The Matchmaker's Happy Ending. Shirley Jump

war with those two emotions.

      He had done some preliminary research before he hit the gym, but his files were filled with Franklins, a common enough last name. Then it hit him.

      Tom Franklin.

      A printer, with a small shop in Boston. Nice guy, but such a muddled, messy businessman that Jack had at first balked when his father asked him to take on Top Notch Printing as a client. He hadn’t realized at the time what his father’s real plan was—

      Well, maybe he had, and hadn’t wanted to accept the truth. Buy up the company for pennies on the dollar, to pave the way for a big-dollar competitor moving into town, another branch of the Knight investment tree. Within weeks, Tom Franklin had been out of business.

      Oh, damn. If Marnie was that Franklin, Jack had a hell of a lot to make up for. And no idea how to do it. Jack’s memory told him that none of Tom’s daughters had been named Marnie, though, so he couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was all some kind of weird coincidence.

      Just then Marnie came down the hall, wearing a navy and white striped skirt that swooshed around her knees, and a bright yellow blouse that offset the deep red of her hair. She had on flats, which was a change from the heels he’d seen her in before, but on Marnie, they looked sweet, cute. Her skin still had that dewy just showered look, and like the other two times he’d seen her, she’d put her hair back in a clip that left a few stray tendrils curling along her neck. The whole effect was…devastating. His fingers itched to see what it would take to get her to let her hair down, literally and figuratively. To see Marnie Franklin unfettered, wild, sexy.

      “Where are we going?” she asked. “There’s that chain coffee shop—”

      He shook his head. “I’m not exactly a decaf venti kind of guy. When I want coffee, I want just that. So, the question is—” at this he took a step closer to her, telling himself it was just to catch a whiff of that intoxicating perfume she wore, a combination of flowers and dark nights “—do you trust me?”

      Her eyes widened and she inhaled a quick breath. Then a grin quirked up on one side of her face, and she raised her chin a notch. Sassy. “No, I don’t. But I’ll take my chances anyway.”

      “Pretty risky.”

      “I’m not worried. I carry pepper spray.”

      A laugh burst out of him, then he turned and opened the health club door for her. As she ducked past him, he leaned in again and caught another whiff of that amazing perfume. Damn sexy, and addictive. “You surprise me, Marnie Franklin. Not too many people do that.”

      “I’ll keep that in mind.” She tossed the last over her shoulder, before walking into the waning sunshine.

      He fell into step beside her, the two of them shifting into small talk about the weather and the treadmills at the gym as they walked down the busy main street for a couple of blocks before turning right on a small side street. Dusk had settled on the city. Coupled with the dark overlay of leafy trees it made for a cozy, peaceful stroll. For Jack, the walk was as familiar as the back of his hand.