Fiance by Fate

by Jennifer Shirk

Waves of nausea crashed into her stomach and she had to close her eyes. Mr. Brenner didn’t understand his son at all. Little did he know how far Jack was from being in love with her. “Mr. Brenner, please don’t give me a raise because I’m engaged to your son.”

  “Don’t be silly. But Jack does indirectly have to do with it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, he told me Friday night at dinner about your idea. About how you thought we should be compensating his internal wholesalers for their help in acquiring sales. It’s a great incentive plan. I’m going to get it rolling after the next quarter.”

  She was speechless—not because Mr. Brenner thought her idea was good, but because Jack hadn’t taken the opportunity to claim the idea as his own. It certainly would have made him look even better in his father’s eyes and to the board.

  So, why didn’t he?

  “Jack told you that?” She wasn’t actually asking a question, but trying to digest the whole idea in her brain. She didn’t know what was going on anymore.

  “Yes, he told me Friday night at dinner. We missed you, by the way. Did you have a nice…thing?

  Sabrina knew she had given him a lame excuse for not coming out to dinner with them and as a result couldn’t quite meet his eyes when she answered. “Oh, yes.” If you call eating half an anchovy pizza all by yourself and watching a Star Wars marathon on TV until you were so exhausted you had no choice but to finally fall asleep. Then yes, it was quite nice.

  “Good.” He smiled. “Incidentally, Jack mentioned he wanted his territory cut once you’re married. I guess he doesn’t want to travel as much then and be separated from you as often. Poor guy’s heart probably wouldn’t take it.”

  Poor guy’s heart? Jack pining away for her? Now that was funny. Only she couldn’t laugh. Maybe she should share that one with Jack’s friend Brian. He’d probably find it hilarious too, especially after what he’d said about Jack not wasting any time with women. Jack certainly wasn’t wasting any time playing up their fake engagement.

  Hearing enough, Sabrina stood and tried to draw some resemblance of a smile onto her lips. “Thank you, Mr. Brenner, but don’t worry. I know for a fact that your son has a very strong constitution.”

  …

  It was almost four o’clock and Jack was still out of the office. He hadn’t even phoned in.

  Sabrina thought about calling him, but she knew he hated to be interrupted when he was on the road. So she’d have to wait. It was just that Jack’s recent behavior didn’t add up. Not after everything she’d come to know about him. He’d already shown her that he’d say and do almost anything in regard to keeping on top in his career, including fake proposing to her. Except this time. And now because of that, she was getting a raise.

  Tearing her eyes away from Jack’s door, she grabbed a stack of notes on her desk and began to sort through them. When she came upon his business expense report, she stopped and stared at it. He would need to sign this—eventually—to make sure he’d get reimbursed. Tapping her pen on her lips, she thought that maybe she should go and hand deliver this to Jack’s desk, so it wouldn’t get lost. Not that she was exactly going to snoop while she was there, but maybe there’d be something that would give her some sort of clue into her fake fiancé’s psyche.

  …

  Jack stood in the doorway of his office and bit down on a laugh. Sabrina may look the part, but she was hardly a Charlie’s Angel.

  There she stood with a stack of papers held high in one hand while the other hand casually flipped through the notes he’d left on his desk with the other. He had to give her credit, though. If anyone else had walked in on her, or walked by the office, they would’ve easily thought she was dropping off some papers for him.

  But he knew better. And yet he wasn’t angry. Sabrina wasn’t the nosy type, so he liked the fact that she was interested enough to look through his stuff.

  In fact, he liked it a lot.

  He slammed the door behind him. “Hi, honey. I’m home.”

  “Jack!” She turned white and began fumbling with the picture of his parents she had just picked up off his desk. Apparently deciding to save it from falling out of her grip, she took hold of it with both hands, causing the papers to go flying. “What are you doing here?” she gasped.

  He leaned his back up against the door, caging her in. “I think that’s my line.” He grinned. “Find anything interesting?”

  Sabrina quickly put the picture back down and blinked up at him like a cornered mouse. “I—I was just delivering…” She stopped as she looked at her empty hands in horror.

  “By your feet,” he supplied.

  “Oh, right.” She picked up the papers and held them out triumphantly. “These.”

  Ah, the perfect picture of innocence. Man, if that didn’t draw him to her even more and make him want to take her in his arms. As a result, he didn’t dare move a millimeter. “You know, you don’t need an excuse to go through my things. I have nothing to hide from my fiancée. There’s even some things I’d like to show you, if you’d let me.”

  “You should really work on that shyness of yours, Jack.”

  He let out a laugh. “I’ve never had any complaints about that before.”

  A flash of annoyance crossed her pretty face. “As much as I’d like to talk about your love life, I actually want to talk to you about something else.”

  “Okay, shoot.” Continuing to lean on the door, he crossed his arms. “You have my full attention.”

  “Did you know your father’s given me a raise?” she said crossly.

  He raised his brows. “No, but judging by your reaction, it obviously wasn’t a large enough one.”

