Unlikely Venture (The Venture Series Book 1)

by Luciani, Kristen

  Haley scampered after her. “Jess, why do you let him get to you?”

  Jessica’s eyes filled with tears as she walked into the lounge. “Haley, were you just sitting at a different table? I don’t understand him. Doesn’t he know I have those fears every single day of my life? Doesn’t he care how hurtful his comments are?”

  “You know Dad’s not really the diplomatic type.” Haley smoothed back Jessica’s hair. “Why are you letting him upset you like this? He’s only behaving this way because he’s worried about you.”

  “Then, why can’t he be a normal father and hug me and tell me that he’s scared too?” Jessica snapped.

  Haley shrugged. “Come on, it’s not his way. Never has been.” She spread a lip-gloss wand over her puckered lips. “Dad’s not going to change, Jessie. He’s always going to have an opinion and it will probably be contrary to yours. Deal with it.”

  Jessica made a face. “Thanks. I’ve been trying to deal with it for the past six months.”

  Haley shook her head. “No you haven’t. You’ve been fighting it, and where has that gotten you?” She winked. “Yep, nowhere! So suck it up and move on! Agree to disagree and be done with it.”

  Jessica’s phone buzzed and she pulled it out.

  Hey gorgeous, still okay for me to call later?

  She smiled and shot off a reply. Definitely.

  Haley peered over her shoulder. “Ooh, is that from James? Do you have a picture? Can I see what your geeky gamer boyfriend looks like?”

  Jessica giggled. “He was just on the cover of Young Entrepreneur with his partner Chris.” She found the site and pulled it up. “That’s him on the left.”

  “Whoa,” Haley breathed. “He’s gorgeous, Jessie. And his partner, holy crap! Is he single?”

  Jessica nudged her. “Now you’re interested in geeky gamer guys?”

  “When they look like this, I am!” Haley laughed. “Good for you. He’s hot. You’ve got my blessing!”

  Jessica laughed and followed Haley out of the lounge. Peter was standing against the wall, a sheepish look on his face.

  “I’ll go and keep Mom company.” Haley sauntered back into the dining room.

  Jessica folded her arms. “So, Mom sent you back here to talk.”

  Peter smiled. “That’s quite an understatement, but I didn’t come back on her orders, Jess.” He shook his head. “You know, when you were diagnosed a while back, I had a difficult time dealing with it. I’m your father, and yet, there was nothing I could do to protect you. I felt helpless. Still do. To know your child is suffering and not be able to make everything better is the absolute worst feeling I’ve ever had. And when Drew walked out on you, I just…I wanted to murder him for hurting you like that.”

  “I know, Dad.”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m concerned about you starting another relationship. I won’t lie. I can’t bear to see you upset. I’m afraid of the effect it might have on your health. I’m sorry if I’ve been too hard on you. Above all else, you’re still my daughter. I figured if you focused on work, it would be therapeutic for you. Believe it or not, I’m trying to look out for your best interests.”

  “I’m tired of being afraid, questioning every little thing I do so I can protect myself from being hurt again. I don’t want this diagnosis to hold me back anymore. I want to live. I’m scared of taking a risk with someone new but not enough to shy away from the chance to be really happy.” She smiled. “He’s a good guy, Dad. I’m not losing sight of what’s important and I’m not taking focus away from my career. I’m just trying to feel normal again. If I get hurt, I’ll deal with it. But I don’t want to be secluded anymore.”

  “I know. And I know I can’t shield you from life, no matter how much I want to. I’m sorry if I hurt you. Just…be careful, okay?”

  Jessica nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. “I will, Dad.” She hugged him, breathing in the familiar scent of his aftershave. “I love you.” Thank you for finally giving me what I needed.

  JESSICA’S HEART LEAPT when the phone rang later that evening. “Hello?”

  “Hey, beautiful.”

  She shivered just hearing his voice. “I’ve been waiting for your call…” She toyed with a corner of her robe.

