by Hart, Taylor
Dustin chuckled, but no one else in the room joined in.
In a surprising move, Mandy closed her laptop, cutting off the image on the screen. Then she unhooked her laptop from the projector. No one spoke as she loaded the laptop into her bag.
“Thank you for your time,” Mandy said, her voice not quite as steady as it had been before. “I will see myself out.”
Jeremy couldn’t help staring at her as she walked out of the conference room. It seemed she had no trouble pushing open the heavy glass door now, and no shoes were lost in the process.
Through the glass wall, everyone watched her pass the receptionist desk, then turn in the direction of the elevators.
“She has a temper,” Ian said with a scoff. “I say we dodged a bullet.”
Dustin smirked. “Speak for yourself. I was ready to invest.”
“No!” Ian gaped.
“Thirty-five thousand,” Dustin deadpanned.
Hollie shifted in her seat. “The idea wasn’t half-bad,” she said. “I would have offered her the full amount if she’d stuck around.”
“So you were baiting her?” Dustin said, eyes narrowing.
“Testing her,” Hollie clarified.
Jeremy didn’t want to hear any more. He rose and crossed the room. The image of Amanda Wurst, and how her eyes had been glassy just before she left the room, wouldn’t leave his brain.
“Where are you going?” Ian asked.
Jeremy didn’t take the time to answer, because if he did, he might miss Amanda before she left the building.
Mandy leaned against the cool wall inside the elevator and waited for the doors to close. She would not cry, at least not until she got back to her apartment. She’d been prepared, calm, and collected, but once Hollie Lode had offered thirty-five thousand, Mandy knew it was a lost deal.
She almost wished that Jeremy Lode had said something. He had been the quietest in the room, and his gaze had been a bit unnerving, yet Mandy had known he was listening to every word and reading every line of the financial statement. From her research into the firm, she knew he was recently made president, although his father was still CEO. What she wouldn’t give to have five minutes with him to get his honest assessment.
Well, that wouldn’t happen now.
There were other venture capitalist firms in Boston of course, but Lodestone was the most prestigious. Their name alone as her financial backer would open doors for her and get those meetings with social media sites. And if Lodestone wasn’t willing to put up three hundred thousand, then would others be?
Yet . . . she couldn’t give up. She’d spent too much time on it to turn back now. But she knew, as with all things technology-related, time was of the essence. Today’s brilliant idea would be tomorrow’s old news.
The elevator doors slid shut, but before the elevator could descend, the doors dinged. And opened.
Mandy pushed the Close button before she realized someone had stepped into the elevator with her. The scent of his aftershave should have been a clue, but she had to look up and see for herself. Yep. Jeremy Lode.
The doors slid shut, and he turned to face her, those gray eyes of his more blue now.
Well. If she wasn’t mortified enough, it would be even worse now that she had to ride to the bottom of the building with this man.
Jeremy slipped his hands into his pockets, his gaze still on her.
Did he never blink?
Mandy felt her lips twitch at such an inane thought. In fact, she was feeling slightly hysterical. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry, but what if she started laughing instead? The man staring at her across the small space of the elevator was a little too intense.
If she didn’t suspect sweat rings on her silk blouse, she would have slipped off her jacket. Who knew elevators were heated? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the numbers of the descending floors flash by. Why didn’t anyone need to get on the elevator right now? Of all times, and all moments, why did Mr. Jeremy Lode have to pick this moment?
“Are you all right?” Jeremy asked.
The question was so out of context and so unexpected, that it took Mandy a few seconds to answer. “Yes, I’m fine.” And that should have been the end of the conversation, except he apparently wasn’t satisfied with her curt answer.
“You left quite abruptly, and I was surprised you didn’t have any questions,” he said.
He was in the elevator specifically to speak to her? “You followed me to see if I had questions about getting turned down?”
It was the first time she’d seen a hint of a smile on his face.
“When you put it that way, I suppose I did follow you.”
