BECCA WALKED TO one of the bookcases, the one closest to the office’s door and farthest away from Caleb. Oh, he was handsome and could turn on the charm faster than she could blink. Tonight she saw an edge to him she hadn’t see before, an edge that appealed to her.
But she knew his type all too well.
Whatever she said tonight would fall on deaf ears. He’d been suspicious of her since the day they met. Nothing was going to change his mind about her.
He’d likely agreed to attend the dog show, not to see the new products in action, but to watch her because of her criminal past.
“I’m not a bad person,” she said.
“I never said you were.”
But he hadn’t said she wasn’t, either.
No one cared about the truth. “Guilty” was all that mattered to people. What happened hadn’t been forgotten. And wouldn’t be. It followed her everywhere.
Or had until she’d met Gertie.
Caleb wouldn’t be as understanding. That was why this was so hard for Becca.
She noticed a black-framed photo of him and another man. Both men were attractive. The other guy wasn’t as handsome as Caleb, but as fit with a muscular V-shaped physique. A triangle folded American flag with military ribbons sat on the shelf above the picture.
Becca realized she was procrastinating. Might as well get this over with. She looked over at Caleb.
His dark gaze met hers. “Take your time.”
“I don’t want to drag this out any longer.” Telling him what had happened was the only thing that would loosen the tension in her neck. “Whit asked if I wanted to hang out with him and some of his friends. I said yes, thinking things must be getting serious if he wanted to introduce me to his friends.”
“A reasonable assumption.”
“Reasonable, but wrong,” she admitted. “He was interested in me, but not as a girlfriend. I was being set up to be the patsy. The scapegoat. The one they could blame if their plans to break in to the bank president’s house to steal cash to buy drugs went south.”
“They don’t sound like the Honor Society kids.”
“Some were. Others were jocks. But they were no better than a gang of hoodlums. They just wore designer clothes and drove nice cars.”
“You were part of it.”
“No. I had no idea what they were planning.” She forced herself not to make a face at him and read the titles of the business books on the shelf instead. A few military strategy type books were mixed in with the marketing and finance titles. “Whit said we were going to hop the fence and go hot-tubbing while the guy was on vacation. I was wearing my bikini underneath my clothing and had a towel crammed in my bag.”
But not even those things, including the panties and bra she’d brought to change into, had mattered to the police.
“It wasn’t until we were inside the house and not in the backyard that I realized what they were planning. But I thought Whit liked me, so I...”
Becca bit her lip. She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
“You went along,” Caleb finished for her.
She nodded. Embarrassed, regretful and ashamed. “I was trying to fit into Whit’s world. I was afraid to speak up, so I just followed his lead.”
“I take it things didn’t turn out as planned.”
“No one knew about the high-tech security system in the house. The police caught us inside, and then...”
Her chest tightened with Whit’s betrayal. Becca took a breath and another. It didn’t help. “Everyone turned on me. Pointed their fingers at me. Blamed me. They said it had been all my idea. I had picked the lock. Stolen the money.”
“But the police should have—”
“The police believed them. Why wouldn’t they? My dad had spent time in the county jail for getting into a fight. I was the resident trailer trash. No one was surprised to find me involved in something like this. Not to mention my fingerprints were all over the evidence.”
Caleb’s eyes widened. “How did that happen?”
She understood the disbelief in his tone. Her parents and lawyer had sounded the same way. “Whit had me wrapped around his little finger. Open the door, gorgeous. Hold this tool, beautiful. Have you ever seen this much money before? Want to hold it?”
She hadn’t, and she did.
“But the other kids were accessories to the crime,” he said. “Whit, too.”
“True, but they had high-priced attorneys who managed to get the charges reduced or dropped.”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
“It wasn’t. But life has never been fair to people like me.” Caleb’s privileged upbringing would affect one’s perspective as much as growing up in a trailer park had hers. “Luck wasn’t on my side, either. I’d turned eighteen two days before, so was legally considered an adult. My parents couldn’t afford a lawyer so I was assigned a public defender. Due to the evidence and witnesses...”
“Whit and his friends cut a deal.”
Becca nodded. “My lawyer recommended a plea bargain.”
