by Hart, Taylor
She smiled, and he appreciated the way it smoothed away the earnestness of her expression. “Okay, I’ll get the wedge salad, and not because it’s the cheapest thing on the menu.”
“You can get something else too . . . that’s like a side salad.” Jeremy couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever had such an in-depth discussion about menu items and their prices.
“I don’t want to order something I can’t finish,” she said. “I can’t eat a lot when I’m nervous.”
This intrigued him. “What are you nervous about?”
She bit her lip again, then said, “Everything.” She waved a hand, then dropped it into her lap. “Launching the app. Now that you want to invest, it makes it all the more real. Being at a fancy place for lunch. And sitting with you.”
Jeremy sat back. He understood her first concern, not so much the second. Didn’t most people like to eat at a nicer restaurant? But . . . “You’re nervous about sitting with me? Are you worried that your boyfriend, or maybe husband, will be bothered?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend or husband,” she said in that whisper of hers. “It’s just that you’re . . . well, you’re you, and I’m me.”
She was gazing at him like he should understand what she was talking about.
“Can you be more specific?” he asked.
“I’ve already said too much.”
She’d said way too much, Mandy knew. If Daisy were here, she’d be dying. But Mandy’s biggest flaw was saying things in a blunt way, and not stopping herself in time from blurting out her thoughts. It seemed that stuttering wasn’t her problem today, but she’d had no qualms telling Jeremy Lode that she had an issue over having lunch with him.
Mandy had to backtrack, and fast. So what if Jeremy was gorgeous and wealthy and a gentleman and didn’t seem annoyed with her frankness and looked at her like he was interested? Had Daisy been right? No, Mandy firmly told herself.
“I’d love an explanation,” Jeremy said, his voice a little firmer now. “If there are things to be worked through, then we need to have a meeting of the minds.”
“I’m not really a people-person,” she said. “Small talk, socializing, chatting with people outside my very small circle of friends . . . isn’t really in my comfort zone.”
Jeremy said nothing, just gazed at her with those beautiful gray eyes of his. He wasn’t making this easy.
“I’m an accountant by day, a programmer by night,” she continued. “Those professions in and of themselves should tell you that I’m more of an email-or-the-occasional-text person.”
Jeremy smiled.
This was the second time she’d seen him smile, and it made parts of her flutter that she didn’t know could flutter.
The waiter came and saved the day, literally. Mandy couldn’t drink the ice-cold water fast enough and only stopped shy of drinking down the entire glass when she realized both Jeremy and the waiter were staring at her. Carefully, slowly, she set the water down. “I was really thirsty, I guess.”
The waiter merely said, “I’ll refill your glass, ma’am.”
He disappeared, and Mandy picked up her cloth napkin and dabbed at her mouth.
“I’m sorry if I make you nervous,” Jeremy said, his tone wry.
Mandy thought about protesting, but he’d already seen the results of her nerves.
“I’m fine with emails and texts, too,” Jeremy said. “In fact, they’re the most convenient way to communicate since sometimes I work late hours.”
“Me too.” Mandy gave him a small smile.
He nodded. “I think you’re shortchanging yourself, Mandy. Even if you’re not a socialite, that doesn’t mean you can’t expand your circle of friends and acquaintances. And I hope you’ll eventually consider us friends. We’re going to be stuck with each other for a while.”
“Friends?” Mandy said, hoping her voice hadn’t just squeaked. “You and me? Um, I think we should keep things strictly professional, if you don’t mind.”
Those lines appeared between his brows, but the waiter was back. With more water and the shrimp appetizer.
She hoped she hadn’t insulted Jeremy. He was kind of overwhelming her senses, and once this lunch meeting was finished, she hoped things wouldn’t feel so . . . intimate between them. That he wouldn’t gaze at her like he could see into her soul. And that her stomach would stop doing backflips.
“Professional is what I meant to say.” Jeremy reached for one of the jumbo shrimp, dipped it into the red cocktail sauce, then ate it.