  “Oh, yeah? Why is that? Did you have something to tell me?”

  Jessica giggled at his playful tone. “Maybe, but first I was hoping you’d have something to tell me…like did you get the funding or what? How much longer are you going to make me wait?”

  James laughed. “I wish I could tell you we did. But right now it looks like we’re in a holding pattern.”

  “Did you fall apart on the golf course? Did you crumble under the pressure? Did he completely school you guys?”

  “Not quite, but he didn’t commit to anything before he blew us off for some other meeting in San Francisco. He’s really not the type of guy I want to work with but Chris says he’s brilliant and I’m trying hard to be a team player.”

  “How did you leave it with him?” Jessica flopped onto her stomach and kicked off her slippers.

  “He said he’d have his people call our people.” James snorted. “Whatever. If it doesn’t work out, I’m not going to be disappointed. Emerson’s a cocky bastard. I don’t trust him and I don’t need his money. There are plenty of other investors out there, a lot who’ve shown interest in what we’re doing.”

  It would be so awesome if Paul took his funding somewhere else. What would James think if he knew about that torrid encounter? She rubbed her temples, unable to stomach his certain reaction.

  “Well, I believe in what you guys are doing and I know that you’ll get the funding you need.” Jessica hoped she sounded convincing, but she needed to steer the conversation away from Paul Emerson.

  “Things work out the way they’re supposed to, right?”

  “I’d really like to believe that,” she replied softly. “But—”

  “But what? Is something wrong?” She cringed at the concern in his voice.

  “It’s just that…I found out I’m not going to be back in California, James. My boss reassigned me. He pulled me off the project for some reason, and now…” She trailed off without knowing what to say next. Why do you have to live so far away? Why does everything have to be so damn hard?

  “Jess, we both knew when you left it might be a while until we saw each other again. But I don’t care how long I have to wait. It took me a long time to realize what I’ve been missing and I’m not walking away.”

  “Really?” Her eyes filled with relieved tears. “I didn’t want to put any pressure on you and telling you that I’m stuck here for the foreseeable future doesn’t sound too promising.”

  “Agreed, I’d much rather have you out here with me. But I’ll wait because I want this. You really make me feel alive again when I didn’t think it was possible. I’m kind of amazed by that.”

  You need to be honest with him. Tell him everything, Jess. Just do it! Don’t hide behind the excuse of work. He deserves to know the truth.

  “You know, your honesty is really astonishing. It’s definitely not typical, at least based on my own personal experiences.” Jessica giggled.

  “What could I possibly have to gain by holding back? This is going to be hard. We don’t have the luxury of hanging out every night to figure out if this is worth our time. If it’s too much for you, I get it. But I really like you and I want you to know that. I can tell you’re nervous but don’t let it be because you doubt my feelings.”

  A chill ran through her as he spoke those words. You finally found a guy who isn’t afraid to take a risk. Don’t let him go, Jess.

  “I really like you, too. And I am nervous, but I want to make this work.” I just can’t tell you the truth yet, James. I’m not ready to deal with the risk. Ignorance is bliss, right?

  James laughed. “Come on, you’re just saying that so I keep sending you more jelly bean concoctions.”

  Jessica popped a few stray jell
ybeans into her mouth. “Mmm, believe me, it’s tempting.” She snickered. “But I can think of lots of other things you can do to convince me to hang around, hopefully very soon.”

  JESSICA GOT TO work early, relieved that Charlie’s office was still dark. I can’t risk this appointment getting bumped. I need to see Justin before he takes off again. Getting the meeting on such short notice was a miracle considering Justin’s hectic schedule. She dropped her bags on the desk and rushed to his office. Her phone pinged with a text reminder from Dr. Martin’s office about the MRI that afternoon. Great, more reason for angst. I’ve had knots in my stomach for days waiting for this appointment.

  “Good morning, Pam.” Jessica smiled at Justin’s assistant. “Is he in yet?”

  Pam looked up from her computer. “He’s on a call right now. You can take a seat.”

