Normally her thought processes were better than this. But her thought processes was stymied by the fact she was in front of a celebrity! And someone who makes her pulse race with no brakes available. From the moment she was shown into his office, her heart, which was already racing from trepidation, suddenly reached the stratosphere.
He watched her face and could see her exasperation was taking over. Her concern, her nervousness, her apprehension vanished. She was not scared.
"Exactly!" He retorted with a smile on his lip and derision in his eyes.
"And we were talking about..." Jena huffed as she tried to verify the conclusion and recover her position.
"I confirmed that I would not accept you as a substitute!" Unfortunately, his statement torpedoed her conclusion, "I am not interested in you, Ms Silva. I accept you are a beautiful woman." His eyes tracked over her, taking note of her appearance. She squirmed. His heart told him he liked her, but instead he said, "But I would not accept you as a substitute. For Melanie or any other woman in my life." The disparagement statement was, like the rest of this conversation, laced with honey. His tone was velvety, calm, with no sign of derision. And the tone did not match the mockery in the words. Probably because there was a battle, between heart and head.
Unlike him, her feelings were registered in her tone and words, as she threw her hand in the air, and grated, "I understand that..."
He narrowed his eyes, and interrupted her, saying, "It would appear that you have an issue with communication!" Clearly his head was winning the battle, with both, his heart and her. The fact he had wasted time with her, when he had a more pressing engagement, suggested his head was not winning the battle. He had files to review. He had calls to make before his next meeting, to ensure he was well briefed for the meeting, but instead, he had listened to a stranger's order.
Jena mirrored his action, and narrowed her eyes, but unfortunately could not match his tone: how could he growl at her while not raising his tone, while the shriek she was desperate to release would show her anger. "Seriously! For goodness Mr Harland. This is not a school playground! You are just toying with me! So stop it!"
Caleb could not stop the smile in his eyes as her statements revealed her frustration. He rubbed the edge of his lip to stem his mirth before he said quietly with a trace of a smile, "Not really. But Ms Silva you have a problem!"
Yes, you, she mumbled beneath her breath. He heard but ignored it.
"Apparently you cannot process simple statements." He said bluntly and knew it would rile her. She threw him an acerbic look while he poked his tongue into his cheek, and he took a moment to allow his statement to lodge firmly in her consciousness. He knew he was enjoying this spar. "Do you have a disability or English is not your first language?" He quirked a brow. She glared. He shrugged. "Sorry. I apologise I did not know about your circumstance!"
Her glare became a glower. He could practically see the steam from her ears. And his heart registered, when riled, she is elevated from beautiful to gorgeous. For someone with a good track with beautiful woman, her appearance-attitude combination had his pulse racing. That was odd.
"Obnoxious." Jena mumbled.
He continued. "I would have make allowances for your conditions!" He smiled as if he was ordering wine. She glared. Caleb rubbed his jaw, as if he was seriously considering his statement, he said, "For example, we could get an interpreter, if necessary." He grinned. As she stored the fact he had mastered how to deliver ridicule and mockery while not showing his displeasure and irritation. And she was pretty sure he was really enjoying this. She glared at him. His eyes twinkled with mirth. At least this impromptu meeting with her, wasputting him in a good mood for the next, very important, meeting.
That had Jena blinking. Ok, quick getaway was outof the question. Looked like she had prodded the beast just that one-time toomuch.
Caleb said bluntly, "But, Ms Silva, you also have another issue."
"Another issue? Are you kidding me?" She couldn't help the faint remnant whisper of wishful thinking. "For goodness sake! Believe me, I can see you see me as entertainment. But what are you talking about now?" Jena wished she had not prolonged this meeting, asking irrelevant questions are a bad idea. And she was not happy when he pushed his chair back, clearly things were going to get worse, she thought.
Caleb got to his feet slowly, with the kind of languorous grace that had Jena reminding herself that this man was not your average male. Not the kind of male she usually encountered. There was a kind of leashed quality to the way he spoke, the way he moved. As if every word, every act had been appraised before action, pros and cons considered and determined before being uttered or undertaken. Nothing was left to chance. Nothing.