“Why not?”
“He’s gay and not ready to come out of the closet yet. But we think it will happen next year sometime, and our plan will work perfectly.”
“In what way?” Drew found all this rather interesting.
“Mark will pretend to be heartbroken because I chose to become a model instead of marrying him, and Sophie will seemingly be torn into pieces when Renard comes out of the closet. It will make sense for them to find love and comfort in each other’s arms.” She glanced over at him. Her green eyes were shining brightly. “Now isn’t that a great plan?”
“I guess. If everyone ends up happy.”
“And we will be.” She paused a moment and said, “The reason I told you all that was to let you know that Sophie found out something.”
“What?”
“My dad is intensifying the search. He’s hired more men.”
Drew’s jaw tightened. “Did he?”
“Yes, but Mark and Sophie are on it.”
He glanced at her. “How so?”
She told him the plan.
He nodded. “I hope it works.”
“Me too. By the way, Delores said your last name is Steele.”
He had a feeling where she was going with this. “What of it?”
“Are you related to the person who owns the trucking company you drive for?”
“Yes.” He hoped that would satisfy her inquisitiveness. No such luck.
“How are the two of you related?” she asked.
Drew knew that he could tell a lie since once he dropped her off in Memphis, they wouldn’t see each other again. However, for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to do that. “Andrew Steele owns the company.”
“Your father?”
“No. My father was Galen Steele. I’m Andrew Steele. People call me Drew for short.”
She glared at him. “Why did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t. I told you that the company had rules and regulations against riders, Eden. That is true. The only thing I didn’t tell you was that I am the CEO of the company.”
Eden didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked, “If you’re the CEO, why are you driving instead of being in the office?”
He got asked that a lot. “I love getting back inside the rig every once in a while, and I have an excellent staff managing things in my absence.”
She nodded. “How many rigs does your company own?”
“Presently ten. We hope to get four more sometime next year.”
“And you’re only thirty. I think that’s impressive, Drew.”
Why did her words touch him? Maybe because they sounded sincere? “Thanks. You still think I’m a liar?” For some reason, he had to know.
“Now that you have explained things, no, I don’t think you are a liar.”