Mandy didn’t feel any less fluttery, but she reached for her own jumbo shrimp. She closed her eyes for a moment to better savor the cold, tangy flavor. “Oh. This is really good.”
When she opened her eyes, Jeremy was dipping a second shrimp, a half smile on his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone enjoy their shrimp, and water, as much as you do.”
“I don’t get out much,” Mandy said.
Jeremy laughed, and the deep rumble reached across the table and skittered along her skin.
“I’m serious,” Mandy said, although she smiled at his laughter. “My roommate, Daisy, tries to drag me to all sorts of things, but I’m pretty much a homebody.”
“I get it,” Jeremy said. “I know other accountants and programmers. Introverts, the lot of you.” His tone was warm, almost teasing.
“Exactly.” Mandy began to relax. Just the smallest bit.
“Pretend like I’m your roommate Daisy and tell me about yourself,” he said in that smooth, deep voice.
Jeremy Lode was one persistent man. Mandy sighed. “You are so not like my roommate.”
“I’d hope not,” he said, “especially with a name like Daisy; I can only imagine her personality.”
Mandy wondered if the bubbly personality of Daisy was something Jeremy would be attracted to. “We’re pretty much opposites, but it works, you know?”
Jeremy cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
“Okay, okay,” Mandy said. “I was born in Salem, grew up an only child. Parents still live there. Graduated from college in accounting. Got a job at DeMille’s Accounting Firm. Moved in with my second cousin, Daisy, who’s a hairdresser. Had an idea for an app, developed it, and here I am.”
“You skipped a lot.”
Mandy took another shrimp because at the rate Jeremy was eating, he’d finish off the whole thing. “What about you? I read your bio on the firm’s website, but that skips a lot too.”
He popped another shrimp into his mouth. Chewed. Swallowed. Then drank from whatever wine he’d ordered.
“I’m from the Boston area,” he said. “Two brothers and a sister, all of whom you’ve met. No girlfriend or wife, although my mother is probably nagging me all the way from heaven as we speak. I like numbers. And closing deals. What about thirty-five percent equity?”
Mandy laughed. The Jeremy sitting across from her was a different Jeremy than the day before. He was relaxing, opening up, bantering with her. “You haven’t seen my new spreadsheets yet.”
“I will soon enough.”
“Have you always been so . . . confident?”
With one finger, Jeremy pushed the shrimp cocktail platter toward her. “You were about to say arrogant, weren’t you?”
She shrugged, and he cracked a smile. Her heart flipped. Again. “You aren’t in short supply of much, Jeremy Lode.”
“I know I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” he said. “But life isn’t all roses, no matter which circumstances you were born into.”
Mandy was curious about his statement, but before she could ask him anything more, the waiter brought their meals. She gaped at the work of art that was her wedge salad. “Wow, thank you,” she told the waiter. He would probably laugh at her when he returned to the kitchen. She picked up her fork, but she didn’t know if she dared eat the salad.
“Is something wrong?” Jeremy asked.
She looked at his salmon salad, another beautiful creation. “I didn’t kno
w food could be so beautiful.”
Jeremy slid his plate over. “Take the curse off it.”
She raised her brows.
“You know, take the first bite,” he said. “See if you like the dish. Maybe next time you can order a full meal.”
Mandy was about to protest, but the salmon dish looked divine. So she speared a section of the salmon and salad, dipped it in the hollandaise sauce cup, then put it into her mouth. Her eyes slipped closed as she savored the smoky, tender flavor of the salmon along with cool, crisp lettuce and the creamy tang of the sauce.
When she heard Jeremy chuckle, she opened her eyes to find him watching her. How many times could she blush at one lunch meeting? “Sorry. I’m sure you want your meal back.”
“I like watching you enjoy your food,” Jeremy said in a low voice.
The heat that was spreading to her neck shot through the rest of her body.
“You can have more if you want,” he continued. “There’s plenty.”
