Fiance by Fate (17 page)

He sighed. “Look, Sabrina, you’re supposed to be my girlfriend. Where else would you be on Thanksgiving?”

She thought about that with a sinking depression. If she wasn’t back together with David by then, she’d spend Thanksgiving alone, probably having Chinese takeout. However awful that prospect was, it still beat lying to Jack’s family.

“I don’t know.” She shook her head so hard she thought her ears would ring. “Make up something. I don’t care. Anything. Just get me out of it.
Please.
”

Jack studied her for a long time, his expression leaving her guessing as to his thoughts. Then he reached out and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Okay, I’ll talk to him if it’ll make you happy.”

Tension drained from her shoulders, but she still felt the heat on her ear where Jack’s fingers had touched. She lifted her hand to it, hoping to stop the sensation. “Th-thank you.”

She managed a small smile until she watched him walk back to his desk and sit down. “I mean talk to him
now
,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because your dad’s been treating me funny lately.”
We’ve been acting funny lately
. “I want it to end immediately.”
I want these feelings I’m starting to have for you to end immediately.

He rolled his eyes and stood back up again. “Okay, if it means that much to you.”

She breathed out a sigh of relief. “More than you know.”

Sabrina followed Jack out of his office and didn’t miss the raised eyebrows Chris shot her from across the room. Choosing to ignore the look, she sat down at her desk and began her work as Jack went into his father’s office.

About fifteen minutes passed. She managed to return one brokerage call before Jack stuck his head out again. “Brie, can you come in here for a second?”

She scanned his expression for a verdict of his father’s reaction, but nothing registered on her radar. “Everything settled?” she asked slowly.

“Yes—more or less.”

She nodded and stood. It took all her courage to walk inside Mr. Brenner’s office. She expected to be met with disappointment, maybe even a little anger, but instead, she saw her boss just as happy as he was before.
Huh. Jack must be a real spin doctor
. But then again, Jack was good in sales for a reason.

She cleared her throat. “I guess,” she began tentatively, “that Jack explained everything to you.”

“Yes, he did.”

“Good. I’m so sorry, Mr. Brenner. I should have made myself clear earlier.”

Mr. Brenner nodded. “I totally understand. I promise to keep this quiet until you’re ready to do it yourself.”

She looked curiously to Jack, willing his eyes to hers, but he wouldn’t look up from staring down at his stupid cordovan shoes. What would she have to be ready to do herself?

She didn’t have to wait long for the answer.

Her boss’s smile widened as his arms extended out. Wings of panic started fluttering through her body even before Mr. Brenner pulled her in and enveloped her in a huge bear hug. “Welcome to the family,” he said heartily.

Welcome to the family?

Sabrina let that statement hang in her head for several seconds before she attempted to close her mouth and swallow. Then the situation came into focus. She was going to strangle Jack. That was all she could think as she stood embraced in his father’s arms. This was
not
correcting the problem. Jack had just made it a thousand times worse.

Mr. Brenner finally relaxed his arms and pulled back to smile warmly at her. “Sweetie, Jack explained how you wanted to keep things quiet because you were afraid how it would look, you know, so soon after your recent broken engagement.”

Sabrina saw her boss’s mouth moving, but her brain began to pop and fizz like a mouthful of Pop Rocks and she couldn’t make out a single word that followed. Jack must have realized it too, because he nudged her waist to get her attention.

“I completely understand why you wanted to downplay the whole thing,” Mr. Brenner went on. “But I married Jack’s mother after a weekend courtship, so I’m not concerned about you not dating each other long enough.” He cocked his head and gave his son a sly look. “Jack’s not getting any younger and I can certainly see why he wouldn’t want to wait and let you slip out of his hold.”

Her tongue still wouldn’t budge. But what could she say? Instead, she pinned her eyes so hard on Jack she thought they’d dart out of their sockets. Jack had the nerve to look confused. Mr. Brenner turned away from them to take a seat at his desk. Taking the unguarded opportunity, Sabrina drew back her foot and tried to kick Jack hard in the shin. But his reflexes were quicker, as he dodged her toe, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and tightly pulling her into his side. She tried to push away but his arms were like a vise. He clamped tighter as she tried to wiggle out, but the minute his father turned around they froze and stopped struggling with each other.

