Читать книгу Romantic Getaways Collection - Liz Fielding, Christy McKellen - Страница 18

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE NEXT MORNING Caleb rolled reluctantly out of bed, leaving a sexily rumpled and tantalisingly warm Elena in it.

‘Do you want me to come to the hospital with you?’ she murmured sleepily as he strode towards the en suite bathroom for a shower.

He stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. She was smiling at him in that earnest, intent way that always made his heart turn over.

In truth, he loved the idea of spending the whole of the day with her by his side, but he definitely didn’t want her coming to the hospital with him just in case something happened there that made it obvious his memory hadn’t fully returned yet.

‘No, it’ll be boring for you. You stay here, or go shopping or sightseeing or something. I need to go into the office to make sure everything is running smoothly without me but I’ll be back here to spend the afternoon with you.’

She gave him a pained look. ‘Okay, but don’t get caught up in the office and forget the time. You should really be resting at home still.’

He walked back to the bed and sat down on the side of it, brushing a rogue strand of hair away from her forehead. ‘I tell you what, why don’t you just spend all day naked in my bed—that’ll give me all the incentive I need to come home as soon as possible.’

Laughing, she pulled him down for a kiss and he gave in to her demand and kissed her back, pulling the sheet that separated them away and rolling on top of her, telling himself he still had plenty of time to make his appointment.

* * *

He was late for his appointment.

Luckily, the doctor was also running late with his last patient so Caleb didn’t need to apologise for his tardiness as he strode into the consulting room. The extra time he’d got to spend with Elena would have been totally worth missing the appointment for anyway. He was fine, still a bit blurry about the events in his past, but, as he told the doctor, who looked at him with a mixture of concern and perplexity at his attitude, he didn’t care—he was alive and he had a beautiful, compassionate woman waiting for him back at home and that was what mattered.

Life was good.

After being put through some rather over-the-top extensive tests by the consultant and agreeing reluctantly to come back later in the week for additional testing, he finally managed to escape the hospital, intent on dropping in at Araya Industries for the barest of moments to satisfy himself that everything was running well there before heading straight back to Elena’s warm smile and comforting embrace.

Striding through Reception, he greeted a couple of the PAs who worked for his colleagues with a smile, both of them blinking at him in surprise before hurriedly returning his cheery salutation.

Up on his floor he found a rather bemused Benita sitting at her desk outside his office, and he flashed her a smile in greeting then asked her if she could please come in once she’d finished the email she was typing. She stared at him in surprise, also seemingly unnerved by his new jovial attitude, before nodding jerkily, the expression on her face remaining wary as if worried he was just lulling her into a false sense of security before putting the boot in.

Clearly he had a lot of work to do on his people skills.

He’d always been aware that he came across as intense and forthright, but he’d never considered it to be a failing before, too caught up in the running of his business to pay it much mind. Elena’s appearance in his life and her bravery in challenging him about it had opened his eyes to it though. It was as if she’d drawn out something that had been buried for far too long within him. With this in mind he made a firm resolution to review the way he dealt with his colleagues in the future.

Sitting down at his desk, he turned on his computer and was just about to look over his email when there was a tentative knock on his door. He called, ‘Come in,’ and a moment later Benita’s head appeared around the door, her face set in a circumspect smile as if she was a little afraid to enter the room in case he was waiting in there to bite her head off.

‘Benita, come in,’ he said kindly, giving her an encouraging nod.

She shuffled into the room, keeping a good four feet back from the desk where he was sitting.

‘How are you feeling?’ she asked with trepidation in her voice.

‘I’m fine,’ he said, wincing inside as he caught the brusqueness in his tone. ‘Thanks for asking,’ he added and almost laughed at the look of incredulity on her face.

‘So, did Carter’s people get in contact?’ he asked.

She nodded, moving closer to the desk now as if she was beginning to trust his new upbeat attitude. ‘I’ve put the minutes of the Skype meeting onto the DRM and the relevant account managers have been briefed.’

‘Good, good,’ he said, nodding. ‘Thanks.’

She cleared her throat. ‘It’s good to see you back, Señor Araya. We were worried when we heard about your accident. It looks like your friend took good care of you though.’

‘Yes, she did,’ he said, the thought of Elena lying naked in his bed waiting for him distracting him for a moment.

‘Did you work out your differences about partnering with her business?’ Benita asked.

He stared at her like an idiot for a moment, wondering whether his wandering thoughts had somehow made him mix up the words Benita had said to him.

‘What did you say?’

She looked a little taken aback, as if she might have put her foot in it. ‘I just meant—it seemed as though you were getting on well again—after your meeting didn’t go as smoothly as you’d hoped.’

‘Our meeting?’

‘With Señorita Jones. On the morning before your accident.’

She was looking at him as if she was worried that he’d gone insane.

