Perfect Stranger (10 page)

I met Sophie at Piccadilly Station. I was thrilled to see her again and eager to meet her boyfriend, Isaac. Tall and lanky, he had thick dark hair, a fuzz of stubble on his face, and a friendly smile. He also clearly adored my little sister, and that was fine by me. He squeezed into the back seat of my Mini Cooper with good grace, despite how cramped it was.

“Are you Australian?” I asked him, and noted the look of amusement on his face. “Sorry. I’m hopeless with accents.”

“Naw, I’m a Kiwi,” he replied. “From New Zealand. After being in Europe for a year, I’m used to people getting it wrong.” He didn’t seem offended.

Sophie was tanned from her backpacking adventures, and as she twisted in her seat, chattering non-stop to both Isaac and myself, I wondered how we’d turned out so different yet were so close. I was eight years older and was at boarding school while she was growing up.

Mentally shaking my somber mood away, I butted into the conversation. “How long can you stay? You know you can always move in if you decide to go to university here in Manchester.”

“We’d like to stay for a few days if that’s okay. I want Isaac to meet Gran while we’re here.”

That was a good idea. I hadn’t seen our grandmother in a few weeks, and it made sense to go at the weekend.

“And yeah,” Sophie continued. “Let’s talk about everything else later. I’m starving. Can we stop and get a Chinese takeaway? French food was lovely, but I could kill for some Yang Sing salt-and-pepper ribs.”

* * * *

The food was excellent, but I wondered if Sophie was up to something. She seemed bubblier than usual. After a couple of glasses of wine, she sat up, a determined look on her face. “You know how I was thinking of going to university in the autumn? Well, I’ve changed my mind. I’m moving to London with Isaac instead. He’s got a place on a design course at the Royal College of Art, and I’m going to get a job.” She snuggled into his side. “And we’re getting engaged. I wanted you to know first.”

Isaac put his arm around her and promised he’d look after her, which amused me.

“No one’s ever been able to
look after
Sophie. She has a tendency to do her own thing.”

He conceded maybe I was right and proposed a toast. As they sat planning their life, I leaned back in my chair, content to watch. It wasn’t the future I’d have chosen for Sophie, but it wasn’t my decision to make.

My mind drifted back to Jordan. He popped up in my thoughts most days, and I tried to ignore the longing I felt. One night wasn’t enough to make a relationship, even if it was a night of heaven.

I came to with a start, my cheeks heating as I realized I was daydreaming.

Sophie regarded me with an amused stare. “You know, I was sorry to hear about Tony.” She was blunt at the best of times. “By the look on your face, someone else has taken his place?”

“Not a chance. I was thinking about how happy you are.”

Sophie didn’t look convinced but let the matter drop. “Do you fancy meeting for lunch tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “I’d love to, but we’ve got a new customer coming in to see us. They’re getting the full tour of the warehouse and order-processing facility. I’ll be spending most of the day with them.”

“Anyone I may know?”

“Probably not.” I frowned, deep in thought. “Its TM-Tech. Among other things, they make components for the aerospace industry. Adam, our Sales Manager, has been trying to get in there for months. They normally use of one our competitors, but they’re considering a tender we submitted. We’re hoping that, once they’ve seen our operation, they’ll be so impressed they’ll make us one of their suppliers. It would be good business.”

I said
goodnight
to the happy couple and spent the next hour reviewing my notes on the customer and the details of the tender. I liked to have all the facts at my fingertips and hated being put on the spot.

Exhaustion took over, but not before another memory of Jordan surfaced.

* * * *

Arriving early the next day, I was pleased to see the offices were tidy and businesslike, and the small reception area gleamed like a new pin. Adam would greet TM-Tech on arrival, and he’d call me into the boardroom for the presentations. It’d be my responsibility for the rest of the day to show them around the site and give them a guided tour of the Distribution Center. It’d be a busy day, but the kind I enjoyed.

Armed with my presentation notes, I walked into the boardroom where the four customers chatted over coffee and biscuits.

