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DIANE LOOKED UP when her computer indicated a new e-mail had arrived. She reached for the curser and clicked it open. It was from one of the vice presidents in the loan department, indicating he had a client who wanted to invest a million dollars. She raised an eyebrow.
Then she typed in, Sure, I’d love to meet with your client. When do you want to set it up? Lunch?
The answer appeared almost at once. He wanted to meet this evening. I think it would be good before he changes his mind. Is that okay with you?
Yes. Give me a time and a place, she typed in, and hit Send. After she received the information she needed, she turned off her computer. It was already past closing.
It was only after she was in her car, heading home, that she realized she hadn’t asked the client’s name. It occurred to her that John Davis could be the client, but she dismissed the thought. Mark wouldn’t introduce her to someone who didn’t intend to invest.
They were going to a nice restaurant, so Diane hurriedly changed into a simple black dress that she felt good in. She put on diamond ear studs, a reward she’d purchased for herself after her last promotion.
When she glanced in the mirror, she nodded to her image. She appeared festive, but conservative. Pleased with how she looked, she hurried back down to her car. She had fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant.
Mark and his wife were sitting at a table when she entered. Diane smiled. She’d met Elizabeth several times and liked her.
The maître d’ led her to the table and held her chair for her. She greeted the Golans and immediately said, “I forgot to ask your client’s name. Have I met him?”
Mark opened his mouth to answer and then stopped, his gaze going to a point over Diane’s shoulder.
She turned to find what had grabbed his attention. And discovered John Davis reaching for the chair beside her. She said nothing to John, but turned and stared at her colleague, waiting for an explanation.
“I swear, Diane, John promised he wants to invest a million dollars. I wouldn’t mislead you.”
After a considering look, she nodded, but still didn’t glance at John.
“Good evening, Diane. You look lovely tonight.”
“Thank you,” she replied coolly.
“You, too, Elizabeth. You look much better than you did the last time I saw you,” John said with a grin.
Diane turned to stare at him. “That’s rude.”
“No, it’s not,” Elizabeth said. “We were on a picnic and the baby threw up all over me. I tried to clean up, but there wasn’t much I could do. Everyone did their best to avoid me.”
“Oh, you poor dear. Was she very sick?” Since Diane had had no children or siblings, she knew little about babies.
Elizabeth laughed again. “No. She must’ve eaten something she didn’t like. Little ones tend to throw up frequently.”
Diane looked horrified.
“Haven’t you ever been around babies?” John asked.
“No.” After a moment she looked at him cautiously. “Have you?”
“Each of my stepmothers had an ‘heir’ to cement her marriage with my father. I never did any babysitting, but I was home more than my stepmothers, so I saw the nanny deal with a lot.”
“A nanny? Your stepmothers didn’t—No, I guess not.” After composing herself, Diane said, “So, you have four brothers and sisters?”
“No, just three brothers. But I expect to be informed of another one on the way at any time.” John looked at her. “You don’t have any siblings?”
“No. I was a mistake they didn’t want to repeat,” she said, and then regretted her words. “Forget I said that. Now, you want to put a million dollars in my hands to invest?”
“Yes. I think you’ll do a great job for me.”
“I need to know what you expect. I can’t promise gains by leaps and bounds, but I can guarantee growth. Is that what you’re looking for?”
“Of course. I simply want to put that much money aside so I’ll never go broke. It’s a safeguard.”
“Where is the money now?”
“It’s in an account.”
Diane stared at him, a slight frown on her face. Something didn’t seem right. “Have you made investments before?”
“Yes, several times, but I’ve lost money, too. I think it’s better for a professional to handle my investments instead of me trying to do that as well as handle my business projects.”
While Diane couldn’t argue with that logic, she proceeded with caution. “We’ll need to discuss the kind of investments you have an interest in,” she said slowly.
John nodded and flashed her a wide smile. “But first, why don’t we order some drinks?”
After the waiter took their requests, Diane hesitated returning to the subject of John’s investments. She’d been in the business long enough to develop a sixth sense about a potential client.
This time that sense was telling her to run as far and as fast as she could.
JOHN WAS AMAZED at how much trouble he’d gone to to convince Diane they should… Should what? Become business partners? Friends? Lovers?
Yeah, that was what he wanted. Even though she wasn’t a beauty at first glance, not playing up her natural assets, the longer he knew her, the more beautiful she became.
He wanted to take out the pins holding back her long blond hair, and run his hands through it. He wanted to hold her against him, to feel her breathe, to kiss her just below her ear. To inhale her subtle scent. He wasn’t sure why she appealed to him so much. Maybe it was because she wasn’t chasing him. In fact, she seemed downright elusive.
That remark she’d made about her parents made him eager to question her about her childhood. The two of them might have a lot in common.
Throughout the evening he watched her carefully. Her every move was so graceful, nearly poetic. He wondered why she was alone.
That thought stopped him. Was she alone? There could be a man in her life. What would John do if there was?
At a pause in the conversation, he asked her, “Should we have invited your, uh, significant other?”
She lowered her eyes. “No, that’s not necessary.”
