The Billionaire's Kiss By Avery James
Prologue
Logan Harris poured himself a pint. The dark amber ale foamed up over the lip of the glass and splashed onto his fingers as he placed it down on the bar. It was well past midnight, and, though the staff still needed to make the final preparations for the next day's grand opening, Logan had asked everyone to leave early. He liked to spend one last night alone in every empty space before opening it to the public.
If he breathed in deeply enough, Logan could still smell the sawdust from construction mixing with the warm ocean air. The brewery had been built at a breakneck pace in order to open for summer. The time from permitting to completion had been a record, and yet no detail had been spared. Logan had personally inspected every inch of the facility from the tap lines to the shingles.
The copper brew kettles gleamed in the dim light. Everything was in place. Everything was perfect. Logan took his pint, headed out onto the deck, leaned over the railing and watched the lights of a lone boat passing in the channel. Everything was ready. Every beam, every brick, every draft line and tabletop was perfect. He took a long, slow sip of the beer and placed it down. Tomorrow night’s grand opening would be perfect, and soon he'd have to find some new project somewhere else. He watched the far-off passing lights and felt the cold ocean wind blow past his body. Logan ran his fingers through his tousled blond hair and kept his eyes on that ship.
He was going to do this one right. He was going to learn from his mistakes in Jackson Hole and Denver. He wasn’t going to self-destruct once the hard part of the work was over. He wasn’t going to treat his work like one giant party, drinking to excess and sleeping around. He wasn't going to slip back into those old habits. "This time will be different," he told himself. "This time, you'll find what you're looking for." This vow had become as much of a tradition for him as the first drink. "This time will be different," he said one more time. As Logan turned back inside to lock up for the night, he had no idea how right he was.