Do Date Your Handsome Rival (Jewel Family Romance Book 3) Page 7

  “Anything would be with you.” He leaned over the console and kissed her. It was too quick for him, but he really did need to get this meeting over with.

  Jumping out of the car, he rushed around to open her door and help her out. The top of her head only reached his shoulder, even when she was wearing her heels, but there was so much substance to Mar that he could spend a lifetime getting to know her. She smiled up at him as they walked hand in hand up the walk, a glorious summer’s afternoon sun shining down on them. Luke felt like everything was right in the world, especially with Mar by his side.

  A butler got the door and escorted them into a spacious office on the right, where huge windows showcased the driveway, front flower beds, and many trees. They stayed standing, waiting for Selena to make her appearance.

  “So what kind of business is this obviously filthy-rich person selling?” Mar asked in a quiet voice as they waited.

  Luke looked down at her in surprise. “I didn’t tell you?” They’d talked about so many different aspects of business, but as he thought through their conversations, it had never come up who he was meeting with or what company she was selling.

  “Luke Jewel,” a throaty voice said from the doorway to the office.

  Luke turned to greet Selena Sapphire. She strode into the office, tall, poised, and beautiful. She was probably in her early seventies, but she’d retained a classic beauty. She’d obviously had some work done but had allowed her face to age more than most in her demographic. The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth and on her forehead made her feel more real and didn’t distract from her beauty. He was sure Hollywood in general didn’t feel the same about her, since most women there weren’t able to move their facial muscles in their quest to avoid the wrinkles.

  Mar gasped and went almost rigid by his side. Luke glanced down at her, to check if she was all right, but her gaze was focused on Selena. He looked back to Selena and saw she was waiting with her hand out and her eyebrows lifted.

  “Thank you for coming to meet with me,” she said.

  “Of course.” Luke shook her hand and then turned to Mar. “This is my …” He paused, realizing he could brag about the amazing businesswoman she was, but he wanted to use the title she’d assumed last night. “Girlfriend, Marietta Valez.”

  They shook hands briefly. Mar stared up at her with wide eyes. “You’re Selena Sapphire.” The mixture of awe and anger in her voice had Luke on edge.

  Selena smiled. “Yes, I am. Nice to meet you.”

  “You also,” Mar said quietly, but something in Mar’s countenance showed she didn’t know quite how to respond.

  Luke’s jaw felt tight. He realized now that he should’ve told her that they were coming to a celebrity’s home. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Mar.

  “Please sit.” Selena gestured to the chairs across from her desk. “I really appreciate you coming all this way and being interested in my business. I’ve got a FaceTime meeting with my agent in half an hour. Do you mind if I get right down to numbers and your offer?”

  “Sounds great.”

  Luke focused on Selena, more than ready to cruise through this meeting, see if they could come to terms, and get back to more time with Mar. Still, a niggling worry festered: Mar said nothing as the meeting progressed, and she seemed to grow more distant, stiff, and cold by his side. If only he knew what was going on. Should he not have introduced her as his girlfriend? Did she have a conflict in the past with Selena? If so, it was one-sided, as Selena didn’t seem affected besides occasionally casting a concerned glance Mar’s way, as if she also sensed something was off.

  They finally concluded with numbers they both felt good about; thankfully, Selena agreed that he could keep her name and face on the brand. Selena walked them to the door.

  “My lawyer will draw up the contracts, and I’ll be in touch in a few days,” Luke said as they shook hands.

  “Thank you.” Selena gave him a smooth, practiced smile. “I feel my business will be in good hands.”

  “I appreciate that,” Luke said.

  The butler swung the door wide, and Luke put his hand on Mar’s back to escort her out.

  “Nice to meet you, Marietta,” Selena said, but she didn’t move to shake her hand again.

  “You also,” Mar said.

