"And what about you? Do you enjoy these events?"
"Not much, but as I said, it helps Caldwell Cosmetics' profile."
Nate snorted in what I took to be disapproval. "You know, they could hire someone to pimp their makeup."
"Pimp their makeup?" I gasped in mock outrage since I was sure he wasn't trying to insult me. "I do more than sell eyeliner and lip gloss, you know."
"I know. You sell an image of success that modern women can aspire to, and you make it look effortless."
Nate's words caught me by surprise. A lump formed at the back of my throat. "Well I am more than just a pretty face."
"Yes." He shot me a look of affection. "So much more."
Warmth spread through me, then faded just as quickly. "I wish my mother thought that."
"She doesn't value you?"
"Only the way she values any asset." I sighed heavily. "She thinks I'm being dramatic, refusing Garrett's attention."
Nate scowled. "She really wants you to accept his advances?"
"Yes, apparently she believes I won't find anyone better."
"That's ridiculous. There are plenty of eligible men in the world, other billionaires, even. Why is she so set on a man who's so completely unsuited to you?"
I'd been wondering that myself. At first, I assumed it was because Garrett owned some of the country's leading fashion magazines, but lately I'd been thinking there was more to it than that. My mother seemed determined to forge an alliance with him. It aroused my suspicion there was something going on I wasn't privy to.
"I don't know."
"What does your father have to say about all this?"
"Not a thing."
My father, despite being the supposed head of the family, the CEO of Caldwell Cosmetics, left everything to his wife. Shy and sensitive, he wasn't cut out for the business world, nor for marriage to a force of nature like my mother.
Nate nodded in a way that made me think he knew exactly what it was to have a useless father.
"Did you tell her you were staying with me?"
"No. I just said I was staying at a friend's place. If I'd mentioned you, she'd have been straight on the phone to Garrett."
"He probably knows where you are already."
"True." A man with Garrett's resources would have no trouble tracking me down. "But I didn't want to listen to a lecture about shacking up with a notorious womanizer."
Nate quirked an eyebrow. "Notorious womanizer?"
"I've read the tabloids." His indignant huffing made me smile. "I didn't say I believed what I read."
"You shouldn't. I'm not what I'm made out to be."
"I know." What I didn't add was that I wouldn't have come to him if I thought he was a feckless playboy.
We lapsed into silence again. It lasted until we finally reached the small town of Oakridge. A complete contrast to the city I called home, it was one of those cute little places where everyone probably knew their neighbors and helped each other out in a crisis.
The main street featured a row of buildings with brick façades. With hanging baskets and floral displays decorating some of the stores and covered seating areas outside the cafes, it exuded a laid-back charm I found incredibly appealing.
Nate pulled up halfway along the street and jumped out of the truck. He came around to my side and opened the door for me. Taking my hand, he helped me safely out onto the sidewalk.
