California Dreamin' Collection

by Heather B. Moore, Kaylee Baldwin, Annette Lyon, Jennifer Moore, Shannon Guymon, Sarah M. Eden

  Gwen frowned. Did that mean he owned the place or something...?

  A woman who looked to be in her 50s came out of the kitchen and bustled toward them. She wore an orange and yellow dress and a white apron. She beamed at Jack. “When Mario said you were coming, I told him that it made my day.”

  Jack rose from his seat and kissed the woman on the cheek, then turned toward Gwen. “Gwen, this is Rosa. She’s the best waitress in San Diego.”

  Rosa swatted Jack’s arm. “You’re too nice.” Her warm, brown eyes settled on Gwen. “You’re a lucky girl. I keep telling Jack that he needs to find a good girl.” She leaned forward. “And you look like a good one. I can tell.” Before Gwen could respond, Rosa turned to Jack and said, “The usual?”

  “Yeah, that would be great.”

  Rosa’s eyes went back to Gwen. “What will you have?”

  Gwen hadn’t even looked at the menu, so she ordered her standby. “Chicken enchiladas with mild sauce.”

  Rosa smiled. “Great choice.” She moved away and disappeared through the kitchen doors.

  “Wow,” Gwen said, looking at Jack.

  “She likes you.” Jack grinned. “And that’s pretty much a miracle.”

  “Do you bring in a lot of women she doesn’t like?”

  He lifted one shoulder. “I haven’t brought any here for a while.”

  “And for those women you do bring here— do they continue to go out with you after Rosa meets them?”

  Jack laughed. “I think you’re on to something.”

  Gwen loved his laugh, his eyes crinkling slightly. If she’d brought her camera, she wouldn’t have been able to resist taking a picture. “So tell me about yourself, besides the fact that you apparently rented out an entire restaurant, and that you know Rosa, the best waitress in San Diego, idolizes you.”

  Jack propped his elbows on the table, and Gwen had to deliberately look up from his tanned forearms. “How about you just ask your questions so I don’t mistakenly give you boring biographical information.”

  Gwen studied him for a moment. “I don’t think there could possibly be anything boring about you, Jack Mead.”

  He leaned slightly closer, his eyebrows raised. “Try me.”

  “All right, where did you go to college?”

  “What makes you think I went to college?”

  Gwen scoffed. “Because I know the type who did— I didn’t go to college. I can spot people like you a mile away.”

  Jack grinned. “Boston University. I warned you— pretty boring.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Gwen said, trying to drag out more information than he was giving. “Why Boston?”

  “Do you have a second job as a journalist?”

  “No,” Gwen said, laughing. “Just a really nosy sister who’s trained me well. And who gives me tons of advice on a daily basis.”

  “We should lock our sisters together in a room for twenty-four hours,” Jack said.

  The kitchen door swung open, and Rosa appeared, carrying a tray with two huge steaming plates of food and two tall glasses of Mexican soda. The smell alone about did Gwen in.

  Rosa set Gwen’s plate down first. “Careful, it’s hot. Mario added extra beans and rice after I told him how thin you are.”

  Thin? Me? She’d never been called thin in her life.

  “Here are your chimichangas, Jack. Enjoy.” She gave him an exaggerated wink, which made Jack laugh.

  “Thanks, Rosa,” he said as she left.

  Gwen dug in and savored the first bite, and the next, and then she was ready to get her first question answered. “Okay, so why Boston University? You grew up in California, right?”

  Jack finished chewing and took a drink. “Honestly? To piss off my dad. But I ended up loving it out there, and going to Harvard for my graduate degree made him pretty happy.”

  Harvard? Gwen stared. “You are so not normal.”

  Jack shook his head. “Hey, you already said I’m normal. You can’t take that back. I’m holding onto that one for life.”

  Okay. Gwen was charmed. But she wouldn’t let herself fall for any guy so easily. “What did you study at Harvard?”

  “Business,” Jack said. “See? Boring.”

