Fiance by Fate (12 page)

Jack checked his watch. “We’d better get going.”

She nodded, and then stepped out of the car. It was obvious talk of marriage and love made Jack uncomfortable. And just as she hoped he respected her beliefs, she would have to respect his.

Jack walked around the car and when he did, he stopped, contemplating her. “How can you be so sure this thing with David will really last?”

“I’m not. But I’ll never know unless I try. I think if you ever found the right woman, you’d understand what I was talking about.”

He met her gaze for a long moment. “Yeah, maybe,” he said, finally turning and walking away.

But he didn’t sound swayed.

Chapter Eight

Friday afternoon, Jack wearily walked onto the elevator and pushed thirty-two. He’d been traveling all week but was finally able to schedule an in-office day and catch up on some paperwork. He hoped to catch up with Sabrina as well. They’d both been so busy, they’d only managed to communicate by leaving each other voicemails. Voicemails, he noted sourly, that were business-related only. After all that talk she gave him last week about friendship, he assumed she’d mention if anything had progressed with her fiancé. But she hadn’t said a thing about David.

Interesting.

Sabrina didn’t belong with someone like David—not that he was an expert on love. But Jack had been there in the parking lot last week, saw how they interacted. The reserved politeness between them had him shaking his head. She deserved much better. Someone who could appreciate her loyalty and quick wit.

Her
sexiness
.

That thought suddenly had his teeth aching. But it was the truth. He was actually enjoying this pretend boyfriend stuff with her. Maybe a little too much. How could he not when she smelled sweeter than honey and fit so perfectly in a man’s arms? Unfortunately, Jack was not looking for the kind of relationship Sabrina wanted.
Marriage
.
Commitment.

His insides shuddered.

No, she deserved better than Jack, too. Plus, she was counting on him to help her.

And help he did. When Sabrina had demanded he do something while David was watching, he had actually ended up doing the
second
thing that popped into his mind. Ninety nine percent certain he would have been slapped for the first, he was glad at the time for his decision. Although with the way she’d reacted, he now wondered.

Against her car, he had felt her body humming to
his
touch—and not her precious doctor’s. The way her breathing had almost stopped, her pulse scrambling under his lips. It was irresistible. Sabrina could protest all she wanted that she was in love with David, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she
wanted
Jack.

And he wanted her.

There. He admitted it. There was no alcohol in his system this time.

He wanted her. Big deal. He’d wanted lots of women in his lifetime. And even some women he knew he couldn’t have. In fact, he had just been fantasizing about Scarlett Johansson last month, but he wasn’t knocking on
her
door.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t rein in his hormones. After all, he had no right interfering with Sabrina’s engagement. And he wouldn’t—if that’s what she truly wanted.

The elevator doors finally opened. As soon as Jack walked onto the main floor, he searched out Sabrina. He frowned when he noticed she wasn’t at her desk.

“Oh, hey, Jack,” Christine Young said, stopping in front of him. “I bet it’s nice not to be on the road for a change, huh?”

Jack glanced over Chris’s blond head and still didn’t see Sabrina anywhere. “Yeah, it’s great, but I still have a lot of work to do,” he said, his gaze roaming the room. “Have you seen Sabrina?”

“She’s in the lounge area right now, trying to get some quiet.”

Jack’s gaze snapped to Chris. “She’s sick?”

Chris nodded. “Bad headache. She gets them every now and then. She’s out of pain reliever so I was just about to run down to the store for her.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure—”

“I said I’ll take care of it.”

Chris blinked at him. He hadn’t meant for his words to come out so gruffly, but Sabrina was his responsibility. Because…they were partners. And friends. “Sorry,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I know where I can get something close by, that’s all.”

Chris hesitated but then smiled back. “Um, okay, that would be great.”

He turned around and headed back toward the elevators, his pulse racing. Sabrina never mentioned anything about headaches. She should have told him. Was she getting headaches because of work stress? She was naturally high strung but he hoped he hadn’t put any added pressure on her. Maybe he’d talk to her about it.

“Jack,” Chris called out.

Half distracted by his thoughts about Sabrina’s workload, he glanced behind him. “What?”

