Chapter Ten

Jack

I took the longest, coldest shower of my life, then got dressed and headed to the office.

But before I made my way through the famous wrought iron Murphy gates, I stopped at the same café I met Grace at for our meeting that was interrupted by Jane Pawsten and the vet.

She was sitting at her desk, not bothering to look up from the computer when I approached and sat a Styrofoam cup of tea in front of her.

“I promised you a cuppa that I never got to finish making,” I whispered, leaning in so only she could hear and not any of the gossiping employees.

No acknowledgment from the strong-willed girl, but I accepted that. A challenge never stopped me before.

Tapping on her chair, I headed into my office where Connor was perched on the corner of my desk.

I scowled, glancing at my watch. The last person I wanted to see was my smirking brother. “We aren’t supposed to meet for another hour.”

He laughed as I breezed past him, hanging my suit jacket on the leather wingback chair.

“I’m not here on business-business, but I think we both know that.”

I had a feeling a certain blonde former assistant may have done some talking. But I feigned innocence and shook my head. “Not sure what you mean.”

He stood up, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know exactly what I mean. I’m talking about you spending the evening with your assistant who also happens to be Sean’s best mate. By the shifty look in your eyes, I’m guessing the drinks at the pub turned into something more. Especially since the barista at the café told me she saw you right before me this morning. The only reason you’d be in the neighborhood that early and not at work is if you never went home.”

I swore under my breath. I knew I should have just gone home or to SuperMacs down the road. But I just had to be a gentleman. And I couldn’t fight the feeling that I wanted to see Grace again that morning before work with something more than just banter.

“So is she the one?” Connor asked, his voice raising slightly with elation.

I shook my head. “The one? Are you mad? She’s my assistant. We barely know each other.”

He held up a finger. “Technically you’ve known each other since we were kids, so she’d be a perfect match. Board wouldn’t even question a proposal, and by the way she looks at you, there’s a thin line between wanting to fight you and wanting to feck your brains out.”

I scowled at his brash choice of words. He didn’t know anything about Grace’s and my relationship. She wasn’t just one of these birds I’d take home from the pubs for a quick shag.

Though I didn’t know what she was either and that’s what had my stomach twisting in knots.

“There is nothing going on between us. I walked her home from the pub because she was a bit knackered. And I don’t know what the hell you’re getting at talking about her as the one. Marriage isn’t just something you can throw at a girl after a few weeks.”

His body went rigid. He and Fallon had known each other through phone calls and emails for six months before they met in person. Then within three months they were engaged and married. Which also conveniently went hand in hand with the marriage clause.

“You do what you want, but this isn’t just about the company or what is written on a piece of paper. This is about a girl who you should give a proper chance to.”

I smirked. “Thanks for the advice, but I know what I’m doing. And I don’t mix business with pleasure.”

At least as far as he knew.

A broad grin spread across his face. “Then I guess you saw who our two o’clock meeting is with?”

I hadn’t even opened my computer or looked at my phone all morning but had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what I saw.

Without glancing back at his smug face, I headed to my desk, logged onto the computer, and opened my calendar.

I froze as soon as I saw the name on the two o’clock meeting.

Lacey Walsh with Poppy Wines.

Last time I saw Lacey was at uni when I was going to surprise my on-again, off-again girlfriend with flowers after our last finals. Only I was the one who got the surprise when she promptly said it wasn’t working and broke it off.

I didn’t think I was in love, but ever since then, I’d never been with another woman for more than a night.

Until Grace…if that counted.

Now I’d have to sit with her at the conference table.

“I guess by the way your eyes are bulging, you hadn’t seen the meeting?”

I looked past my smirking brother to the closed office door. Without a second thought, I walked around my desk and opened the door.

Fallon and Grace sat at her desk, both lifting their heads as I approached.

“Miss Evans, can you join me at my two o’clock meeting? I’ll need someone to take notes.”

Her eyes narrowed for a brief moment before she turned to her computer. “I can carve out some time, I guess.”