  They walked out into the sunshine. Luke got her door and walked around to his. His mind was whirling with the opportunity this business was. It was running smoothly, the CEO had a good reputation, and the entire business could easily be moved to one of his assistants’ dockets. The numbers were solid, and the price was right.

  As he climbed into the driver’s seat, he felt a chill wash over him. He turned to Mar with what he hoped was a charming smile. Something was off with her. Hopefully, they could get to the bottom of it quickly and return to officially dating and kissing. “Dinner?”

  Her arms were folded across her chest, and she was staring straight ahead. “I’m not really hungry. Can we just head back to the house?”

  “Oh.” Luke blinked at her, unsure what to say or do. He’d messed up—that much was obvious—but how? His brain spun as he started the car and drove out of Selena’s property and onto the road. The interior of the vehicle was chilly and far too quiet as they drove. He clicked the temperature up a few degrees but it didn’t seem to help. What did he say? What did he ask? What had he done wrong?

  Finally, he asked the dumbest question a man could ever ask. “Is something wrong?”

  Mar let out a little harrumph that said yes, he’d definitely done something wrong. She hated Selena? She didn’t want to be part of his business meeting? He hadn’t introduced her properly? What was it?

  “If you don’t know what you did wrong …” Her voice trailed off, and she tucked in even tighter with her arms clasping each other across her chest and her legs crossed. “It doesn’t matter.” Turning, she looked obstinately out the window and away from him.

  Luke’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. They drove through the same beautiful scenery they’d taken to get here, but it was all lost on both of them. “Maybe if you could tell me what I did wrong, I could fix it.” His voice was tight, and he felt his own anger rising. Why was she being so unreasonable that she couldn’t even explain what had happened in the past hour to tick her off so completely?

  Mar didn’t look at him or respond. Part of Luke wanted to beg her to talk to him about it; part of him wanted to let her go sulk and convince himself that this was simply another reason why he didn’t want a girlfriend. Yet this was Mar. He’d been falling for her. Was this on him?

  They finally pulled up to his parents’ house and into the garage. She jumped out before he could get her door and stormed toward the garage entry in those crazy-high heels.

  Luke jogged after her and intercepted her before she could grab the door handle and enter the house. “Mar.” He put a hand on her arm and tried to make his voice understanding and humble. “I’m sorry. Whatever I did wrong, please tell me so I can fix it. Please.”

  She glared up at him, her mouth tight and her eyes shooting daggers. “You really don’t know?”

  He shook his head. “Truly, Mar. I’m sorry.”

  She pushed out a huffy breath. “For being a brilliant businessman, you are acting really stupid, Luke.”

  He lifted his hands with his palms up, tamping down the flash of anger. “Tell me what I’ve done that’s so stupid.”

  “Selena Sapphire. You just made plans to buy a perfume business. That doesn’t feel wrong to you in light of who you’re dating and who your new sister-in-law is?”

  Luke blinked down at her. “You’re mad because I’m buying a perfume business?” he clarified.

  “Yes!”

  “Because it’s your competition?”

  “Finally, he gets it.” Her dark eyes were flashing daggers at him. “Cosette and I have spent our adult lives on our perfume business. She invented all the scents, and I have worked and scrimped and begged and done e
verything but sell myself to get our perfume and cologne lines in every box store you can imagine. Now we’re getting the respect we deserve and finally landing on the shelves and websites of some high-end stores as well. And you would just buy our competition—who, by the way, simply sailed into the business with a couple of lame scents because she’s famous—because it’s a good business deal and the numbers are right?”

  Luke had the impression that if he looked at her in the right lighting, he would see steam coming out of her ears. “You’re passionate about your work. I can understand that. You’re absolutely right. I didn’t think about it being your competition.”

  “Really? Is that the truth now, or have you been hiding it from me so you could chat me up for all the information about my business and then undermine me by swooping into the industry with all your money, Selena’s name, and my insider info?”

  Luke’s neck got hot. “Wait a minute. In one breath you’re ticked because I didn’t realize how committed you are to your work and that you’d think of Selena as your competition, but in the other breath you’re claiming I hid this from you, that I’d lie to you?”