Adam turned around as I entered the room. “Ah, here she is. Let me introduce our Operations Manager, Kate Archer.”

Oh, God. Oh, my dear God. It felt as though the floor moved beneath me.

Jordan
.

He leaned against the radiator, looking utterly relaxed.

For one heart-stopping second I thought I’d faint. Random thoughts fired through my brain. Was I still asleep and this was a dream? Would he take me in his arms in front of everyone in the boardroom? Was I hallucinating?

I’d longed to see him again; maybe I superimposed his face on every new man I met? Why was he here? Did he know I’d be here? Was he equally surprised? Pleased?

I stared into his face for what felt like an eternity, feeling very much like the deer trapped in the headlights, while he looked calmly back at me. As if he expected to see me here.

In desperation, I squeezed my fingernails against the palm of my hand. The pain cleared my head, and I tried to concentrate on Adam’s jovial introductions. I shook hands with Jordan’s colleagues and spoke politely, hoping the panic and turmoil didn’t show on my face.

When it was time to shake Jordan’s hand, I froze. Would he say he knew me? The amused twinkle in his eyes told me he’d play the game.

He shook my hand a fraction too long and spoke in his devastating cowboy drawl. “Very pleased to see you, Miss Archer.”

There was the tiniest wink from him, and I had to stifle a giggle. All through Adam’s opening presentation, I pretended to be keen and interested, but instead tried to peek at Jordan without being noticed. He wore an expensive-looking suit and a crisp white shirt, and it was easy to see he was in charge of the group. He was Vice Chairman, and the other guys were directors, which explained his confidence. TM-Tech was a family-owned corporation, and he was most likely in line for the chairman’s position.

I feasted my eyes on him. My mouth was dry, and I yearned to touch him again, to convince myself he was real. He looked as sexy as I remembered. It was a struggle not to picture him lying next to me, entwined around my body.

He had the upper hand here, I realized. He
was
expecting to see me.

I dug deep into my reserves of confidence and made my presentation without faltering, answered questions on the company and how we’d handle the extra business, then suggested we break for lunch. While the caterers laid out the hot buffet, Jordan asked if there was a room he could use, to make some private phone calls. Adam suggested I escort him to his office.

It still felt unreal. My heart pounded, as I led him through the Sales Department. Jordan walked silently by my side. With every step, my pulse notched higher.

We reached Adam’s office, and I opened the door for Jordan. Hoping my voice didn’t come out as a squeak, I said, “Can you find your own way back to the boardroom, or would you like me to wait?”

He paused, a smile tugging at his lips. “Wait please. Do you have a minute to talk?”

It was a gamble, joining the review trip to ComCo. I wasn’t sure my team bought my story about wanting to visit an old friend in Manchester, but they could hardly say
no
. However, I was careful not to announce my presence until we arrived, in case Kate found out and ran away again.

I’d learned many things from my father, but one gem stood out.
Never back down from what you want.
I wanted to see Kate again, and now I could figure out if she felt the same.

I couldn’t take my gaze off her. She was every bit as desirable as she had been in the hotel, but wariness flashed in her eyes. I caught her by surprise. I needed to tread carefully.

“Oh, my God.” She raised both hands to cover her cheeks, but not before I saw how pink they were. Her eyes were wide. “It’s really you. Did you know I’d be here?” She clucked her tongue and rolled her eyes. “Well, duh, you must have, and I feel like an idiot now.” She clamped her lips shut and stared at me, mute.

It must have been one hell of a shock, and I still didn’t know if she was pleased to see me again. “You ran out on me. Was it something I said?” I meant it as a joke, but she didn’t smile.

“I’m sorry.” For what—for disappearing like Cinderella, or for me going to the trouble of finding her? I never chased women. What the hell was I even doing here?

I looked at her more closely. Noted the tiny catch in her breath, and the pulse that hammered in her throat.

I’d come all this way. No sense in backing down now.
Show time
. “Kate, I’m gonna ask you a question. Will you be honest with me?”

