As his fingers wrapped around hers again, encompassing her hand in the warmth of his grip, a heated rush zipped through her.
“I know who you are,” he said, slowly releasing her.
Well, then, that made two of them. Now that they’d met, she didn’t think she’d ever forget him.
His gaze dropped from her face to her chest and back again. He grinned, his hazel eyes glimmering like Gran Marnier in after-dinner candlelight. Sweet, smooth. Intoxicating.
“That’s an interesting necklace,” he said.
Her hand inadvertently returned to her chest and fingered a large piece of macaroni. “Thank you. I think so, too. The young artisan who designed and created it is someone near and dear to me.”
“You don’t say.” Marc chuckled. “Come on. Let’s go where we can talk.”
He led her back to a private office boasting two brown leather chairs in front of a mahogany desk that bore neat stacks of paperwork.
This office, too, provided a view of the city. Yet instead of looking at the six or seven buildings that made up the Fairbrook skyline, Jenn’s gaze was drawn to the park below, to the playground and the jogging path that wove around the lawn and meandered along the edge of the canyon, and to the people enjoying their leisure.
If this were her office, she’d have a difficult time focusing on work. She turned to Marc and smiled. “You have a great view.”
“Thanks.” He pointed to the leather chairs in front of his desk, indicating that she should choose one.
He waited for her, then took a seat across from her.
They made small talk at first, and she let him know that she’d done her homework by researching both him and his company on the Internet earlier. He answered her questions truthfully, yet modestly.
Several minutes into the ice-breaking chat, he sat back in his seat. “What I’d really like to talk about is the foundation I created and the scholarships I’m going to give out.”
“Of course.” She placed her notepad in her lap and clicked her ballpoint pen, releasing the tip.
“It’s called the Elena Alvarado Foundation.”
Elena? Wasn’t that his receptionist? And Alvarado was his last name. Was that merely a coincidence…?
“I assume the foundation was named after a relative,” she said, suspecting his mother, his sister, or his wife. Her gaze casually drifted to his left hand. No wedding ring, but then again, a lot of married men didn’t wear them.
“Elena’s my aunt,” he said. “She’s also my office manager.”
Interesting, Jenn thought as she began to sense a human-interest story in the making.
“I wanted to honor her for taking me in as a child, for loving me, believing in me, and encouraging me to be all that I could be. I owe a debt to that lady that I’ll never be able to repay.”
“How old were you when you went to live with her?” Jenn asked.
“I was a newborn. My mom was a teenager and didn’t want to be burdened by a baby, so her tía, Elena, took me in. It was supposed to be a temporary solution, but my mother never had a change of heart.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I came out way ahead. Elena provided me with a loving home. And from the first time she picked up a Little Golden Book and read it to me, she encouraged me to get an education.”
“That’s touching.”
“I think so.” He leaned back in his seat. “When I was in the third grade, she told me that I was going to college one day. There’d never been any question about it. She’d had some kind of vision.”
“Is she psychic?”
“She says no, but I know people who’d disagree with her.”
“Are you one of them?”
Marc shrugged. “She definitely has a gift. That’s the only explanation I have.”
Interesting, Jenn thought for the second time since entering the office. “So you proved her right.”
“I really didn’t have to prove anything. It all just fell into place. Besides, school was a breeze for me. It was easy to excel.”
“Your aunt didn’t have to push you?”
“Not at all. Life was good, and love was plentiful. I did it because I wanted to. The only thing she did to encourage me was to make learning a game.”
“How so?”
Marc paused a beat, as though he needed to think through his response. “Elena had a limited income while I was growing up, so we never got a chance to visit theme parks like Disneyland or Sea World. Instead, she took me on adventures to the local library. We’d visit foreign countries and take rocket ships to the moon.”
“It sounds like fun.”
“It was. In fact, she enjoyed learning so much that she decided to take adult-education classes and eventually managed to earn a high-school diploma of her own.”
Jenn, who’d gone to theme parks a lot while growing up, couldn’t help feeling as though she’d missed out on something special by not having library adventures. And she made a mental note to attempt something similar with Caitlyn in the near future.
“My plan isn’t just to provide scholarships to low-income students,” Marc added. “I’d really like to offer them to the kids who are struggling to stay in school, kids who’ve got a few strikes against them but still want to pursue higher education. So in some cases, their grade-point average wouldn’t be the determining factor in deciding who would receive a scholarship and who wouldn’t.”
“That’s definitely a unique approach.”
“I want to meet with each applicant and find out if he or she is willing to sign a contract to put their education first. Sort of a business venture, you know? I’d offer them work during the summer, too.”
“You’re planning to mentor them?” Jenn asked.
“Yeah. I guess that’s what I’d be doing.”
Jenn had no idea what to say. The man and his game plan had thrown her for a loop. He was offering kids a lot more than money. He was handing them a lifeline.
