Chapter Sixteen
Into The Woods
Jordan arrived to find Lauren sprawled on the chaise longue by the stairway. “She’s up there,” she said with a nod of her head. “Dunno where she’s been, though.”
He ignored her and bounded up the stairs. Charlotte sat on the edge of the bed, looking oddly nervous. “Is everything all right?”
“I’m fine. I just fancied a breath of fresh air but I wasn’t sure if I should go out before you got back.”
He sat down next to her. “You don’t seem fine. Lauren hasn’t been needling you, has she?”
“No, not at all.” And then she flushed a pretty pink. “Well, maybe a little.”
He reached for her hand to give it a quick squeeze but changed his mind as he watched the emotions chase over her face. She wasn’t very good at keeping her feelings to herself. Clearly, she was unhappy but he had no idea why. He sighed, annoyed with himself for how sad it made him when she wasn’t smiling. “Do you want to do something?”
“I’m happy to entertain myself,” she said. “You don’t have to look after me.”
“I know.” Most of the woman he’d dated were constantly nagging him for attention, as if they needed him to witness their every moment in order to exist. Lauren was the worst, happy to create drama for everyone if she felt the slightest bit neglected. But Charlotte wasn’t like that. She was independent and happy to do her own thing. Or maybe she just didn’t give a damn what he thought of her. But after running a company of five hundred people who all wanted your attention, her lack of interest in him was refreshing. He realized he was, once again, staring at her without speaking. “Well, if you want some fresh air, I’m going to the woods behind the house,” he said. “If you’d like to join me, I’d enjoy your company.”
She glanced at her phone.
He felt stupid. Presumably she wanted to be left alone to call someone, a boyfriend or whatever. He was surprised at how that stabbed at him. “You can come or not, whatever.”
He walked out of the bedroom and out the door before she could answer. He didn’t dare hope she would follow him but still, he paused under the trees at the start of the damp trail so she would know where it started. This was a stupid idea. He thought it would be fun, tramping with her through the woods, showing her his old landmarks. But what would a woman like her want to look at a rain-soaked patch of land for? She probably wasn’t the outdoors type. He started walking, turning right at the fork where the pinecone man his mother had built still stood. A stick cracked behind him and he turned, half-afraid it would be Lauren who had followed him out here. He thought he’d be safe from her, as she couldn’t possibly navigate the muddy track in her high heels.
It was Charlotte, changed into her old blue jeans and a flannel shirt. And yet somehow, she still looked fantastic.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to be prickly,” she said. “It’s just all been a bit overwhelming. And I haven’t even had a lecture on how to be a good wife this morning.”
He laughed out loud at that. “Listen, my father...” His words trailed off. He was about to say his father’s idea of a good wife wasn’t what he wanted but what a stupid thing to tell her. She didn’t care what he wanted, any more than she cared what George wanted.
“What?”
“He has some strong opinions. Wow, the thought of my father trying to help me out by having a chat with the woman of my dreams.” He clamped his mouth shut. What the hell was wrong with him? He just meant to explain he understood why she was wound up, that his father was a dinosaur who believed he knew the answer to everything. But instead it kept coming out as some sort of declaration of love.
She made a face. “I’m sure he’s probably right about a lot of things.”
He shrugged. She was kind to be open-minded but Jordan wasn’t convinced. “He’s worried I’m taking the company the wrong way. You heard his dig at me about being a friend instead of a boss.”
She tilted her head. “I didn’t realize he meant you.”
“Yeah. I opened up the cafeteria to the staff. It used to be a perk for upper management, part of the old boys’ club. And he’s not very happy about the childcare services. The problem is, that kind of workplace improvement only brings about indirect benefits. It’s not easy to show on paper that they are having an effect.” He sighed. “And I fired one of his boardroom buddies last week.”
“Really?” Charlotte’s eyes were bright with interest. “What happened?”
It all came spilling out. “This guy had been with the company twenty years. But his department is keeping work away from him because his desk is a black hole. He can’t use a computer and he just doesn’t understand what to do anymore, he doesn’t like to ask. His department was getting more and more frustrated because the person with the most seniority was regularly messing things up for them. Missing transactions, making mistakes. They even found files hidden in his drawer.” He glanced up at her. “George thinks I should have let him be. That he wasn’t doing any harm. But he was. I fired him. I did it myself, he deserved that. I couldn’t let him hear it from some HR person half his age who had only been with the company six months.”
“But you had no choice.” Her voice seemed full of sympathy. He didn’t feel like he deserved it.
He stepped over the remains of a fallen pine and reached out his hand to help her over. She took it and stepped over the tree with a little jump, landing against him. He resisted the urge to gather her in his arms. After a moment, he let go of her hand and turned to keep walking. It felt good to tell her about what had happened. There wasn’t anyone he could talk to about this. That was probably the toughest part of running the company, the isolation. He couldn’t just complain about work like a normal person and especially he couldn’t complain about George.
“There’s always a choice. He’s right about that. But sometimes the right choice is also the most difficult. It can be easier just to leave things as they are. No one likes change. But if I don’t do the right thing, then how can I expect anyone else to? As a leader, I have to focus on the bigger picture but as a part of that, I have to remember the corporation isn’t just the sum of its parts: it’s made up of individuals. Staff, clients, even competitors deserve to be treated with respect.” He gave a rueful laugh. “Needless to say, my father doesn’t much agree with me.”
“I guess he wouldn’t.” She smiled at him then, a genuine smile that made his heart melt.
She seemed genuinely interested as he told her about Lovett Industries and seemed to understand what he meant. She knew a lot, too. She must have worked in an office before. But he didn’t like to ask about that. The truth was, he didn’t like being reminded she was an escort. She sure didn’t seem like one. Or maybe he just lived a sheltered life. At any rate, he was glad she was there with him.
Just as long as she didn’t try to charge him extra for this.