The Boy Next Door - Sierra Hill Page 0,2

using the nickname he’s always called me, but he just gave me what seems like a genuine compliment. Skepticism quickly replaces my confusion.

I’m sure this is just some sort of diversion tactic. The same thing he did on the baseball mound when he tried to psyche out the batters. Throwing the changeup instead of a slider or fastball.

I’m onto him. I’m not as stupid as I was when I was seventeen.

I’m no longer that innocent girl who believed anything that Jordan said or promised.

Because those promises were always broken.

Jordan

Goddamn.

Amelia Redding turned into real a stunner.

She’s a woman we’d refer to in baseball terms as a changeup because she morphed and matured at a deceptively slow rate.

The last time I saw her was over ten years ago. She was gawky, skinny, and wore big-framed glasses that took up half her face. But underneath that, she had nice breasts and legs that I fantasized about in my teenage bed every night. And her intelligence and smart-ass wit always turned me on.

But I never let her know that. I couldn’t for many reasons.

Which is why the last time I saw her was at our high school graduation when she slapped me silly.

Before you feel sorry for me, believe me. I deserved it. I’d been a dick to her and done the unthinkable. However, the girl from back then is nothing like the sassy, fiery woman in front of me now.

Amelia has certainly changed – not only in appearance but also in her confidence level. And damn if that isn’t impressive.

A role reversal seems to have occurred between us. Where Lia has become more confident with experience, I’ve become more withdrawn after having fallen from the pedestal I’d once been on. Now I’m a has-been retired pro pitcher who left the league with his tail between his legs.

My honesty in my compliment to her seems to have had the opposite effect.

“Don’t you dare try to suck up to me with your brand of sarcastic, condescending charm. And don’t try to pretend you know me, Jordan. It’s been far too long for that. We need to get one thing straight right now.” Lia jabs her finger into the cloth-covered table to emphasize her seriousness, her auburn brows furrowing inward.

I casually prop my chin in my hand, elbow on the table, giving her my full attention, an amused grin on my face.

“I’m not the same person I was the last time you saw me. I’ve worked my ass off in this industry for years, and I know this business. If you hire me for this job and truly want my help, you’re going to treat me as an equal.”

I throw my hands up in the air. “Whoa, slow your roll there, sweetheart. You seem to be getting ahead of yourself since I haven’t even offered you a position yet. But you don’t need to sell me on your credentials. You seem to forget, I do know all about you. You’re all I hear about every time I talk to my mother. Amelia this. Amelia that.” I roll my eyes and nod my chin in thanks as Briar returns with my wine.

I take a sip, trying to pretend I know whether it has good legs or not, and continue.

“It’s the reason I’m here to talk to you. It’s no secret that while I may have bought a winery, I know next to nothing about it. But you do.”

I give her a meaningful look under my lashes, and it seems to take the wind out of her sails. Lia’s shoulders sag heavily, as if all the bluster and weight have dissipated, and she bites the corner of her lip, assessing my sincerity.

Because I do need her. I don’t know a damn thing about making wine. While I may have grown up in wine country, and my father, when he was alive, was a successful distributor, I don’t know much about the craft of winemaking. I’m a beer drinker and couldn’t tell you the difference between a Cab Franc, Cabernet, or Malbec.

I only bought this winery as an investment and business venture after walking away from baseball, wanting to return to my hometown to be near my mother and to settle down. I need Lia’s experience and knowledge to get this fledgling business off the ground.

Scrubbing a hand through my mop of hair, I lean back and sigh. “And the same goes for me. I’m not the same guy you knew back then, either. I’ve made mistakes, gone through