by Layla Hagen
“Well, you caught me there. And since you bought it for me, I can’t let it go to waste, can I?”
The stranger gave me a crooked smile. He motioned with his head to one of the empty tables. “Shall we?”
I glanced at the time on my smartphone. “I only have twenty minutes.”
“Plenty of time to drink our coffees and for you to enjoy your pancake. By the way you were looking at it, it wouldn’t last longer than five minutes anyway.”
Had he just called me out on my appetite? Yes, yes, he had. But since he was spot-on, I couldn’t argue with him. Walter’s was cozy, with its vintage tables and chairs and comfortable couches. We sat at a table by the window. When he’d draped the jacket of his navy suit over the backrest of the chair, I’d had a prime view of his ass. Well, hell. Now that was a detail I wanted to remember.
“Do you work at one of the companies in the area? Or are you here for a meeting?” I asked.
“I just moved my company here. You?”
“My office is nearby.” I didn’t feel like giving him any details, because any mention of my company would bring the upcoming meeting front and center again. “I stop here every morning for coffee.”
He set an elbow on the table, leaning slightly over. “And a pancake?”
“Occasionally.”
“Come on, you can be honest with me.” He winked, and I couldn’t help laughing. How could he tell that by occasionally I’d meant every other day?
“Well, I might indulge more than just occasionally. Might.”
“I see. Too early in the morning for honest confessions?” He was teasing me, and I enjoyed it immensely.
“Way too early,” I confirmed, and now he was laughing. We chitchatted about nothing in particular while we drank our coffees. He wasn’t offering any details about himself. We hadn’t even exchanged names.
I wondered if, like me, he didn’t want to think about the day ahead. Usually people liked to brag about their jobs, and judging by his expensive suit and watch, he had a brag-worthy job. I liked the anonymity of our conversation. It was freeing. This enigmatic stranger was hands down the best thing that could have happened to me this morning.
When it was time for me to leave, he stood up from his chair at the same time I did. I really liked his manners. Our arms touched as we both moved. The contact only lasted a second, but my entire body reacted. What was wrong with me? Was I so starved for affection that the slightest touch affected me so much? Okay, so it was the touch of a tall and gorgeous man, but still.
“Do you have any recommendations for lunch places?”
“Mrs. Seguin.” I answered with the first name that popped into my mind, because I planned to head there for lunch. “It’s great for business meetings too. They have a wide selection.”
“Thanks.”
“I need to hurry,” I said regretfully. Without realizing it, I’d motioned with my head across the street to my building.
“You work at Valentina’s Laboratories?”
“Yes. I’m the owner, Valentina. You know the company?” The name was written next to the entrance door, but the font wasn’t large enough to be seen from across the street.
“We have the same building manager. She told me about you.”
Kate was a darling. She bragged about me to everyone.
“I’m Carter.”
Ah, a sexy name to go with a sexy man.
“I’d love to stay and chat some more, but I have to prepare for my meeting.”
“Have a nice day, Valentina.”
The morning took a nasty turn when my lawyer called me frantically to inform me he’d been in a minor car accident on the freeway and couldn’t make it in time for the meeting.
“We should reschedule,” he said at once.
“The mediator will arrive in a few minutes. I’ll deal with it.”
After all the hassle it took for both parties to agree on the law firm we’d use for mediation, I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
I spent the next ten minutes behind my desk, surveying the notes I’d made during my conversation with my lawyer. As I reviewed the notes, I committed everything to memory. I wasn’t going to take them into the meeting. I felt more confident when I spoke freely, and I was determined to appear strong and unfazed, not as if I would bend to the competition’s demands.
At five to eight, my assistant knocked on the open door. “He’s here, Val. I already led him to the meeting room.”
My palms instantly felt clammy, but I sounded calm as I spoke. “Okay. Offer him water, or coffee or—”
“Poison?” Anne suggested cheerfully.
“If you do, you cannot involve me. You’re on your own.” I grinned. “Just tell him I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I rose from my chair as Anne disappeared from view, then strode with large, confident steps. I wouldn’t allow anyone to take me down, or smear my name, not after working for this dream for more than a decade.
The meeting room was just a few feet away from my own office, and when I stepped inside, the mediator introduced himself as Emerson Smith.
“My lawyer can’t make it this morning,” I told him after inviting him to sit opposite me.
“Would you like to reschedule?”
“No, there is no need. Let’s get on with it. What are their demands?”
“Ms. Connor, I will lay everything out in simple terms. They don’t desire a lawsuit any more than you do. All they ask of you is not to bring that line to market.”
I bristled, moving at the edge of my chair. “All they ask? That would mean admitting I was wrong.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, staring at the wooden table between us. “They have no patent or credible base from which to point their finger at me. We developed the same product at the same time. A hundred copycats will catch up to us two months later anyway. It’s not patentable.”
