Arrogant Bastard Read online

  Caden picks up a fork. “The man appreciates quality when he sees it.”

  I have an odd, irrational urge to stick my tongue out at him.

  My oldest brother, Wyatt, speaks for the first time, and I realize I hadn’t even acknowledged he was here. “Tomorrow we can go out into the cane fields.”

  Caden forks a piece of barbequed chicken breast. “Sounds good. I’ve got some thoughts.”

  Wyatt’s handsome face is alight with interest. “I’m anxious to hear them.”

  “Let’s head out at first light,” Caden says.

  Jackson juts a fork in his direction. “He taught me a few things, and that’s saying something.”

  “Jackson thinks he knows everything, so that is definitely saying something.” Wyatt nods at Caden, his expression satisfied. “Looking forward to it.”

  “I aim to please,” Caden says.

  I roll my eyes so hard I might pull a muscle.

  Caden shifts his focus to me. “I’ll need to get set up in an office tomorrow so I can review all the schedules.”

  “Your office is right next to mine.”

  That was an excellent idea when Burt was manager, but now it seems ill conceived. Not anything I can do about it, though, so I’m the consummate professional. “Stop by when you’re done with Wyatt, and I’ll walk you through our systems.”

  A sharp nod. “Anything you can give me to go over tonight would help me get a jump on the morning.”

  My chin tilts. “I’m heading back after dinner. I’ll pull some stuff together. Also, if you get the paperwork done tonight, I’ll make sure you’re set up in our systems first thing.”

  “Good.” His tone makes it sound like he’s the one in charge.

  I choose not to comment.

  Wyatt grins at me. “I like this guy.”

  Caden chuckles. “Just doing the job you’re paying me for.”

  Oh great, now they all love him. And why wouldn’t they? He’s obviously competent, and also saving the day. He’s been here for less than five hours, and he’s a goddamn hero.

  My teeth clench, and I remind myself I should be thrilled. This is a win for me—a mark in my favor that proves I’m not just in this job because I’m the sister of the bosses.

  But everything about Caden, and the way my family has taken to him, still rubs me the wrong way.

  His eyes meet mine. “I’ll walk over with you after dinner and grab the keys too.”

  Give him the paperwork and the keys, and then I’ll be done with him for at least the rest of the day. Tomorrow, I’ll feel better about the whole ordeal.

  I give him a brilliant smile. “It’s settled then.”

  “Yeah, I guess it is.”

  His voice slides over my skin, and I shiver involuntarily.

  I just need to get through the next couple of days. The faster he’s up to speed, the less contact I’ll have with him. Sure, I’ll work closely with him, but he’ll be busy most of the time with the crops and the hands. And I can start turning my attention to the parts of my job I’ve been ignoring.

  We won’t spend that much time together.

  The trick is to pretend he has no effect on me. I can do that. I’m good at pretending.

  I pick up my glass of sweet tea. “Welcome aboard.”

  Caden’s eyes narrow, like he’s suspicious of me.

  I keep my expression impassive.

  Just get through the week and everything will settle down. Once I get to know him, his commanding presence will wear off. I’m sure of it.

  One week, and he’ll be just another guy.

  Caden

  * * *

  I’m not sure what it is about Cat McKay, but something makes me want to break her. I can’t explain it, but it’s like she’s hiding behind a persona that doesn’t quite fit her. I want to prod her until I see the real woman beneath.

  I have no idea why I think this, but it settled in my gut as I watched her during dinner and won’t let go. It’s something about the way she flashes bright before covering it up with civility. There’s a wildness about her that lurks just under the surface.

  Although maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part—hard to tell.

  I walk next to her down the dirt lane from the big farmhouse to the distillery where the offices are. There’s nothing but silence, as thick as the hot, humid air.

  I won over the McKay brothers easily enough, but I can tell there will be no easy winning with Cat. I can’t even blame her. It’s clear the sparking is something neither of us wants.

  But again, it’s nothing I can’t handle.

  I’ve decided to ignore her prickliness, adopt a kill-her-with-kindness kinda deal. Kindness isn’t in my nature, especially with a woman like Cat, but it will keep me from engaging in the worst of my self-destructive instincts.

  I will not stoke the fire. She’s a mystery that will need to go unsolved.

  I glance down at her in the pink and golden blaze of the setting sun and think of the most mundane subject possible. “You run a good operation here.”

  She shoots me a side-eyed glare. “One you think you’ll make better.”

  The words have bite to them.

  I stop, forcing her to stop too, and she turns to look at me, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yes?”

  I set her on edge with our interview earlier today, and if I want to quell some of this heat between us, I need to rectify that.

  I tilt my head. “We got off on the wrong foot. I might have been a bit abrasive earlier.”

  One brow shoots up, and she huffs. “A bit?”

  “All right, maybe a lot.” I toss her a smile meant to disarm her. “Get your concerns out on the table, and we can deal with them.”

  “Fine.” Her chin lifts. “I don’t think you’re going to respect my authority.”

