In Bed with the Boss

Chapter Three

Maria turned her head, peering through the thick foliage that encircled them. She instantly became aware of here was no connection. No answering smile. Furthermore, his face did not indicate what he was thinking, making it impossible to ascertain what he was thinking.

‘You’re afraid of the jungle, Miss Bella?’ His tone wasn’t exactly upbeat. ‘Or is it something else that is making you nervous?’

Something else? Like the fact that she was alone in the rainforest with a man who detested the whole human species or the knowledge that her entire life was about to be crushed to dust.

There were so many reasons for her to be anxious that she wouldn’t have known where to start her list, but he wasn’t exactly a man who welcomed confidantes, so Maria pushed the thought of the jaguars, snakes, and 2,000 different insect species aside. ‘I’m not nervous—’

‘Is that right?’ He gave her a brief moment of his attention before closing them. Let me then give you a few more pointers on how to conduct business with me. Don’t waste my time, don’t tell me lies, and most importantly, don’t lie to me. They are the three things that will always aggravate me, and when I’m annoyed, I never say yes to anything.

What did women see in him? He was shrouded in a veil of pessimism so dense that not even the smallest crack of light could shine through, and his eyes sparkled with an impatience that he didn’t attempt to hide with the customary small talk.

‘I won’t lie to you. I won’t lie to anyone.’

But she hadn’t been absolutely honest with him either, had she? She hadn’t given him her complete identity when she applied for his loan. She instantly reminded herself that nothing in the contract required her to divulge all of her personal information as discomfort and guilt slid down her spine. She had made sure that none of her personal history was relevant to her capacity to run her business. She watched him smile, though and felt a betraying color brush her cheeks.

Not much of a smile, just a flicker, but it was clear that he had noticed her flush and had noted it as a grievance against her. ‘You’re a woman, Miss Bella. Your DNA is hardwired to lie and cheat, and you cannot change that. The best we can hope for is that while you’re with me, you try to buck millions of years of evolution. For her to get through, he opened the door and stood to one side.

For a moment she just stood there, looking at him. “Don’t browbeat me, Mr. Corduroy. “Despite her thick, slightly trembling voice, she forced herself to continue speaking. ‘My business isn’t doing well and I know we have things to discuss, but don’t try and intimidate me.’

Never again was she allowing that to happen. ‘Do I intimidate you?’

She was willing to bet he scared everyone he met. “I think you could at least try to be a little friendlier,” she said.

‘Friendly?’ His voice was faintly mocking. “You want me to be cordial?”

She forced herself to hold his gaze. I simply don’t see why business meetings must constantly be formal and impersonal.

He moved towards her and she took an instinctive step backwards. ‘You want to get personal with me, Miss Bella?’ His lashes dropped, his gaze skimmed hers, and the air became oppressively hot and sticky. ‘How personal?’ As he continued to get closer, she suddenly had trouble breathing.

Even though he wasn’t touching her, her body was intensely aware of every part of his, as if it had been dormant for the previous 23 years and had now been roused. “I’m just trying to say that I’ve always felt that business can be both hard work and fun.”

‘Is that right?’ He studied her for a long moment. “Well, your attitude explains a lot about the state of your company’s accounts right now,” she said.

Her breathing took a while to return to normal, and it took some time for her heartbeat to calm down to a rhythm that was close to normal.

He didn’t give her the chance to respond to his less-than-flattering remark about her business. Instead, he made his way through the open door, leaving her to do the same.

She thought pitifully as she followed him, cautiously sealing the door between her and the bush. “No wonder his wife left him,” she said. Or was he conceited and cynical because his wife had left him?

She took time to become conscious of her surroundings while she thought about that topic, but when she did, she suddenly realized that they were still in the jungle outside. It belonged to the lodge.

She followed him through a big glass dome and glanced to the left and right, her eyes drawn to the abundance of enormous, exotic plants that transformed his abode from wonderful to stunning. The rainforest was visible through the glass, and it was so close that it appeared as though the inside and out the side was one seamless space.

She would have been enthralled at any other time, but Lockwood Corduroy’s unfriendly body language made it clear that he had little interest in her judgment of his residence.

He led her into another spacious room without making any attempt to put her at ease and waved a hand towards a sizable round table that was home to a cutting-edge computer and multiple screens. Two phones were ringing, but they both abruptly stopped ringing, as if someone had answered them somewhere else. “Sit down.”

Technology, Maria thought, eyeing the phones. He wasn’t as alone as he seemed to be.

She sank onto the nearest chair and glanced around her in awe. The lush, dense jungle pressed in on them through enormous hexagonal glass windows.

She exhaled, “It’s amazing,” truly surprised by how out of the ordinary their surroundings were. It’s like being in a greenhouse in the middle of a forest, someone once said. Her gaze shifted to a moving patch of fern. ‘Do the animals come close? Do they know you’re here?’

‘Predators always sense their prey, Miss Bella.’ Lockwood Corduroy’s accent was hardly audible as he talked in a low drawl. He leaned back in his chair and arched an eyebrow in anticipation. I promised to give you ten minutes. “The clock starts now.’

Unprepared for such an unsympathetic approach, she gaped at him. ‘You were serious? You were serious when you stated I could only have ten minutes?

‘I’m a busy man. And I never say anything I don’t mean.’ He wasn’t going to make this easy for her.

He was completely unconcerned with her terrible situation, which flustered her. She took a moment to collect her thoughts. ‘All right. Well, you know why I’m here. Five years ago your company lent me the money to start up my business. Now you want to foreclose on the loan.’

He said in a smooth voice, warning, “Don’t waste time stating irrefutable facts,” his eyes flashing to the clock as a clear indication of his condition. “You now have nine minutes left.”

She felt a flicker of panic. He was completely unreceptive. She was idly idling her time. ‘Business is important to me. It’s everything.’ Immediately she regretted that impulsive confession. Why would he be curious about her emotional investment in the company?

He must have been pondering the same thing because his strong brows formed a depressing scowl. ‘I’m interested in facts and figures. And you now have eight minutes remaining.’

She flushed and forced herself to plow on. Don’t get emotional, Maria. Don’t get emotional. As you are aware, I began a network of coffee shops with your investment, but they are more than just coffee shops. She lowered her hands into her lap so he wouldn’t be able to see them trembling. “We sell a whole Brazilian experience,” the company claims, “not just a cup of coffee.”

‘And just what constitutes a “Brazilian experience”, Miss Bella?’ She bit her lip as he continued to ponder the words because she wouldn’t let him intimidate her.

This was her baby, she reminded herself. She already had all the solutions she would require. “Visitors to our cafés receive much more than a dose of coffee. For however long it takes them to consume their coffee or their lunch, they are in Brazil. With your initial contribution, we launched 20 coffee shops in London. We’re prepared to expand, but not if you stop supporting us. She stopped talking and stood up because she needed to pace. She was unable to sit across the table and admire that lovely face. She couldn’t concentrate. Do you mind if I stroll around? I don’t do well at tables, so if I only have a short amount of time, I need to be comfortable to make the most of it.

His sardonic gaze slid to her feet. Honestly, I’m surprised you can even stand, much less move around. You thought carefully about the footwear that would be most suitable for a trip to the rainforest.

She made an effort to preserve her composure and refused to let his mockery make her feel uncomfortable. She retaliated, “This is a business meeting, Mr. Corduroy, so I dressed appropriately. I didn’t believe you’d take me seriously if I was dressed in battle pants. Her pride prevented her from admitting that she had bought the shoes and the suit, particularly for this encounter.

She suddenly felt foolish for believing that what she was wearing would matter to a man like him.