Read Wine Astray: Spirit of the Soul Wine Shop Mystery (A Rysen Morris Mystery Book 1) for Free Online Page A

in."
    "All part of the package."
    "I don't care about your package," Rysen told him.  He grinned as she said it, and it suddenly dawned on her what she'd said.  She felt the heat flooding into her face and swallowed hard.  "You…know what I mean.  How much is my sister paying you to sleep on her floor?"
    He tapped a finger against the side of his nose.  "That's betwixt me and her, Miss Rysen.  She's paid me fair.  Of course, she's paying in installments.  I know when honest people need time to pay for my services.  We'll work out future payment…well, in the future."
    "Oh."  Rysen didn't know what to say to that.  This guy wasn't ripping her sister off, and he actually did sound like he knew what he was doing.  She'd been starting to worry that this was just some jack of all trades making a quick buck off someone else's problems.  Maybe she'd pegged him wrong.
    "Ask you a question?" he said to her, pushing away from the counter and walking over to her.
    "Uh, sure."
    “Just how often do her shipments not come in?”  He sounded genuinely interested to know.  Maybe it was just part of his job, she thought.
    "She told me she's lost one a month.  This would make three."  Rysen took a moment to remember everything her sister had told her.  Brandon was close enough now that she could smell his cologne, a musky, spiced scent.  "She's been working off the stock she already had, but give it a few weeks and she'll have to close down.  She can't keep paying for stock that never arrives."
    "And she's gone to the police?"  It wasn't so much a question as a fact, and Rysen could see wheels turning in his mind behind those gorgeous eyes.
    "Yes, she's gone to the police."  Rysen took a few steps away, trying to make it look like she had to tidy up the small selection of wine on a shelf.  Really, she just needed a little space from Brandon.  This close to him, her mind and body were starting to react to his presence, his scent, his warm voice.  Damn it, she told herself, get it together.  He's working for Christina.  He's not some stranger you're going to ask out on a date.
    That idea blossomed into an image that made her bite her lip and shuffle the bottles of wine again.  Stop it, she told herself again.  You don't even know him.
    "The police were no help," she said, to keep the conversation moving forward.  "Christina complained to the shipping company too, with the same results.  She's out of options.  We were hoping a security consultant would be able to do something."
    He was about to say something, and his hand reached out for hers—when had he gotten so close to her again?—and Rysen felt a little breath escape her parted lips.
    Which was when Christina came back into the room from the office.  She was so upset that she shoved the door open as hard as she could and made it bang against the wall.
    “Well, they say there’s nothing that they can do, but I got them to promise to send me a partial shipment tomorrow.  At an additional cost," Christina grumbled.  She stopped short of Rysen and Brandon, blinking, her eyes narrowing for just a moment before she went back to her grumbling.
    Rysen wondered what her sister was thinking, seeing her and Brandon standing here like this…
    Oh.  Of course.  She really wished she didn't blush so easily.  Turning her face away, she stepped around the set of chest-high shelves, putting them between her and Brandon.
    "I’ll be down in the cellar," Christina finally said, "counting what's left of our inventory."
    Rysen wished she could do something to help her sister.  She heard Christina stomping down the stairs to the cellar, muttering to herself the whole time.  There had to be some way to keep the shipments coming.  But what?
    "I know that look, I know what you’re thinking," Brandon said to her.  Her eyebrows shot up. How on earth would he know what she was thinking by the look on her face?  "You’re determined to help your sister?"
    It was