Page 10 of Second to None
“I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say.
He pivoted on his heel so she could see the shadows in his eyes. “No, I am. I knew what kind of job he did. I should have ...” Once again his voice trailed off.
She understood what he was thinking. He should have known that Jake could be killed at any time. He should have kept track of the Camp Lejeune obituaries.
She wanted to ask why he hadn’t answered the e-mails she and Jake had sent, if he felt that way. It had hurt and baffled both of them. She bit back her question, though. The center needed Max in a positive mood.
He rolled his shoulders under the fine wool of his suit jacket. “Can your babysitter handle this evening?”
“Oh, right. Let me call her.” She hustled out of her office and down to an empty tutoring room.
Once it was settled that Lateesha could stay for the rest of the evening, Izzy got on the phone. “Where are you going, Mommy?”
“Out to dinner with an old friend. You knew him when you were two.”
“Is this a date?”
“No, it’s not.” Emily’s denial was definitive. “We’re discussing business.”
“So it’s about the center.” Izzy loved spending time with the kids at the center, but she sometimes complained about how much attention Emily devoted to it. Which was why Emily took off all day Saturday to spend with her daughter. Parents volunteered to take up the slack so the staff could catch up on their own lives on the weekends.
“Mr. Varela has a foundation that might give us the money to buy the empty lot.”
“Really?” Izzy’s voice rang with excitement. “Does that mean the center can adopt lots of cute dogs?”
“We’re having dinner to figure that out.”
“I think I like him. Did I like him when I was two?”
Emily thought back to her daughter’s first encounter with Max. Izzy had just been released from her high chair after her father fed her dinner. Jake had forgotten to take the food-covered bib off, but Emily didn’t notice that as she let Max in the front door. Izzy had dashed down the hallway and wrapped herself around Max’s leg, smearing multicolored leftovers all over his blue jeans. The expression of shock on his face had sent Emily and Jake into paroxysms of laughter, making it difficult to stammer out their apologies.
After that, Max had always cast a surreptitious glance in the direction of the kitchen before he entered their house. But he’d also gotten down on the floor and played with Izzy. Emily had noticed he wasn’t good with the make-believe games Izzy liked best, but he had other entertainment skills.
“You liked him a lot. He used to build huge towers of blocks for you to knock down. You would shriek with joy.”
“Cool. What time will you be home?”
“After you’re in bed, I imagine, but I’ll come in and kiss you good night. Hugs, cutie.”
When Emily walked back into the office, Max was lounging in the chair, his dark brows drawn down as he focused on his cell phone. He’d loosened his tie, and his thick hair looked as though he’d run his fingers through it. She looked at his mouth with the full bottom lip and again felt that powerful tug of desire. The scruffy grad student had matured into an intimidatingly attractive man.
She cleared her throat, and he looked up, saying, “Ready?”
