ENORMOUS PROBLEM
Griffin
The last fewnights had been a blur. Business dinners, investor meetings, Jessa by my side through all of it, turning heads in gowns and Louboutin shoes she had no idea how to walk in until she simply decided she would.
She charmed everyone. Laughed with the waitstaff. Complimented the investors’ wives without sounding fake. Joked with the valet when our car was late.
Every room I walked her into, she disarmed with raw, unpolished realness no one here knew what to do with.
Me? I couldn’t look away. She proved a more entertaining sideshow to my main event.
I remembered Elsa at similar events—icy, immaculate, mean when she thought no one important was listening. I’d been stupid enough to call that love.
Jessa reminded me of the only real mother figure I ever respected—Sophie’s mom. She’d started West Games with my father at a kitchen table. Brilliant, kind, no airs, she brought the heart to our home. Dad’s ego scaled the company; his demands broke their marriage. She left with Sophie, head high, before Dad could kill her spirit.
A model of strength, that was Jessa, too. Warm. Real. From nothing, yet determined to matter.
We fell easily into an after-hours routine. Theo asleep, my day done, we curled against each other in my bed. I used to drag myself to sleep at the end of every long day. Now I had a curvy woman waiting for me there.
Worth every second. Worth the signature on the contract.
An enormous problem.
I’d never let a woman distract me from business before.
Sam noticed. During this morning’s preparations for the charity benefit, I botched a line in my speech because I was replaying Jessa’s mouth on my cock in the shower.
I corrected the slip. But Sam’s sharp eyes had cut across the table like knives.
After the meeting, he lingered. “Something wrong, Grif?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you?” He leaned on the conference table. “You’ve never been sloppy before. But earlier you faltered. Looked less than confident.” He shook his head. “I’d bet Jessa has something to do with this. Don’t let some small-town woman cloud your judgment, Griffin. We have that event over at the club this afternoon. The IPO is weeks away. You need to keep your head in the game. Keep up the ruse. Nothing more.”
He left with the warning hanging in the air. I stared at my desk for an hour, furious at him—and at myself because he was right about one thing: the act was dangerously close to becoming something a little too real.
Voices outside my office door had me curious about who was speaking with Marianne. She knocked. “Griffin, you have a lovely visitor.”
Jessa stepped from behind her and leaned on my doorframe. “Thought I’d stop by before the club event.”
“Nice of you. Come in. Marianne, hold all my calls.” I stood, clocking Jessa’s silk-straight hair, the trench coat, the smile that said trouble.
Marianne shut the door with a wink.
Jessa locked it, shut the blinds on the thin window next to it. She hung the coat at the hook by the door.
The navy satin dress moved with her body as she stalked toward me, sultry eyes locked on mine in a way I couldn’t ignore. Her floral and clean fragrance hit first—then the sight of her breasts, high and pushed up like a dare.
“New push-up bra?” I arched a brow.
“Black card perks,” she said, coy. “Turns out I love lingerie.”
Heat crawled up my spine. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see those perks for myself.”
“Ask nicely.”
Christ. This woman.