“Are you feeling all right?”

He stopped and punched the elevator. When it didn’t open right away, he eyed the stairs. “I’m feeling fine. Why?” he snapped, pressing the elevator button again.

She shook her head in bewilderment. “Um, no reason, I guess.”

When Jack returned to the office, he headed straight for the lounge. Sitting there at the table, Sabrina was hunched over with her head held in her hands. He wasn’t a doctor, like her precious David, but she didn’t look good.

Standing over her in two strides, he gently placed a hand on her back. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

She didn’t move, and for a moment, he thought he spoke too quietly for her to hear. “Don’t yell,” she whispered. “My head is killing me. It feels like a migraine coming on.”

“Did you take anything yet?”

“No,” she groaned. “Nobody has anything. I asked Chris to run out to the store for me.”

“You didn’t ask
me
.” He tried to keep his tone light, even a little consoling, but man, he was frustrated. The woman was obviously hurting. She knew he’d be coming into the office today. You’d think she would have asked
him
for help.

She slowly pulled her hands away and squinted up at him. “You carry pain reliever?”

Her face was pale and her pupils large as dinner plates. She seemed so fragile, like a wounded child. He hated seeing her like this. “No, but here.” He slapped three bottles on the table and went to get some water.

Sabrina looked at the various OTC medicines in amazement. “Wow, I had no idea you were a walking pharmacy,” she said, picking up the ibuprofen.

He pushed a Dixie cup of water into her hands and shrugged. “I’m not. You just have to know where to ask. Here.” He handed her a wrapped doughnut, too. “Maybe you should eat something.”

She glanced at the dougnut, then to the ibuprofen bottle, and then back up at Jack again. “Where did you get all this?”

“What’s with all the questions? Hurry up and take it. You’re in pain, remember?”

He hadn’t meant to raise his voice. Yeah, maybe he was overreacting, but the expression she had on her face was making him feel like some sort of superhero. And he was far from that. He just didn’t want her to be in pain.

Her eyes turned wary, but she ended up swallowing the tablets. “Thanks, Jack.” She drank some more water, then smiled up at him gratefully. “You are a good friend. I owe you.”

Jack’s heart almost bottomed out. That smile. It killed him every time.

Sabrina had a great smile. Actually, she had an incredible smile. And he’d seen it plenty of times these last couple of weeks. But this one was different. It was all for him. That alone was payment enough. Almost.

Almost?
What was going on with him?

Her smile faltered. “You don’t look so good yourself. Are you feeling okay?”

He mentally shook himself. “I’m fine,” he bit out. “I have a lot of work to do. Trying to help my dad, too. He’s noticed a slight drop in performance—present company excluded—in the associate wholesalers. I’m trying to come up with a plan. I’m hoping to show the board I’m more than just a pretty face around here.”

She cracked a smile, pointing the doughnut at him. “You didn’t ask
me
,” she said wryly.

He raised an eyebrow. “You have a plan?”

“Maybe. If you really want to look good to the board, you could work out some kind of bonus system based on how much they help in acquiring sales.”

“We couldn’t afford it. That would mean we’d have to take the money out of the senior wholesaler commission. I’m not sure they’d go for the pay cut.”

“With the kind of salary those wholesalers are making, I doubt it would make much of a difference. Besides, it doesn’t necessarily have to translate to a drop in their salary. If the internal assistant boosts sales because of the incentive, it would mean more money for both.”

Jack considered her idea and had to admit it wasn’t half bad. “I’ll think about it. Thanks for your help.”

“Just trying to show you I’m more than a pretty face, too.”

Jack smiled, but he already knew Sabrina was smart and a good problem-solver. But because of their past animosities, he’d never told her. Not that she would have believed him anyway.

Sabrina suddenly got a funny look on her face and her hand shot to her head. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she said rubbing the back of her neck. “It just feels like the pain is shooting up from my shoulders now. I guess I’ve been sitting hunched over too long.”

“I can help with that.” He cracked his knuckles. “Allow me to perform the
Jack Brenner special
,” he said, wiggling his fingers in front of her.

“Which is?”

“A shoulder massage.”