  Gwen laughed. “I’m sure you have interesting talents somewhere, just waiting to be discovered.” She took another drink and leaned back. “Maybe you could borrow one of my cameras for an afternoon.”

  “I’d need a tutor,” Jack said. “If using it is more complicated than the camera on a cell phone, the pictures will be out of focus.”

  “I may be able to tutor you,” Gwen said, feeling fluttery all over.

  The time passed quickly as they talked, and the sky outside faded to deep blue with the setting sun. At one point, Rosa turned on the miniature lamps at each table and brought another round of drinks.

  “I am so full,” Gwen said. “I won’t be hungry until Sunday.”

  “That was my goal.” He pushed back and stood. He pulled out his wallet and left a few bills on the table.

  “Thanks for a great dinner,” Gwen said, walking to the exit with Jack. The night was warm and breezy as they stepped outside.

  “I would ask you to go dancing or to a movie, but I’ve got some early conference calls.”

  “It’s okay. You don’t need to make an excuse to get rid of me.”

  She meant it as a joke, but then his hand brushed hers, and he linked their fingers, sending bits of warmth across her skin. “I’m not trying to get rid of you.” His voice was low.

  Gwen’s heart thudded like mad as they walked to her car. The Audi was still in the parking lot, it was definitely his.

  “What did you think?” he asked as they stopped by the driver’s side of her car.

  “About what?” She didn’t know why she continued to give Jack a hard time with every question.

  “About tonight? About… me?” His voice sent another wave of warmth through her.

  “I wished I would have brought my camera.” It was the best compliment she could give.

  “Is that a good thing?”

  He was standing really close, and Gwen could only nod because her stomach was fluttering like crazy. Was he going to kiss her? Shake her hand? If he didn’t kiss her, she might just have to kiss him. She was more than curious about this guy who turned out to be everything unexpected. Maybe kissing him would tell her if she should stay or run.

  But she didn’t have long to debate, because Jack leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, his hands resting on her hips. He drew back half an inch, as if waiting to see what she thought, as if asking another question.

  Maybe Gwen had been bewitched, but she had no trouble twining her hands around his neck and drawing him closer. She kissed him back, and he pulled her tightly against him. His mouth was warm and urgent, and his body molded against hers until suddenly the kiss wasn’t nearly enough.

  That was when she drew away, breathless. Her skin flushed hot as she realized he was breathless as well.

  “Jack...” She had no idea what to say, so her voice trailed off, with Jack’s arms still around her.

  He lowered his forehead to hers. “Next time bring your camera.”

  Chapter Six

  Gwen woke to the sun piercing through her blinds. She sat up, amazed that she’d slept until almost noon. Then the memory of kissing Jack the night before returned, and she smiled, remembering how it had taken her forever to fall asleep because she’d replayed the kiss over and over.

  She grabbed her phone, and the tingles started all over again when she saw that he’d texted her a couple of times.

  Sleep well, read the first text, sent just before midnight. She’d been home for three hours by then, but had forgotten to turn her phone sound back on.

  Good morning, read the second. Gwen checked the time. He’d sent it at 7:30 a.m.

  She texted back. Good morning. Just woke up.

  Seconds later the phone buzzed. Haven’t slept. Been on calls. Ab
out ready to call it a day/night/whatever.

  Sweet dreams, Gwen typed.

  Counting on it, Jack replied. Call you later.

  Heat zoomed through Gwen. Counting on it, she typed back.

  She climbed out of bed and opened the blinds. The weather was at San Diego’s best— clear, blue skies and a few high clouds. Walking into the kitchen to get something to eat, Gwen scrolled through her missed texts from last night, surprised at the number of them— all from her sister.

  Call me!

  You can’t just hang up after telling me you’re going out with Jack Mead!

  Where on earth did you meet him?

  Gwen frowned. Leisa was totally nuts. Good thing Gwen had turned off her phone. But then Leisa’s next text stopped her: I can’t believe my sister is dating San Diego’s businessman of the year & she won’t even call me back! It’s midnight! What are you doing? How did it go? I’m dying over here!

