She had that effect, whether or not she realized it.
“Where did the two of you meet?” Anthony asked, swirling his bourbon.
“Holly Creek,” Jessa said easily. “A small town upstate. I was working at a brewery when Griffin came in for a meeting with one of the owners.”
“A brewery?” David raised an eyebrow. “How charming.”
There was condescension in his tone. Subtle. But there. My jaw clicked.
“It is. Family-owned. Best craft beer in the state if you should ever visit sometime,” Jessa provided, unfazed.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Thankfully, the meeting began before I could warn these men to come down from their mountain tops and drop the tone.
Sam guided everyone to the table on the meeting side of the glass partition. Jessa sat beside me, quiet but attentive, nodding in the right places, smiling when appropriate.
An hour passed. She was probably bored to tears but hardly looked it.
The projections were solid. The questions posed were tough but fair and easy enough for Sam and me to tackle. By the timewe reached the final slides, I could feel the room leaning in our direction.
This was going well.
I glanced at Jessa. She caught my eye, touched her throat, and mouthed the word “water” and gestured toward the bar on the other side of the partition.
I nodded and half stood as she rose. The other gentlemen around us did as well, and old school sign of respect. She slipped out quietly, disappearing behind the frosted glass.
I turned my attention back to Richard’s question about quarterly earnings, and answered smoothly. But my eyes kept drifting to the glass.
I could see her silhouette through the semi-frosted barrier, and hear bits of her voice, talking to the bartender. Guess I could take the bartender out of the small town, but she’d always find her way back to what she knew.
A few more minutes passed by when I noticed another silhouette appeared on the stool next to her. This one taller and broader, angling close to her. My hands formed fists, keeping one eye on them.
“Griffin?” Sam’s voice pulled me back. “Your thoughts on the European expansion?”
I forced my focus back to the table. “Yes. We’re targeting Q3 for the rollout. Germany first, then France, and the UK.”
Good save, but my attention split. Through the glass, something didn’t appear right. She got off her stool and stepped back. He followed.
“Excuse me for one moment.” I stood abruptly.
I rounded the glass partition just as Jessa’s voice rose slightly.
“I said no thank you.”
I recognized Paul Desoto, an old nemesis of mine. The asshole backed her against the bar, one hand braced on thecounter beside her, effectively trapping her. Glasses of water and a beer sat sweating on the bar.
“Come on, have a drink with me? I remember you did once before, at that small town dive bar. You were a lot friendlier then. Tight jeans. Low-cut top, your bosoms pouring out of it. You poured me a whiskey, and I left you a generous tip. Among other things I would’ve liked to give you that night?—”
I lunged forward to deck him, but before I could, Jessa reached for the beer. Her hand slipped. The glass tipped forward, dumping its contents directly onto Paul’s crotch and down his pants, and splashing across his expensive Italian shoes.
“What the hell!” He jumped back, staring down at the dark stain spreading across the front of his trousers.
The bartender came around with towels to help clean up. “Sir, I’m so sorry. The condensation on those glasses makes them slippery. Are you all right, Jessa?” He winked at her.
“I’m fine.” She recovered. “Sorry. It just slipped out of my hand.”
“No, you did that on purpose!” Paul’s face turned red. “This bitch?—”