  She’s probably right, but it’s not because she’s a woman. It’s because she wears her authority like a chip on her shoulder. I’m guessing, since the inner workings of her mind aren’t my business, that it wouldn’t be smart to bring that up, so I nod, all agreeable like. “You’re the boss. I’m your employee. It won’t be a problem, except if I think it’ll hurt the crops.”

  She frowns a little, like she’s not sure she likes my answer. “You think you know better than me.”

  “Well, that’s because I do.”

  She plants her hands on her hips. “And how do you know that? You don’t know the first thing about me.”

  I shrug. “I don’t need to know about you. I looked at the crops and can do better.”

  There’s that flash again, for just a second before she covers it up with a hard clench of her jaw. “I’ve been doing this a long time.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “You won’t even say how many years of experience you have.” She waves a hand over me. “Do you even have a college degree?”

  I smirk. “Yeah, I do.”

  Surprise lights her face. “You do?”

  “I do, in agriculture.”

  “From where?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “It matters if you’re lying about it.”

  I laugh. “Is it really that hard to believe?”

  She glares at me. “Stop trying to win me over.”

  I lean down. “Now why wouldn’t I want my boss to like me?”

  “Jackson and Wyatt like you. They’re the ones that matter.”

  An interesting statement. It rings with truth, and her displeasure at it. That chip’s becoming a bit clearer, but it’s not my place or my problem to uncover the source of it.

  I get the conversation back on track. “It’s not a slight. It’s a fact.” Her brows slam together, but before she can get herself too worked up, I say, “I should be better than you. That’s what you’re paying me for—to be an expert—and that’s what I’m going to be.”

  She opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.

  “You’re not just running a farm; you’re running a distillery too.
Your focus is pulled in a lot of different directions, and you can’t do it all yourself. There’s no shame in hiring someone better than you to take some of that load off.”

  As soon as the words leave my lips, I know they were the wrong thing to say.

  She puffs out her chest, which unfortunately calls my attention to her breasts. “Isn’t it a bit presumptuous to claim your superiority when you’ve been here... What?” She raises her wrist and glances at her watch. “Six hours?”

  It’s not. I’ve already created a long list of things that need to be tweaked and changed to increase production and quality. And that’s just on Jackson’s side of the business. But, since I’m not a complete idiot, I nod instead. “Give me a month, and you’ll see the difference. If I’m wrong, I’ll be the first one to step up and admit it.”

  “Fine.”

  Ah, the woman’s fine is a dangerous thing.

  Her silver eyes narrow. “And stop calling me boss. The name’s Cat. Use it.”

  “Done.”

  She frowns, like she was expecting a fight. “Good.”

  “Anything else?”

  “I want to review and approve any changes before they are implemented.”

  “Are you going to fight me over them?”

  “I will if they’re stupid.”

  “They won’t be.”

  She smirks. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  I stare down at her, studying her intently. I can see her stubbornness; her heels are literally digging into the dirt under her feet. I don’t trust her to put the good of the operation over her desire to assert her authority over me.

  “I’ll make you a deal. I will review everything with you, thoroughly explain my decisions and rationale. And in exchange, you let me do what I need to do without question before the opening.”

  “So, what you’re saying is you want me to let you do whatever you want, even if I don’t agree? And what exactly is in it for me?”

  “You don’t like me, right?”

  Well, she actually likes me probably a little too much, and in all the wrong ways.

  She shrugs. “Not particularly.”

  I nod. “Give me six weeks, and if I don’t deliver on my promises, I’ll help you find a replacement and walk away. You’ll never have to see me again.”

  She laughs, a hard little exasperated sound. “You do understand I could fire you whenever I want, don’t you?”

  “Not without jeopardizing your brother’s opening, and I don’t think you’ll do that.” I lean in a little closer, close enough to smell what’s left of her perfume—something light and clean, not floral at all. If fresh-cut grass were a woman, it’d smell a lot like Cat. “There’s no one else. I know that. You’re stuck with me. Let me do my job, and I promise you won’t be sorry.”

  She blinks. “I’ll give you the crops, but I retain personnel decisions.”

  “Sounds reasonable.” I stick out my hand.

  Her palm slides into mine, and when we touch, there’s the pulse of electricity again.

  I meet her eyes. “Deal?”

  She tugs her hand from mine. “Deal.”

  Then she spins on her heel and takes off down the path, leaving me to catch up.

  Well, this should be interesting.

  3

  Cat

  “Oh. My. God. Who is that?” Haley LeBlanc asks, her pretty brown eyes practically bugging out of her head at the sight of Caden Landry. Haley is a twenty-one-year-old college student majoring in business and marketing. She’s worked for us part-time as a sales associate for the last two years.

  Caden’s talking to Wyatt, who’s gesturing at the rows of barrels that make up the backdrop of the distillery. He’s been busy with my brothers all morning, but it appears my time is about up. Now that Wyatt’s on the last leg of the tour, Caden will want to go over our computer systems, which means I’ll be trapped in his small office with him.

  Nothing I can’t handle. And in light of my long-term plan to avoid him, this is for the greater good.

  I wrinkle my nose. “That is our new farm manager.”

  “No way.” Haley bounces on the balls of her feet like she’s getting ready to tackle him.

