Cannon knew without a doubt that Nova Windego was a real piece of work. From the moment he met her, he could tell that she was the ‘Daddy’s Little Princess’ type. Spoiled rotten. He just couldn’t stand her. He had been on his best behavior, being cordial and helpful to her at first because she was the boss’s daughter. Now, however, he was done with her; his patience could only last for so long.

He had seen the way Nova looked at him—that air of superiority she carried about herself. And while she may have thought he was stupid, he wasn’t by a long shot.

He knew she was there to take his job. He could smell it from a mile away. Daddy’s Little Princess clearly wanted to test spreading her diamond-encrusted wings and spend some time outside of the family nest. A girl like her didn’t have a lot of skills though. Her father had obviously sent her to the winery to get some job experience so that she wouldn’t crash and burn trying to make it out in the world on her own. And her acquisition for job experience would involve taking over his job, but Cannon simply wasn’t going to have it.

He had dedicated most of his life to the winery—making sure it ran smoothly and brought in huge profits for the Windego family. In return, he had been permitted to live on the property rent-free, while still taking home nice paychecks. If Nova stuck around though, Cannon knew he would have to kiss these perks goodbye because there just wasn’t enough space for the two of them, especially with her being such an entitled spoiled brat. Albeit a beautiful spoiled brat, but a spoiled brat nonetheless.

Cannon hated to admit it, but there was no use denying it—Nova Windego was the definition of a blonde bombshell, with her long legs, tiny waist, and long flowing hair. And those piercing green eyes—Cannon sometimes worried that if he looked into them for too long, they would make him put every ounce of his pride on the line. She could easily seduce him right out of a job and home.

Therefore, he knew he had to do whatever it took to get rid of her. He couldn’t allow her to take away his livelihood. Somehow, he had to gain the upper-hand in the situation, even if it meant he had to play dirty.

* * *

“Wow. You actually do own a pair of boots,” Cannon said the next day as he watched Nova approaching. She had on a pair of tan work-boots with her jeans tucked inside, and an oversized sweatshirt—and still somehow looked beautiful. Cannon was even more impressed though, that she was on time this early in the morning.

“Yes, I do. Although I can tell that you didn’t think I did, judging from your tone.” She glared at him as she pinned her hair on top of her head.

“Sorry. No offence, but you just don’t seem like the working type.”

Nova rolled her eyes. “You might want to work on not being so judgmental. You don’t know a thing about me, so don’t tell me what I seem like.” She tossed her leg over the back of the ATV. “Are you driving, or should I?”

Cannon rolled his eyes. “How about you just hold on,” he said as he climbed on, positioning himself in front of her on the ATV.

He cranked the engine and Nova wrapped her arms around his waist. Cannon’s heart fluttered just for an instant. Then he dutifully pushed away thoughts about how her soft and ample chest felt pressed against his back.

They took off on the four-wheeler down a winding dirt path between the grapevines. With it still being early in the season, nothing was blooming yet. It had been a particularly dry winter though, so the amount of water the plants had gotten needed to be measured. Without good rain, the wine would be terrible; the grapes would be small and shriveled and their product would be ruined for the year. They had enough in stock to get through one bad season, but one bad season could lead to many. And more than one bad season could end Cannon’s career at Windego Winery.

He and Nova bumped along for a while until they reached the plot in question. Cannon shut off the ATV and hopped down, not bothering to offer Nova hand. If she was going to be able to handle herself, then he would let her. It was better for both of them that way anyhow.

Without wasting time, Cannon headed to the plants and set to work. On his knees, he began separating the soil. Sensing Nova watching him, he looked over his shoulder at her. “Can I help you with something?” he asked.

“If you can’t remember—you’re the one who’s supposed to be teaching me.”

Cannon sighed heavily. “Fine. Do you think you could get down on your knees and take a closer look, or is that too much trouble for you?”

Rolling her eyes, Nova approached Cannon and knelt beside him. She then proceeded to watch as he continued separating the soil and storing some of it away into test tubes. “We’re looking to see the irrigation level of the soil,” he explained. “If it’s too dry, the grapes will be small and the crop will be ruined. So we need to figure out if we have to water them ourselves this spring, or if we can just let mother nature run her course.”

“Well obviously we should let nature take its course, right? Otherwise, if we water them ourselves, we’ll be spending more money.”

“True. But spending a little bit more money to make a lot more money in the future is far better than losing an entire year’s worth of crops. Your father understands that well.”

“I’m sure he does,” Nova said, picking at her nails. “Did he say anything else when he talked to you?”

Cannon raised his eyebrows. He had been under the assumption that Nova had been in contact with her father daily since she arrived in Crescent Valley. “No. Why?”

“I just thought that maybe he would’ve said something about my brother, that’s all.”

Cannon’s hand stopped moving. “Why? Is he coming here or something?”

Nova shrugged her shoulders. Watching her, Cannon felt something turn in his stomach. Even though her shoulder-shrug had been a non-committal response, Cannon still didn’t like it. He and everyone else on the farm knew about Nova’s infamous twin brother, Julius Windego. With his stubborn ways, he was essentially the male version of sister. Every time he came town, a fight with the Bradwick family was sure to follow. In other words, Julius always brought the drama.

Cannon tried to stay as far away from the drama as possible; all he wanted was to focus on his work. But with Marcus having sent Nova, and now possibly Julius too, he knew his job was even more at risk.

Was Marcus Windego honestly expecting him to train his children to run the winery so that he could be out of a job? If so, the old man was insane.

Even though Cannon could probably get another job a different winery, Windego Winery was the best there was. Plus, Crescent Valley was his home. He had too much history with the town to leave it behind—not to mention secrets and responsibilities to maintain as well. So he just couldn’t fathom going elsewhere to make a living. That meant he couldn’t let the Windego twins take away the life he had worked so hard to build for himself.

“He hasn’t said anything about your brother,” Cannon said somewhat angrily. “Why are you expecting him to?”

Nova shrugged once again as she picked up some soil and pressed it between her fingers before dropping it into the open test tube Cannon held. “I don’t know. I just thought one of them would come to see me.”

“Come see you? You’ve only been here for what—a week?” Cannon shook his head. “You’ve never really been on your own, have you? Is it that hard?”

“I’m not the type who likes being alone,” Nova said. “And I’ve been gone a lot longer than a week, thank you very much. Like I said before—you don’t know anything about me, so don’t judge me.” Nova put the cap on the test tube in Cannon’s hand, brushed her hands off on her knees, and headed back to the ATV.

Cannon stared after her, considering whether he really didn’t know as much about her as he had always assumed he did. Maybe she was right; it wasn’t his place to judge her.

Furthermore, based on her lack of interest in learning the ropes about running the winery, maybe his job wasn’t really on the line either.

Cannon sat there, wondering for the first time if Nova was actually in Crescent Valley for another reason entirely.