than Cabe Jordan, the man of her teenage daydreams. Who would have thought?
“Jenna, let’s try to talk this out.”
She lifted her bag. “Perhaps you want to go through this. Maybe pat me down before you let me go.”
He blinked. “Pat you down? No. Of course not. I just want to clear all this up.” He leaned over with both palms on the desk between them. “About a week ago my head of security requested an urgent meeting. Apparently, someone realized that a piece of rare jewelry at the Boston store had been switched out during a routine security department inventory. The real piece had been replaced with a cheap replica that looked exactly like the original.”
“And you assumed I did it. Because you know where I come from and what I might be capable of.”
He held one hand up. “Hold on. That’s not what happened. The management team is always considered under such circumstances. It’s just routine.”
At her silence, he continued. “Additionally, there’s an electronic log of anyone who’s used their key to access that particular case, the one with the higher-end items. Your key was the one used.”
Her blood went cold. But that just couldn’t be. “Who says?”
“My head of security up at headquarters. He’s always been very good at his job. I had no reason to distrust him.”
Of course he didn’t. “But you had every reason to distrust me.”
Something shifted in his eyes. “Listen, Jenna. The only reason I came here personally was because it was you. I wanted to get to the bottom of it myself, do some investigating. But there’s a sudden matter that needs my attention with a store opening in the Caribbean. I have to get down there. In my haste, I handled it very badly. I see that now.”
People tended to do that with her, rush to judgment. She couldn’t expect to be granted the benefit of the doubt, not given where she came from. Cabe may claim objectivity by saying he came to look into the matter personally, but it hardly mattered. No, she would have to find a way to fully clear her name, in such a way that there would never be any more doubt.
“There has to be some kind of mistake,” she muttered, trying to think. There had to be an explanation, a way to prove her innocence. But how? She suddenly felt deflated. How could this be happening? Pulling out her desk chair, she plopped herself into it.
A sudden, encouraging thought occurred to her. She looked up at him. “The video? There has to be video footage. We have cameras all over the store.”
He gave her a sympathetic look. “The video surveillance system was conveniently disengaged for a forty-eight-hour period on the fifteenth and sixteenth of last month. We believe that’s when the theft occurred.”
Oh, God. His words knocked the wind right out of her. If there was no video to exonerate her, she had no other ideas. Her eyes began to sting. There was nothing she could do, no way to clear her name. She had no job. She had no real family. She’d probably end up with a criminal record. Despite everything, all the years of busting her behind to get ahead, she’d end up like her mom after all.
Cabe Jordan would always question whether she was a no-good thief.
Wait a minute.
She snapped her head up. “Wait. What date did you just say? The fifteenth of March?”
He nodded. “Yes, that’s correct.”
“You’re certain?”
“That’s what I was told.”
She knew it! Hopeful relief surged in her chest. “Cabe, I wasn’t even in town the week of the fifteenth. I was away at a jewelry designers’ expo in San Diego.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “And?”
“And my keys were safely locked up in the main vault right here in this building. Including the one that would have opened that particular case. I have proof.”
* * *
He didn’t want to examine why he was so relieved. For some reason, Cabe had been hopeful all along that Jenna was completely innocent. And apparently she could prove it. “Proof? You have a way to prove your key was locked up?”
She nodded triumphantly. “Yes. The security officer on call the day before I left signed off on the paperwork. All my keys were locked up in the main vault before I left. Safe and secure.”
“That’s the correct protocol. Where is this security officer now?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not the one in charge of hiring and managing security.”
Cabe pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have a sneaking suspicion he’s no longer working for us. And that he has a very valuable piece of jewelry in his possession.”
Jenna stood staring at him with satisfaction, clearly enjoying the upper hand. So she was indeed innocent. Just as he’d hoped. Heaven help him, he had to resist the urge to go and hug her. Not that she would have it.
“Guess your security head isn’t as thorough as you would like to think,” she said.
“In his defense, he’s going through a rough patch personally. Clearly, it’s affected his professional duties. I’ll have a word with him.”
She rolled her eyes at him and muttered something under her breath. He thought he heard the words “That’s rich.”
“Jenna, I know an apology isn’t nearly enough. But it’s all I have. My only excuse is that I’ve been swamped with various small projects as well as a major international expansion. I rushed and acted on something that I should have taken the time to examine more closely. I’m deeply, resolutely sorry.”
Her face softened, and the effect nearly knocked him off his feet. “Thank you for that,” she said simply, genuinely. “And I’m sorry for...you know.” She pointed to his drenched clothing.
“Nah, don’t mention it. I daresay I deserved a good food toss.” He was also admittedly relieved. He didn’t have to fire a dedicated and competent employee after all. That left only one problem. Things were extremely awkward now with a star employee who deserved better treatment than he’d just doled out. He had a major mea culpa on his hands. As usual, he had rushed to judgment, merely to save some time. Once again, he’d acted without fully thinking through the issue. Not a good attribute in a CEO, yet another character trait he had to work on.
First thing first. Somehow, someway, he had to make this all up to Jenna.
He was getting ready to say so when her assistant knocked and entered her office.
Nora stopped in her tracks when she saw the state of Cabe’s clothing. “I’m sorry,” she began. “Am I interrupting?”
“That’s okay, Nora. What is it?” Jenna behaved like the consummate professional, addressing her admin as if nothing was wrong.
“The Wellesley store just called. They’re panicked about their staffing shortage,” Nora told her, her gaze still leveled at Cabe.
“I