“They will sue if you insist on bringing it to market. You know this is about profits, and nothing else. By the time the copycats will bring out their product, they could make a nice profit. But if you bring it out at the same time, it will cut into their profits.”
“I cannot tell my team to trash their work. As I said, agreeing to their terms would be akin to recognizing I was in the wrong.” I licked my lips, searching for a way to make him understand it wasn’t just about the money. “This... I know for them this is just a small branch. A profitable one, but just a blip on their portfolio of products. For me, it’s everything. I built this company.”
“I understand your viewpoint perfectly. How would you solve this? What would you like me to tell them?”
“Tell them that I don’t see any reason we can’t both bring our products on the market. Sure, it will mean lower profits for both, but that’s business. You win some, you lose some.”
Emerson went on to share a few more details, but the meeting was surprisingly short, and I was frustrated that nothing at all had been resolved. I’d been hoping to put the issue behind me, but I’d clearly been too optimistic.
This wasn’t my first rodeo with a bigger player on the market trying to intimidate me. Since I’d listed the first line in Sephora, the sharks had started showing their teeth. Once I was big enough to be noticed, they tried to push me out. I got it, store placement was limited already, and the perfume and cosmetics industry was cutthroat, with thousands of fragrances being released every year from big houses alone. So far, none of those intimidation attempts had resulted in actual lawsuits. I was betting on this going the same way.
The rest of the morning was busy as hell. I had an open-door policy, which meant anyone could stop by anytime with a question or a problem. My stomach began rumbling around ten o’clock, but I did pull through until twelve when I practically ran toward Mrs. Seguin.
The place was already half full when I arrived, but I found a table and was lazily perusing the menu, even though I already knew what I wanted to order. I was just about to flag down a waiter when
I saw a certain tall and spectacularly handsome someone step inside the restaurant. Carter.
He saw me immediately and began to walk my way, smiling. I smiled back. I had a feeling my day was just about to become better.
Chapter Four
Val
“Valentina, we meet again.”
“Call me Val. Everyone does.”
“Are you waiting for someone?”
I shook my head.
“Can I buy you lunch, then?”
I laughed. “We can eat together, but you don’t have to buy my lunch.”
“I insist.” He’d said the same thing this morning. I narrowed my eyes.
“You are very insistent, aren’t you?”
He didn’t bother denying it. I sat a little straighter in my chair.
“Well, I insist too. You’re not buying lunch.”
He watched me with amused but determined eyes. I cocked a brow, enjoying our silent standoff. Eventually, he realized I wasn’t going to back down and relented with a nod before drawing back his chair and sitting down.
“What’s good here?”
“The fries, the guacamole, the crab. Honestly, everything is delicious. I usually order the special of the day.”
“I’m going to trust you.”
A waiter stopped by, and we both ordered the special and sparkling water.
“How was your morning?” Carter asked once we were alone.
I grimaced. “I don’t want to think about it at all. Tell me about yours. How come you decided to move to this area?”
“My law firm outgrew our old offices, and this area is getting a lot of attention.”
My shoulders slumped. He was a lawyer? I felt extremely deflated that my sexy stranger wasn’t so far removed from my troubles as I’d thought. Was he a ruthless lawyer? Possibly heartless? What kind of cases did he take? Was he the type who would represent a large multinational trying to crush a smaller player to enhance their profits?
I inwardly chastised myself. After the morning I’d had, I wasn’t feeling very friendly toward lawyers. But that wasn’t fair to Carter, so I tilted my lips in a polite smile.
“It’s becoming very popular. I moved my business here years ago when it wasn’t nearly as lively. I love it. Has a sense of community.”
“Speaking of community, Kate invited me to the charity event. I’ve looked it up. That’s a great cause.”
“It is. Are you coming?”
“Yes. I cleared my calendar.”
I smiled. A heartless man wouldn’t look up the details of a charity, right? Right?
***
Carter
Our order arrived, and we dug into our food in silence. I used the opportunity to observe Val as I’d done at the coffee shop. She’d caught my attention when she stood in line in front of me, and I had had an excellent vantage point. She was stunning and funny as hell. The fifteen minutes I’d spent with Valentina this morning had been the highlight of my week.
When I entered the restaurant just now, I noticed her hair first—those long, thick tresses cascading down her back. I could only imagine what it would feel like to sink my hands into it, tugging while I pulled her closer.
Even now, I couldn’t look away from her. She was beautiful, with that black top hanging off one shoulder. I was taller than her, so this morning I’d had an excellent view of her cleavage when we stood in line. My mouth watered just remembering.
Midway through our lunch, my phone vibrated with an incoming message.
“Sorry, I just have to check if it’s something urgent.”
April: I’m going to a movie with some people from my English class. I’ll be home late.
I groaned, then remembered I wasn’t alone. Val was watching me curiously.
“Trouble at work?”
