Bourbon & Proof (The Bourbon Boys, #3)

by Victoria Wilder

Lust and like are L-words I understand. Fucking and fantasy are F-words that deliver. I believe in fantasy at first glance and lust at first sight. And both of those, for me, come in the form of my best friend’s brother.

I teased him often about being old, but the truth is, Ace Foxx is just like his bourbon: better with some age. And damn, do I drink him in every once in a while. If only I literally could.

“You are as much mine as the rest of my boys. Maybe not by blood, but by everything else that matters. Loving someone isn’t a weakness. You can be exactly the woman you are—strong, smart, sassy as all get-out, and still give in to it.”

The truth is, I want to be loved out loud. Choosing to marry a person is just about as loud as it got.

She’s the kind of woman who will start a bar fight and watch men fall over themselves like idiots to finish it. Because she can—her charm is so damn sweet sometimes that it’ll make your teeth hurt. That’s only around the people she liked. Then there were moments, like this one, when she recognized a gauntlet being thrown and she showed up like a fucking gladiator.

Flirting is one of my favorite pastimes. Charming people feels like the easiest way to connect with someone, and in my line of work, I do it often. It’s far easier to find distraction in the handsome Viking-like man sitting next to me than to spiral.

I’m a smart woman. My mind is always moving. I can think of at least a handful of things at once, balance about a dozen more, and then plan all the little details in between. The devil’s always in the details. Or maybe my devil is in crisp black suit pants and white shirt with the top two buttons forgotten, and a square jawline that always looked like it’s a bite away from cracking molars. My devil is a Kentucky bourbon boy but, goddesses, he’s always looked like a man. The kind of man that isn’t simply handsome. No, he’s downright beautiful. My devil makes bourbon, rides horses, and makes sure his family comes first.

“I think if you knew my ‘little kinks,’ you wouldn’t push me with that bratty mouth so often.”

“I think if you really were paying attention, you’d catch on that my bratty mouth would like you to finally do something with it.”

“Knock. It. Off.”

“Make me.”

Ace tries to be too many things for too many people. He has his own way of doing it, but that man’s single goal in life is to protect people. Especially the ones he cares about most. And Hadley Jean, that man has tried most of his life to ignore how much he cares about you.”

“He would only ever be able to choose you. That man won’t love anyone else. Believe me, I know. Because when you find it”—he shakes his head—“it’s impossible to think about anything else.”

I don’t think we’re meant to just love once. It’s too good not to feel it as many times as we can.”

“I want you to be happy. I want you to make your own blend that you’re excited about the same way that they’ve been. I want you to bend more easily on things that are good for you.”

“Fuck,” I gasp just as I kiss her. Her mouth meets mine like it’s the first clash on a battlefield. War declared. Hard and dominating, matching me breath for breath. Like it’s always been between us—push and pull. A fight with no winner, and in its wake, only pleasure.

What she never realized is, I couldn’t ignore that woman, no matter how hard I tried.

Her unpredictability is as enticing as it is terrifying.

If there are things you need or want, then you need to ask for them. I’m not a mind reader, and I don’t want this ending in either of us hating the other.”

If the first time he kissed me tilted my world, then this sets it on fire.

I’ve witnessed Hadley’s reactions thousands of times before today, but never so openly or while not being worried she’ll catch me looking. Every time she laughs with her full body, her head tipping back, eyes crinkling, mouth open.

“There’s always a solution to every problem,” he says, his tone measured. “You just need to ask the right people to help solve it.”

“Stop looking at me like that,” he says with a smirk tilting his lips, his eyes closing. “Dangerous,” he whispers as a follow-up. Rolling onto my back, I stare at the ceiling—the wooden beams that look like charred barrels and a vaulted design that seem so far from where we are lying. “Like what?” I smile, knowing exactly how I was looking at him. “Like you’re mine,” he mumbles into his pillow, like he’s drifting back to sleep. And all I can think to myself as I lie next to him is: that’s all I’ve ever been.

I need to live, too. Can’t keep living for other people.”

Hadley pissed off is a fucked-up drug that feeds me.

She’s the kind of woman most men don’t even try to approach or handle—to them, she’s too much. Too confident, too smart, too attractive for those who would never come close to measuring up. It makes her that much more dangerous because she has no idea. When enough people who are supposed to be important to you tell you and show you that you’re not, you start believing it.

“I’ve come to the sound of your laugh,

He doesn’t see it, not like I do, but he takes care of everyone in some way or another. And he’s been doing it for so long, I don’t even know if he realizes

“Every time I came, it was because I was thinking about that man behind me right there. The one who, I promise you, is not going to forget this.”

Mic drop

“You’re obsessed with me.” “Isn’t that obvious by now?”

“I’ve been trying to catch my breath since the moment you walked into my life. And I know that I’ve done this all wrong, but I want to make it right.”

You look happy.” He doesn’t even hesitate when he looks at me and says, “I am.”

The words are a reminder of our vows—Preuve d’amour. Proof of love.

“You always put on a brave face. I know those; I did those most of my life too.” She glances out to the announcer’s podium, where Del’s standing. “But when you find a good one, the kind of partner that shakes up everything you ever thought you knew about yourself and allows you to be exactly who you are, you learn that being brave and being happy don’t need to look the same.”

“You should know by now that I’ll give you whatever you want, Hadley.”

I kiss her smiling, waiting lips. I can get lost while kissing this woman.

I’m ready for all of this with you. I spent too long thinking about what ifs and now I’d love to lean into the why nots.”

Catching another glimpse of how this man is so caring and soft for the people he loves makes me appreciate the many sides to Ace even more.

life is meant to be enjoyed too, savored and shared.

the kicker is that it was never dangerous to fall for a Foxx. It’s simply proof that, regardless of any secret or lie that might have been tied to a woman, when a Foxx falls, they do it as bold and strong as our bourbon.