“No.” Mandy slid the plate over to him. “This wedge salad will be great.” As if to prove her point, she cut into it and took her first bite. She wasn’t surprised that it was the best salad she’d ever tasted.
“Good?”
Mandy’s mouth was too full to speak, so she rolled her eyes heavenward to express her enjoyment of the food.
Jeremy chuckled, then started eating his meal. He ate the salmon salad much slower than he had the shrimp cocktail. “Tell me about why you decided to develop an app. Are you trying to get out of the accounting business?”
“I’d love to be my own boss,” Mandy said with a shrug. “Not that I don’t love crunching numbers for other people so they can see how rich they are.” She shut her mouth because she’d probably offended Jeremy in three different ways.5
But he didn’t look offended at all. His eyes held only amusement. “I get it. Before I was president of Lodestone, I had to take on a lot of clients I didn’t care for. Now I can be more selective.”
Mandy downed more ice water. “Well, I appreciate your vote of confidence in my business venture then.”
Jeremy nodded and went back to eating.
“And I also must warn you that this will be our first and last lunch meeting,” Mandy said.
Jeremy snapped his gaze to her.
But she had to get it all out. She waved toward the rest of the restaurant space. “I’m more comfortable with a laptop and talking numbers and ideas. The social side of things is a bit nerve-wracking. I’ve never been a great conversationalist.”
“You’re doing fine now,” Jeremy pointed out.
“What I mean is, I’m not a pretty-talker.”
“I’ve heard a lot of pretty words, as you call them,” Jeremy said. “I think your bluntness is refreshing.”
This she hadn’t expected.
“Although we should probably discuss business a little,” he said. “With your schedule, what are the most convenient times for you to meet?”
“Lunch hour, but not actually eating lunch,” she said, “or after 4:30 p.m.”
“Great,” he said. “We’ll start Monday at four-thirty. Who else is on your team?”
“Just me right now.”
His brows drew together. “So you’re putting in, what? Eighty-hour workweeks?”
“Pretty much.”
Jeremy took another sip of his wine, as if he was thinking some things over. “I’ll have a couple other people in our Monday meeting who will be excellent at helping get the app launched.”
“Not your siblings, I hope,” Mandy said.
“No . . . Your account is my solo project.”
“All right, but know there’s another accountant at my firm who’s interested in moonlighting,” she said. “I’ve budgeted in her hours.”
“You might want to branch out from accountants,” he said. “No offense. At least wait until Monday to decide.”
The business-Jeremy was back. “Is this how it’s going to be?” she asked.
“What?”
“Our partnership.” Mandy drank more water, then set down her glass. She was trying not to be irritated. “You make a suggestion, I come up with a solution, you railroad it—”
“Whoa.” Jeremy held up a hand. “I’m not railroading you. I’m only sticking to my thirty-five percent obligations.”
Mandy gazed at him and the half smile on his face. Her irritation faded, although she decided it was easier to read him when he wasn’t the smiling-Jeremy. “I haven’t signed a contract yet.”
He held up his wine glass. “Let’s toast to almost signing a contract.”
She lifted her water glass and clinked it against his. Before taking a drink, she said, “How soon can you go over my new spreadsheets and get back to me?”
Jeremy took a sip of his wine before answering. “I’m not opposed to burning the midnight oil, so let’s say later tonight.”
She was both impressed and surprised, but mostly impressed. “Well, thank you.”
Jeremy took out his phone, and Mandy realized she hadn’t seen him use it once. This impressed her even more.
“What’s your cell phone number, Mandy?” he asked.
The way he said her name in that low voice of his made the flutters return.
“I don’t usually swap cell numbers with my clients,” he continued, “but I think you’re going to be more demanding than usual.”
She narrowed her eyes. Was he teasing or serious? Both? Regardless, it made her feel a bit weightless when she thought of him texting or calling her. Which it shouldn’t, at all. As far as she knew, he was a player. Ugh . . . she was so out of her league here.