  Jack was San Diego’s businessman of the year? That meant... For a moment, Gwen couldn’t breathe. She hoped that Leisa was wrong. But something told her that she wasn’t. The clues began falling into place, his beach house, renting out the restaurant, graduate school at Harvard...

  She hurried over to the magazines on the lowest shelf of the bookcase in the living room. She kept issues of San Diego Life so she could peruse local trends and keep her photography fresh. She pulled out the last year of issues and sat on the floor, sorting through them. At the April issue, she stopped. There was Jack on the cover, looking debonair in a suit, grinning into the camera like he had the whole world at his fingertips.

  Gwen leaned against the couch and groaned. She didn’t need to read the article; she’d read it months ago. At the time, she’d written off the details of what seemed to be a playboy’s life— traveling the world, making business deals where the dollars numbered in the millions, jetting from house to house, hobnobbing with the who’s who.

  She didn’t know how long she sat on the floor, trying to comprehend it all, but eventually she reached for her phone and called her sister.

  “It’s about time!” Leisa practically shouted. “I was just about to come over there and break down the door, but I didn’t know if he’d spent the night.”

  “Oh, please,” Gwen said. “Give me some credit. My first date in months, and you think I’m letting him into my bedroom?”

  “Well... How did it go? I have a million questions, so start at the very beginning, and don’t leave one single thing out.”

  Gwen did, telling Leisa about the first day at the beach, when Jack carried her stuff to the car and how she’d laughed at his claim of living in one of the houses on the ridge. By the time she told Leisa about the restaurant, and kiss, and the texts from that morning, Leisa had decided that they were perfect for each other.

  “That’s the problem,” Gwen said. “He is perfect. I’m so... not. I’m like the gum under his shoe.”

  “Stop it,” Leisa said. “He’s totally into you!”

  “He’s into a girl with no education, who wears one of three dresses on a rotating basis, spent years in therapy— and should probably go back— and wouldn’t be able to form a coherent sentence around his friends.” The more Gwen thought about it, the more she couldn’t even imagine being a small part of Jack’s life. In any capacity. Not even as a friend— and that made her the saddest.

  “You’re nuts, Gwenie,” Leisa said. “There’s a reason Mom and Dad adopted you. They fell in love with you, and you’re the best sister I could ever have.”

  “I’m your only sister— but I’m still adopted, and I have a million issues.” Gwen pulled her knees to her chest. “I just know I can’t pull this off. I don’t get why he asked me out, but for some reason he did. All I know is that I can’t put my heart out there again. Besides, Jack Mead is definitely too good to be true. You know I don’t do Too Good to Be True.”

  Leisa was quiet for a few moments. “Give him a chance.”

  “So the resulting heartbreak can be colossal instead of just shattering this time around?”

  “How do you know he’ll break your heart?”

  “Because just looking at his picture makes my heart crack.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Call me, Jack,” Silvia’s voice sounded on his voicemail. “I looked up Gwen, and there’s something I think you should know.”

  Jack shook his head, hating the open-ended message and the fact that Silvia was already trying to jump into the middle of his relationship with Gwen when everything was still so new. Silvia must have called after he’d crashed following the conference calls.

  With a sigh, he walked onto the balcony overlooking the ocean and called his sister. The sun was nearly touching the western horizon, and it was strange to think that an entire day had passed since his date with Gwen. Would it be too forward to ask her out again for tonight?

  Silvia answered, and he wanted to chew her out then hang up, but instead he said, “I don’t care what you’ve found. I like her. End of story.”

  “I hear you,” Silvia said, talking fast. “But you know that running Dad’s corporations, you have to think of more than yourself. You have to think of the whole family.”

  Jack had heard it all before, whenever he’d dated women back east. It was always about the family image, about company image, about upholding some fantasy for the media. And he was tired of it.

  He settled onto one of the balcony chairs and propped his feet on the small coffee table. “Shoot.”