“You know,” she finally said, “there’s a man in town named Ramon Gonzales. I think you ought to talk to him. He’s working with a sports organization that’s geared to kids at risk. I’m not suggesting that you work together, but I definitely think you’d have some things to share with each other. Ideas that might help his organization and your foundation at the same time.”
“Is he related to Eddie Gonzales?”
“Yes, he’s his younger brother. Do you know Eddie?”
“We went to school together.”
Jenn had gone to school with Eddie, too. “At Fairbrook High?”
“We were in the same economics class.”
Jenn hadn’t taken economics, but surely they’d passed each other in the hall once or twice. “I ought to remember you, but I don’t.”
“I was pretty quiet and unassuming, so I don’t think many people did.”
She supposed that was a nice way of saying that he wasn’t popular, but she couldn’t understand how a guy like him could have slipped under her radar. She didn’t care how shy he’d been.
Without being too obvious, Jenn studied Marc, trying to remember all the glossy photos of her classmates but coming up with a mental blank.
She’d been busy during her high-school years, and her life had been a social whirl. But what girl would have missed noting a guy like Marc?
Maybe he only attended FHS for a short time and transferred to some other school. If she had any idea where she might have packed her old yearbooks, she’d go home and do a search. But she’d stacked boxes of stuff at the back of the garage, and she had no idea where to look.
Marc glanced at his watch, then looked at her with soulful eyes she could have sworn she’d seen somewhere before—in her dreams, maybe?
“Would you mind if we finished this interview at Café Del Sol?”
His question and the intensity of his gaze threw her an unexpected curve. Was he asking her to have dinner with him?
She cocked her head slightly to the side.
“Excuse me?”
“I worked through lunch today, and I’m starving. I’m going to have a hard time focusing if I don’t put something in my stomach.”
Oh, okay. The question had been practical, and his mind was definitely still on the business at hand.
“Sure.” She made one last note on her pad and put her pen away. She’d planned to get something to eat before heading for Jessica’s house anyway.
Marc opened the door and waited for her to walk out of his office first, which was merely a polite gesture and nothing for her to read into. They were just two hungry people grabbing a bite to eat while they continued to work.
Yet as they walked down the hall and toward the exit, she couldn’t seem to quell a feminine flutter of excitement that suggested it was a whole lot more.
Surely the rush was due in part to the unexpected chance to learn more about the real Marc Alvarado and the opportunity to create a story that would dazzle Frank Bagley into hiring her as a full-time reporter.
But something deep inside wasn’t buying it.
Not when she got that same buzz whenever she caught a glimpse of the successful businessman’s heart-strumming smile and gorgeous brown eyes.
Chapter Four
As Marc led Jenn out of his private office, he glanced toward Elena’s desk. Her files had been put away, her chair had been pushed into place, and her computer screen was dark.
He was glad to see she’d left for the day. She always took more interest in his comings and goings than a typical office manager would, which was understandable. And he’d always been okay with that. But since she knew about the unrequited crush he used to have on Jenn, he didn’t want to encourage any speculation or romantic notions. All he needed was for her to think she could help imaginary things along.
After he locked up the office, he and Jenn took the elevator to the lobby.
“Thanks for being a good sport about this” he said as they left the building.
“You mean about dinner? Actually, this works out great. I have another appointment after our interview, and I was going to have to eat by myself. Now I don’t have to ward off any sympathetic stares.”
“What do you mean?” Marc had eaten his share of meals alone—a lot of them, especially when he’d moved to California as a freshman in high school—and he’d never picked up on any sympathy. Nor any stares at all, for that matter. He’d gotten used to eating alone back then, which was good. These days, it seemed he was always on the go, so he grabbed a bite whenever and wherever he had a chance.
“I guess it’s just me,” she said. “I don’t like going to a restaurant by myself, so I usually find a drive-through and eat in the car.”
“That sounds like it would be more of a pain to me.”
They walked across the parking lot and made their way to the storefront shops and eateries that were located along Applewood, the street that bordered the east side of the park. They stopped in front of Café Del Sol, a trendy bistro that provided sidewalk dining.
Marc had spotted the colorful striped awnings and café-style black tables and chairs from his office window. He’d also passed the place on his way to the bank and had been planning to try it out eventually. So now seemed as good a time as any.
“Do you want to sit indoors or out?” he asked. “It looks like they have heaters in case the breeze kicks up and it gets chilly.”
“Then let’s eat outside.”
A young man wearing black slacks and a crisp white shirt stood at a podium and smiled. “Two for dinner?”
“Yes,” Marc said. “And outside, if those heaters are working.”
“They are.” The man snatched two menus and led them to the back of the patio, next to a red bougainvillea that grew in a big clay pot. He pulled out a chair for Jenn, and she sat at a white-linen—draped table adorned by several votive candles and a small vase of daisies.
Marc wondered if she would notice the simple flowers, if she still favored them like she had in school.
He supposed it really didn’t matter.