He batted a hand at her, his thoughts swirling and confused as a strange sinking feeling appeared out of nowhere and slid through his chest. ‘Yes, yes, I remember.’ He thought hard for a moment. ‘Benita, did you forward me the supporting documents for that meeting?’

‘Er...no, you asked me not to. I got the impression you weren’t very keen to partner with her company.’

That was strange. Why would he have thought that?

‘Well, send them over to me now, will you? I need to take a look at them.’

‘Yes, of course.’ She paused. ‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’

He shook his head, his confusion about what was going on making his brain hurt. ‘No, no, that’ll be all. Thanks.’

She gave him a nod, then slipped out of the room.

Caleb booted up the DRM programme and clicked on the links that Benita sent through, which connected to a presentation Elena had apparently sent over before a meeting they were meant to be having on Friday.

A meeting he had no memory of.

He read through her proposal with interest, wondering why the hell he’d not jumped at the opportunity she’d put to him. She needed his battery for her cars and it looked to be a very lucrative deal for both of them.

What was wrong with him? Had he really been so blind or so busy with the American deal that he’d not recognised such a good prospect when she brought it directly to him?

When she’d helped him clinch Carter’s business at the meeting the other day he’d been hugely impressed with her knowledge of the industry and her insight into what he did, so much so, he’d made a mental note to look up the company she ran in England, so why had he said no?

He remembered with a sting of conscience that she’d not wanted to discuss the row they’d apparently had right before they’d left for their meeting with the Carters. Had the argument been about him turning the possible partnership between their companies down?

And what had made him do it.

Now he thought about it, whenever he’d pressed her for more information about her business she’d changed the subject. This had surprised him at the time, but he’d written it off as her not wanting to discuss work during her time off.

Or perhaps she’d not wanted to discuss it while she thought he was mentally challenged.

Shutting off his screen, he decided it was time to go home and ask Elena some direct questions before she walked away and went to find someone else to partner with—an idea that filled him with anxiety. After all she’d done for him over the last few days he felt he owed her a debt of gratitude and perhaps this would be the perfect way to repay it.

Walking past Benita’s desk, an idea occurred to him.

‘Benita, could you book a table at Restaurant Hora for tomorrow night for two people? I know it’s Valentine’s night,’ he said before she could say the words of warning that were clearly on her lips, ‘but I know the owner. Just tell him it’s for me and he’ll find a way to fit us in.’

‘Okay, consider it done,’ Benita said with a reverential smile, something he’d not seen on her face before. ‘Your friend’s a lucky lady,’ she called as he walked away.

‘She is,’ he threw back over his shoulder with a wry grin.

Though I think we’ve moved well past the friends stage now, he thought determinedly to himself as he made to set off home.

His apartment was quiet when he arrived back and he wondered whether she’d decided to go out and sightsee on her own after all, but as he strolled to his bedroom his spirits lifted when he saw she was sitting up naked in his bed with just a pair of glasses perched on her nose, tapping away on her laptop.

She was so absorbed in what she was doing she gave a little start when she finally noticed him standing in the doorway watching her and quickly snapped her laptop shut.

‘Did you miss me?’ he asked, shedding his clothes and dropping them on the floor as he moved towards her.

The expression in her eyes softened as he climbed onto the bed next to her and she twisted away for a second to put the laptop carefully by the side of the bed before turning back to face him.

He kissed her hard, feeling her sink against his body as he dragged her closer, the heat and softness of her skin soothing away his tension from being away from her.

‘You were only gone a couple of hours,’ she chided, but couldn’t seem to help herself from smiling and saying, ‘but yes, I missed you.’

‘Good,’ he said, sliding his hands down her body so she made a soft little sighing noise in the back of her throat.

It felt so right having her there in his arms, like nothing he’d ever experienced before. And it wasn’t just lust driving that feeling, it was a sense of belonging too. She belonged here in his bed. He just needed to find a way to keep her there indefinitely now.

‘So, Elena, tell me more about why you need my battery for your car?’ he murmured into her hair as she kissed the spot at the back of his jaw that always sent him wild.

Whipping her head back, she looked at him, startled.

‘What...er...what do you want to know?’ she asked, her expression suddenly guarded.

The wariness in her eyes gave him pause.

‘Why are you so jumpy? What aren’t you telling me? Every time I’ve asked questions about your business you’ve changed the subject.’

Closing her eyes, she let out a long, frustrated sigh, then seemed to give herself a little shake and pull herself together.

‘It seemed wrong to discuss business when you weren’t well.’ She looked down at her fingers, which were plucking nervously at the sheet. ‘And the truth is, I didn’t give you the full story then about what’s going on with it. I was afraid you might see it as a weakness.’

Ah, so, as he’d suspected, there was more to it than she’d initially let on.

‘Okay, I’m listening and I promise not to judge.’