“No... it’s my niece,” I admitted reluctantly. “She’s just texted me to say she’ll be home late. She informed me, didn’t ask me. This will set a bad precedent. She’s fourteen.”
I had no idea why I was telling her this.
Val rested her elbows on the table, watching me intently. “Let me guess... you want to be firm with her, but you also don’t want her to hate you?”
“Yes. Exactly. How do you know?”
She gave me a small smile. No, wait a second. It wasn’t a small smile. More like she was fighting the urge to laugh. “Want some advice?”
“Yes, please.”
I already had my parents’ advice on this, but I wanted a third party’s opinion. Since the girls had come to live with me, Mom split her time between LA and Montana. My father still owned the fir tree farm he’d had while I was growing up. After Hannah’s death, Mom wanted to be closer to her grandkids. She’d just retired from her job as a teacher and had taken up freelance editing, so she was flexible. I’d rented an apartment for her and offered to move them both permanently here, assuring them I could cover their financial needs, but my dad was too proud for that. The farm was his life, even though he was bound to take things slower now. He was about to have hip surgery. Mom had flown to Montana the week before the girls started school, and this time she was staying there for a few months.
“You need to be firm. She’ll hate you for a bit, but then she’ll get over it. It’s important to make her understand that you don’t want to control her. Also important—choose your battles.”
“Makes sense in theory. Now I just have to find the right way to formulate it.”
This time she did laugh. And since this morning I’d laughed with her, I could tell the distinction—now she was laughing at me.
“You’re a lawyer. I’m sure you know how to get your opinion across,” she pointed out.
“Different skill set, I’m afraid.”
“I see.”
“Do you?”
I usually didn’t talk about my nieces. People didn’t care, but Val seemed interested. I liked that a lot.
A waiter passed by, asking if we wanted the tab. I nodded, even though I wanted to drag out our lunch date because I hadn’t had nearly enough time with her, but I had a meeting across town.
I automatically reached for the tab as the waiter brought it, but Val put her hand on a corner.
“No, mister. We’re sharing the tab. We agreed.”
“I didn’t explicitly agree.”
Her jaw dropped, and her green eyes were so full of fervor that I wanted to kiss her until she wrapped those long legs around me and begged for more.
“That’s not how I remember it. You nodded.”
I held both hands up in surrender. “True, true. I’m a man of my word.”
“Uh-uh. I’m not sure I believe you.”
She glanced at me suspiciously right up until we each paid, then said, “Before I forget, have you confirmed with Kate that you’re coming to the event?”
“I haven’t gotten to that yet, but I’ll send her an email.”
“I have access to the guest list since I know some of the guests. I’ll put you on it. It’s going to be great, even though it’s going to be tiring for me. I’ll have to mingle a lot.”
But mingling didn’t last the entire night. After everyone had a few cocktails on board, it was pointless anyway. They wouldn’t remember the conversation the next day. The venue where the gala was taking place was surrounded by a large garden. I could take Val out for a stroll after she was done mingling, maybe share a glass of wine in private, get to know her better. Get a taste of those lush lips too.
I’d been fantasizing about tasting them since this morning. I’d barely kept my thoughts in line, which was a definite first. I’d always been able to keep a clear head at work. But I kept reverting to that view of her cleavage. If I sucked on a nipple, would she roll her hips against me? How responsive would she be to my touch?
She took her overlarge phone out of her bag, setting it on the table.
“Let’s see, here is the guest list.” She pulled up a spreadsheet. It had four columns. Name, Plus one, Email, Phone Number.
I was fighting to clear my thoughts as Val asked, “Are you bringing a plus one?”
“No.”
“Can I have your last name, email, and phone number?”
“Sloane.” I rattled off the other information, trying to digest my disappointment.
“All done.”
I rose first from my chair, then held out hers. She glanced up in surprise.
“I take manners seriously.”
“Clearly.”
“Thank you for keeping me company, Val.”
I couldn’t help myself and leaned in closer than was polite when she rose. The little sigh of surprise she let out was delicious.
Chapter Five
Val
Friday dinners were a religion in the Connor family. I liked to call it regrouping time. No matter how shitty or exhausting a week, these few hours I spent surrounded by my siblings filled me with energy. I liked knowing what everyone was up to.
While I was cooking, Ethan called. I’d deleted him from my contacts list, and when I saw a random number calling, I answered thinking it could be related to the charity event.
“Hey, Val.”
I straightened as if someone had electrocuted me. “Ethan. Why are you calling?”
“Listen, I know we’ve had our differences—”
“You were cheating,” I said through gritted teeth, leaning against the counter.
“We never said we were exclusive.”
I blinked repeatedly as my insides twisted. It was true, he’d never specifically said we would be exclusive, but I’d always thought it was implied anyway. How could I have been so gullible? God, I was a moron... always dreaming, always hoping. Being cheated on stung like hell.
“What do you want?”