The deepness of his voice rumbled through her, sending her thoughts racing in directions they shouldn’t be moving. And he hadn’t exactly answered her question.
She kept her gaze locked with his, because now that her pitch session was officially a bust, she wasn’t about to be intimidated. He likely knew how attractive he was and the effect he had on women. And right now, when there was nothing else to look at but him in this confined space, she noticed that Jeremy Lode had a small scar on the edge of his eyebrow. It was the only imperfection in his otherwise rather perfect face.
His gray-blue eyes, which she’d thought rather distant when she first met him, weren’t distant at all. In fact, he seemed to be looking right into her thoughts, past any defenses. Reading her. Studying her.
“Do you think you can look past my partners’ comments and reconsider?” he said.
“Reconsider?” Her mind spun in another direction now. “Are you offering to invest thirty-five thousand, Mr. Lode?” It was hard to keep the edge out of her voice. “Because if you are, I’d have to say that I’m still not interested. But thank you for your time.”
Jeremy didn’t flinch or seem insulted in the very least by her brush-off.
The elevator dinged open. They’d reached the main lobby. Mandy moved to walk out, and Jeremy caught her hand. He let go almost as soon as he touched her.
“I’m not offering thirty-five thousand,” he said. The elevator doors tried to shut, but he stopped it with his hand. “I’m offering the full amount and possibly more, because I think you shortchanged your accounts payable.”
If Mandy’s thoughts had been racing before, now they came to a screeching halt. “You are offering to invest three hundred thousand in my company?”
His barely-there smile was back. And she wondered why she had ever thought he was unfeeling, because in his gaze she saw . . . interest. “what’s your payment plan?”
A small furrow appeared between his brows. “Forty percent equity.”
Mandy blinked. “Y-you want to be a partner?”
He didn’t seem to notice her stammer. “Look, Ms. Wurst, today is fairly busy, but tomorrow let’s meet here around eleven,” he said. “For lunch. We can go over the terms and my ideas, then see if they mesh with yours. We’ll come to all agreements before any contracts are signed.”
Mandy had questions—a lot of questions. “Forty percent? That’s, uh, really high—”
“I don’t need your answer now,” Jeremy cut in. He released the elevator doors. “Tomorrow. Eleven?”
She nodded as the elevator doors slid shut.
Mandy stood in the lobby, wondering what had just happened. When the numbness started to wear off, the excitement set in, quickly followed by worry. Giving up forty percent of the equity was very high. It would mean that Jeremy Lode would have nearly equal say in all company decisions.
She ordered a Uber to pick her up, and once the car showed, she called Daisy, even though she was probably at work.
Surprisingly enough, Daisy answered, and Mandy spilled the whole story.
After she finished, Daisy didn’t say anything for a moment.
“Are you still there?” Mandy asked.
“Yep,” Daisy said. “I think it’s amazing, and I’m happy for you, but I do have some concerns.”
Mandy sighe
d. “Me too.”
“Is Jeremy Lode a player?”
“What do you mean?” Mandy said. “You think he’ll try to steal my idea?”
“No,” Daisy said with a laugh. “I mean, is he . . . interested in you?”
It took Mandy a second to catch up. Then she laughed. “Me? No. We live in completely different worlds, and I’m pretty sure I’m not his type.”
“Gorgeous isn’t his type?”
“Please,” Mandy said with another laugh. “You’re my best friend, so I expect a pep talk from you. But we both know I’m awkward and have a million flaws. Plus, men like Jeremy Lode probably date supermodels or trust-fund women. He’s a billionaire, remember?”
“Oh, I remember, sweetie. But don’t sell yourself short,” Daisy said. “Billionaires are still in need of genuine relationships.” She called out to someone in a muffled voice before coming back on the phone. “Hey, I’ve got to go. Pierre is giving me the stink eye for keeping my client waiting for two precious minutes.”