  Mar’s brows dipped together. “Either way, you’re a complete jerk. I’m ‘committed’ to my work? I ‘think’ Selena is my competition? I built that business with Cosette with nothing but her gifted mind, my work ethic, and a small loan from her father that we repaid within a year. You buy businesses and discard them like day-old bread.” Her voice was rising to a frenzied pitch. “You don’t care about Selena’s perfume. You don’t care about me or Cosette. All you care about is more money and more accomplishments. The fact that you can’t see how hurtful this is makes me realize that I was completely wrong to fall for you.”

  With that, she yanked open the door and stormed into the house.

  Luke didn’t follow her. He didn’t move for several minutes as his mind spun with her accusations and her hurt. Maybe there was some truth to what she’d said. He was indeed driven by money and making himself busy and piling up businesses and accomplishments. He hadn’t felt like he’d trampled people or been unethical to be successful. He also didn’t get emotionally invested in any business, as Mar obviously was in hers. If Mar was hurt that he’d bought a competitor’s business, then this deal definitely wasn’t worth it.

  Chapter Nine

  Mar stormed around the suite and threw things haphazardly into her suitcase. Mentally, she called Luke all kinds of names, and when she ran out of those, she turned them on herself. Pulling out her phone, she wondered if Uber came out here. She hoped so; otherwise, how in the world she was going to get out of here without asking Luke for a ride?

  She’d finally thought this was the man she could trust and let herself fall hard for, and look where it had gotten her—in pain and more alone than she’d ever been. Dang Luke Jewel. How could he hide what his “business deal” was? How could he be so smart yet be oblivious to how badly it would hurt her if he bought her competitor’s perfume business?

  Maybe part of the hurt was that Selena Sapphire obviously had no clue who Marietta even was, and Luke had introduced her as his girlfriend, not the CEO of Cosette Enterprises. That was probably just pride on Mar’s part, but still it stung. She’d actually aspired to beat out Selena’s lines in different sale venues, and more often than not, she’d accomplished it. Sometimes she’d fantasized about meeting the beautiful actress, and either the woman would be jealous that Mar had succeeded in beating her, or she would tell Mar how impressed she was. Nope. Not a flicker of recognition.

  Sinking onto the bed, she pushed that sting away and focused back on Luke. How could be so thick? She knew she was right; what did another business matter to him? How could he even understand how it felt to work your tail end off for your success, and then the man you thought you were falling for didn’t even realize he was basically making himself your rival? Yet it wasn’t a rivalry to him; it was just another distraction, another challenge, another million dollars. What did he care?

  It made her feel small and lost. She’d been falling hard for Luke, and he hadn’t even understood why she was upset. Was she just another distraction or challenge to him as well? Probably. Was she reacting too strongly and being too fiery and unreasonable as many men had faulted her of doing in the past? Maybe.

  Her door creaked open, and she shot off the bed.

  “Mar?” Luke stayed by the door but swung it wide so she could see him. He was still in his deep-blue suit and gray-striped tie. He was incredibly handsome and powerful and successful. She’d think he was irresistible if she wasn’t so ticked.

  Mar stormed across the room to him and poked him in the chest. “Get out of here,” she demanded. He had no right to come in her bedroom. It might be his house, but this was her private space.

  Luke wrapped his hand around hers and held it fast. Despite herself, she felt a surge of warmth at his touch, and the beseeching look on his face. “Mar, please, let me apologize. Please hear me out.”

  She glared at him and tugged her hand free, but the humble look in his blue eyes made her pause. She didn’t really know how to navigate close relationships—she’d honestly failed at every attempt besides her friendship with Cosette—but she felt like he was sincere in his request to apologize. She let out a heavy breath of air, stepped back, and let him in.

  Luke gestured to the couch. “Do you want to sit?”