  “She was a foster kid until about fifteen, and then she was adopted by one of her foster families. She barely graduated from high school— she had a 2.1 GPA.” Silvia paused for effect, but Jack said nothing.

  He’d met many different people in his life, most of them privileged. Gwen was right; someone who had lived on a different level did have a different persona. What had Gwen said? He went to college; she could sense it.

  What would Gwen think of his sister?

  “Did you hear me?” Silvia said, her voice calm, yet clearly with frustration behind it.

  “I did.”

  “Jack, this doesn’t make me happy either. But you need to know it now, before it’s too late.”

  “Too late for what?” Jack said, even though he knew what she was getting at.

  “Before you become attached to her,” she said. “Her biological mom was in prison for years, and her bio dad is completely out of the picture. There’s still an active missing person’s report on him from fifteen years back. And, she’s been married!”

  At least he knew that already. “What’s your point?” Jack blurted. “Gwen isn’t her parents. The first guy she married was a jerk. But she’s one of the most genuine women I’ve ever met. Why are you judging her when you’ve never met her?”

  Silvia sighed. “She’s a risk, that’s all. I love you too much to see you hurt, for something to go wrong because of a woman you happened to think is pretty. Forget the business for a second. Just think of yourself and your future. Think of her, too. Take her to one event, and the media will be all over her. They’ll crucify her, Jack.”

  He lowered his legs and leaned forward. “I get what you’re saying, and I appreciate your concern. We’ve been on one date, and I know this will sound crazy, but I’m willing to take the risk.”

  He hung up, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. He thought about everything he knew about Gwen, which wasn’t a lot, but then he thought about who she was, how she reacted to things, and the way he felt around her.

  It didn’t take long for him to text her. You hungry?

  He waited a few seconds for a reply, and smiled when his phone buzzed. He read the text, and his heart plummeted.

  Sorry, Jack. I’m an idiot & can’t date you. Really sorry.

  Jack stared at the words for several moments. Was she joking? Had he imagined that they both had a great time last night? Hadn’t she kissed him back? The woman his sister had just criticized as being unworthy had just rejected him.<
br />
  Exhaling, Jack tried to decide what to do. He rose and paced the balcony. Should he text her back? Call her? What had happened in the past few hours to change her mind?

  Had her ex come back?

  Jack leaned against the balcony rail, looking down at the few people remaining on the beach. In the business world, backpedaling by a client meant that communication had broken down. So that’s what Jack had to do—communicate to find out what was really going on.

  He pulled out his phone and called Gwen. It clicked right over to voicemail. So he texted. You’re not an idiot. If you want to call things off, I’ll respect that. But can we at least talk in person? This texting thing is awkward.

  Four minutes and fifty seconds passed before she replied.

  Ok. I’ll meet you at the beach in an hour.

  The next hour and nine minutes was pure torture as Jack waited near the parking lot of the nearly deserted beach. Silvia’s investigative work hadn’t turned him away from Gwen. If anything, it made him respect her more. When her Honda pulled up, relief pulsed through him.

  She’d come. That was all that mattered. If nothing else, he’d at least get an explanation.

  His heart thundered as he watched her climb out of her car. She wore a strappy beach dress and no shoes. He had to smile at that. He’d been out with women who took two hours to get ready for a date, but Gwen held no such pretentions.

  She folded her arms as she walked toward him, her gaze everywhere but on him.

  “Hey,” he said as she stopped a few feet from him.

  She peered at him. “Sorry about the text. It’s just, you know, complicated.”

  “How complicated?” he asked. The breeze tugged at her messy bun, and tendrils of hair played about her face. He inched closer. “On a scale of one to ten, ten being completely impossible.”

  Her expression relaxed slightly, and she shot him an amused look. “Eleven?”

  “Ouch. Am I that bad?”

  “Not you. Me.”

  “Oh, well, that makes complete sense,” Jack said, moving closer again. He didn’t like the space between them. He didn’t like that she looked vulnerable and worried. “What’s wrong with you?”