“Thank you.” Again with the witty conversation.
“I’m not surprised. You’re a very capable regional manager.”
Don’t you dare say “thank you” again. She simply nodded, tried not to duck her head at the praise. The burning in her cheeks crept clear up to her scalp. She resisted the urge to fan herself like an old-fashioned Southern belle.
He did seem genuinely impressed. Maybe she’d been wrong to be so nervous. Perhaps he really was here to talk to her about a promotion. Stranger things had happened.
She decided to take a chance. “Oh. Well, then. Excuse me, Mr. Jordan—”
He interrupted her. “Cabe.”
She smiled politely. “I mean Cabe. If you don’t mind my asking... Why are you really here? After all this time. What aren’t you telling me?”
* * *
Cabe’s response died on his lips as the older secretary entered Jenna’s office. “Excuse me, Mr. Jordan. There’s a call on the office phone for you, from Corporate.”
He fished his cell out of his pocket, realizing he’d left it in airplane mode after his flight. “Thanks, Nora.” Sure enough, the phone started buzzing as soon as he changed the setting. A naughty text from Carmen popped up. He tried not to groan out loud. The woman could be draining. He would have to do something about that pretty soon. She had her sights on something that wasn’t going to happen. He’d have to find a way to let her down gently. No doubt it would cost him a pretty penny.
Then there were numerous messages from his assistant in New York, no doubt about the Caribbean expansion deal. Nothing about the project so far had run smoothly.
And so it began.
The interruption was just as well. He wasn’t sure how much he could share with Jenna Townsend just yet. Sharp as she was, she’d surmised that something else had prompted his visit.
He wanted to believe there’d been some kind of mistake, that she had no involvement. But it wouldn’t be the first time he’d misjudged someone.
“Would you mind if I take this, Jenna?”
She shook her head. “Of course not.” She walked toward the door. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
“There’s no need for that.” But she’d already left by the time he reached for her desk phone.
Cabe hung up the phone several minutes later and tried not to curse in frustration. He’d been right. There were indeed yet more complications on the resort island where he planned to open a new high-end retail jewelry store, this time to do with zoning issues.
He would have to fly down there. The sooner the better. Which meant he had to wrap up here in Boston as quickly as he could. He had to address the real purpose of this visit. Of all the reasons to have to come back, a thieving employee. He shook his head at the utter surprise of it. There was absolutely no reason for an employee to steal from him. The company paid well and provided numerous benefits. The only reason had to be greed.
His head of security assured Cabe that such thefts were usually inside jobs, almost always involving the store manager, who in this case was Jenna Townsend. The timing couldn’t have been worse—Jenna had been on track for a major promotion before the theft came to light.
As soon as he’d heard the name, he’d wanted to deal with the matter himself. He’d hired Jenna personally. His parents had always been quite fond of her. They’d asked him to give Jenna a chance when she’d graduated top of her class from business school two years ago. Despite what the town had thought about the Townsend family and its troubled history over the years, his parents had insisted that Jenna was cut from a different cloth and that she just needed a chance to prove it. His mom and dad were all about giving people a chance. He liked to think that had served them well, at least as far as their son was concerned.
Cabe’s original plan was to spend a few days with her. Maybe even find some evidence. So he’d asked for her specifically to be his assistant on this trip. But now he had forty-eight hours at the most before he had to fly to the Caribbean to deal with the other pressing matter. That left him with only one choice. He had to come right out and ask her what, if anything, she knew about the missing jewelry.
He could be quite persuasive when he had to be. Besides, he didn’t have the time to dwell on this. He had to get to the bottom of it all and move on to business as usual.
No one stole from Cabe Jordan and got away with it.
* * *
When Jenna returned to her office, Nora ran fast on her heels. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Jordan?” the older woman asked as she cleared the tray of mugs and coffee pitcher.
Cabe turned and flashed them both a smile that made Jenna’s knees go weak. “As a matter of fact, you can, Nora,” he replied. “Please clear Jenna’s calendar for the next two hours or so and cancel her appointments.”
What? Why?
To her shock and horror, he added, “I’d like to take my regional manager to lunch.”
Oh, no. She had to nip this in the bud right now. She did not want to sit across a table from this man, just the two of them. She was absolutely no good at small talk. And her presentation earlier had covered all the business details she could possibly bring up. Whatever he had to tell her, he could do so right here in this office. “I’m afraid I just can’t do that, Mr. Jord—”
“Cabe.”
She took a steadying breath. “I can’t steal away for lunch today, Cabe.” She glanced at Nora, willing her to help. Instead, Nora threw her overboard.
“Nonsense. Of course she can. There’s nothing pressing on her calendar this afternoon. And she hardly ever eats a real lunch. Usually a granola bar at her desk as she continues to work.”
Cabe’s smile dripped with satisfaction. “It’s settled, then. Do you have a preference where to eat, Jenna?”
She could only shake her head.
He led her gently to the door. “How about Nawlin’s, that sidewalk café on Newbury, then? It’s a pleasant enough day to eat outside and I’ve missed their sandwiches.”
Like it mattered. As if she’d be able to taste anything. She’d be lucky if she could keep it down.
“That’s fine.” Only it wasn’t fine at all, and her stomach did another little flip to prove it.
The queasiness hadn’t subsided at all ten minutes later when Cabe pulled a chair out for her at the quaint outdoor café on one of Boston’s swankiest streets. The lunch crowd milled and bustled around them. Two food trucks parked nearby had lines several feet long. All in all, a perfect day to enjoy a leisurely meal outside. If only she could enjoy it.
Their food came out in no time. She was picking at her Caesar salad when things went from bad to catastrophic. Cabe was going to try to make small talk. And his first choice of topic: the absolute last thing in the world she wanted to get into right now.
“So, Jenna. If I recall, you have an older brother.”
She had to discuss her broken, dysfunctional family, with none other than Cabe Jordan.
“Yes. Sam. You two must have been in a few of the same classes.”
“It was just the two of you and your mom, right? How is she, by the way? Do I recall she hadn’t been feeling well for a while?”
Jenna’s blood froze in her veins and she lost her grip on her fork. It fell to her plate with a clatter so loud the sound echoed through the air. Of course he must have heard rumblings over the years. Stories about Amanda tended to get around.
Cabe stopped eating and stared