“I’ve been doing great. Early nights and celibacy do wonders for one’s health,” he said wryly. Aria and Lucien burst into laughter. Like most people in his life, they were firm believers in his playboy persona.

He’d been partly serious, though. Slowing down his hectic life and enjoying the calm of Weldon had unknotted some of his tension. He’d been running too fast to take in the blurry images of his life. Everything was quieter, slower here.

Then there was Tara. Being with her made everything around him too clear, too bright. It was bringing into focus his deliberately hazy life. He was having trouble ignoring his increasing need to reassess his life. His mind was clamoring to conjure up what-ifs that would include Tara. But he wasn’t going there. The shortcut to heartbreak lay that way.

Wiping her eyes, Aria continued to arrange the ingredients on the kitchen island, while sticking others in the fridge. “So how’s Tara doing?”

“She misses Aubrey.” He cleared his throat. He didn’t know if he could sound casual talking about Tara. He wanted to shout to the world how amazing she was. “But otherwise, it’s business as usual. She mentioned something about getting started on a new seasonal brew.”

“So you guys keep in touch?” Lucien asked, handing Seth a glass of red he’d just poured.

Seth cleared his throat again. When that didn’t work, he took a sip of his wine. “Well, she is the only person I know in Weldon. Besides, she’s been helping me with the restaurant’s website. Did you know she has a BA in graphic design?”

Now he was just blabbering. Shit. If Tara saw him bumbling around like this, she’d probably kill him. She was absolutely adamant about keeping their dating a secret.

“Really? So she didn’t always want to be a brewer?” Aria said, cocking her head to one side. “She seems like she was born for the job.”

Seth was this close to blurting that she’d originally started out as a viticulture and enology major, but that had been a private story that Tara had shared with him. And it didn’t seem like a lot people knew about her asshole ex.

He was acting like a nervous wreck just talking about her. How was he going to be when she showed up? Could he make it any less obvious that he was interested in Tara? But the truth was, he was more than interested. He was downright infatuated with her.

That was not good. Not good at all.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Thank you so much, oppa.” Tara kissed Jack on the cheek for covering for her. Sometimes the perks of being the baby sister came in handy.

She couldn’t wait to hang out with Aria and Lucien, but she was dying to see Seth. She felt a bit shy about spending time with him after that night in Mammoth, but then again, maybe that was why her heart was racing to see him again. Good gracious, that was hot.