Page 20 of Masked

“On the contrary, Ms. Calhoun. I haven’t done nearly enough. I want to invest in you. You’re studying public administration and human sexuality, yes?”

“You remember that from all those years ago?”

Noah nodded. “I do. And the government can always use consultants from the universities to help draft legislation. I’ve got contacts I could reach out to who would sign off on it if you would rather me treat it like a scholarship.”

He could see her wheels spinning. She didn’t want to say yes, she was too independent for that, but she wanted to finish her PhD. And he wanted her to.

But she would take his help if he made the offer sound right.

“I lost two of my scholarships when I had to take a year off, so I wouldn’t mind finding something to replace those.”

“They’ll be replaced. Maybe even by the ACSL. You’ll have the paperwork in the next few days. But you should start by calling your adviser to get the enrollment process started.”

She twisted her napkin in her hands and stared at him. “Why are you really doing this, Noah? It can’t just be because Parker is an asshole.”

Noah leaned back and contemplated her question. Why was he doing this?

“Because you were kind to me when I needed it most. Let’s leave it there for now.”

There was more to it than that. There had to be. But he would not examine it too closely right now.

“I’m going to call Darci Givens and see if she can help with getting you that job as soon as we leave here. Don’t worry about anything, Reva. You’ll be taken care of.”

And he meant it. Parker may have abandoned this girl, but he wasn’t going to. And he wasn’t doing it just because she was beautiful and made his heart feel something other than pain when she laughed.

Chapter 6

Reva

Reva stared at the office and looked back at the pretty redhead who had shown it to her.

“Seriously? I wasn’t expecting my own office.”

Darci smiled. “When I read your resume and saw that they had only offered you an office manager position I had words with the regional director. Why they weren’t going to utilize your full potential, I’ll never understand. So, I would say it’s good you turned it down at first.”

“Mrs. Givens, I can’t thank you enough.”

Darci put a hand on her shoulder. “Darci, please. Mrs. Givens is my mother-in-law, and she just moved in with us.”

Reva laughed. “OK. Thank you, Darci. Seriously. This is more than I could have ever even imagined.”

“It’s hard work. I did it for years. Now I’m on the national board and deal with bigger picture stuff, but I miss the local work. Based on your academic research, you’re going to be a valuable asset to the organization. I’m lucky Noah called me.”

“How do you know him?” Reva asked, genuinely curious.

Darci smiled. “That’s complicated. And honestly talking about it makes me a little sad. Even after five years, I miss Elise.”

“I’m sorry.” Reva winced. “I didn’t mean to unearth that memory. I never got to meet her, but I met Noah the night she died, and it was obvious he really loved her.”

Darci smiled. “That makes me happy to hear. Their relationship was interesting, and we didn’t get to see them together very often. But she was crazy about him. And you were dating his son, right?”

Reva bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah. Past tense being the important part. I’m not sure what Noah told you, but things ended rather spectacularly.”

Darci patted her shoulder. “He actually didn’t tell me anything, so you don’t need to explain unless you just want to.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. For some reason, the thought of this impressive woman hearing how she got humiliated was unbearable.

“And you won’t mind if I work on my doctorate while I work here?”

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