He was awake now though.
Reaching down onto his lap where he’d left his laptop, he was confused to find it wasn’t there. He sat up carefully, mindful of his damaged rib, and felt along the floor next to the sofa, guessing it must have slipped off his knee whilst he was asleep.
‘Looking for this?’ came a softly chastising voice from the other side of the room and he turned his head to see a woman—Elena—standing there with his computer held between her hands. Her brow was creased and her expression guarded.
‘I thought you were going to give your poor brain a rest last night so it had a chance to recover.’
He shrugged and swung his legs off the sofa, then stood up carefully, turning to face her. Twisting his body was not at all comfortable at the moment.
‘Like I said, I don’t have time to take a break right now.’
She huffed out a sigh. ‘Why not?’
He threw up his hands in frustration, wincing at the twinge of pain this caused. ‘Because there are things going on that need my immediate attention.’
‘Like what?’
Clearly she wasn’t going to give up her questioning. He wasn’t entirely sure he could trust her with details about his business, but something in him, something he couldn’t identify, told him it would be okay to talk to her.
He sighed. ‘I need to convince a potential American supplier of my small appliance-sized battery that I’m an easy and reliable person to partner with,’ he muttered, folding his arms and rocking back on his heels as he thought about the problem again.
‘Apparently he has concerns and is considering backing out of a meeting I’ve taken great pains to set up while he’s over here in Spain. He’s supposed to be coming to Araya Industries on the last day of his visit and I’d hoped to persuade him to include one of my rechargeable batteries in their product range.’
Walking over to the kitchen, he opened the fridge and extracted a carton of orange juice, which he held up towards her to ask if she’d like some. When she nodded, he grabbed two glasses and poured them both a good measure of it.
‘According to Benita, his PA let slip he’d heard a rumour about me being a difficult man to work with and is considering taking a meeting with one of my competitors instead—who is apparently the stable, patriarchal type that Carter prefers to work with.’ He put the carton back into the fridge and slammed the door shut, noticing her jump a little at the forcefulness with which he did this.
Taking a calming breath, he picked up one of the glasses and handed it to her, then grabbed his own and took a long drink from it.
He really needed to keep his cool here if he was going to get on top of this problem. Especially as he was still having a bit of trouble thinking straight after the accident.
‘The fact that I don’t have a partner, let alone a wife, is troubling to him,’ he said, running a hand over his face, trying to wake himself up a bit. ‘But if I can convince him I’m a good bet it could be a hugely lucrative deal that would give us a strong foothold in the American market.’
‘How are you going to do that? Convince him, I mean,’ Elena asked, looking at him from over the rim of her glass.
‘I’m going to offer to take him and his wife out for dinner tonight and show them I’m not the ogre they seem to think I am,’ he said decisively.
‘You’re going to meet them on your own?’
He hesitated, thinking about this. ‘It’s better if I don’t make it too business-formal, so I don’t think I should take anyone else from the office,’ he said slowly. ‘It needs to be a more laid-back affair.’
‘But you’re concerned it might confirm his suspicions about you if you turn up on your own.’
His gaze snapped to hers. How did she seem to know what he was thinking? It was as if she could read his addled mind.
She shrugged a shoulder. ‘I know you don’t remember, but I run my own manufacturing engineering company in England and I’ve been in a similar situation before. In my experience it’s better to have someone else to make up a four, especially if he’s bringing his wife.’
He ran a hand across his jaw, frustration needling him. ‘I don’t have a girlfriend at the moment and I haven’t worked with Benita long enough to build up a convincing rapport with her.’
‘No,’ Elena said, making it sound as if taking Benita would be the last thing she’d suggest.
‘And it would be helpful to have someone who knows something about the industry and how to behave in business meetings already,’ he said as an idea began to form in his head.
‘That’s true, especially as your memory isn’t exactly at its best right now.’
‘So that only leaves one person,’ he said, folding his arms and giving her a pointed stare.
‘Who?’ she asked, frowning at first, then widening her eyes as she caught on to just what he was suggesting.
‘That’s right, Elena. You.’
‘ME?’ ELENA’S HEART leapt into her throat.
Caleb gave her a firm smile, as if the matter had already been decided.
Though, to be fair, she guessed it had.
There was no way she could refuse to help him, of course. For one thing, she couldn’t let him go out on his own when his head injury was still an issue, and for another she was keenly aware that this could be the perfect opportunity to atone for the way she’d treated him in their younger years. She could really help him here—do something of substance.
‘It’s the ideal solution,’ he said, nodding sagely.
‘How are we going to convince them we’re a couple when you don’t remember a thing about me though?’ she asked, her nerves biting a little.
He waved a hand, dismissing her concern. ‘We’ll do a cramming session before the meeting.’
She swallowed, feeling tension building in her throat. She was going to have to be careful what she told him if she was going to avoid the small matter of her being his number one enemy.
‘Okay, well, I’ll need to dash over to the hotel where I’m staying first and fetch my bag so I can change. I’ll need something more appropriate to wear to dinner,’ she said, gesturing to her now rather crumpled suit.
And she could do with a few minutes on her own to get her head together.
‘Which hotel are you staying in?’ he asked.
‘The Barcelona Gran Mar, near the beach.’
He looked at her long and hard for a moment. ‘Okay, I’ll come with you. We can walk from here; it’s not far.’
Her stomach sank. ‘No, you should stay here and rest.’
‘I’m fine,’ he said in that no-nonsense manner she knew so well. ‘Anyway, how are you going to keep your beady eye on me otherwise?’
She sighed and shook her head at his droll expression. The man had an answer for everything. It had been the same when they were younger too.
‘Okay, fine, come with me then. Perhaps you can point out some of the famous landmarks on the way. I’ve not had a chance to see any of them since I arrived.’
She waited while Caleb put in a call to Benita, asking her to