Mandy hung up, and as the Uber pulled alongside the curb of her apartment building, she realized that she had absolutely no idea what to wear tomorrow.
“Sidney’s on line one,” Elizabeth said in a smooth voice. “Do you want me to take a message again?”
Jeremy sighed. This was Sidney’s third call in a couple of days. He should have taken her call yesterday and let her know then that he wouldn’t be playing in the charity golf event in two weeks. He’d send his dad, and his dad could use one of his brothers as a partner.
Jeremy didn’t want the obligation of attending the gala fundraiser the night before and encountering the usual social scene of schmoozing, false promises, women’s business cards with personal cell numbers scrawled on them, his dad’s tendency to drink too much, and—
“Jeremy?” Elizabeth said.
“Uh, put her through.” He might as well get this over with.
“Darling,” Sidney’s voice oozed. “I just spoke with your dad.”
“You did?”
“I can’t believe he’ll be in Europe during our charity event,” Sidney said with a laugh.
He will?
“So I was calling to confirm with you, dear,” she said. “I’ll need your golf partner and your plus-one for the gala dinner.”
“I’ll have Elizabeth get back to you on that,” Jeremy said.
“So you don’t have a date yet?” Sidney said, her voice going up an octave. “My daughter Shelby is coming into town if you need someone at the last minute.”
Jeremy nearly choked. Shelby was the epitome of every type of woman he wanted to avoid. “It’s all right,” he said. “I’ve got an invitation in the works.” Or he would. It was still two weeks away.
“Oh, I can’t wait to meet her,” Sidney cooed.
Jeremy knew the woman meant well, but he didn’t want to have this conversation. With anyone. He said his goodbyes, then hung up. When he glanced at the clock, he startled. It was after eleven, and he was supposed to meet Amanda Wurst in the lobby.
He hurried out of his office, telling Elizabeth he’d be out of the office for a couple of hours. Before she could question anything, he’d continued down the hall to the elevators. Once inside the elevators he checked his phone. 11:09.
He wasn’t that late, but he hated to make Mandy question anything else about his firm after the treatment she’d received yesterday. He had yet to tell his partners that he was taking Mandy on as a client. That could wait until their monthly review meeting.
As soon as the elevator doors slid open, he saw her in the lobby. She wasn’t wearing a suit like she had the day before. Instead she wore tan slacks and a wraparound sweater-shirt in an olive-green color. Her hair was pulled away from her face by a barrette, and her auburn waves tumbled down her back.
Jeremy strode forward, an apology on the tip of his tongue, when she spoke first.
“I’m glad you’re late, since I just walked in,” she said.
“Perfect.” Did she know her sweater made her eyes look more green than brown? And that she smelled of something sweet and flowery? “Are you hungry?”
Her hesitation told him enough.
“We don’t have to eat,” he said. “We could go to the conference room.”
“Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving.”
Her brows lifted. “Then we’d better get lunch. My mother always says that a hungry man is a horrible decision maker, and we have some negotiating to do.”
“Do we?”
Her lips pressed together, but her eyes glinted with something like amusement.
She shouldered her computer bag and walked with him toward the entrance. “Where are we going?”
“Ricardo’s.”
Her steps slowed, and she looked up at him. “Don’t you need reservations?”
“I have reservations.”
She bit her lip and nodded, then continued out the door.
He wondered what was going through her mind, but he didn’t have a chance to ask, because Lyle pulled up in the car just then and rolled the window down. Today he wore an orange polo shirt beneath his black blazer. Lyle never skimped on the color. He called out a greeting.
Jeremy opened the door for Mandy. “After you,” he said.
She hesitated, looking inside the car. “You have a driver?”
“Yes.”
She bit her lip again and slid into the seat. Jeremy decided that Mandy needed to stop drawing attention to that lip-glossed mouth of hers. He walked around the back of the car and climbed in on the other side to sit next to her.
“Ricardo’s,” he told Lyle.