When they took a seat, the waiter passed out the menus, then returned with water, a basket of homemade bread, and butter.
Jenn studied the list of entrees and sides, but Marc found himself studying her instead. She was still just as pretty as ever, although he couldn’t help missing those go-team smiles that always reached her eyes.
But who was he to find that the least bit remarkable? Time had a way of changing things, especially him. And to be honest, after years of being considered both a top-notch student and a second-rate classmate, it had taken Marc time to deal with the changes his late growth spurt had put into play.
He’d always been a fast learner, so he’d caught on to the intricacies of attraction and flirtation quickly. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t struggled some with the whole male/female mating ritual in the beginning. There’d been the typical first-date jitters and awkwardness, and he’d decided that some things were best muddled through when a guy was still a teenager. Of course, now that he’d accumulated a healthy stock portfolio and an impressive bank account, women just naturally flocked to him, and the awkwardness had disappeared.
A lot of guys might have let that go to their heads, but Marc never had been like other guys. And when he settled down with one woman, he wanted her to be able to accept the ninety-pound weakling he’d once been. The guy who sometimes still felt a little backward in a crowd.
He opened the menu, yet his thoughts were on Jenn and the changes that had taken place in her life over the past ten years.
How was she dealing with her divorce? Was she still grieving and hurt? Was she glad to be free?
Those weren’t the kinds of questions he could ask over a business-related dinner, which is what this was.
Nor could he write a letter to Dear Diana and ask, although a wry grin tugged at his lips at the crazy thought.
Dear Diana,
People always tell you their deepest, darkest secrets and fears. So now it’s your turn. Why did you get a divorce? How are you feeling about it? Have you been scarred for life? Are you ready to date?
Curious in Fairbrook
Marc’s grin morphed into a full-blown smile as he imagined her response in print.
Dear Curious,
I made the mistake of settling for the wrong guy and was never really happy. I can’t help feeling as though the last ten years of my life were a complete waste. What I wouldn’t give to be able to wind back the clock, return to high school, and start over. Maybe, had I given the right guy a chance, if I’d been willing to wait for him…
Frank Bagley had mentioned something about Jenn putting a personal spin on her responses, but going the Dear Diana route was too wild to contemplate.
Still, earlier this afternoon, while heading to the accountant’s office, Marc had picked up a copy of the Fairbrook Times along the way. Instead of reading the front page or checking out the business section of the newspaper, which was his practice, he’d turned to section B and the social pages, looking for the Dear Diana column. But he supposed he didn’t know enough about her these days to pick up on the personal spin Frank had mentioned.
Yet her advice had been solid to those who’d written in, and Marc could see why she’d get a nod from the editor.
On a whim, he said, “I read your column today.”
The menu, which had been blocking Jenn’s face, dropped six or more inches, and she looked at him, lips parted.
He couldn’t quite tell whether she was flattered or embarrassed. Either way, she seemed uncomfortable.
“I wish Frank wouldn’t have mentioned that,” she said. “He knew I wanted to remain anonymous.”
“Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.” Marc tossed her a friendly smile, but as their gazes met, something blood-stirring rushed between them. He’d be darned if he knew exactly what that something was, but he’d felt it whenever he’d looked at her in the past. Only this time, she seemed to be as affected by it as he was.
Doing his best to shake it off, he said, “I thought your advice to that secretary was pretty good.”
“Thanks.” Jenn reached for her glass of water and took a sip.
According to the secretary who’d written to Diana, her boss was having an affair with a cocktail waitress at a bar he frequented, and the secretary was morally opposed to what he was doing. She felt the need to call the boss’s wife or to at least be more forthcoming than she’d been in the past. Still, she needed her job and couldn’t afford to quit or allow herself to be fired.
“Telling her to confront her boss was the best way to handle it,” Marc added.
“I thought so, too. It wasn’t her place to tell the man’s wife what he was up to, although my heart goes out to that poor woman, too. I think it’s terrible when people make a commitment to each other to be best friends and life partners, and then one of them cheats.”
Had Jason cheated on Jenn? Had he given her reason not to trust him?
Marc supposed he shouldn’t try reading into her comment. And it really wasn’t his business, but he couldn’t help saying, “It sounds as though you can easily sympathize with the boss’s wife.”
“Yes, but not because I had to deal with another woman, although the trust issue definitely came into play.”
Marc suspected she was about to open up and tell him the rest, to mention her divorce. Instead, she sat up straighter and seemed to stiffen.
“I guess we’re not here to interview you,” Marc said, making light of the fact that she’d flashed a yellow caution light when they’d veered off topic.
“That’s okay,” she said, lowering her guard again. “It’s probably not a big secret. My ex had a gambling addiction, and he chose the ponies and the casinos over my daughter and me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too—for my daughter’s sake. But it’s over now.”
Was it? When people had serious gambling issues, there were usually financial repercussions, some of them long-lasting.
Had Jenn been left to deal with creditors? Or maybe even bankruptcy?
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