She rattled off her number, and he typed it in. Then he sent her a text, making her phone buzz. She created a new contact from the text he’d sent over.
“Are you finished, or do you want dessert?” he asked.
Another thing to be surprised about: that he’d take time for dessert—at lunchtime no less—in the first place.
“No thanks, I’m full,” she said. “Plus, if I try the cheesecake I’ll probably never leave the restaurant.”
“I’ll order it to-go then,” he said. “It’s my favorite too.”
Jeremy rubbed his eyes. He really should get those computer glasses with blue-light filtering that everyone was talking about. It was nearly one in the morning, and he’d just finished going through every line of the spreadsheets Mandy had sent over. She’d been thorough, but she didn’t have a full grasp of the marketing end of things.
Launching a product was one thing, but maintaining it and keeping it competitive against copycats was another game entirely. Jeremy would need to be calling in some favors with his high-powered friends in the industry.
For another client, and another app business, he would keep the launch soft. But for Mandy . . . He hated to admit that he was going above and beyond his usual involvement with clients. And it was barely the third day of their acquaintance. But he felt a persistent drive to get this app well on its way as soon as possible. Certainly it had nothing to do with the refreshing person Mandy was—not to mention that she was highly attractive or that she had no scruples standing up for her company in front of a room full of investors. Perhaps warning bells should be going off in his head, but he was too tired to pay attention.
He emailed Mandy the spreadsheets with his embedded notes. She probably wouldn’t be able to look at them until her lunchtime anyway, but at least it was off his plate for now.
Despite the headache pressing behind his eyes, he typed up a half-dozen emails to key players in the social media marketing space in order to start the process for the upcoming Monday meeting. Other contacts would have to be more personal and would require phone calls in the morning. He was about to log off when an email popped up. From Mandy.
She was awake?
He opened the email and read.
Better late than never.
At first, Jeremy stared. She was . . . giving him a hard time because it wa
s past midnight? He smiled. Then he wrote back. Technically it’s still tonight since I haven’t gone to bed yet.
Her reply came seconds later. I see you haven’t stepped down from your thirty-five percent even after such a thorough review of the financials. I don’t intend to stay in the poorhouse after this thing takes off.
He scoffed. Sixty-five percent won’t keep you in the poorhouse.
Is that the best you can do, Jeremy Lode?
Did she really just play that card? He tapped his fingers on the desk. Jeremy didn’t need to pull up the spreadsheets to know the numbers. He could go to twenty-five percent and still be sitting pretty. Thirty, he typed. That’s my final offer. And I can’t believe you’re negotiating with me at one in the morning. Is it coffee?
She typed back a smiley face. Nothing else.
He waited. Still nothing more. Finally he wrote, Does the smiley face mean you agree to the thirty percent?
She wrote back. Yes.
He laughed. Smiling, he typed. Congratulations, Amanda Wurst. And welcome to Lodestone Capital. The contract will be in your inbox by 9:00 a.m. Not a second later.
A half a minute later her reply came. I’ll keep an eye out for the contract. Thank you for taking this chance. Good night, Mr. Lode.
They were back to formalities, but that didn’t change the smile on his face.
Somehow Jeremy managed to catch a few hours of deep sleep before his 5:00 a.m. alarm went off. He’d learned long ago that even if he was up late the night before, he needed that 5:00 a.m. running time. It kept the stress levels at a minimum. An extra hour of sleep only made his workload loom larger.
Jeremy turned off his alarm and realized he was smiling. It was a new thing, to wake up with a smile on his face. He assumed it was because he’d effectively closed a deal at one that morning, but deep down he knew it had more to do with the person on the other side of the deal. When he’d told Mandy she was refreshing, it was the truth. Everything about her was different than any woman he’d ever been friends with or dated . . . Not that he’d ever date Mandy. She was a client. And she was . . . well, their worlds were quite far apart, as she’d so succinctly pointed out at their lunch.
