coming out in a squeak.
“You’ve heard of it, right?” His smile was teasing and more than a little flirty.
Christian Milken was flirting with her. She fought the urge to check on the camera again. How was it possible that she’d just sworn off men, and suddenly, in the span of twenty-four hours, Griffin had reappeared and Christian was asking her out? Okay, wait. Maybe she was reading too much into this. If Stonecreek was chosen as LiveSoft’s headquarters, he’d be relocating here. He probably was just being friendly...neighborly even.
“Of course,” she said with forced cheer. “Dinner would be lovely.”
“Not as lovely as you,” he murmured and lifted his hand to trace a finger along her jaw.
So much for being neighborly.
A throat cleared behind Maggie, and she whirled around to find Griffin standing there, a wine bottle in each hand. His expression was dark as midnight, his green eyes intense on her.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” he said through clenched teeth.
She shook her head, swallowing down the lump of emotion that welled in her throat at the sight of him.
“Have you met Christian Milken?” she asked stepping back to include the CEO in the conversation.
“That’s why I’m here.” Griffin’s voice was tight but he gave Christian a friendly smile. “I’m Griffin Stone from Harvest Vineyard. We donated a few bottles of wine for the silent auction earlier, and I thought you might like to add a couple to your collection.”
Christian took one of the bottles Griffin held out and studied the label. “Pinot Noir. That’s my preferred type.”
“I heard.” Griffin flicked a glance toward Maggie then back to Christian. “We’re all excited about the potential of having you make Stonecreek your new headquarters. I can tell you it’s a fantastic place for a growing business. The town does its best to make sure the business community is taken care of.”
Maggie’s fingers tightened around her cup of hot chocolate. Here was one more example of a perfectly innocuous comment sounding vaguely suggestive to her ears. Like she was personally responsible for servicing local business owners. She knew Griffin didn’t mean it that way, any more than Grady had, and hoped Christian understood it too.
“I’m coming to appreciate what Stonecreek has to offer more with each moment,” Christian said, inclining his head toward her.
Griffin’s broad shoulders went even stiffer, if that was possible. Not that Christian would notice. Griffin wore faded jeans, another thick flannel shirt and a baseball cap with the Harvest Vineyard logo stitched on the front. To the casual observer, he’d appear to be relaxed and easy-going, just another resident helping to make a good impression.
But Maggie could feel the tension radiating from him.
“The business owners around here support each other,” she said with patently fake cheer. “It’s one of the things that make us stand out.”
“Among others,” Christian murmured softly.
“Harvest is a great example of that,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Griffin’s father founded the vineyard. From the start, and especially in the past few years, they’ve become a leader in the Oregon wine industry.”
Christian adjusted the scarf wound around his neck and nodded. “I met your brother last week,” he told Griffin. “He has some big plans for expansion.”
“Yes, he does,” Griffin agreed almost reluctantly. “But we’re also focused on environmental stewardship and the type of community we create. Our entire team contributes to the end product. We want to make our company healthy for the land and the people who work for us.”
“I like the sound of that.” Christian’s blue eyes lit with interest. “Work-life balance is one of the tenets LiveSoft was founded on.”
Maggie drew in a steadying breath as the two men discussed company culture as well as environmental building practices. She also had a moment to observe the two of them, both attractive but so different in looks and temperament. Despite his obvious enthusiasm for the topics, Christian remained almost aloof as he spoke with Griffin, every inch the tall and lean corporate executive. Griffin was earthy and raw, gesturing with his hands, his brows furrowing as he considered the other man’s ideas. And when he scrubbed a hand over the stubble that shadowed his strong jaw, Maggie’s insides tightened.
Would she ever not have that kind of visceral reaction to him?
“I’d like to set up a time to visit your operation,” Christian said. “I was only planning on staying in town for a day next week, long enough to shoot footage for the next installment of the social media story. But if you could carve out an afternoon, I can push the next stop on my small-town tour?”
“Sure,” Griffin said, glancing at Maggie. “Happy to show you around. Anything for Stonecreek.”
She knew he wasn’t happy to spend any more time with LiveSoft’s polished CEO than was absolutely necessary. The look he shot her was brief, a slight raise of his brows and a flash in his green eyes. In that moment she understood the only reason he was being the least bit cordial was to help her.
What was she supposed to make of that after she’d just cut him out of her life a day earlier?
“Thank you,” she told him.
“You should come out too, Maggie May,” he answered with a far too innocent smile. “Our plans at Harvest might interest you, as well.”
She opened her mouth to argue but Christian put a hand on her back. “Great idea. We can talk more about how LiveSoft might fit into the current community and what our employees are looking for with regard to the balance between work and their personal lives.”
“Sure,” she answered, her cheeks aching from so much fake smiling. “Um...text me.”
“I will.” Both men answered at the same time, only adding to the awkwardness of the moment, at least for Maggie.
She turned up the wattage on her smile, surprised her cheeks didn’t begin to crack. “Sounds good,” she answered both of them at once. “Right now I’m going to go help with cleanup.”
“Doesn’t Jacob Snow usually handle that?” Griffin asked.
“I’m here to support everyone,” she said sweetly. “You fellas have a great evening.” Without waiting for a response from either of them, she turned and walked away.
After tossing her empty hot chocolate cup into a nearby trash can, she massaged her fingers against her temples. Was it possible she’d sworn off men only to find herself torn between two of them?
* * *
Griffin stalked into O’Malley’s Tavern after finally ditching Christian Milken. The man might run one of the hottest app-development companies in the industry, but he seemed like a total tool to Griffin. His distaste had plenty to do with Milken’s obvious infatuation with Maggie.
Griffin had come to the Winter Wonderland