“I knew something special was going on between you two,” his father said, waving a finger at the two of them embraced in each other’s arms. “But still, this is the last thing I expected so soon.”

Jack grinned down at her. “Well, Dad, I think it was the last thing we
all
expected.”

She lifted her gaze heavenward. Definitely the understatement of the year.

His father smiled and turned toward her. “Sweetie, maybe it was because of your age or because of your family situation, but I always considered you like a daughter. So you can understand that this is doubly good news for me to hear. I hope you feel the same.”

Sabrina’s eyes began to fill up. He actually considered her
like a daughter
. Not one of her foster dads had ever said those words to her. But she had always longed to hear them, to feel as if she belonged. Then she remembered that none of this was real. The engagement. The potential family. It was all a lie, and her heart suddenly crumbled into a thousand pieces.

There was no way she could let this charade go on. But as if sensing she was about to throw herself on the mercy of the court and confess everything, Jack squeezed her shoulder to warn her off.

“I’m a changed man and Sabrina’s the reason,” Jack said, grinning down at her. “There’s only one woman for me now.” He looked as though he was about to kiss her, but she guessed when he saw her snarled lips, he thought better of it.

Wise move, buddy.

“Well, sometimes that’s all it takes,” his father agreed. “Finding the right woman. We should celebrate. How about you two joining me for dinner tonight?”

That prompted Sabrina to finally find her voice. “Um, Jack,” she spoke, looking up at him with what she knew was a saccharin smile, “remember I wasn’t going to be around tonight? You know, I have that…
thing
…to…to do.” Ugh. She really was a horrible liar. She hoped Jack would follow her lead and at the very least have the decency to get her out of dinner.

Jack caught on fast. “Oh yeah,” he let out slowly. “Sorry, Dad. She’ll have to take a rain check. We can all celebrate together when we do our big announcement.”

Oh yeah
, she thought sarcastically,
must do the big announcement.

“Okay then.” Mr. Brenner smiled, clasping his hands together. “You two better get back to work.”

Jack pivoted and pulled Sabrina along with him to the door. “Thanks for keeping things quiet for now, Dad.” He playfully rolled his eyes in Sabrina’s direction. “Wouldn’t want to take the wind out of Sabrina’s sails. She still has to brag to all her girlfriends.”

Sabrina moved fast this time. Freeing her arm, she elbowed him hard in the side. Jack winced but covered it with a quick grin. “Now I’ve embarrassed her,” she heard him explain as she marched through the door.

Her jaw clamped tight, Sabrina didn’t bother stopping at her desk. She didn’t even turn around to see if Jack was following. Eyes aimed straight ahead, she ignored the half dozen heads that turned in her direction, and she marched to Jack’s office. Once inside, she fumed and waited. Jack followed a few seconds behind. She whirled around to face him.

Pressing his lips together, Jack raised his hands in a calming gesture before closing the door behind him. “I know you’re upset,” he began.

She snorted. Loudly.

“Okay, really upset. But I think if you look at it from my point of view, you’ll see—”

“
Your
point of view? Jack, we only agreed to pretend to
date
. I asked you to simply get me out of Thanksgiving Day dinner and now your father thinks we’re getting married. Oh, and by the way, when you propose, you’re supposed to let your fiancée in on it.”

He let out a long sigh and when he spoke, his voice sounded low and defeated. “Look, you saw my dad. When I was in his office, he went on and on about us dating and how he was looking forward to Thanksgiving and me settling down. With what he’s gone through with his health recently and the argument we had earlier, I just couldn’t disappoint him again. A fake engagement is probably the closest thing to a real engagement he’s going to get from me. So what’s wrong with giving him a little temporary happiness?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know…”

“Brie, all I’m asking is that you stick out our agreement as my fiancée instead of my girlfriend. It’s making my dad really happy. Besides, didn’t you say David was close to the breaking point anyway?”

She hesitated. The thought of mending her relationship with David was almost an intrusion to what had been going on in her mind. “I—I suppose so.”