She smirked, her long fingers tapped on the keys and then froze, mid-stroke, as she stared at the screen.

I wanted to come up with a quick retort; then I saw her face turn white. I racked my brain, wondering what the hell she could have seen.

That’s when recognition finally dawned on me.

These two were cousins.

Lacey used to visit her Granddad’s in the summer when she wasn’t off in the American Hamptons or wherever else her parents sent her to. Grace was the only one who visited every summer and holiday. She was a permanent fixture. Always running around in the back with Sean while Lacey wouldn’t even look at the sun unless it was artificial from a tanning booth.

I didn’t even notice through my reminiscing haze that Connor had followed me out of the room. That is, until he perched himself on the desk next to Fallon. “Excited to see your cousin? Been a while since I’ve seen her, but I’m guessing she’s still the same crazy bird she was in school. No offense, Jack, just never know what you saw in her.”

“Yeah. Well, we all do stupid things when we’re younger and sometimes even when we’re older,” I muttered, glancing at Grace who wouldn’t even look in my direction.

Connor laughed. “Did you forget she was Grace’s cousin? Maybe it’s time to cut back on the whiskey.”

I blinked, my throat going dry as I cleared it. I wasn’t usually a man at a loss for words, but this was a situation that warranted saying everything and nothing.

“It’s fine, Connor. I can deal with Lacey, and if Jack needs a bodyguard, I’ve got that, too.” Grace smiled sweetly, the first time I’d seen that quirk of her lips since before she kissed me last night.

What the hell was going through this girl’s head?

“Thank you, Grace. I’ll see you at two,” I said huskily with a nod, licking my lips to regain some moisture.

With that I went back to my office, closed the door, and tried to figure out what the hell I was going to do at two o’clock.

…

Lacey Walsh hadn’t aged a day. The tall blonde stood at one end of the conference table in a black, sleeveless dress with her hair falling in a pin-straight line to her shoulders.

While Grace was curvy, Lacey was the opposite. She was thin as a lollipop, but there was nothing sweet at all about her frozen smile and skeptical green eyes.

“Jack, Connor, thanks for meeting with me.” Lacey’s black heels clicked on the wooden floor as she took long strides toward us.

She may have been speaking to my brother and me, but her glare zeroed in on Grace.

As soon as Lacey shook our hands, she leaned over and stiffly hugged my wide-eyed assistant.

“Grace. Granddad told me you were working here, though I assumed you’d be in an editorial role. Are you Jack’s assistant?” Her very thin eyebrows raised high on her head as she pulled back and looked between us.

Grace opened her mouth, but I interjected.

“She’s actually training to be our new head of purchasing. That’s why I asked her here today,” I blurted.

Maybe this was why Grace had looked at her cousin’s name like it smelled foul.

Ever since we were younger, Lacey always carried herself like she was better than everyone. An urge to protect Grace took over, but by the way she held her shoulders back and smirked those red lips, I knew she could hold her own. Though that didn’t stop me from helping the girl out.

“Really?” Lacey tilted her head.

I willed myself not to scowl, putting my arm around Grace’s shoulder and squeezing it like we were old pals, even though she winced under my touch. Something that gutted me more than I cared to admit.

“We saw each other again at a gala, and after hearing about her experience as an editor in London, I knew I had to have her on the team.”

Connor laughed. “Yeah, you can say that first meeting was a smashing success. But now we’re here, so let’s get started.”

I was thankful for Connor’s interruption and smart mouth, for once.

I took a seat in between Grace and Connor at one side of the table while Lacey stood on the other.

In front of her was a display of brightly colored wine bottles and a few neon yellow notebooks that she handed to each of us with a matching pen. I looked down at the fluorescent books in our hands, my gaze trailing to Grace’s red nail polish. Her hands shook slightly as she sat down the notebook and picked up her tablet. She opened up a document with different color-coded spreadsheets.

What did this girl have up her sleeve?

“As you know, I’m the marketing and sales director for Poppy Wines.”

