His eyes widened after the first sip, then he took a slower sip with his eyes closed. It was full-bodied, rich, and just the right amount of bitter. One of the best damn beers he’d ever had.

“This is amazing. How is this not perfect?” His face scrunched up in confusion.

“The judges don’t think so. Weldon Brewery came in silver to Mountain Brewery’s gold in the wood-aged stout category for the last three competitions. I think I know why. Their finish is a smidgeon smoother,” she admitted grudgingly. “But I don’t want to sacrifice the bite of bitter coffee in my stout for the smoother finish. I’m getting there, though. I just need to fine-tune the malt and caramel ratio with the hops.”

“I hope you’re planning on beating them.”

“Hell, yeah. The next competition is at the San Diego Beer Festival, which is a good-sized event. That’ll be a good start,” she said. Seth leaned forward with his elbows on the counter and waited for her to continue. “But what I really want is to brew the best beers out there and have Weldon Brewery sweep gold medals for the top beer categories at the World Beer Cup. It’s the biggest beer competition out there, and we’re entering in the next couple years. If we establish a name for ourselves, we can start bottling our beer for retail sales. I want to put Weldon Brewery firmly on the map.”

“That’s fantastic.” Her talent, her strength, and her spirit blew him away. “You certainly have the drive to make it happen.”

“Maybe I overshot it a bit, but I definitely want to win the gold medal for the barrel-aged stout at this year’s San Diego Beer Festival. My IPAs have been doing great, so it’s time to let my stout shine.”

Seth raised his glass in salute and downed half of the beer. Tara lifted her own beer and finished it to the last drop.

“Whoa. What’s the rush? We’re not having a drinking contest.” He thought she was in a better mood, but her melancholy seemed to have stayed with her.

“Hmm.” She tapped her finger on her lips. “I like that idea.”

“What idea?” he asked, distracted by the soft give of her lips under her finger.

“Why, having a drinking contest, of course,” she said with a cheeky grin. “Why don’t we bet a hundred bucks to keep it interesting?”

“A hundred bucks? You’re not messing around.” Seth chuckled, enjoying her boldness. Then a brilliant idea lit up his mind. Dude, you’re a fucking genius. If it worked, he might get his spring fling with Tara after all. Reining in his excitement, he said casually, “Why don’t I suggest the game? Do you think you can handle some truth or dare?”

“Bring. It. On.”

CHAPTER TWO

“Here, let me switch out the glasses to something more civilized,” Tara said, reaching for his snifter. They were going to pass out before the game got interesting if they chugged from their full-sized glasses. “And we’ll both drink the white ale to keep the alcohol level even.”