me—rather desperately, judging by the power suit and heels.’
Damn, his dispassionate attitude was going to make her job here so much harder. But there was no way she was giving up that easily. Just because he wasn’t prepared to be friendly it didn’t mean she couldn’t persuade him to agree to give her what she needed. She was going to have to play this meeting carefully though. Apologise—again—if that was what it took.
Just not yet.
It was probably best to keep things on a purely business tack for now.
‘I’m here to put a proposition to you,’ she said, forcing herself to keep her gaze firmly fixed to his. ‘Although to say I’m “desperate” isn’t at all accurate,’ she lied.
If she knew Caleb at all, and she thought that she did, showing any kind of weakness at this point would be a huge mistake.
‘A proposition?’ he said, a hint of incredulity colouring his voice.
Elena nodded jerkily, cursing her churning stomach. ‘Yes. I’m sure it’s something you’re going to be very interested in.’
There was a heavy pause while Caleb ran his piercing gaze over her face—perhaps looking for signs of a set-up, or even a joke—before appearing to decide that she was absolutely serious.
‘Then I suppose we’d better sit down,’ he said, gesturing towards the chair she’d vacated and taking another one two places away, which he turned around so it was facing her.
‘You won’t need to take any notes,’ he said to his PA, waving his hand dismissively. ‘This won’t be a long meeting.’
Trying not to show how much his glib assumption riled her, Elena took her own seat and smiled encouragingly at the PA, who gave her a nervous nod in return before scuttling out of the room.
Poor woman.
Biting her lip to refrain from saying something to Caleb about his ogre-like behaviour, Elena sat up straighter in her chair and fixed him with a serious stare.
He looked back at her with one eyebrow raised in apparent curiosity, though the look in his eyes was still hard enough to cut diamonds.
‘I don’t know whether you know, but I’m the Managing Director and owner of a company in England called Zipabout,’ she began, leaning forward a little in her chair.
His expression gave no hint as to whether he’d known that or not so she decided to just forge ahead with the pitch.
‘We’ve designed an electric car specifically suited for a single person to make short trips around towns and cities. It’s safer than riding a bike and easy to park in small spaces, but the overarching benefits 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.’