  She jutted out her chin and folded her arms across her chest. “Not really. What were you saying?”

  Luke took off his suit coat and slung it over the couch. Mar watched as the muscles in his shoulders flexed underneath the thin, fitted dress shirt. She’d noticed how well built he was in the pool last night, but he’d upset her then as well. Was she too fiery to be in a relationship like many of her past boyfriends had accused her of, or were she and Luke simply not meant to be, no matter what fantasies she’d had of the two of them growing old together?

  He turned back to her and splayed his hands. “You were right, Mar.”

  “About?” She felt her shoulders relax. Everybody liked being right.

  “Me.” His mouth twisted and he said, “I’ve been excessively driven my entire life. Part of it was all these ideas in my head just fighting for their chance, and part of it was that I just love being busy, being in charge, being the businessman, making my dad proud at every turn.” His voice lowered. “I hope you’ll believe that I was being an obtuse idiot not realizing that it would hurt you to buy your competitor’s business. I honestly just didn’t think of it because I don’t really factor in who my competition might be as I always think I can do better than them.”

  He paced away from her to the window and then back. “I never meant to hurt you or undervalue the hard work and success of your and Cosette’s business. Your business is obviously your world, and I apologize that I didn’t see that or understand it. You were right that for me it’s just another acquisition to put under a different assistant. It’s fun and exciting and doesn’t mean a whole lot to me, which is my only excuse why I didn’t realize it would hurt you.”

  He paused to take a breath, and Mar processed what he was saying. She had been right that another business didn’t mean much to him and that he was too thick to understand what hers meant to her. Her business and her friendship with Cosette were all she had in this world.

  “I’m not going to buy Selena’s company,” he said, “and I hope you’ll forgive me for offending and upsetting you. I would never want to do either.”

  She studied him for a few beats. He meant every word; she could tell that. Maybe she should be magnanimous and tell him he could buy the company if he wanted, but selfishly, she didn’t want him to. She didn’t want to be in competition with the man she thought she’d been falling in love with. Not that the other company’s perfume was anywhere close to the quality of Cosette’s, but Selena’s name made it sell well.

  A dart of happiness traced through her. If this was really happening, if she could believe that Luke had ne
ver intentionally hurt her and that he was sincere in his apology, then …

  She rushed to him, jumped, and flung her arms around his neck.

  Luke grunted in surprise but wrapped his arms around her lower back and held her against him. A slow grin grew on his face. “Does this mean you forgive me?” he asked, his voice full of hope.

  “Depends.” She licked her lips.

  “On what?” He pumped his eyebrows.

  “How good you are at kissing and making up.”

  He chuckled. He set her on the floor but then slipped one hand under her knees, lifting her into the air.

  “Whoa!” Mar clung to his neck, happy to do so. His chest muscles bulged against her as he easily carried her out into the hallway, down the stairs, into the great room, and over to one of the leather sofas.

  Settling down on the sofa, he cuddled her against his chest. “See, here’s the thing.”

  She smiled up at him. “Yes?”

  “I have no experience in kissing and making up. As you pointed out, I’ve never navigated a lasting relationship. Do you think you can teach me how it’s done?”

  Her smile grew. She was special to him. He was in uncharted territory, as he’d never dated anyone seriously. She’d failed at a multitude of relationships, but she had high hopes that Luke might be the one she could succeed at. He certainly was good at dealing with and defusing her fire.

  Arching up toward him, she pulled his head down and said, “I hope you’ll forgive me for calling you stupid earlier. I know you’re brilliant, and I think you’re smart enough to figure out kissing and making up, or making out—whatever you prefer.”

  Luke grinned and winked. “I’ll give it my best.”

  She started to laugh but was cut off by his lips capturing hers. The kiss sang with purity and desire. Luke was highly invested in her and had been willing to not only give up a deal for her but apologize.

  When the kiss ended, she studied his handsome face. “I’m sorry I react so intensely. Every single time I flare up.” She shook her head.