Her eyebrows lowered a fraction, but she nodded.

Hail Mary pass, here we go.
I forced a smile I wasn’t feeling. “If you tell me it was all a hideous mistake, I won’t ever speak of it. I promise.” Fuck. The little speech I’d rehearsed in my head now sounded gauche.
Lame
. “I really enjoyed the night we spent together, and if you did too, maybe we could see each other some more?”

I waited.

“Yes.” She gave a surprised laugh, as though she didn’t believe what she said. “Yes, I’d like that.” Slowly, she moved her hands, one dropping by her side, the other smoothing over her glossy hair, her gaze never leaving my face.

The subterfuge had been worth it. I wanted to make her smile. See the light dancing back in her eyes. “You did great by the way. In the boardroom. I was impressed with the way you handled yourself.”

She huffed out a breath, her lips twisting. “I’ll say. I never expected to see you again.”

Maybe I wasn’t out of the woods yet. “Is that what you’d prefer?”

Finally, her lips curved up at the corners. “I’m happy to see you, Jordan. Shell shocked, but happy. I feel like pinching myself, to see if I’m dreaming.”

I had to touch her. Need coursed through me, and standing apart was no longer an option. I lifted my hand and slid my fingers through her hair, to tuck a lock behind her ear. “You dream about me, huh?”

She stared at my mouth, licked her lips, and tilted her chin. The world shrank to the space around us. I didn’t care that I was on a supplier site, in someone’s office, with a dozen people working on the other side of the flimsy door. I had to kiss her. Given the choice, I’d prefer to push up her skirt, drag her panties aside, and fuck her on the desk, but I’d settle for a kiss.

Kate inclined toward me, I leaned forward, and we brushed our lips together. It was a brief, searing reminder of why I’d come here today.

A noise outside the door made her pull back, her breathing uneven, and she was instantly on her guard. “This isn’t the place,” she murmured. I had to agree. She turned to look out of the window at the business park beyond, and I figured she was composing herself. When she looked back at me, her eyes sparkled and her smile was playful. “When do you need to get back to London? And didn’t you have some calls you wanted to make?”

“The others will be heading to the airport in a couple hours, to catch the shuttle back. I drove here, so I’m a free agent.” Confident now, I leaned against the door and stuck my hands in my pockets. “I can stay the weekend, but I need to sort out a hotel.” After the tension leading up to this meeting, I felt absurdly happy. “We’re going to be here most of the day. How about we go for a drink after you finish and take it from there?”

A beaming smile lit up her face. “Yes. Let’s do that.”

The afternoon agenda was busy, and I watched Kate interact with my people. She was confident and businesslike, as she guided us around their distribution center, fired off statistics about its capacity, and spoke with pride about their state-of-the-art warehouse-management system.

I had to be impressed with her self-control, but I was impatient to get to the end of the visit. The weekend lay ahead, full of untold possibilities, and I couldn’t wait.

The door was closed, our calendars showed a meeting, and nobody should look for us for at least an hour. We had takeaway coffees and banana muffins, to help the discussion, but I was still paralyzed with emotion. Guilt. Fear. Shame. Overwhelming sadness. I couldn’t pick the one that ranked highest.

I crumbled a piece of the muffin in my fingers. Cade also remembered my favorite flavor.

He sat across the table from me, not crowding me. Our tablets and stack of printouts made it look as though we were hard at work, and yes, I was stalling.

“I don’t know where to start,” I said.

“At the beginning.”

We were good friends, before I met Rob. Three years of getting to know him, inside work and out. I hung out with him and his girlfriend,  and sometimes I dragged along whoever I was seeing, to make a foursome.

He was a nice guy. He didn’t deserve what had happened.