“There you go. I’ll continue to help you if you just let my dad enjoy the prospect of me getting married. At least until the next stockholder meeting.”

“What will you tell him at the end of that time frame?”

“Well, it needs to be a mutual breakup of some sort to look good to the board. Otherwise, I’d make myself out to be the total villain.”

“Well, naturally. That’s because you are the villain.” She tried to hold back her smile, but Jack must have seen it, because he broke out in one of his own.

“I do have a few reputable qualities,” he told her teasingly and slid his fingers through hers. “Since you’re my fiancée now, maybe you should try looking for them sometime.” He raised her hand and held it against his warm lips.

Her flesh prickled at his touch. She couldn’t remember her response to David ever being as charged. Was this some cruel trick of fate? She tried taking her hand back, but although his grip was gentle, it was also firm. “Don’t—”

“Don’t what?” he asked huskily. But he didn’t wait for her answer. Instead he turned his attention back to her hand as his thumb lazily drew imaginary designs on her palm. “Isn’t this what engaged people do? This is kind of new for me, so maybe you could instruct me better, seeing as how you’re the one with all the experience.” He looked up, unsmiling and direct. Then his head lowered, his eyes searching.

The door behind them swung open. Although they were both taken by surprise, Jack never dropped her hand as they both turned to see who it was.

“Whoa. Sorry, Jack,” the man said.

Sabrina recognized him as Brian Ruiz, the wholesaler to Virginia. Although Brian wasn’t in the office on a regular basis, he did stop in from time to time to visit family. He and Jack hung out together at all the regional meetings. He was maybe a few years younger than Jack and about as tall, except he was a bit lanky. She always thought that his tan complexion combined with his sandy-colored hair and sideburns made him look more like a surfer than a wholesaler.

“Doesn’t anybody knock anymore?” Jack barked.

Brian’s otherwise happy-go-lucky appearance quickly turned into a
man, what’s your problem
look. “I did knock,” he told him. Then his eyes regarded Sabrina more closely. “Oh, I see,” he related with a grin that showed all was now forgiven between him and Jack. “I should have known you wouldn’t be wasting any time since you transferred here.”

“Not now, Brian.” Jack’s jaw was clasped so tight, she barely saw his lips move.

“It’s okay,” Sabrina said as she delicately removed her hand from Jack’s. “I was just leaving.” She was glad for Brian’s interruption, because he was exactly right. Jack didn’t waste any time, especially with women. That reminder was the sack of ice in the face she needed.

“Wait, Brie,” Jack said in earnest.

“Don’t bother asking me for any more
instructions
, Jack,” she told him with a thin smile. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to rely on your own instincts from now on.” Opening the door farther, she sidestepped Brian and left.

…

Sabrina didn’t go directly home after finishing work. Something about what had happened with Jack today, something that went beyond asking her to pretend to be his fiancée in front of his father, bothered her. Jack had looked as if he was about to kiss her until Brian Ruiz arrived. Would he have? She couldn’t be sure. And if he had, would she have kissed him back, knowing there was no future in it? Yes, of that she was sure. And there lay the real problem. She had hoped a drive around the coast would clear her head, but instead she just felt more confused about the situation and her feelings toward David and Jack.

It was almost seven o’clock when she pulled into her condo parking lot. Debating on ordering a pizza, she approached her front door when Mrs. Metzger called her name out from down the hall. “You’re getting home late, hon.”

Sabrina bit down on a retort, since she knew it was her situation with Jack and not really Mrs. Metzger that put her in such a poor mood. But the woman did seem to have some sort of sixth sense when it came to her comings and goings.

Sabrina nodded politely and continued to stick her key in the door.

“I thought I’d mention that your fiancé came by here looking for you.”

Sabrina tiredly looked over. “Which one?”

“You have more than one?”

She shook her head. “Never mind. Did David say what he wanted?”

Confusion still lingered on Mrs. Metzger’s tan, wrinkled features. “Well, no. But I wanted to remind you that you can still come with me to my son’s house for Thanksgiving.” A twinkle grew in the woman’s eye. “Unless of course, you’re really spending the day with that beefy new boyfriend instead.”