are that it’ll help cut down on air pollution and unnecessary fuel usage.’ She took a breath. ‘Right now we’re looking to source a large rechargeable battery to run it. The one that your company makes would be a perfect fit for our design.’
The smile he gave her made her think of a wild animal about to pounce.
‘You’re asking me to partner with you?’ he asked with dry amusement in his voice.
She cleared her throat to try and defuse the tension that was building there.
‘That’s exactly what I’m proposing.’
He nodded slowly, his intense gaze never leaving her face.
‘Why did you choose my battery?’
‘It’s the best one on the market.’ She held back on revealing that it was the only one that would work with the design now that their previous choice was no longer viable.
When their former supplier had called a meeting at the eleventh hour to let her know there was an unfixable fault with the battery they’d planned to use in the car, Elena had done some frantic research, only to come to the uncomfortable conclusion that Caleb’s company was the only other manufacturer of a battery compatible with the design. If she didn’t get him to agree to supply her company today it was quite likely the car’s product launch would be perilously held up and they’d lose all the pre-orders they’d worked so hard to accrue.
‘And I think a partnership would be highly beneficial for both our companies,’ she went on, hoping to goodness that her nerves weren’t beginning to show. Her whole body was rigid with tension because, most crucially, if he didn’t agree to supply the battery Zipabout could go under and her entire workforce, who had become like family to her over the last five years, would all lose their jobs.
Tamping down on the dread that sank through her at the thought of it, she widened her smile. ‘I sent some information over to your PA this morning in case you had a chance to look at it before the meeting, but I’m guessing from your reaction that you haven’t. I have a short presentation on my laptop with me though; perhaps you’d like to see it?’
He regarded her without speaking for what felt like minutes, his dark eyes narrowed in thought. There was something else there in his expression that she didn’t like the look of. Something cold and hard.
‘No, I don’t think I would,’ he said finally.
She stared at him, wondering whether she’d misheard. Surely he couldn’t be dismissing the idea without at least looking at her proposal?
‘What—?’ she whispered, giving herself a little shake, then leaning in closer to him. ‘Caleb, at least look at the sales projections—’
But he cut her off with a wave of his hand. ‘I’m not interested in partnering with you, Elena.’ He stood up. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a busy day—’
‘Wait!’ She raised her hand with all but her pointing finger clenched into a fist so he wouldn’t see how sweaty her palm was. ‘I haven’t given you all the salient details yet,’ she said desperately.
‘I don’t need to hear them; I’ve already made my decision.’
‘But—’ She could feel panic rising from her gut. ‘Why, Caleb?’
He took a step towards her, his face completely devoid of emotion. ‘Because, Elena, I don’t do business with people whose word I don’t trust.’
She shook her head in disbelief. ‘That was a long time ago, Caleb. I can’t believe you’re still angry with me for that.’ Getting shakily to her feet, she took a step towards him. ‘Please know I still feel bad about the way I handled it all, but we were both so young and naïve—’
‘You were naïve,’ he cut in angrily. ‘I wasn’t. I’d experienced far too much ignorance and cruelty in my life for that to be the case.’
‘And you’re really still harbouring bad feelings about it? It was fifteen years ago! Surely you’ve experienced enough happiness in your life now to get over it?’ She swallowed down her regret. ‘I read that you got engaged last year.’
He batted away her questioning look, his gaze finally slipping from hers. ‘It didn’t work out.’
Something twisted and tightened in her chest, making it harder for her to breathe. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
His expression darkened. ‘Are you? Since when do you care about my love life?’
‘I—’ She didn’t know how to answer that. The truth was she’d kept tabs on what he’d been up to over the intervening years because, despite the fact their friendship had ended badly, she still cared about him. Not that she thought telling him that right now would do anything to strengthen her case. He’d probably just see it as more weakness.
Caleb used her hesitation to push the knife in deeper.
‘How is—what was his name?—Johnny, was it? Are the two of you still living your safe, comfortable life together?’
Heat raced to her cheeks. ‘His name was Jimmy and, no, we’re not together any more. We split up a number of years ago.’ Which was yet another painful regret. She still felt guilty about backing away from her and Jimmy’s wedding, even though she’d known it was the right thing to do at the time.
The main problem had been that the memories of Caleb had never left her, even though she’d tried her hardest to forget him. He’d stayed with her, buried deep in her heart.
There wasn’t a flicker of reaction on Caleb’s face at this news though, not even a twitch of an eye. Clearly he didn’t care a jot about her any more. But then, if that was true, why was he being so pig-headed about not listening to her?
Because he was punishing her for hurting him fifteen years ago.
Frustration surged through her. ‘I can’t believe you’re still holding a grudge, Caleb. Surely someone of your standing and success has no need to be so small-minded.’ She could hear the anger vibrating in her voice and it seemed Caleb did too because he widened his eyes a little before replacing his flash of surprise with an amused smirk.
‘Is this the controlled, cautious Elena I knew all those years ago? My, how you’ve changed.’
‘For the better, Caleb. I’m not the naïve young girl you used to know.’ She refrained from saying and love, knowing that would be taking things a step too far. He’d never said such a thing to her, he’d been too proud for that, though it had been implied in his every action.
Unless she’d read him wrongly.
Which was quite possible.
She’d been wrong about a lot of things.
There was a quiet knock on the glass door and Caleb’s PA crept, hunch-shouldered, into the room.
Before she could speak, Caleb let out a growl of frustration and snapped, ‘I thought I told you I didn’t want to be interrupted!’
Because Caleb had spoken to her in English, and perhaps in deference to Elena’s presence there too, his PA replied in English. ‘I’m so sorry, but I thought you’d want to know about this straight away. Apparently there’s a problem with the meeting with the Americans on Monday. Señor Carter’s PA is saying he’s having second thoughts—’
Caleb held up a hand to stop her speaking, his gaze flicking momentarily to Elena before returning to his PA, his expression thunderous, as if furious that Elena had been a party to hearing about the setback.
This time he replied in Spanish and, even though Elena didn’t understand a word of it, not being a Spanish speaker, she could see that his words had cut his PA deeply when she backed out of the room with tears glinting in her eyes.
‘How can you be so cold? So mean!’ she blurted when he turned back to look at her. ‘That poor woman