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.
THE BOUTIQUE CLOTHES shops that Caleb had recommended were exactly what Elena was looking for and she spent a happy couple of hours browsing through rails of perfectly tailored dresses in a range of delicate, lush materials, heartened by the knowledge that he was so tuned in to her taste. There was something rather wonderful about being so well understood.
It had been a long time since she’d felt this excited about picking out new clothes for a date; in fact, it had been a long time since she’d even gone shopping like this, preferring to buy her clothes over the Internet for speed and efficiency.
Her friend Hannah had often tried to get her to join her at the weekends to browse