“You took it.”
“I wanted to fight the charges, but my parents thought three years in prison was better than the alternative, so I did what my lawyer wanted.”
Caleb didn’t say anything.
That didn’t surprise her. She stared at a photograph of Caleb surrounded by bikini-clad supermodels. There was another picture of the Fairchild family—Caleb, a young woman who must be Courtney, Gertie and her late husband. All four people looked so happy and carefree with bright smiles on their faces.
Becca wondered what it would be like to feel so happy and content. Just once she would like to know.
“You must have been scared,” Caleb said.
“Terrified.” She still was some days, but he didn’t need to know that. “I understand if you don’t believe me. But it’s what happened.”
“A hard lesson to learn.”
She walked back to the chair, but remained standing. “I wouldn’t wish the three years I spent locked up on anybody. Not even the kids who set me up me that night.”
“Regrets?”
“I know people say you shouldn’t have regrets, but if I could go back to change that one night I would. Being in jail...it sucked. But I learned my lesson. I’m not going to try to be someone I’m not ever again.”
She waited for him to ask the inevitable questions about whether she was part of a gang or if she had a girlfriend or something else he might have seen on television.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally.
Her gaze jerked up. “Excuse me.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
She didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure what to think of his words or the sentiment behind them.
“So what happened after you got out of jail?” he asked.
“I tried to start where I left off. But it wasn’t as easy as I thought that it would be.”
“Why not?”
“I kept filling out applications and being turned down for job interviews. Even though I’d done my time, people still saw me as a criminal.”
He shifted positions on the desk. “What did you do?”
“I’d been planning to go to college to become a vet tech before all this happened, so applied to a few programs and eventually got accepted to one. I used the scholarships I’d won through dog showing and worked every odd job I could find to cover tuition. But after I had my degree, I ran into the same problems as before. I couldn’t find a veterinary clinic back home that would hire me.”
“Your past.”
“My past is very much my present. I fear it always will be. As our conversation tonight proves once again.”
He stared at the carpet.
Feeling guilty? Becca hoped so, and she wasn’t going to back down. “They say you can’t be tried twice for the same crime, but that’s only in a court of law. People don’t forget, and they hold a grudge. I moved to Boise because I thought I’d have more opportunities here.”
“Have you?”
“A few,” she said. “I found a job at an animal hospital. A professional dog handler I’d known through 4-H as a kid and as a junior handler in AKC took pity on me and asked if I wanted to be her apprentice. That’s how I met Gertie.”
“My grandmother doesn’t care about your past.”
“Gertie is one in a million.” Thinking about Gertie made Becca want to smile for the first tine since she’d left the estate earlier. “I wish more people were like her. But they’re not.”
They were more like Caleb.
That was one reason she preferred the company of dogs to people. Dogs were more loyal, understanding, loving.
“Any other questions?” she asked. “I’m happy to give you the name of my former probation officer. Though he can’t guarantee I’m not trying to scam your grandmother.”
A blush colored Caleb’s cheeks. “She told you.”
“She warned me.”
“This isn’t personal.” He sounded defensive. “I’m only trying to protect her.”
“As you should,” she agreed. “If I weren’t your target, I’d say your chivalry is sweet even if it’s...misguided. But this isn’t the first time it’s happened to me. I know it won’t be the last.”
“You’re resigned to that.”
“Annoyed by it, too. But what am I going to do?”
Nothing she’d done so far had changed people’s opinion of her. But that hadn’t stopped her from trying. From working the worst shifts at the animal hospital to busting her butt doing whatever Gertie asked, Becca had wanted to earn people’s respect, to be...accepted for who she was now. Not who she’d been before.
“You could move out of Idaho,” he said.
“I’m far enough away from my parents as it is.”
“Family is important to you.”
“It’s all I’ve got.”
“Me, too,” he said.
A warm look passed between them. Becca found herself getting lost in Caleb’s eyes. What was going on? She never expected to have anything in common with Caleb. Well, except for liking chocolate cake and Gertie. But he was more complicated and different from what Becca expected.
“Grams told me you’ve been working on a revised business plan. Did you bring it with you?” he asked.