Her back went poker straight. “Oh, uh…no thanks…uh…I don’t think…”

He chuckled, finding her reaction to being touched by him particularly interesting. “I’m hardly going to take advantage of you in broad daylight in the middle of work. Unless you want me to, of course.”

“I don’t.”

“Then you’re just going to have to trust me.”

She gave him a long, guarded look, then finally nodded. “Well, okay.”

“Aww, you do trust me. I’m touched. Trust is such an important quality to have in a fake relationship.” He shifted behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Now just unbutton your shirt.”

She jerked a hand to her throat.
“What?”

“Easy, I don’t know what’s on
your
mind,” he said, grinning, “but this is strictly professional on my end.” Her expression didn’t show great confidence in his words, so he stuck out his bottom lip and tried to look as sincere as possible. “Two buttons—maybe three—that’s all I ask. I need access to those shoulder muscles.”

Sabrina hesitated for several seconds. “There,” she said, unbuttoning one, then sending him a sharp look. “That should be plenty of
access
.”

“Fine, now let your mind drift.” His hands began working her shoulders. Man, she was tense. Her muscles were like cement and they were hardening the more he touched them. No wonder she was prone to stress headaches. Sabrina probably slept anxious.

“Will you relax?” he scolded lightly. “You’re going to sprain my hands and I’ll have to eat with my feet.”

She let out a chuckle and her shoulders softened. “Sorry,” she murmured.

Smiling to himself, he leisurely ran his thumbs over the contours of her delicate neck muscles as his fingers began to knead and press. Once he felt she was loose enough, he slowly dropped his hands to her neckline and worked his way to the inside of her blouse. She didn’t object. Jack even heard her give a tiny sigh as his palms moved over her bare shoulders. He almost sighed himself. She felt like heaven. It was just as he’d thought her skin would feel—warm and smooth, and a bit silky. He could only imagine how the rest of her body would feel. His hands froze.

Easy does it, Jack. The woman made it clear she had a headache. Not to mention a fiancé.

“Sabrina, I found some Tylenol in the back of my desk. I think they’re still—” Christine came to a halt in the doorway, eyes wide.

Jack was a lot of things, but not a gambler. However, he would’ve bet the entire company on what Chris was thinking at that very moment. Hell, he would’ve been thinking the same exact thing if
he’d
walked in on a man with his hands inside a woman’s shirt—as platonic as it was.

Sabrina opened her eyes and seemed to immediately put two and two together. She tried to pull away, but his watch got caught on her shirt collar.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” Sabrina blurted. She was tugging so hard to separate them, she almost ripped her blouse.
Then there’d be a story,
he thought.

Chris hesitated. “Uh, of course.”

“No, really.” Sabrina finally was able to break away and stood. “He was helping my head.”

Chris licked her lips, trying to hide a smile. “I brought something for your headache, too,” she said, holding up a bottle.

Sabrina buttoned her blouse. “Oh, Jack gave me something already.”

Chris’s eyes danced with amusement as they traveled over to Jack. “Did he now?”

“Ibuprofen,” he said with a shrug.

“Well, you’re definitely a man of your word.” She regarded Sabrina again. “I can see I’m not needed, so I’ll just let Jack continue…
helping
you.” Chris winked then rushed out the door.

Sabrina nudged Jack. “Did you see that?”

“Yeah, I saw the expiration date on the Tylenol too. You’re going to have to toss it. Now let me finish your massage.” He was about to put his hands on her again, but she batted them away.

“No, forget the massage. This is terrible.” She pivoted and paced three steps back and forth, all the while rubbing her forehead. “Do you have any idea what a big mouth Chris has?”

“I thought she was your friend?”

“She is. My big-mouthed friend.”

“Even better. I was trying to think of a way to spread that rumor without being obvious. We want the office to think we’re a couple, remember?”

She frowned. “I know, but—”

“What are you worried about? Your reputation? It’s not like we were standing here lip-locked in each other’s arms.” Not that he hadn’t entertained that little fantasy once or twice himself while his hands were over her. Truth be told, he was more than up for the task if she wanted him to make it a reality. Not that she would ever ask him.