She nodded and he saw her swallow hard. ‘The truth is, we used to have a supplier who had designed a battery specifically to fit in the car. Initially we wanted to use an English company so we could say the car was fully manufactured in the UK, but very recently they’ve let us know that there’s a fatal flaw with the design of it and they can’t figure out how to fix it. So we’re in a precarious position now. We have a lot of pre-orders and the shell of the car ready to go, but no battery to power it.’

He frowned, comprehending now why she’d be so panicked. It could be catastrophic for her business if she didn’t find a replacement battery.

He nodded, thinking hard. ‘Well, from what you’ve told me, and the documents I looked at today, it seems to me like it could be a mutually beneficial partnership. I don’t see why it would be a problem to let you have the battery for your car.’

She stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise. ‘What?’

He smiled at her bemusement. ‘I’m saying I’d be happy to let your company use my battery in the car.’

To his consternation, instead of flinging herself into his arms with joy she continued to stare at him with a mixture of confusion and reticence. ‘I don’t know if that’s a great idea now, Caleb.’

‘Why not?’

Folding her arms, she fixed him with a hard stare. ‘Because of what’s happened here, with us. To be honest, I’d be a little nervous about mixing a business partnership with a personal one. What if things went wrong between us? It’s a risk.’

He shook his head. ‘You can’t worry about that. We’re adults. We can keep the two things separate. I can’t imagine anything that could tear us apart now.’

Moving closer to her, he put his finger under her chin and tipped it up so she had to look right into his eyes. ‘I think I’ve got a pretty good measure of you, Elena Jones, and I want us to move forward—together. What happened in the past doesn’t matter any more. I want you to believe that.’

‘I do believe that,’ she murmured, tears welling in her eyes.

‘Then trust me. Trust us.’

After a small pause filled with almost painful expectancy, she smiled and said, ‘Yes, okay. I trust us.’

He nodded, feeling his heart turn over with relief. ‘I’ll talk to the team tomorrow about working out a partnership agreement.’ He held up a finger. ‘On one condition.’

Blinking away the tears, she raised her eyebrows in anticipation.

‘That you agree to stay here for the rest of the week and go out with me tomorrow evening for Valentine’s night. I’ve booked a table at Hora; it’s the best Michelin-starred restaurant in town.’

* * *

Elena gazed at Caleb, her heart hammering hard in her chest, barely able to believe that her fortunes could have changed so significantly in the space of a few days. Blessed relief at the thought that she might now have a way to save her business and the livelihoods of her workforce cascaded through her.

Pulling him roughly to her, she dropped kisses all over his face until he started to laugh. ‘I’d love to go to dinner with you. I’ve never been out on Valentine’s Day before. Jimmy thought it was just a big marketing ploy to pressure men into spending ridiculous amounts of money on their girlfriends just to boost the big businesses’ coffers.’

‘Hmm, no wonder you left him—what a loser,’ he said, running his fingers into her hair and looking deeply into her eyes. ‘You deserve to be worshipped in every way possible, Elena Jones.’

The last of the worry she’d been carrying on her shoulders finally lifted, leaving her euphoric and light-headed.

Could this really be happening? Was it possible she’d not only found a way to save her business and quite likely propel it into a hugely successful venture with Araya Industries’ help, but that she’d also got Caleb back into the bargain?

A small voice in her head told her not to get too excited about that last part just yet. It was still early days, and it had all moved so fast. While he seemed intent on rebuilding their fractured relationship right now, she was aware that he might change his mind once the first flush of excitement had worn off.

Although, perhaps the accident really had made him reconsider his whole outlook on life. Maybe he was tired of carrying around the anger and resentment that had broken their connection in the first place and was genuinely taking her advice about being more positive.

But she still couldn’t help but worry that it could all change again in the blink of an eye.

She’d just have to be careful.

Though she knew deep down that she was probably far too late to rein back her feelings now.

She knew exactly what this feeling was that warmed her heart and lifted her soul.

She was in love with him.

And always had been.

When she zoned back in she realised he was looking at her with a mixture of concern and amusement.

‘Are you okay? Have I blown your mind?’ he asked with laughter in his voice.

A shiver of delight ran through her. It was so wonderful to see him happy again.

‘Yes,’ she said, returning his smile, ‘but in the very best way.’

‘Good.’

She took a breath and clapped her hands onto her knees. ‘Well, if I’m going to stay here for a bit longer and go out for a fancy meal to celebrate with you tomorrow I’m going to need to buy more clothes. I only brought enough for a couple of days.’

‘Okay. I can recommend a few places in the city to look for some,’ he said, shifting closer to her. ‘There are some great independent boutiques in the Gothic Quarter. But for now,’ he murmured, reaching out a hand to trace the dips and hollows of her throat and shoulder blades with his fingertips, sending waves of pleasure rushing through her body, ‘I think we should celebrate our partnership in a very different, but just as appropriate, way.’

‘Sounds like a wonderful idea to me,’ she said with a smile, then pressed her mouth hard to his, sinking into the heady reassurance of his embrace.