.”
The guy snorted. “Buddy, there’s no such thing.”
“Not yet.” But there would be, once Lund and Sons Distillery was up and running. In the meantime, we’d been granted an import license to bring in the nonalcoholic booze that was only available in Europe. And we wanted to build buzz about options for people who liked the taste of spirits but didn’t want the buzz.
His eyes narrowed and he gave me—clad in my usual suit and tie—a suspicious once-over. “Who are you?”
I slid my business card across the bartop.
He read the text, “Nolan Lund. Lund and Sons Distillery.” Another skeptical look. “You related to Zosia Lund?”
“She’s my cousin. And one of the distillery owners.”
“Ah. So you’re one of them billionaire Lunds from the Cities. I’ve heard about you. Just here visiting?”
“Nope. Been living here for four months. I’m part of the investment group that bought the old cannery.”
“The one that’s been abandoned for fifteen years? Sheesh. That place is a wreck.”
“It won’t be when we’re done with it.”
“Yeah? Whatcha planning on doin’ with it?”
“Half of the space will be distillery manufacturing; the other half will be retail venues.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “So you came to warn me that your investment group is putting in a bar?”
I laughed. “Not even close. We will be strictly wholesale to bars and liquor stores.”
“Just the nonalcoholic stuff?”
“No. We’ll be distilling our own line of regular alcoholic spirits and nonalcoholic spirits once the manufacturing side is up and running. Right now I’m just out in the community introducing myself. Letting people know that we are the exclusive distributors for Clearheaded Spirits, the only nonalcoholic brand currently available in the U.S.” I pointed at my business card. “Call the number and we’ll set you up with a private tasting of our products.”
“You don’t say.” He scratched his chin. “I can see where there might be a market for it. Don’t know if it’d be a big seller here, but I’d be glad to give it a try.”
“Great. Like I said, we’d be happy to discuss some of the promotional opportunities we’re creating just for local bars with competitive pricing.”
“What’s Zosia’s place in Lund and Sons?”
“She’s the big boss. Right now she’s focused on getting the distillery operational, so she’s handling employee recruitment.”
He grinned. “Everyone in this town loves that woman. I’m happy to hear things are going her way for once.”
“Me too. We’ve talked about running a business together for years and I’m lucky it’s finally a reality.” Not only had she and