Julian downed the rest of his drink in one long gulp. Then, he rose to his feet and held his hand out to me. “Come on. Let’s dance.”
“Dance?” I squeaked, taking another fortifying sip of my vodka cranberry.
“Yeah. I don’t think the distributors are here yet. We have some time to enjoy ourselves before I need to talk business.”
I made a face. “I didn’t know that included dancing.”
“I’m an excellent partner, I assure you.”
I laughed, finishing the drink with a wince. “I’m not worried about you.”
But I let him pull me to my feet and out onto the dance floor. I wasn’t a dancer. Never had been. Even my senior prom, which I’d only gone to because my boyfriend had wanted to go, I hadn’t danced. And said boyfriend spent most of the time getting drunk with his friends in the corner by passing around a flask. They even spiked the punch. Though no one else had known who’d done it.
This was nothing like that. Julian was an excellent dancer, and he led the entire time, so I never felt like I was out of place. Even though I had no idea what I was doing, it was fun to be swung around by him. To have him pull me close and sway side to side. To see that look in his eyes.
I even forgot for a time that other people were watching us. Which was a goddamn miracle because I was surely going to agonize about people seeing every misstep for the rest of my life. Thanks, anxiety!
“I need a break,” I gasped with a laugh. “These shoes are killing me.”
“But they look incredible on you.”
“Incredible little spikes of death.”
He snorted. “Come on. We’ll have a seat for a minute. Unless my favorite song comes on.”
I groaned, and he laughed as he walked me off the dance floor. We didn’t make it back to our table, as we were intercepted by familiar faces.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Morgan said. She winked at me. “Love the dress.”
“Thanks. Hey, Mor,” I said, pulling the CEO of Wright Construction in for a hug.
“Morgan. Patrick,” Julian said. He shook hands with her boyfriend. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“She didn’t want to come,” Patrick said with a laugh.
Patrick was Morgan’s brother Austin’s best friend. It had been a whole to-do when they got together, especially when she’d just been promoted to CEO.
“I hate these things,” Morgan said with a shrug. For someone who hated it, she fit right in with a trim black dress. Her dark hair had clearly been coiffed to perfection by a professional, and she had flawless makeup. “But it’s part of the job.”
“Such a hardship,” Patrick teased.
“Shut up, you,” she said with a smile. “What are you kids doing here?”
“I’m here to represent the vineyard,” Julian said. “Jennifer is here with me.”
“Well, wasn’t that obvious by the cute dancing?” Morgan said, twirling her finger. “Also, Sutton told me.”
I laughed. “Of course she did.”
“Something about a twelve-pack of Coke?”
I flushed, and Julian arched an eyebrow.
“What am I missing?”
Morgan and I met each other’s eyes and giggled.
“Nothing.”
“It’s good to see you,” Morgan said to Julian. “I was going to ask Jordan about this, but he’s a busy bee with the new soccer complex. We’re having our annual Wright summer event. Usually, we do it on premises, but since it is the Wright Vineyard”—she winked at him—“might be good to try a new venue.”
“Yes,” Julian said enthusiastically. “Absolutely. I can have Alejandra run numbers for you. Nora is on staff for event planning. We should absolutely do it.”
“Good. Well, my work here is done,” Morgan said. She nudged Patrick. “See, I can network.”
“Yes, dear,” he said with a smirk on his lips.
“Sorry to interrupt, but are you Julian Wright?” a man said from behind us.
We turned around to find a man with a bald head that I’d never seen before.
Julian extended his hand. “That I am. And you are?”
“George Jeffries,” he said, shaking Julian’s hand. “We spoke on the phone. You met with my board earlier this month.”
“George. Yes, of course. It’s so great to meet you,” Julian said. He gestured to me. “This is my girlfriend, Jennifer.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking his hand.
“Hello there. I brought the missus myself, but she’s found the bar. So, I’ll introduce you if we can recover her.” Julian laughed with him. “Would you like to meet the rest of my team?”
“Yes, sir,” Julian said.
“We’ll see you later,” Morgan said, pulling Patrick away.
I waved good-bye and then followed Julian across the room to the most important meeting of his career thus far. He had to be nervous, though he didn’t show it. I was trying to have that same level of control. But the truth was, I had never dealt with anything like this before. And my normal level of anxiety, which had diminished while we danced, was coming back full force. And I wasn’t even the one having the meeting for the vineyard.
The rest of the team was four other old white guys in suits with bulging middles and varying lengths of beards. They were exactly what I’d expected for some reason. Old Texas money was usually held by the good ole boys. Their wives were huddled together, laughing around their cocktails with their big Texas hair and shiny diamonds on their wrists, throats, and earlobes.
I felt ridiculous, standing in front of them. Julian shook hands and used his considerable Wright charm with these men. Not even the wives looked my way or acknowledged me. It was as if I had entered a different era. And sure, it wasn’t like I had any business experience. I couldn’t contribute to the conversation in any way. But after meeting George, I’d been relegated to the sidelines, just like the other wives.
A wallflower to the very end. And it shouldn’t have made me panic to think about being here in this life. But when had my anxiety ever been rational?
Not any time in my lifetime. It had always come at the least opportune moments. Forcing my brain to fire on extra cylinders while also completely shutting down. It shouldn’t have been possible for it to happen at the same time, but it did. My brain whirred lightning fast, and as it pushed and pushed and pushed toward panic, everything else shut down. There was only blinding fear and desperation.
Thinking all of the irrational thoughts: I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t belong here. This meeting was too important for me to be on Julian’s arm. I was going to ruin it all. And worst of all: I couldn’t do this.
My hands shook, the tremors running up to my arms. I slowly took a step backward. Away from the men and their beautiful wives and this life I could never belong to.
Julian turned toward me. His face crinkled in concern. “Hey, are you all right?”
“Fine.”
His brow furrowed. Fine didn’t mean fine. He’d been the one to say that from the beginning. I watched him war with himself. Did he comfort me or deal with the most important meeting, one that he’d been waiting for? The answer was obvious. He had to have this meeting.