“Business plan?” She blinked at the sudden change of topic. “I have it. But I didn’t think you were still going to advise us.”
“Why not?”
“You only agreed because you had doubts about me.”
“That’s true.”
Her heart fell. Spilling her guts hadn’t changed anything. She shouldn’t feel as disappointed as she did. “You still have doubts.”
“I told my grandmother I would help her,” he said. “I’m not going back on my word.”
She respected Caleb for being a man of his word, especially when his agreeing had meant so much to Gertie. But he hadn’t denied still having doubts about Becca.
That had happened before.
It would happen again.
But she was surprised how much it hurt now.
* * *
Caleb was wrong about Becca.
Wrong about her motives. Wrong about her past.
He loosened his tie.
Caleb had misjudged her. Completely.
What she’d said about struggling after getting out of prison jibed with the private investigator’s report. She’d admitted her father had spent time in jail, too.
Her education and experience wouldn’t give her the knowledge to pull off a big financial scam. Though he couldn’t deny the possibility of a theft on a smaller scale.
He glanced up from Becca’s business plan.
In her teal suit, standing by one of his bookcases, she looked like a consultant. Professional. Knowledgable. A world apart from the woman he’d met in his grandmother’s backyard.
But whether dressed to the nines or in bright orange prison garb, she was the same woman. A woman eager to rebuild her life. A woman he found himself wanting to learn more and more about.
Her story about Whit sounded all too plausible to Caleb. He knew guys like that, his father was like that, his experience with Cassandra had been like that.
Becca was most likely exactly what she seemed to be—a hopeful dog whisperer who was caught up in one of his grandmother’s schemes through no fault of her own.
Moving a foot away from him, Becca pulled out a book, read the inside flap, then placed it back on the shelf. She did the same with another.
Con artists, like his Cassandra, were good at sob stories, but Becca seemed too genuine, her behavior too natural and awkward and uncomplicated. She didn’t appear to be a threat, but he’d deal with her if that changed.
For now, Caleb would go along with his grandmother’s gamble. A part of him admired Becca. That was rare.
But he still had to be careful for all their sakes.
“You’re welcome to borrow any of the books,” he said.
“Is there one you’d recommend?”
“Strategic Marketing and Branding.”
Becca touched each of the book spines with her fingertip, searching for the title. She pulled one out. “Here it is.”
“You know the market and the industry, but having a thought out branding strategy can make all the difference,” he explained. “The book will be a good introduction to the buzzwords and approaches being used.”
She studied the front cover. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
He thought she would walk back toward his desk. She didn’t. Instead she kept looking at the items on the shelves.
“The USS Essex.” Becca studied one of the small replicas of aircraft carriers. “Gertie has a larger version of this in her collection.”
“Gramps was assigned to the USS Essex during the Korean War. He fell in love with aircraft carriers. Grams used to give him the models on special occasions.”
“What a wonderful gift.” Becca bent to take a closer look at the shelf containing the models. Her skirt rose in the back, showing off her firm thighs. “The USS Vinson.”
His groin tightened. He tried not to stare. “Yes.”
“I’ve seen that one, too.” She straightened. “Your grandfather had large replicas at home and small models here at the office?”
“The smaller ones are mine.”
She glanced his way. “Yours?”
He nodded, a part of him wishing she could be his tonight.
Whoa. Where had that come from?
He’d been working too hard if his mind was going...there.
Grams hadn’t mentioned if Becca had a boyfriend, but Caleb imagined she did. A man who thought nothing of carrying lint rollers, doggy treats and poop bags wherever he went.
Someone totally opposite to Caleb.
He couldn’t keep a plant alive, let alone be responsible for a pet. It wouldn’t be fair to a dog or cat or fish.
Not that he wanted a girlfriend. He dated when he had time, but kept things...light. It was easier that way, given his schedule.
He secured her pages with a binder clip. “Excellent work on the business plan.”
A smile tugged at her lips. He waited for one to explode and light up her face. The right corner lifted another quarter of inch before shooting back into place as if she’d realized she was going five miles per hour over the speed limit and needed to slow down before getting pulled over.
