As we enter my office, he looks at his phone. “Where is this kid?”
“Who?” I ask.
He steps outside my office, looks toward his left, and says, “There you are. I told you to wait for me, and suddenly you disappeared.”
Mr. Matthews enters, and a man a few inches taller than him is right behind. “Siobhan, I want you to meet Iskander Cantú. He’s Diego’s grandson. Iskander, meet Siobhan. She’s been with us for the last couple of years. She manages the brewery and the sports bar.” He pauses and flashes his signature smile at me. “You can bring him up to date. He’s here to take Diego’s place. You’ll manage under him or over him, whatever works best for you two.”
Iskander chuckles like a thirteen-year-old boy with a dirty mind. I stare at Mr. Matthews dumbfounded. He has to be kidding me. So much for sex making a better world and washing away my bad luck. Did I just fuck my boss’s grandson?
My new boss?
Chapter Six
Iskander
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to take my break.” Siobhan finally speaks, avoiding my gaze. “It’s lunchtime. Yes, I’m…”
“I can take that bucket from you,” I say, getting closer to her.
She drops the bucket and runs out of the office.
Abuelo is going to kill me if he ever finds out that I slept with her. I’ve heard of Siobhan before. She came from some big corporation and made several changes to the brewery and the sports bar that have brought more customers to Wicked Luna plus tourists to Luna Harbor.
“What did you do, Iskander?” Uncle Gary glares at me with a what-the-fuck-Iskander look.
I shrug innocently. Almost saying, I’m inocente, the way Efren used to do when he broke into the garage and stole a bike or a car. “Nothing?”
He shakes his head in disapproval. “She ran like a skittish kid who just saw a ghost. I can’t lose that girl. You need her to run this place.”
“I thought Dad said I needed my siblings to run the place,” I correct him. “Which one is it?”
“You five are here to run the shops, but she knows a lot about the brewery and the sports bar,” he states. “I’m going to stay in Seattle with your grandfather. That’s why I said we had to start today. I’m introducing you to everyone and giving you the keys and passwords to everything.”
I glare at him. “Are you kidding me, Uncle Gary?”
He shakes his head. “No. I was going to hire more people, but you know Diego. He said this is your legacy. You kids need to come back home. We put too much heart and soul into these places. It’s your turn to continue with the tradition.”
Uncle Gary has been a friend of my grandfather since they were in grade school. Unlike my grandfather, he never married or had a family. In some weird way, we’re all he has. It never occurred to me that he doesn’t have anyone to leave his part of the business to. This might be me in fifty years. I’ll leave everything to my nieces and nephews.
My grandfather is not going to die, and Uncle Gary is going to be around for a while. I better make sure he knows this. Me tending his shops is a temporary thing.
“You mean until you come back,” I state.
“Sure.” He looks at his watch. “Do you think you can come over tomorrow so Siobhan can bring you up to speed? You know how to manage the sports bar. Nothing has changed. I’m giving her the rest of the day off. She deserves it.”
I’m not sure if she’s going to talk to me again. Fuck, what was I thinking when I pinned her against the door and fucked her? I knew when I saw her today that she was more than just a waitress about to quit her job.
I just didn’t care. I had to have her one last time. Though, I’m afraid that wasn’t enough to purge her out of my system. I need to be inside her again, to fuck her pretty mouth and watch her swallow my cum—among other things.
“Iskander, are you okay?”
I nod. “Yeah, I’ll talk to her. Where are we going next?”
“The tattoo parlor.”
“All I can draw is stick figures. I hope you don’t mind if we hire someone to take over that place,” I say.
“Mane has that friend, San, doesn’t he? He’s good at drawing. Myka is good at designing too. They probably know someone who might be able to do it, or they can learn.”
God help us. “We’ll figure it out,” I reassure him.
He should oversee everything, I appreciate his concern for my abuelo, but he doesn’t need to be there every day. Dad is plenty, isn’t he?
After the tour of the inn, the tattoo parlor, the car shop, and the sports bar, Uncle Gary gives me the keys to my grandfather’s house. He says all their properties are rented, but if I don’t feel comfortable living there, I can stay at the inn or rent the pool house at the farm.
I decide to keep the room for now. However, I go and visit Nydia, who apparently owns the farm.
“Momentito, por favor,” she says while closing a box. When her gaze lifts, that smile she was wearing a second ago transforms. “Out!”
“Is that the way to receive an old friend?”
She glares at me. “You’re not a friend. I wish I could say that I can’t believe you pulled a Cantú on Siobhan, but unfortunately, I’m not surprised.”
“I pulled a Cantú?” I chuckle. She’s precious.
I’ve known Nydia since she was little. We were neighbors. She’s Fernando’s age, but best friends with Myka and Manelik. The three of them were close until my brother chose to fuck things up. “I’m not like Mane.”
“All of you just come over for five minutes, fuck up someone’s life, and then leave,” she states.
See, I could be nice to her, but she’s just shoving me in the same place as my brothers. I never dated anyone from Luna Harbor because I knew I would never come back. Unlike them. Efren dated a different girl every week. Fernando had his summer flings. Mane… he had Nydia, and he left her behind.
“Listen, I had no idea who she was. She knew the score. Actually, she set up the rules.”
“You knew last night that she worked for you. You jeopardized her job,” she accuses me. “That’s actually sexual harassment.”
“Why are you twisting this? We were two consenting adults who knew the score,” I protest. “It’s not my fault that you’re still holding onto a stupid dream. You should’ve known that he would never come back.”
“I’m not twisting anything. You messed with the wrong person. She’s my best friend. The last thing she needs is a guy like you,” she states. “There’s a difference between knowing the score and getting fired because you screwed your boss. Now get out of my store.”
“If I ask about renting the guest house on the farm?”
She shakes her head. “I’m not that desperate.”
“We’re going to live here for a few months. Don’t you think we should do something about…” I shrug, moving my hands from her to me. “To avoid fighting over nothing? It’s Luna Harbor. We’re bound to see each other often.”