The Millionaire's Intriguing Offer

Second Chances

Back in his office, Jonathon tried to put the whole matter out of his mind. He had a deposition scheduled for later that afternoon with a key witness, and he needed to be on his game.

Unfortunately, he was having trouble concentrating on the case, because his mind was elsewhere.

With a sigh, he sat down at his desk and picked up his phone. The cheerful voice that answered didn't improve his mood any.

"Mitsy. Jonathon Berrington here."

"Jonathon, how nice to hear from you. Are you calling me to say thank you?"

"I'm calling you to ask what the story is with your friend Bailey."

"Interesting." There was an amused lilt to Mitsy's voice. "Why don't you ask her?"

"At the moment, I don't think she's speaking to me."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to see her again." Jonathon put the phone on speaker so he could get up from his desk, and pace across the room. He stood staring out at the spectacular view from his office window, but wasn't really seeing it.

"Why didn't she tell me she had an interview with Tito Martinez?"

"How would I know? Maybe she was too busy all weekend thinking of . . . other things. " Mitsy gave a low laugh. "She did tell me she had a good time." Mitsy paused as Jonathon considered what he could say to pry any useful information out of her.

"I made the bid because I thought she deserved to have some fun. And despite your reputation as a player, I knew you wouldn't hurt her. So I'm wondering what you did to screw it up."

"Damned if I know. What's her background, anyway?"

"If you're calling for job references, I think I'll leave that to your friend Tito Martinez."

"Dammit, Mitsy, a little help here." Jonathon ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Mitsy's voice chilled considerably. "You do realize you're talking about my best friend, right? If you want to know something about Bailey Reid, I suggest you ask her yourself. Not sneak around behind her back asking other people about her."

Jonathon started to argue, but Mitsy had already disconnected the call.

Was the whole world going crazy? He resolved to put the intriguing matter of Bailey Reid aside for the moment and concentrate on his legal cases. At least those he could understand.

* * *

She suspected Tito was making a point by taking her to the small sandwich shop instead of a fancy restaurant.

What he clearly didn't realize was it was exactly the kind of place she'd have chosen herself.

Of course Tito Martinez wasn't a typical CEO, not even of a nonprofit. His t-shirt revealed lean muscled arms with multiple tattoos, and she suspected at least some of them were prison tattoos. She knew from her research that he'd spent time in prison. She didn't know the details, but she was pretty sure it hadn't been for white collar crime. He had the kind of tough look about him that you didn't often see in a boardroom.

The menu was on a chalkboard behind the counter. They both ordered sandwiches, and were given a number that would be called when the food was ready, a small bag of chips, and cups to get their own drinks.

Tito gestured to a small table in the rear of the narrow restaurant. As soon as they set their drinks and chips on the table and sat down, he looked at her expectantly.