She smiled for Grams, but not him.
That bothered Caleb. He wanted a smile.
Becca bit her lip, gnawing at it like a piece of jerky, a stale piece. “I don’t think it’s ever going to be ready.”
“Iterative process, remember?”
She shrugged.
Ah-ha. A perfectionist. Caleb had a couple on his staff—hard workers—but their never-satisfied, not-good-enough tendencies made end-of-the-quarter more stressful. “What you’ve done so far is pretty impressive.”
Something—pride, maybe?—flashed in her eyes. But the same wariness from before quickly took over. “You think?”
He nodded. “It’s obvious you’ve been working hard revising the drafts.”
“That’s what Gertie pays me to do.”
“You’re doing it very well.” He would have known that if he’d listened to his grandmother instead of telling her to fire her consultant. He was sure Grams wouldn’t let him forget that, either.
Becca straightened, as if he’d finally gotten her attention. Or she liked what he’d said.
“There are a few areas where you’ll need to do more research,” he added.
“Manufacturing, for sure. And the product containers are giving me a real headache.” She was one step ahead of him. “Everything is priced based on quantity. Making that initial order seems to be based on magic.”
“A Magic 8 Ball, actually.”
“You’re...” Her gaze narrowed. “Kidding.”
“Had you going for a minute,” he teased.
Amusement gleamed in her eyes. “Twenty seconds tops.”
“Forty at least.”
Her smile burst across her face like the sun at dawn.
He couldn’t breathe.
“Thirty,” she said playfully. “Not a nanosecond longer.”
With her eyes bright and her face glowing, she looked...gorgeous. It was his turn to speak, but Caleb didn’t know what to say. All he could do was stare.
She studied him. “Have you ever consulted a Magic 8 Ball?”
“No, but my sister Courtney had one. Swore it worked.”
“And you kidded her about that.”
“I’m her older brother. Of course I did.”
“I’m not surprised,” Becca said. “You’re not the kind of person who leaves things up to chance, let alone a fortune-telling game.”
Interesting observation and dead-on. “Why do you say that?”
She motioned to the books on the shelf. “The business books mixed in with military ones. Strategy. War. That suggests you like to be prepared. Know what you’re up against. Have a solid plan and an exit strategy. You take a tactical approach. At least you did with me.”
“I may have had some bad intel.”
“It happens.”
She didn’t sound upset. That was a relief. “You’re observant.”
Becca lifted one shoulder. “I keep my eyes open so I know what’s going on.”
A lesson learned. No doubt because of what had happened to her when she was younger. Caleb was the same way thanks to Cassandra. Interesting that he and Becca had been used in similar ways. Though hers had been much worse. “It’s not good being caught off-guard.”
“Nope.” She motioned to the other shelf with his memorabilia. “Was the flag your grandfather’s?”
“Yes. From his funeral.”
She pointed to one of the photographs. “Who’s this?”
Caleb crossed the office, picked up a framed photo of him with Ty Dooley. “My best friend since third grade. He’s in the navy.”
“The two of you look like you could be brothers.”
“Ty’s like a brother.” He was living the dream for both of them. Right now Ty was downrange somewhere classified. Caleb couldn’t wait to see him again. “We planned on being in the navy together.”
A grin spread across her face. “You wanted to follow in your grandfather’s footsteps.”
Caleb’s muscles tensed. He’d never told anyone that except Ty. Becca guessing that made Caleb feel stripped bare and vulnerable. He didn’t like it. He nodded once.
She studied him, her gaze sharp and assessing. “Military service is honorable, but you’re following in your grandfather’s footsteps by being Fair Face’s CEO.”
True, but Caleb felt no satisfaction. He’d wanted to be the kind of man his grandfather had been and nothing like his father.
Becca pointed to another photograph of Caleb with itty-bitty-bikini-clad supermodels clinging to him. “Most men would kill to be in your position.”
He wasn’t “most men.”
The decision to run Fair Face had never been his to make. His worthless father hadn’t wanted anything to do with the family company. To say that everything had fallen to Caleb was an understatement. He’d had to grow up fast. “What’s the saying...? The grass is always greener.”