  “Way.” I need to play it cool. Thankfully there aren’t that many women who work for us, so I’ll only have to watch a handful of females swooning before they grow accustomed to his presence.

  She fans her face with her hand. “He’s soooo hot.”

  Despite our ten-year age gap, Haley and I are close, and I think of her like the little sister I never had. When I look at her, I see the woman I might have been, if life hadn’t gotten in the way.

  She’s vivacious, outgoing, and never met a challenge she didn’t like. She’s also wild and bold, filled with a kind of entitled determination some people are lucky to possess.

  I love her, admire her, and envy her carefree ability to go after whatever dream comes her way. She’s also a welcome respite from the sea of testosterone that is my life—although she’s not working in my favor at the moment.

  I don’t like the direction of my thoughts—that little twinge of worry about how Caden will respond when Haley hits him with all her sexy, flirty charm. About how she’s young, beautiful, and doesn’t have a shy bone in her body.

  If I don’t steer her in the right direction, who will? It’s my job as her surrogate big sister.

  I shake my head. “He’s too old for you.”

  Caden and Wyatt disappear down an aisle, and Haley peers around the corner to see if she can still catch a glimpse of him.

  “How old is he?” she asks.

  I snuck a peek at his birthday on his paperwork when I entered him into the system, and he’s thirty-six.

  Five years older than me and a million years older than Haley.

  In my best adult voice I say, “Too old.”

  “Who cares? He’s smoking.” Haley’s expression is cunning, and I can practically see the wheels spinning in her head as she schemes her seduction. “Besides, older man is definitely on my sexual bucket list.”

  Yes, Haley is a new age of empowered female that believes sex is her privilege, as much as it is a man’s.

  “Don’t even think about it.” I want to pretend the beat of panic in my chest is out of protection for her. It’s not true, but that’s what I’m going with, because I can’t even voice to myself what it really is.

  Her eyes widen. “What?”

  I shake a finger at her. “I know you, and no. That’s a terrible idea.”

  I try not to think about how fresh-faced and lovely she is, with all that lush, golden hair cascading in trendy waves down to her waist.

  I try even harder not to think of Caden’s reaction to his first glimpse of her.

  My brow knits. Well, fine. If he’s going to get hot over a girl that is almost young enough to be his daughter, it shows what kind of a man he is. Yes, she’s ridiculously pretty and her cheeks are all rosy and plump. And her hair is right out of a shampoo commercial, and her body is tall and lean, and everything she wears looks fantastic on her.

  But just because he can take advantage of her youth doesn’t mean he should.

  She grins at me. “Why is it a terrible idea? Is he married or something?”

  His I-9 form listed him as single. “No, he’s not married, but it’s not a good idea to get involved with someone you work with.”

  “Why not?” She flashes me the gorgeous smile she uses to lure customers into buying copious amounts of rum. She’s got a gift that way. Not only does she have a sixth sense about what tastings will suit a person’s palate, she charms everyone she comes in contact with. Sales on her shifts are 20- to 30-percent higher than any other person who works the counter.

  I frown. “Because it’s messy and can get complicated.”

  She rolls her eyes at me. “I’m not looking to marry the guy, just have a little fun.”

  Why does she have to make everything sound so easy? It’s annoying. I try another tacti
c. “Well, he’s in a position of power over you. I don’t need any Me Too movements to tarnish our good name.”

  She laughs, shaking her head at me like I’m too stupid to live. “Okay, Mom.”

  I stick my tongue out at her.

  Her rich brown eyes narrow. “I think I see what’s going on here.”

  “What’s that?” I spot Wyatt and Caden coming down another aisle, my brother still talking away, gesturing at the barrels.

  Caden is wearing a faded blue work shirt that only highlights the broadness of his shoulders and narrowness of his waist and hips. And his jeans mold to him like a second skin.

  I hate him. I really, really hate him.

  “You want him for yourself.” Haley’s voice rips me from the sight of him and thoughts about his ridiculous body.

  I scowl, feeling the first flush of heat climbing up my chest. “What? No! Why would you think that?”

  Haley grins. “You’re looking at him like he’s double fudge chocolate cake.”

  “Shut up!” My voice is a shriek. “I am not.”

  She laughs. “Uh-huh, you’re thirsty.”

  “I don’t even know what that means.” I gather my composure, lifting my chin high. “I want nothing to do with him.”

  “Good.” She smirks. “Then I’m free to take a crack at him.”

  “No!” I yell.

  Her brow arches.

  I clear my throat. “Because he’s too old for your shenanigans, and it’s my duty to protect your virtue.”

  Why does he have to be one of those guys everyone likes and covets? I didn’t have these problems with Burt, who was sixty, his face weathered, craggy, and one only a mother could love.

  She laughs. “One, I’m legal, and two, my virtue was lost a long time ago in the flatbed of Dylan Buckley’s Ford 150.”

  I cross my arms over my chest. “One, you’re barely legal, and two, I’ve met Dylan Buckley, and he’s a baby compared to Caden. So in my mind, your virtue is still intact.”

  She holds up her hands. “Okay, okay, I get it. You have dibs.”

  My frustration knots like a ball in the middle of my sternum. “I’m not calling dibs.”