As the car pulled away from the curb, Jeremy said, “Where are you from?” at the same time Mandy said, “What’s your best email to send documents to?”
“You want to talk business first?” he asked.
Red stole its way along her neck, and he was oddly satisfied that he’d made her blush. Without flirting?
“Isn’t this why we’re meeting?” she asked.
“Yes,” Jeremy conceded. “But I want to know my clients too.”
Mandy nodded. “That makes sense, but I’m not really a small-talk person.”
Jeremy felt a smile forming. “I’ve already decided to work with you, Ms. Wurst. I’m not grading you, or anything.”
Her gaze flitted to his. “Can you call me Mandy? I’m not too fond of my last name.”
“Only if you call me Jeremy like I asked you to yesterday.”
“Okay, Jeremy,” she said, and he quite liked hearing her say his name. “I’m not going to give you forty percent. I spent a couple of hours last night running numbers.”
Jeremy did smile then. “Nice.”
She paused, and it was as if she’d forgotten what she was about to say.
“We’re here, Mr. Lode,” Lyle said.
“Thanks, Lyle.” Jeremy turned to Mandy. “Are you opposed to chivalry, or can I get your door?”
“I’m not opposed to chivalry,” she said.
Jeremy opened his door and walked around the car to open Mandy’s. He’d long since told Lyle that he didn’t want doors opened for him. But it had always bothered Jeremy when a woman insisted on opening doors for herself. He supposed he could blame it on his mother, who’d trained him to always open doors for women, even if they didn’t always appreciate it.
“Thank you.” Mandy climbed out of the car, clutching her laptop bag.
“I thought you could leave your laptop in the car,” Jeremy said. “We’ll eat and go over some things, then we can crack out the spreadsheets another time.” At her hesitation, he said, “Lyle won’t touch it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m not worried about that.” Mandy put her bag onto the seat, then moved past him, her flowery scent staying behind.
Jeremy closed the door, and together they walked to the entrance of Ricardo’s. He liked this place because the music was low and the booths spacious. The waiters weren’t obt
rusive, and he could conduct two-hour business meetings in addition to a long lunch.
As they stepped inside, Mandy said, “Wow, this place is beautiful.”
Jeremy had been here enough times that he didn’t pay much attention anymore. But it was true that the elegance of the place was unparalleled by most restaurants. The marble pillars, soft leather booths, and white-linen-covered tables set with crystal and china all made for a beautiful setting.
“The food’s great too,” Jeremy said. “When you’re hungry.”
“I think I’m hungry now.”
He chuckled. They sat in the booth the waiter led them to, and Jeremy ordered shrimp cocktail for an hors d’oeuvre.
“What would you like to drink?” the waiter asked.
“Water,” Mandy said automatically.
“They have great wines here,” Jeremy said. “Are you sure you don’t want something else?”
Mandy shook her head, so Jeremy ordered his drink.
When the waiter left, Mandy said in a half whisper, “I think they gave us the dinner menu. The prices are really high.”
“Lunch is on me,” Jeremy said.
Mandy’s gaze connected with his. “We’re splitting the bill. This isn’t a date.”
Jeremy’s brows rose. Mandy didn’t mince words much.
“It’s not a date,” he said, “but I insist on paying. You’re my client.”
“Is this going to be rolled up into the investment payments?” she asked, those eyes of hers taking on the steely quality they’d had in her presentation the day before.
Jeremy set down his menu and folded his hands on top of the table. “If I’m an equity partner, there are no payments to me or the firm.”
Mandy looked down, although she was definitely not focusing on her menu. “We haven’t agreed to anything or signed any contracts.”
“That’s okay,” Jeremy said. “This is a business lunch. Plain and simple. No obligation.”
Finally she raised her gaze again to meet his. “The wedge salad is seventeen ninety-nine. What could possibly be on it. Caviar?”
He laughed. “No, that would be at least fifty dollars.”