  “Okay, thanks!” Jessica pivoted towards the reception area, rolling her eyes. Pam was such a bitch, but whatever. So long as I don’t lose my timeslot…

  Jessica checked her email while she waited. She froze, hearing Charlie’s booming voice coming from a conference room.

  Oh shoot, don’t come this way!

  The last thing she needed was for him to catch her outside his boss’s office when she was supposed to be downtown. His voice grew louder and she panicked as he approached.

  “Hey Pam, how’s it going? Does Justin have some free time today?”

  Dammit.

  “He’s got a packed schedule, Charlie, and his first appointment is already waiting.”

  Jessica’s heart sank as Pam nodded towards the reception area.

  Heat emanated from her face as she met his enraged look. “Jessica, I didn’t realize you were here today. Why aren’t you downtown?”

  She cleared her throat. “I was on my way, but I needed to come here first. I had some ideas about the Barclay Investments project and wanted to run them past Justin.”

  “Why wouldn’t you address them with me first?” He narrowed his eyes at her as Pam looked on with curiosity.

  I hate you so much, you smug bastard.

  “Well, I thought he might be interested because of—”

  Justin walked out of his office, staring down at a paper. “Pam, I need you to move my eleven o’clock. I have a lunch over by Bryant Park and I need to leave here around eleven thirty.” Justin looked up and saw Jessica and Charlie. “Oh, I thought this next meeting was just with Jessica. Charlie, are you joining us?”

  With a tight smile, Charlie shook his head. “No, I was just chatting with Pam about your availability. I’ll stop by later.” He glowered at Jessica before walking back to his office.

  Justin turned to Jessica. “Come on in.” He ushered her inside and closed the door.

  Jessica let out a shaky breath. Jesus, that was close. If Justin hadn’t appeared right then…things would have gotten ugly.

  “It’s good to see you.” Justin sat at his desk. “Care to tell me what that was all about?”

  Jessica took a deep breath. “Justin, I’m sorry about that. Charlie pulled me off the new consulting practice, and I—”

  “Whoa, whoa.” Justin waved his hands. “Hold on. What do you mean, he pulled you off?”

  “He said you wanted me reassigned to a client downtown, that you didn’t want to move forward with this project, and I—”

  “Jessica, that’s not at all accurate.” Justin shook his head. “He really told you that?”

  “Yes.” Jessica’s brow furrowed. “What happened in that meeting?”

  “I made it very clear that work on this new practice needs to continue. You have been instrumental in signing clients that I believe will bring DMC a great deal of revenue going forward. I told him I wanted you out in Palo Alto to run the client engagements. I know you came back to wrap a few things up here, but my objective was to get you back out to California as soon as possible so we can ramp up the team and get moving.”

  Jessica gasped. Holy shit! “Are you serious?”

  “I don’t joke about profit potential. I’m also not aware of a client downtown that would take you away from this effort. I have to find out why Charlie needed you there and if we can put someone else there in your place, but as far as I’m concerned, you need to head back out to California.”

  “For how long?” Jessica held her breath, her pulse racing.

  “Plan to be there for at least a month to start, maybe longer if I need you to get involved with the project at Barclay Investments. Try booking one of the corporate apartments. Getting this new practice up and running is critical to our bottom line. The competition has been trying to sniff out our plans for the past few months and I want to make sure DMC is the first consulting firm offering these services.”

  Jessica wanted to scream with delight. She could be back in Palo Alto the next day! Fuck you, Charlie! And fuck you too, Derek! I’m outta here! I’m going to finish this project and get that promotion! Having Justin on my side will make me a shoo-in! Her thoughts returned to James. It was way too early for her to call and share the good news, but she’d see him soon enough and her whole body tingled at the thought. Things are finally falling into place! Maybe they do happen the way they’re supposed to. God, please just let the MRI come out normal.

  Jessica’s head spun as she left Justin’s office. She flashed a wide smile at Pam and sailed over to her desk to make travel arrangements. Charlie was nowhere in sight. She wanted to head out before he returned. An office brawl was not high on her list of priorities.