“I wouldn’t have expected that kind of longing from you.”
Of course she wouldn’t. But this—he glanced around the office—was never who he’d expected to be growing up. He’d dreamed about being a navy SEAL for as long as he could remember. Not the CEO of a skin-care company. “I’m sure there’s something you wanted to be when you were growing up.”
Becca nodded. “A vet. But I was a kid then. Very naive about how the world worked.”
“Me, too,” he said. “But that’s what being a kid is all about. Dreaming of doing what sounds cool without understanding our places in the world.”
“Too bad you couldn’t trade jobs with your friend Ty for a week. Bet he’d enjoy hanging with supermodels while you swabbed decks on a ship or sub.”
Caleb nearly laughed. An M4 rifle was more likely to be found in his best friend’s hands, not a mop. Ty was one of the elite special ops guys, a navy SEAL, stationed in Virginia Beach on a Tier One team. Caleb would love a taste of Ty’s life. “Fun idea, but I doubt I’d like swabbing decks.”
“So you’re more into adventure,” she said. “Bet you’d like Special Forces kind of stuff. Best-of-the-best kind of thing.”
Caleb didn’t understand how she kept nailing him. He moved away from her. “What guy wouldn’t?”
“Some might not, given the danger and risk involved, but I can see why it would appeal to you.”
“Why is that?”
She tilted her chin. “The leadership skills you’ve honed as CEO would be useful even if the arena was different. Teamwork, too. No more profit margins, but life-or-death stakes. Kick-ass missions that would be more stressful than anything you’ve dealt with, but exciting due to the physical and mental challenges. You’d be surrounded by smart people. I’d assume someone who wasn’t intelligent wouldn’t last long, but in corporate America brainpower doesn’t appear to be a prerequisite for rising to the top. At least here at Fair Face.”
She might lack business experience, but she had what Grams would call gumption. “Not liking my grandmother’s dog products doesn’t mean employees here are stupid.”
“Liking the products would prove they were smart.” Becca stared at the photo of him and Ty again. “I think the real draw to your friend’s lifestyle is loyalty. To the country, the service, your teammates. Heaven knows, you’re loyal to your family.”
Caleb couldn’t move. Breathe. Blink.
How did she know this about him? A woman he’d known less than a week. One he’d underestimated.
“I suppose being in the navy would be more interesting work than sitting in meetings all day wondering what SPF of sunscreen would sell best,” she added.
He found himself nodding.
“My only question is if joining the navy was so important to you, why didn’t you enlist?” she asked.
“My family. Fair Face,” he admitted. “They needed me.”
“You wouldn’t have been in the navy forever.”
“No, but I was needed here. What I wanted to do...” He glanced at the photograph of Ty and him. “It was secondary.”
Her eyes softened. “You love your family.”
“Everyone loves their family.”
“Not everyone would sacrifice their dreams.”
Caleb shrugged, but the last thing he felt was indifference. He rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t want to have this conversation. He glanced at his watch, more out of habit than anything else. “It’s getting late. I’ll walk you to your car.”
“Thanks, but that’s not necessary,” she said, a hint of a tremor in her voice. “My car is at the Park & Ride lot. I rode the bus into downtown.”
“You took the bus?”
“Gas is expensive.”
His grandmother had to be paying her a bundle, plus providing a free place for her to stay. Not to mention her job at the animal hospital. “You can’t have money trouble.”
She glared at him.
Forget daggers—Becca was firing mortar in his direction.
He turned his hands palms up. “What?”
“I never said I couldn’t afford it.” Becca shot him a get-a-clue look. “Why should I want to waste my hard-earned cash to drive into town so you could try to get me fired?”
Stubborn. She also looked cute when she was angry. “Saving money is always good, especially when there’s a motive or desire behind it. My grandfather taught me to save for a rainy day.”
“Rain, thunderstorm, monsoon.” Her fingers tightened around the strap of her messenger bag. “You never know what the future holds.”
Caleb’s life proved that was true.
“It’s best to be prepared for anything.” Well, almost anything. He hadn’t been prepared for Becca. He should drive her home and see how deep her stubbornness ran. He shoved his laptop into his bag. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.”