I look at him as he greets Jameson. Both men appear at ease in their own skin. Like they own the world they inhabit. They’re also both devastatingly handsome. The power they wield only adds to their looks. Neither man had a partner they wanted me to make plans for today, and my research on them revealed they’re both single. I imagine the women in this city fall over themselves to get close to these men. I’m only interested to know whether they’re assholes or not, though, because if I have to work closely with them, I need to know how to handle them.
“Please take a seat, gentlemen,” I say, drawing their attention. “As I mentioned in my email, Ashton will be joining us in a few hours. Until then, I’ll run you through the proposal.”
They sit, and I spend the next three hours going over the development proposal.
Beckett and Jameson ask questions along the way, but mostly they both takes notes on their laptops and let me speak. Just before twelve, Ashton joins us, entering the room in a cloud of purposeful energy and striding towards us with a determined look in his eyes. I also note the exhaustion lining his face. Beckett and Jameson wouldn’t notice it, but since I know Ashton as well as I do, I can’t help but see it.
“Gentlemen,” he greets them, coming to stand behind the chair next to mine. Looking down at me, he says, “Jessica.”
I stand. “Immaculate timing. I just finished going through everything.”
Approval flares in his eyes and he turns to the men. “How about we break for lunch and then come back to get into the details?”
Beckett pushes his chair back and stands, meeting my gaze. “Thank you for your presentation, Jessica. I appreciate the effort you put in to help us grasp the magnitude and scope of this development.”
Jameson stands too, his dark eyes zeroing in on me. Whereas Beckett is good looking in a sharply defined, clean-cut way, Jameson oozes a darker, more forbidden appeal. If I was into men who’ve grown their hair out enough to require it be pulled back into a man bun, who’ve tattooed the back of one hand, and who wear danger like a suit, I’d be into Jameson Fox. I’ve read his personal history, and out of everything I know about him, the thing I like the most is that he’s scrapped his way to billionaire status. One of the reasons Ashton selected him is that scrappy, don’t-fuck-with-me-or-I’ll-fuck-back-harder side he’s known for.
“Thanks,” he says, his voice as dark as his eyes.
“Lunch will be served in the restaurant in fifteen minutes,” I say. “We’ll meet back here an hour after that.”
Beckett and Jameson exit the room while Ashton says, “Have you seen the news on Jack today?” His tone signals his worry.
“No.” I’m not as inclined to worry as Ashton. Not after speaking with Jack last night and seeing something new in his eyes. Something that shows a new level of determination in him.
“Good. Don’t look it up.”
“You can’t say that and just leave me wondering, Ashton.”
He gives me a look that tells me that’s exactly what he intends to do. “I recall how this bullshit affected you last time. If you and Jack are doing this again, I hope to fuck you aren’t reading any of the shit they’re saying. I don’t want to watch you go down that path again.”
I always thought I managed the pressures of dating a movie star well. It wasn’t until Jack told me all the ways he observed those pressures affecting me that I began questioning my long-held belief. I had to admit to myself that Jack was right; I didn’t cope as well as I thought. Ashton saying it only confirms it.
Jack’s right about something else, though; I will eat those assholes for breakfast now.
“Maybe I’ll spare you from my fishing spear after all,” I say as I process his concern over me. When he looks at me like he has no clue what the fuck I’m going on about, I add, “You won’t have to watch me go down that path again. I’m a cake-loving, bread-worshipping, pasta-gorging woman who is okay with the assholes of this world gossiping about the size of her ass. Jack loves my ass, but mostly I love my ass, and they can say whatever they want about it and about me. I don’t care. However, I do care what they say about my man, so out with it. Tell me everything so I can prepare accordingly.”
He takes all that in and appears torn about giving me what I’m after. At my arched brows and look of expectation, he finally says, “They’ve gone back to focusing on why you and Jack broke up and have started digging through your sex life. Sian has talked to them and shared things you supposedly told her about Jack.”
Fuck, Sian and I did not end well. She wanted far more than I would ever have given anyone except Jack, so I can imagine her bitterness has led her to talk shit about me. I told her nothing about Jack, which means everything she’s said is a lie.
“What things?”
Anger slashes across his face. “It’s all bullshit.”
“I’m aware, but I want to know. And since I’m not going to look it up myself, I need you to tell me.”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “She said Jack forced you into threesomes and that was one of the reasons why you broke up with him. That he cheated on you regularly, but you didn’t care because you’d fallen in love with one of the women you guys had a threesome with. She also told them you introduced him to drugs and alcohol, so you’re the reason he’s an addict. And then she carried on about how you came between him and his father, saying you’re the reason he doesn’t have anything to do with his dad now.”
I stare at him, stunned, which is something for me. Not much stuns me about the assholes of this world, but this has. “And I thought she liked me.”
“Ignore her.”
“I’m not ignoring that bitch. I just added her to my shit list.”
He looks at me like he doesn’t know what to do with me, but he leaves it and moves on. “Jack’s telling me he’s okay. Is he?”
“Yes. You should be more worried for Sian. I’m not the only one in our relationship who has a shit list now.”
“Fuck,” he mutters again. I feel like this muttering could become a thing now that he has to deal with me and Jack back together. I make a mental note to torture him a little. It’s only fair after he tortured me with his Asshole Mondays last year.
“You haven’t asked me how this morning went,” I say, referring to the time I just spent running the first half of today’s meeting for him.
“That’s because I don’t need to.”
That statement does weird things to me. Ashton has been my mentor for a long time. He has taught me the most valuable things I know about business. He’s let me take charge of many things over the years but handling this kind of proposal is new for me. If I’d fucked this up, it would have cost him billions. That he trusted me to get the job done, and then didn’t check up on how it went means more to me than he’ll ever know. But then again, maybe not. Ashton reads me almost as well as Jack does.
“Right,” I throw out, a little flustered over these thoughts and feelings he’s stirred, “we need to discuss the COO role. Honestly, Ashton, it’s time to just give me the job already.”
Amusement flickers in his eyes. “Check your emails,” he says before turning to stride to the door. “And the first thing you need to take care of as COO is ensuring that what happened in London doesn’t happen anywhere else. And so you’re aware, if it does, I’m not fucking getting involved.”