Jack took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling as he tried to rein in his anger. “Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “But if he tries anything like that again, he’ll have to deal with me.”
A small, irrational part of her found his protectiveness swoon-worthy. There was something undeniably attractive about someone ready to commit a felony on your behalf, but she couldn’t let herself get distracted by Jack’s muscled knight-in-shining-board-shorts routine. Not now.
“There’s something else,” she added, forcing herself to focus on the real reason she’d come.
Jack’s gaze sharpened. “What is it?”
“When I was in Nathaniel’s office, I saw a folder on his desk with the name of your old restaurant on it. I couldn’t see inside, but it can’t be good.”
Jack ran a hand through his hair, pacing like a caged animal. “Worthington didn’t have anything to do with the restaurant.” He stopped and looked at her, his jaw tight. “We need that folder. We need to figure out why he’s sniffing around.” His voice dropped as he muttered to himself. “Maybe I can distract him somehow. Or wait until his office clears out and?—”
“Break in?” She tilted her head to the side. The man looked two seconds away from planning a full-blown heist. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but we don’t need to go fullOcean’s Elevenhere.”
Jack stopped mid-pace, his eyes blazing. “I’m not joking, Cora. If he had anything to do with my restaurant going under, I need to know.”
She took a breath, letting him stew for a moment before pulling the folder from her tote and setting it on the table between them, making sure to steer clear of the fish guts.
Jack’s eyes went wide. He stared at it for a moment Slowly, a grin spread across his face, and the storm clouds in his eyes cleared. “Looks like I’ve been underestimating you.” He leaned in, his voice dropping to that teasing tone that always made her stomach flip. “Turns out sweet, by-the-book Cora has a rebellious streak. Gotta say, it’s really sexy.”
She rolled her eyes, even as a smile tugged at her lips. Nobody had ever called her sexy. Organized? Definitely. Detail-obsessed? Sure. But sexy? That was new. So she did the only thing she could. She ignored it. “I’m not a rebel, Jack. I just borrowed some paperwork.”
Jack’s grin didn’t falter as his fingers skimmed the edge of the folder. But instead of diving in, he leaned a little closer, his eyes locked on hers with something that made her pulse pick up. “I thought you had every part of your life planned out on those color-coded spreadsheets you’re so fond of.”
“And your point?”
His grin turned wicked. “I’m wondering which tab on your spreadsheet covered robbing a bank.”
She snorted, shaking her head. “Please. If I were going to rob a bank, there’d be a full risk assessment and a checklist involved.”
Jack threw his head back and laughed, the sound warm and rich, cutting through the tension in the air. “God, you’re adorable,” he said, leaning in a little more. “And here Ithought I was the reckless one. Turns out, you’re the one full of surprises.”
She crossed her arms, trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach. “If this is where you tell me my spontaneity is suddenly hot, you can stop right there.”
His eyes glinted with amusement. “You’re too late. I already thought that.” But the playfulness faded as he opened the folder. His expression darkened with each page he flipped through.
“Jack?” She stood, moving around the table, a knot of anxiety tightening in her chest. “What is it?”
He didn’t answer right away, his eyes flicking back and forth over the documents as he tried to make sense of them. Then he cursed, low and sharp, under his breath.
“What?” she pressed, her heart pounding at the way his jaw clenched. “What’s in there?”
“Nathaniel Worthington,” Jack growled, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it. “He’s behind everything.”
She blinked, trying to process. “What do you mean,everything?”
His gaze snapped to hers, dark and furious. The intensity in his eyes made her instinctively want to step back.
“The company that held the loan for Harlow’s? It wasn’t some random investment firm. It was a shell company. Owned by Worthington.”
The ground shifted beneath her. “Wait, what? So he’s the one who called in the loan? But why? Harlow’s wasn’t even competition for him. What would he gain from that?”
Jack let out a harsh laugh, but there was no humor in it. “There’s more.” He flipped to another page, his hand trembling slightly. “He paid off Mitch.”
She froze, the breath catching in her throat. “Mitch? Your business partner?”
Jack nodded, his face tight. “Yeah. There’s a wire transfer receipt here. Worthington paid him to walk away. That’s whyMitch bailed. He left me with the debt, the failing restaurant, everything.”
Her mind spun, trying to catch up. “This whole time...Worthington was setting you up?”