  A whole month with James. At least! She hugged herself, anxious to begin the next chapter in her life. Thank goodness for Justin and his bitchy assistant.

  JESSICA WAS SO busy tying up loose ends that she lost track of time. James! She dialed his number, hoping he was awake.

  “Hey. I was just thinking about you.” He yawned.

  “Sounds like you might have been dreaming about me.”

  “Mmm, I was, as a matter of fact. So what’s going on, gorgeous? What time is it, anyway? It feels like six in the morning.”

  Jessica laughed. “Actually, it’s about nine-thirty out there. Long night? Couldn’t sleep after we got off the phone?”

  James let out another loud yawn. “You had me way too preoccupied to sleep. So I worked. But trust me, it wasn’t nearly as much fun as some other activities that were floating through my mind.”

  Jessica felt her face flush. Oh my God, I cannot wait to find out all about them! “Well…I have some news.”

  “Good news, I hope. Although I can’t imagine what you’re planning to lay on me at this ungodly hour.”

  Jessica giggled. “Seriously, it’s nine-thirty! Most of the working world has been in the office for at least an hour by now!”

  “So, I’m late? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  “Yes, you are. But don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of time for me to turn you into a morning person.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I had a meeting this morning and was told to get back out to Palo Alto immediately to continue my work.” She paused. “Did that succeed in waking you up?”

  “You’re kidding. Are you kidding?”

  “Nope, I’m serious. I don’t know what Charlie’s up to, but it doesn’t really matter anymore. I’m done with him, at least for now.” Jessica twirled the phone cord around her fingers. “So when I see you tomorrow, you’ll have to tell me all about those activities.”

  “Hmm, maybe I’ll do more than just tell.”

  “HEY, JESS! I hear you’re headed back to California. Charlie’s been grousing about it all day. Need an assistant?”

  Jessica looked up from her laptop and smiled. “Aw, what’s the matter, Jake? Do you need a break from our fearless leader?”

  Jake sat down. “What am I going to do without you here? A week was bad enough, now you’re leaving for upwards of a month?”

  “Come on, you’ll be fine. I’m just a text away. Trust me, it’ll be better for you if I’m no
t here. Guilt by association and all that. I’m not exactly his golden girl these days.” Jessica gathered some papers and stuffed them into her laptop bag.

  Jake lowered his voice. “I have some interesting intel to share before you go.”

  Jessica’s ears perked up. “Oh yeah? Spill it.”

  “I was at lunch with a friend from Benton McCauley the other day and guess who I saw heading into the elevator over there?”

  “Charlie.” It all made sense. He must be leaving to go to DMC’s biggest competitor. Justin and the partners were the assholes he was talking about. But who was Jackson?

  “You know, I overheard him talking to someone when we were in the Palo Alto office, sounded like he was ready to jump ship. Maybe he’s going to Benton. How awesome is that!” Jessica gave Jake a high-five.

  “I’ll have to see if my buddy can do some digging. Let Benton deal with that dickhead now.” Jake chuckled. “I heard what he pulled with Justin the other day. He’s a real tool.”

  “I don’t really care.” Jessica clapped her hands with glee. “I’m out of here and with any luck, I’ll never have to see him again.”

  “I’m really happy for you, Jess. You deserve a promotion. The new practice is so cutting edge, it’s gonna make DMC a fortune when you sign the rest of your clients. Derek’s got nothing on you.” Jake gave her a quick hug. “I’ll keep an ear to the ground and let you know if I hear anything good.”

  “Great. Take care of yourself, Jake. The nightmare is almost over.” She tapped her cheek. “Maybe Charlie will take Derek to Benton. That would be awesome.” Jessica winked and grabbed her bag. “Come on, walk me to the elevator.”

  JESSICA LUGGED HER laptop bag along 3rd Avenue after her appointment, groaning with each step. Should have worn the flats today but vanity won out as usual.