Page 3 (1/2)

"My mom went to see Jack She asked hiive her grandchildren"

Dellina frowned "Okay, that’s not great, but it’s not horrible, either"

"There’s more," Larissa admitted "She said the reason I had to leave Fool’s Gold was that I was secretly in love with Jack"

She paused, waiting for the hysterical laughter Or any laughter Instead, the three woed a look

Larissa felt herself start to blush "I’m not in love with Jack," she insisted "I’ between us"

"If you say so," Isabel said knowingly

"If Felicia ith us, she would say that the boss-secretary romance is a classic archetype," Dellina said

"I’m not his secretary"

"Close enough," Taryn told her, then picked up her drink "If you say you’re not in love with him, then I believe you"

Just then, Jo appeared with the nachos and the subject got dropped Larissa reached for a chip, but found that she wasn’t the least bit hungry all of a sudden

This was all her ri to have to find every last one of theed

CHAPTER TWO

BEING CALLED IN to see Mayor Marsha was a bit like playing against a rival teaht as he headed up the stairs toward the goodunlikely to happen--and not in a happy way

Mayor Marsha was California’s longest-serving et intimately involved with the residents of her town, she see and no one kne Jack tended to be wary of people like that He preferred life to be blurry Honesty could be uncoone his whole life without hearing those words

Larissa had reassured hi were two different things

He paused outside the mayor’s office A pretty redhead so on in"

Jack nodded, thinking he should know the receptionist He was sure he’d met her before She was friends with Taryn and Larissa, he thought as he entered the mayor’s office

Mayor Marsha was in her sixties, hite hair and a habit of wearing pearls Now that he thought of it, he wasn’t sure he’d seen the wo but a suit

What concerned hi other people to co to be guilted into soh ex-jock She was no match for him

"Jack," she said war by to see me"

"Ma’am" He crossed to her desk and shook her hand

She et more comfortable"

As they crossed the floor, he reone for a couple of weeks "Hoas your vacation?" he asked

"Very relaxing" She settled on one of the chairs

He took the sofa and realized iht, respecting her power play He was right to be wary

"I went to New Zealand," she continued "Beautiful country Did you know a lot of our skiers go there to train in the su their winter"

Jack did his best to look interested as he waited for the et to the point He hadn’t been suaze settled on his face "I’ve followed your philanthropic ith some interest"

Jack felt himself tense He consciously relaxed and waited for her to continue

"With the organ transplants," she added

Because that was his cause, he thought Being a star with the NFL caations One was the expectation that he would take on a cause Finding his had been easy and over his career he’d often spoken out about the ian donation and transplants

"I’ it was true Larissa handled the logistics and he showed up every now and then She was able to serve a cause, which she loved, and he got to pretend he was involved A situation that worked for both of theful," theso he was able to nod "Of course"

"You lost a brother," the mayor said "Is that correct?"

"Yes"

"A twin?"

"Yes"

An identical twin, Jack added silently Only soht Cells hadThe doctors had never been able to explain it well enough for hirimly So one brother had been born perfectly healthy and the otherhadn’t

Jack didn’t want to go there He didn’t want to re about his twin He didn’t want to feel the guilt that caot sick, never felt weak, never wondered if he was going to make it to his fifth birthday or his tenth

Jack knehere this was going now Mayor Marsha wanted his help OrShe knew a fa te but lifesaving surgery