Bitter Truth (Hawthorne Vines #1)

I poke his stomach, and he laughs.

“Does what I said make sense?”

“Yes,” he tells me, turning on his side and pushing me onto my back. “It makes sense. But it’s still a lot of pressure.”

“Good thing you really know what you’re doing, then, huh?”

He kisses me, his tongue slipping into my mouth, and I can feel his hand trailing downward.

Grabbing his hand, I pull back and pin him with a glare. “I need to go talk to Memphis.”

“Five minutes.”

I bite my lip and then nod. “Five minutes.”

Twenty minutes later, I slip back into my bedroom through the veranda.

If I’m going to talk to my brother about Wes, I would feel a lot more comfortable doing it after I’ve taken a shower and swapped out my clothes.

I spend that time thinking about what I’ll say to Memphis. Trying to figure out how this conversation will go. The main thing I want to make sure I remember is that it’s fair for Memphis to be concerned. He has put a lot of time, energy, and money into getting this restaurant off the ground.

But being concerned doesn’t mean he gets to dictate my life.

“Morning,” I say, walking into the office after I’ve knocked. “You wanted to talk?”

Memphis spins in his chair, turning away from the computer and giving me all his attention.

Figures that he’d finally really focus on me when it’s a fight.

“Murphy, I get that you think hooking up with Wes is fun,” he says once I’ve taken a seat across from him. “But I am begging you to think this through, okay? Secret relationships never turn out to be anything other than disaster. For everyone involved. Especially when it’s at work.”

He leans forward, his elbows on the desk. I want so desperately to respond right now, to jump in and tell him he’s wrong. That it’s not about the secrecy—that literally none of our relationship has been about the secrecy.

If anything, that’s why we avoided each other.

But instead of jumping down his throat, I stay silent, giving him a chance to share how he feels.

“I thought we were on the same side when it comes to this vineyard and trying to save it. And I’m sorry, but playing around with my head chef is a huge deal. Do you realize how catastrophic it could be if he just up and quit because things between the two of you go sour?”

He sits back in his chair and links his fingers together, resting them on his stomach.

“So, I’m sorry, but this isn’t going to fly. You and Wes are not going to be able to … do … whatever it is you’re doing.”

I consider him for a minute. More than anything, I want to shoot out of my chair and give him a piece of my mind.

How dare he think he gets any say in my personal life.

But instead, I take a deep breath and try to remember what my aunt Sarah said.

My brother will shut down if I get heated about this. I can still tell him exactly how I feel, but storming around his office and yelling at him for being an idiot isn’t going to accomplish anything.

“I just want to start by saying that we are absolutely on the same team. I want to help with any and every idea that you have to improve things and keep Dad from selling.” I pause, knowing I’m about to stir the pot. “However, I’m not ending things with Wes. What we have is not about sneaking around, or rule-breaking lust. What we have is a lot deeper than that. It’s a soulmate kind of love. So you can either stay mad, or you can let it go and move on. Either way it won’t change us being in a relationship.”

Memphis stares at me, and I can tell that he doesn’t like what I said.

Not surprising.

“I’m not going to go into detail about how things started, but you should know that both of us took the fact that we work together very seriously. This isn’t a game. This is two adults who have fallen for each other deciding that they are willing to figure out how to make it work.”