Connexion

Part 12

Jena did not explain the whirlwind relationship between Tony and Melanie or the fact it might be fantasy. But still reluctant to tell an untruth, she knew she was about to give him additional fuel for this fire. "It isn't official!"

He couldn't stop his guffaw. "Isn't official?" Jena gulped. He is gorgeous she thought. His laugh rendered his scarred face handsome. Jena's pulse raced. This feeling was unexpected. She could not fancy this man, she mantra reverberated through her mind. Stop it, stop it, she told her heart.

"Yes." Jena hedged, feeling even more annoyed with her for giving him an easy escape clause. She wished Tony had stated it explicitly. Tony asked her to host Melanie while he was away and he was thinking of proposing to Melanie on his return. But he didn't say when.

Caleb again, nearly laughed out aloud but his eyes conveyed his banked humour. "It isn't official? That is your best excuse?" He shook his head as he tossed her reason out of the window.

Jena knew she had lost the argument. Obviously this situation warranted a white lie. But she could not do that. "It is not an excuse. Yes, they are engaged, just not in the public arena at the moment." Jena closed her eyes for a second.

"Not in the public arena!" Caleb chuckled, "Does she know about a non-official engagement?" Again he shook his head. Caleb pointed out what he considered a major flaw in her position. "Regardless. Does it not strike you as ludicrous, that you want your cousin to marry a woman who, you claim, is engaged to your cousin, but she dates another man at the same time?" Jena knew she had lost the battle. "And if there is a real engagement, are you suggesting that Tony and Melanie have an open-engagement?" Jena sighed. She was unprepared for this specimen: She miscalculated when it came to Caleb. Caleb continued, "Your cousin and Melanie's values match, so an open relationship suits them?"

"No." She muttered, and knew she had misjudged this, and was wrong about him.

"No engagement, no relationship, nothing at all? Just a figment in your brain?" His tone was measured, the words issued as if they were nothing more than statements of fact rather than statements that highlighted the huge holes in her argument.

Coming here was a waste of time, Jena thought as his points registered in her brain. She felt like an idiot. Her strategy was futile. Coming here was stupid. Having a discussion with him was silly. She always thought she had common sense, was always sensible, and always reasonable, but this event demolished her outlook. She also knew, she was loyal and would do anything for family. Jena's lips pursed. He watched as the humour amplified in his eyes. He was enjoying this skirmish, probably because he was winning with ease. Jena glared. She was not going to give this man an easy way out. It was about time someone stood up to him. Shame it had to be her.

"My cousin's relationship is not an open relationship, Mr Harland." But she was pretty sure that Tony would not be happy, if he heard about this situation and him and his attitude being the topic in this conversation. Even worse, unfortunately, using a possible engagement to derail any budding relationship between Caleb with Tony's girlfriend, is not working.

He retorted frankly, "Just for your information, I would not tolerate an open relationship. An open relationship does not resonant with my scruples."

Despite this quarrel, Jena believed him. 

Jena threw him another condescending-look and stated quietly, "Melanie is, er, just naïve." But even as she said that, Jena questioned her opinion about Melanie. The more she thought about it, Jena arrived at a different view. Jena's intuition flagged-up Melanie's morals. And Jena was not happy with her new conclusion. So Jena took another track, "Melanie is, er, just, er infatuated." Mainly with money and status, Jena thought.

His eyes sparkled and he laughed with abandon, "She's infatuated?" Jena's visit was cathartic. Before her appearance in his office, he was struggling with a business decision and was not looking forward to the meeting with another CEO. But the conversation with her reduced his tension. As tension receded, his attitude to the meeting with the CEO improved, because he could see a way through the tangle with the CEO and the other company.

"Yes." Jena blustered. "Bowled over by your..." Jena gestured at him, her hand waving from the top of his jet black crew cut haired head to his large feet currently enclosed in rather expensive looking black leather shoes. It was hardly surprising Melanie had fallen victim, the man made the pied piper look tame. He was handsome. He dressed well. He carried himself with utter confidence. The trappings associated with a successful businessman, and if Melanie's mood was anything to go by, he knew how to satisfy a woman. That thought was enough to make Jena blush. She was not going to think about Melanie and this man having sex! 

A brow quirked as Caleb waited for her to complete her sentence, seeing her struggle to find an apt word to describe him. He was amused by her attempt at disdain. It was like battling with an ant, he thought as he rehashed the way he had strategically steered this woman through the mess of an argument she had presented. "My?" He prompted when she still hadn't completed the sentence.