She uncorked a white bottle and poured a small amount into three different glasses with a brightly colored logo etched on the side. “I know Murphy’s Pubs focuses on your beer and whiskey. But a wine straight from the UK can attract more clients especially to your U.S. locations. Wine drinking is up in the states and everyone is looking for the best new taste.”

She placed the glasses in front of us and put her hands together, beaming like she’d just won a beauty pageant.

I put the glass to my lips, but before I could take a drink, Grace’s voice stopped me.

“Lacey, correct me if I’m wrong, but while the UK is a huge wine consumer only about one percent of all wines are produced there. Due in part to a colder climate and that grapes will only produce a good crop two in every ten years.”

I put my drink down, trying to hide my smile toward my quick-witted assistant. She was ballsy that was for sure. I guess she did more research than I, or my former assistants did before this meeting and that explained all of her spreadsheets. She was more prepared than even I was and I had to give her credit for that. A new sense of pride swelled within me.

Lacey opened and closed her mouth like a fish before she nodded. “That is correct, Grace. But our winery in Surrey is over four-hundred acres and has been able to keep up production. Especially with the rise in more pleasant weather.”

Lacey opened a dark purple bottle, pouring a small amount into another glass with the same logo etched on the side, but this time her hands and words slightly shook. “We’re also proud producers of Wrotham Pinot which have survived British winters for over two-thousand years.”

Grace’s lips formed a thin line, not even looking at the new glass in front of her. “I’m guessing, for the grapes to survive, then these have to be greenhouse grown? Hybrids if you will?”

“Well, yes, but you see—” Lacey started, but Grace interjected.

“How can you charge wines at market rate when you’re clearly using cheap coal and glass houses to produce your wines? And what is this on the label? Does it say bottle fermenting? This isn’t a hobby farmer in his backyard making gin; this is supposed to be a company you want people to invest in. How can you expect a billion-dollar pub industry to serve their customers this?”

Grace shook her head. “This may just be my opinion, but most people who go to a Murphy’s Pub aren’t ordering a glass of wine. The less than one percent who do aren’t going to cover the cost of spending twelve euro a bottle on your swill when the Americans can just go up the street and get a two-buck chuck as they call it.”

I’d never seen Lacey off her game but her face visibly flushed. She let out a stuttered huff, grabbing and sifting through a leather portfolio to shoot some facts our way.

But everything she came back with, Grace had more ammunition.

Connor leaned toward me, his voice low, even though the women weren’t even paying attention to us. “Maybe we really should hire her in purchasing.”

“Trying to rid me of another assistant?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Hey, if it helps the company.” He shrugged.

When Lacey and Grace had seemed to put a halt to their quarrel, we all stood from the table, and I extended my hand to Lacey.

“Thank you for coming today. Grace, Connor, and I need to crunch some numbers and present this to the board before we can get back to you with a final decision.”

Lacey fluttered her long eyelashes, leaning forward slightly, so I got a full view of the plastic breasts pressing against the fabric of her dress. “It was good to see you, Jack. It’s been a long time. Maybe we can catch up, and you can actually taste some of this wine before you decide. I’ll be in town for a little while, if you want to grab dinner.”

She pulled a slim case from her pocketbook and grabbed a white card, placing it in my hand.

“I’ll make sure this goes with the rest of our business cards,” Grace quipped, plucking the paper from my hand and stuffing it into the portfolio with her tablet.

Lacey smirked, nodding toward Grace. “Please do. And I’m sure I’ll see you at Granddad’s for tea on Sunday.”

She turned on her heel, walking toward the door but glanced over her shoulder as she stood just steps away. “Oh, and Jack, you’re more than welcome to join us.”

With that she was out of the door, leaving the three of us in the conference room.

“I should get back to work as well. Gotta type up these notes,” Grace said, waiting a few beats before Lacey was surely out of earshot.

“And while you’re doing that, I’ll see about openings in purchasing,” I said.

Both Connor and Grace side-eyed me, and I just smiled.

Part of me wanted to keep the spitfire for myself as an assistant. But she was over-qualified. That had been more than evident in this meeting.

That said, I was in no rush to see her go.