“You were there, the night I met Rob,” I said. “He spilled his drink on me in the pub, and I was going to go home, but he let me borrow a clean T-shirt he had in his gym bag. I said it reminded me of that scene in
Notting Hill
, where Hugh Grant spilled juice over Julia Roberts, and Rob laughed. He said he didn’t have a house in London, or a bookshop, but he had a cramped flat in Denton, and he’d gladly take me back there.” I smiled at the memory. “I’d broken up with Larry and was feeling a bit low, and Rob made everything better. You know? All fluffy kittens and rainbows and unicorns.”

I glanced at Cade. “Have you ever felt that way about someone? Like
they
are the reason for your every breath?”

He gave a tiny nod, and I continued. “I went home with him, and we sat up all night, talking. It was… amazing. He really got me. I remember coming into work the next day and telling you I’d found my—”

“Soulmate. Yeah, I remember.”

“Rob told me from the start that he had issues. His ex cheated on him. His friends betrayed him. He found it hard to trust and warned me that he’d keep me on a tight leash, and I was fine with that. I was thrilled he trusted me enough to be that open with me, so I told him everything. You know—all the ugly little things you don’t normally tell a new partner? I didn’t hold back. He said that things like my weight didn’t bother him—”

Cade made a spluttering noise and our gazes met. “What do you mean about your weight?”

I sat up, automatically sucking in my stomach. “Never mind. It’s not important.”

His blue eyes were stormy. “I think it is.”

He had to zoom in on the thing that made me feel uncomfortable. “I got teased at school, for being the fat kid, and no matter how much I diet or exercise, I can’t shift it.” I snapped the words out. “But Rob doesn’t mind. He loves me as I am.”

“Christ, Jen.” Cade shoved back his chair and glared at me. “You’re not fat. You’re curvy. And, believe me, you don’t need to shift anything.” His voice softened. “You’re gorgeous, even if you can’t see it.”

Yep. Cade fell into the nice-guy category. I could have gone on to tell him he didn’t need to be polite, that his compliment made me uncomfortable, and that I preferred Rob’s blunt honesty, but I didn’t. I wanted to get it over with.

I took a gulp of my latte. “Rob was uncomfortable about me hanging out with guys from work. It’s what his ex did, and he said it was one of his trigger points, so that’s why I stopped going for drinks with the team. And I don’t mind.
Really
. He’s everything I could want. I still can’t believe he loves me so much, and I’d do anything to make him happy. But then we had the quiz night. It was for charity, and I’d organized it before we were married, so I couldn’t miss it. I invited him, since we could take partners, but he arrived late.”

I paused, the breath tight in my chest. I never spoken about that evening, and though I moved past it, the details were etched into my memory. I started twisting my wedding ring back and forth on my finger. It was a tight fit, and there wasn’t much wiggle room.

“When he arrived, he saw me at the bar with you. He didn’t see Tasha, just you. It was the first time I’d seen you since I left ComCo, and he walked in as you gave me that big hug. Then, when I introduced everybody, he recognized your name. He told me later he saw our text messages by accident when he borrowed my phone, and he…” I swallowed. “He was suspicious of you. He thought we were more than co-workers.”

“There was. We were friends, Jen.”

“Rob doesn’t understand the concept of women having male friends, unless they’re gay. He’s okay with that.” The latte sat heavy in my stomach, and I wondered if I was going to be sick. “He wanted to leave early, and I wanted to stay. It was impossible to talk in the pub, so we went out to the yard at the back. I think I told him I’d see him at home. He grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the car, and that’s when you came out and told him to watch what he was doing.” I covered my face with my hands. “And yeah, you know the rest.”

I saw the replay in my head. Rob lashing out at Cade. Pinning him to the wall and punching him. Yelling at him to stay away from his wife, that he knew what was going on between us. Threatening to do worse if it happened again.

Tears filled my eyes, and I scrubbed them away. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. And I know you hate me—and you’re right, we have to work together—but I don’t know how to tell him you work here now.” My voice deserted me. “I’m scared,” I whispered.

More quickly than I could process, Cade shot out of his seat and crouched beside me, one hand on my arm, his eyes searching my face. “You’re scared of what he’ll do to you?”

“No. I’m scared of what he’ll do to
you
.”