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“Oh, so you have the secret to the fountain of youth, but I’m the psychic?”

The waitress returned with Carla’s brew.

“Thank you.” She took a sip, her eyes squinting. “Yeah, that’s it right there.”

Jacob’s smile remained intact. He loved watching her enjoy things. Even as simple as the taste of a good mix.

“So, tell me about this secret fountain.”

He bit his bottom lip. “It’s no secret. It’s exercise.” Carla’s smile evaporated, and Jacob couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh, come on. It’s not so bad. I get up at four in the morning—”

“Four in the morning!”

Jacob nodded. “Four a.m. By four-thirty, I’m out the door. I run for an hour. In that time, I have a goal to run six miles.”

“Six miles!” Her eyes widened. “In one hour—are you a madman?”

His voice dropped, more baritone than it was before.

“I can teach you how to raise your stamina for activities that’ll exert you,bellissima.”

Carla’s mind went right to the gutter. “Oh, can you?”

His smile was delicious. “Absolutely.”

“It may take you a while to get my body in training for a six-mile one-hour run, Mr. Rose.”

His tongue slid across his top lip. “I have a good regimen that’ll get you there.”

Her body was tingling all over now. “I’m down.”

He laughed. “You haven’t heard what my workout plan entails yet.”

“I’m still down.”

His laugh turned into a low roar. “I’m going to make sure to hold you to that.”

“Please do.” She sipped more of her brew, and he watched her mouth. “I can’t help but wonder about your past relationships. You said you’ve never cheated, then why are you single? Is it by choice?”

His joy tilted, then dispersed.

“I’ve dated, but those relationships didn’t blossom the way I had hoped they would at the time. Because of my family’s celebrity, it’s not easy to find genuine relationships. When I asked my father decades ago how our family ended up in the spotlight, he would say, ‘the good, old-fashioned American dream. I was determined to give you, Janet, and your siblings a comfortable life. In that passion, I learned a lot about stocks, trading, and investments. Investing in Rose Bank & Trust Credit Union was my first swing at things, and it was life-changing. The company attracted the media because I was one of the youngest to own an institution of that magnitude. And, people love to help young folks who are investing in their futures. I received a lot of sponsors, donors, and clientele. From there, things took off and never turned back. We’ve been in the spotlight since, each of my brothers or sisters for a different achievement. My brothers and I also caught the attention of disingenuous women. Some of us learned the hard way.”

Carla nodded. “I can understand how having that attention could bring out the snakes.” She shook her head. “So, wow. Never been in love before, huh?”

“I never said never.”

His comment intrigued Carla.

“Twice.” He rubbed his lips together. “One was a physician I’d met on vacation in the Alps. We hit it off right away, and by the time our vacation ended, neither of us wanted to go our separate ways. We decided to date long-distance for a while. Then, we began meeting up and getting serious. I was days away from proposing when I found out she was married.”

A gasp flew from Carla’s lips, and she sat back against her seat, deflated. Suddenly her heart hurt for him.

Jacob stilled for a moment, then continued.

“Apparently, they were ‘separated’ at the time that we met and had decided while we were dating that they wanted to give their marriage another try. So, I was the odd man out.”