Chapter Seven
Haven Or Bust
Charlotte followed behind Jordan, dragging her wheelie suitcase behind her, filled with six (!) outfits for one short weekend, along with some comfy clothes and something to work out in, in case there was a gym. Usually she would make do with a pair of jeans and three t-shirts for the weekend but apparently, that’s not the way things were done in Haven. She smoothed her dress, which cost more than she’d spent on groceries in a month. She had been stunned to see how much money he’d given her and committed to spending it all on clothes, like he’d asked. She needed to look the part. It was silly, really, but she didn’t want to let him down.
She was already wondering if she was going to regret this. He was being very charming at the moment but she knew it was only an act. She needed to watch herself around him and be careful not to relax. Which was difficult when he was flirting with her like that. He was such a super focused person. When he looked at her, he really looked at her. It was like being caught in the spotlights. Or like a lighthouse suddenly flaring and then moving on. Yes, that was a better analogy entirely. She just had to stop freezing up every time he paid her attention.
He stopped in front of a tiny red sports car. She blinked. “This? This is your car?”
“McLaren 675LT Coupe,” he said proudly.
She looked at her suitcase dubiously and then back at him.
“It has more space than it looks like,” he said. He opened the hood where, to her surprise, instead of an engine was storage space, some sort of front trunk.
They sped down the freeway at much higher than the speed limit. She held onto the edge of the seat, literally, trying not to let her fear show.
He noticed. “Don’t worry. This car has great airbags.”
“Great.” Charlotte closed her eyes and tried not to think about the speed of the curves. “Who all is going to be there this weekend?”
“George of course, and Lauren.”
“You call your father by his first name?”
He nodded and she saw something hard at the back of his eyes. “Always have.” His jaw tensed and then relaxed again. “There’s the Millers, they live next door. Mrs. Liebowitz. Maybe Mrs. Butrey, if she invites herself. I don’t really know. No one very exciting.”
Well, except his father. But she couldn’t very well tell him that. She had never met George Lovett—thank goodness, or else she couldn’t have done this. She’d seen photographs though. Jordan had the same firm jaw and intense stare. He was more handsome and smiley, or at least he seemed to be. Charming. She couldn’t imagine George Lovett ever even trying to be charming. Still Jordan had always had it easy. He never had to want for anything. He was probably spoiled rotten as a child. And now here he was, CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company. He was a man who had everything.
“Take a photograph, it lasts longer.” He grinned at her. “I don’t mind you looking.”
He was a jerk, that’s what he was. She twisted in the seat and looked resolutely out of the passenger window.
“Sorry,” he said. “But when you look at me like that. Well, it was either that or kiss you.”
Her mouth fell open. “I’m sorry, I think I misunderstood what you just said.”
“When you get that look on your face, all probing and pensive. When you concentrate, your mouth opens a little bit. It’s just too tempting...” His words trailed off.
She forgot how to breath for a moment and then bit her bottom lip viciously to force herself to recover. “Was I pensive?” No way was she going to give him the pleasure of seeing how flustered he could make her with just a few words. “I was just wondering about what it must be like, to be so privileged and rich, you never have to worry about a thing.” She cut her eyes in his direction. “I imagine it makes for a very shallow person.”
His jaw tightened. Good, she got him. His ego was huge, she couldn’t feel bad about putting him into his place.
He glared at her. “Do you think you can manage to go through the weekend without direct insults? As it is, no one would ever believe you were choosing to share my company.”
She did feel a little bit bad. “I promise, I’ll be all sweetness and light in front of your family.” The idea of hanging on his arm did something funny to her heartbeat. She hadn’t really thought through how this was going to work.
“Sweetness and light? I’ll believe it when I see it.” But he was laughing. “As long as you aren’t outright cutting and snide, I’ll settle for that.” Then he gave her a sideways glance. “Although maybe one small kiss wouldn’t go amiss?”
“I’ll thank you to keep your eyes on the road,” she snapped. Her heart was positively racing now. She needed to change the subject. “I read an article this morning that your company is in court for a negligence case.”
“You read the news?”
What the hell was with this asshole? Did he seriously think women didn’t read newspapers? Charlotte had thought it would be easy to make it through the weekend but the urge to tell him off was growing by the minute.
“Yes,” she said, keeping her voice calm. “I read the news. And in the news, I read an article about Lovett Industries.” She spoke with the singsong voice of a Kindergarten teacher. “The article said there was a court case against the company.”
“Ok, I’m sorry, that’s totally a stereotype and it was a stupid thing to say.”
“Yes, it was.”
“I apologize. The case, well.” He shrugged. “It’s not that big a deal. Some guy screwed up, wasn’t following procedure. Now he’s trying to blame us. The tech director is dealing with the lawyers on that one but it’s a standard thing, sue-happy lawyers leading some poor guy to believe corporates are a quick and easy way to make money fast. The more press they can get, the better, because we’ve got the IPO coming up. The company is going public, with shares on the—”
“I know what an IPO is. You figure there’s no chance the company might have messed up?” She struggled to keep the sarcasm out of her voice but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Yeah, it’s fine. Buddy’s got it under control.”
Buddy? She remembered at the last minute that she was supposed to know him already. “Have you known him long?” That seemed like a safe enough question.
“Oh yes, all my life. He’s been with Lovett since the company started. He was George’s right-hand man.”
No mention of her father, she noticed. “How did the company start?” She managed to keep her voice light.
“George started it up in the mid-1990s. He started off in transport vehicle maintenance, dabbled in a bunch of things, bought up some smaller companies. One of those companies had a bunch of land. He got lucky with property investment initially. He picked up a piece of land which turned out to be worth millions. It’s his favorite rags to riches story, I’m sure he’ll tell you about it this weekend.”
“Got lucky, huh?” She clamped her teeth down to keep from saying anything more. Stole the land from the company, then used the proceeds to kick out his partner, Owen Nichols. Rags to riches all right, by stomping over everyone in his way.
Charlotte opened her window until the loud wind blowing through the tiny car removed the temptation to try to speak to him again.
She’d run out of safe subjects to draw him out on. Clearly, it wasn’t possible to have a conversation with Jordan without getting enraged. She would just have to try to make it through the weekend without talking to him.