Chapter Five
Fannin
My desk is covered with idea boards and post-it notes and all the information I’ve gathered about whisky distilling and every other thing whisky I could get my hands on. Noah sits across from me having just popped in to see if I’m making progress with the Iron Flask account and to laugh at Adam’s lame ass attempt to get me kicked off as lead.
“Seriously though, Fannin. Say the word and I’ll take him off the account. I didn’t even think about it when I added him to the team. I just knew that he handled that winery account a few months ago and thought he might have some helpful insight. If he’s going to make your life miserable though, I will pull his ass.” My cousin is sincere and that means more to me than anything. I feel like with this whole wedding thing and the affair, I’ve kind of been made to be like the third wheel in the whole mess. Everyone is so happy for them that nobody has taken my feelings into consideration. I know that I’m partly to blame for that since I’ve made light of the situation in front of my family. I don’t need their pity. And I won’t let any of them know just how badly I’ve been hurt. By all of them.
“No. It’s fine. I won’t let him get to me and he’ll just accuse me of getting him kicked off and cause more problems for me.” I sip from my now-cold coffee. “At least now he knows that you’re not going to let him persuade you to take the lead from me.”
Noah snorts, “Fucking idiot. Like I care who you date.”
“Did you really tell him that you didn’t care if I slept with the entire staff as long as I landed the deal?”
“Damn right I did. And I don’t. I mean, try not to, but . . .” He trails off on a laugh which throws me into a fit of giggles.
We’re interrupted by a sharp knock on my door. Before I can answer, it’s thrown open and Bethany stands in the doorway, Jade, my secretary, behind her speed-walking and trying not to spill the cup of coffee she must have been bringing me.
“Is it true? Are you bringing a . . . bartender to my wedding? At. The. Plaza,” my step-sister demands, not bothering to mask her disapproval.
“It’s okay, Jade,” I reassure my frazzled assistant.
“I’m so sorry, Fannin. She slipped by while I was getting you a fresh cup,” she apologizes as she swaps out the mugs on my desk.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic. It’s not like she’s the CEO,” Bethany bites out in her snotty tone.
“No, but I am,” Noah says sternly. “And it’s policy all guests need to be announced. This is a place of business, and you don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.” That last was a dig since I found out about her and Adam’s affair when I walked in on them in a compromising position . . . in his office.
Bethany stands a little straighter, toying with the pearls at her throat. “I’m sorry, Noah. I didn’t realize you were in here,” she simpers. My step-sister is blonde, lithe, impeccably dressed, and beautiful and thinks it will allow her to get away with anything and it usually does. But not with Noah. Not only is he married to a beautiful, powerful woman, but he’s my cousin, and he has no love for Bethany.
“Precisely.”
She blanches a little at his curt response and his unaffected manor but recovers quickly. “Noah, we really should spend some more time getting to know one another. We are, after all, family.” Reaching with that one, sister dearest. It takes everything I have not to roll my eyes. “I’m thrilled that you and Olivia are going to be at the wedding. So nice that we run in the same circle. Speaking of which—” Bethany turns her attention back on me. “Do you really think your date is appropriate for something like this? I mean, it’s a wedding at the Plaza not a concert at Madison Square Garden.” Again, her words drip with disdain.
Having this discussion in front of anyone else might be embarrassing, but this is Noah and he knows what a pretentious bitch she is. “Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that there was some kind of requirement that my date had to meet in order to come to your super-fancy wedding. I should probably tell him that there’s a dress code, huh?” I sit back in my chair, crossing my legs. “What’s the matter, Bethany? Worried that you won’t be able to seduce this one because you’re too uptight for a beast like Jasper? I’ll let you in on a little secret, he likes to fuck with the lights on and his socks off, unlike someone else we both know.” Noah chokes back a laugh, trying to mask it by clearing his throat. “If that’s all, I have a lot of work to do. Why don’t you go see your fiancé?” She turns with a huff, too dignified to tell me to go fuck myself like I know she is dying to which only pisses me off more. “Bethany?” I call, waiting for her to turn back to me, her eyes filled with hate. “Be sure to knock—you never know who he may be doing in there,” I offer sweetly, smiling as I watch her stalk off in her flouncy sundress and strappy sandals.
“You feel better now?” Noah asks.
“I do actually,” I admit, meeting his gaze and finding no judgement there.
“Does Cafferty really leave his socks on?”
I bust out laughing—leave it to Noah to pick up on that. “He really does.”
“Consider yourself lucky then. You dodged a bullet with that one,” he says, giving a little shudder.
“Ain’t that the damn truth.” And it is. In more ways than one.