“Because there isn’t anyone?” he pressed.
Her eyes speared him with a sharp look. “Because it has nothing to do with our conversation!”
Mark immediately intervened. “No, of course not. This is a business dinner. It’s a chance to discuss your investment strategy with the professional you’re giving the opportunity to handle your money.”
“Of course,” John agreed. He knew Diane wasn’t going to make it a social situation. He was beginning to wonder if she even had a social life.
Abruptly, he said, “Do you snow ski, Diane?”
She stared at him. “In Texas? I don’t think that ever happens.”
“But Colorado’s not that far away. Maybe you go there on vacation?”
“No, I haven’t tried skiing.”
“I go several times a year.”
“We went last year and took the kids,” Mark interjected. “We hired a high school student to come help with them.”
“That was my idea,” Elizabeth pointed out. “I didn’t want to stay in the room and take care of the kids while Mark went skiing every day.”
“Yeah. Sometimes I forget children require so much work, but Elizabeth reminds me by going off shopping on a Saturday. By the time she gets home, I’m desperate to get out of there,” Mark assured them.
“Elizabeth is a great mother. Not every woman is. My father seems to have a talent of picking wives without that quality.”
“You think it’s something a woman is born with?” Diane asked.
“Oh, yeah. And pity the poor kids who have the wrong mother.” John grinned at her.
“I don’t agree,” Elizabeth said. “I had to learn to be a good mother. I had friends who helped me, and my mom. She taught me a lot.”
“I agree,” Diane said. “They even offer parenting classes for those who doubt their abilities.”
John seemed unconvinced. “Yeah, but you have to be interested in learning. My stepmothers only wanted a child to ensure that they got more money when the divorce came along.”
“You’re assuming they went into the marriage knowing it would end in divorce,” Diane commented.
“Honey, my dad’s famous for his marital problems. He chooses a woman by her beauty. He keeps her until she turns into a wife and bugs him about things he doesn’t want to do. That’s when he discovers she’s not the woman for him. By that time, a baby has come along, and the alimony and child support payments soon follow.”
“That’s a very cynical outlook, John,” Diane protested.
“I’ll have to introduce you to my father. Then you’ll understand.”
Annoyed, she turned to Elizabeth, looking for some safer conversation. “How old are your kids now?”
“One and a half, four and six.”
“They must require a lot of energy,” Diane guessed. “My friend Jennifer Carpenter—now Jennifer Barry—adopted three little girls close to those ages.”
“Three at once?” Elizabeth asked, her voice rising. “How brave of her!”
“Yes, but they’re so sweet. The three are sisters who were split up when their parents died. They’re so glad to be back together now.”
“Oh, yes, that’s wonderful,” Elizabeth said, tearing up just a little. “I can’t imagine my children being separated.”
Mark reached for his wife’s hand. “That won’t happen, honey. Remember, your sister and her husband said they’d take care of our kids if anything happens to us.”
Diane watched the tender way Mark looked at his wife, and it made her heart ache. What would it be like to have someone who understood, who cared, who prepared for the future?
Elizabeth straightened her spine. “I’m sorry, Diane. Sometimes I worry.”
“No need to apologize!” she exclaimed. “I found myself tearing up over my neighbor’s little girls. I’m just glad they found such a great home.”
John joined the conversation. “So Jennifer is a good mother?”
“Yes. She wasn’t sure she would be, so she took a parenting class. But she’s doing fine.”
Mark looked at John. “You sound like you know her?”
“I know about her. My father wanted to set me up with her.”
“She sounds like a catch,” Mark said. “Why’d you refuse?”
“Actually, I didn’t. I was too late. That’s how I met Diane.”
“Yes,” Diane hurried to add. “And it was a mistake.”
John turned to her, a smile dancing on his lips. “But not one I regret.”
Chapter Three
How could she be alone with him?
The dilemma had kept Diane awake all night, and still plagued her this morning. She couldn’t walk away from a million-dollar investor, yet she couldn’t honestly accept John’s invitation to lunch.
Last night, after his incendiary comment at dinner, he’d kept the conversation light and general—till he leaned in close to invite her to discuss his “portfolio” at lunch tomorrow. From the rumbling sound of his voice, she wondered what he really had in mind.
Maybe she’d invite Mark to join them. He’d be the perfect buffer to keep them on a strictly professional basis.
After she worked up some preliminary projections for John’s investment, she called her coworker and made the offer. “I think John would be more at ease with another man there,” she added, hoping that would seal the deal.
But Mark didn’t fall for it. “I don’t think so, Diane. I got the idea he was determined to take you to lunch alone. He certainly didn’t mention inviting me when we were together last night.”
“He probably thought I would object, but I wouldn’t, Mark. I promise.” She fought to keep the desperation out of her voice.
“What’s up with you two, anyway?”
Diane froze. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean…well, why is he so determined to be with you, while you’re so reluctant?”
“It’s business, Mark, that’s all.”
“Well, I’m free for lunch, but you need to ask John if he wants me to come. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll know I was right.”
“Fine,” she conceded. “But I’m sure he’ll change his mind.” Then she hung up the phone.