  “It’s not that. He’s giving me one because of what you told him. About my idea for compensating the internal wholesalers.”

  His hands went into his pockets and he hiked his shoulders. “So?”

  “Jack, why did you tell your dad that?”

  “It happened to come up at dinner. When he expressed interest, I mentioned it was your idea. No big deal.”

  Her lips parted. “But it was the truth.”

  He hesitated, trying to clear away the anger he felt boiling up his throat. She really did think he was a spawn of Satan. “Yeah well, not everything that comes out of my mouth is a lie.”

  “It’s just…that was your chance. You could have taken the credit and used it in front of the board.”

  His gaze seared into hers. “Is that what you’d expected me to do?”

  “Well, no,” she said, furrowing her brow. “I…I don’t understand.”

  “What’s so hard to understand? It was your idea and you deserve the credit. This company is really lucky to have you.” David’s really lucky to have you. “Maybe it was about time I drew the line and told the truth.”

  “Does this mean you want to come clean about the fake engagement too?” she asked.

  He quickly raised spread hands. “Whoa, whoa. Let’s not go nuts. You only got a raise. I didn’t get my promotion.”

  “Of course, where was my mind?” she said wryly. “But thank you. I suppose you are making some progress.” She set the papers down on his desk and walked up to him. When he didn’t move, she raised her eyebrows, signaling him to step away from the door.

  He still didn’t budge and hoped she didn’t notice him sniffing her hair. “You think I’m making progress?” he asked, enjoying the scent of vanilla and strawberries.

  She looked confused at first. “Well, I don’t think you’re at altar boy status.”

  “I’m not looking to be an altar boy or even as perfect as your David. Just trying to polish the old image.”

  “Keep polishing,” she said, grinning. “I think you missed a spot.”

  He chuckled. His heart warmed at her smile and that maybe she’d seen and approved of something he’d done. It was ridiculously small, but it was a start.

  There was a comfortable silence. Just the sound of his pulse pounded in his head
as they stood there smiling back at each other. But Jack didn’t reach for her. He wanted to, and had to practically gnaw his own arms off to keep from doing so. She’s not yours, he reminded himself. He knew how she wanted to keep things, so he had to wait if he was going to do it right this time and make sure she was completely over David before he made his move.

  Sabrina finally cleared her throat. “I guess we both have work to do,” she hinted.

  His feet felt like they were in wet cement, but he managed to pull away from the door. He didn’t want her to go just yet, but they did have to get back to work.

  She opened the door and started to step out, but then stopped herself short. When she looked back, it was with dark, grave eyes. “Thanks again, Jack,” she said quietly. “I appreciate it.”

  Do you really love David? Are you feeling what I’m feeling right now? Things could be so good between us if you’d only give us a chance and forget about David and those crazy superstitions. Those were all the things Jack wanted to say.

  “You’re welcome,” came out instead.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sabrina flipped through the TV channels as if she were on autopilot. She had no idea what she was looking for, but she didn’t want to be reminded that it was Thanksgiving Day—and she was spending it alone. Again.

  It could be worse, she reminded herself. Thanksgiving was really minor in the grand scheme of holidays. She didn’t even eat turkey. However, it meant Christmas was right around the corner, and that one, she knew all too well from experience, could be downright brutal.

  She hit the remote several more times until she found herself back at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. There was no way around it. Mass media was not going to be her friend today. In frustration, she clicked the TV off and hurled the remote. Going back to bed seemed the best option. It wasn’t like she’d be seeing anyone.

  Bang, bang, bang. The firm rapping at the door had her burrowing deep into the groves of the cushions.

  Correction. She wasn’t supposed to see anyone. She was afraid it was Mrs. Metzger trying to convince her to spend Thanksgiving with her and her family again. But Sabrina didn’t want to impose on them or even Chris. Everyone was very considerate and oh so sweet to her, but she didn’t want to feel any more out of place than she already did. She had gone through enough of that not-belonging feeling growing up.

  Another knock sounded. Bracing herself for her landlady’s niceties, she dragged her feet to the door and swung it open. But the person standing there was the very last one she expected to see.

  “Jack.” His whispered name was all she could manage, since the air felt kicked out of her lungs.

  He looked so perfect, dressed in tan pants and an olive ribbed sweater. She was half stunned to see him at her door but also half charmed because he was holding a single red rose. Even her knees weakened as he shifted closer to lean a shoulder on the doorframe, and she caught the familiar scent of his shampoo. Then those baby blues of his locked on hers and her heart did a somersault.

  Uh-oh. She wasn’t supposed to be excited to see Jack, not when there still could be a chance with David. Right? No, she could not let herself fall for Jack. She was stronger than that, stronger than her hormones. She could resist them both.

  His devastating smile was proving more difficult, though.

  Pointing the rose at her, he grinned wolfishly. “You’re still in your pajamas.”

  Her head snapped down. Damn. She forgot she still had her candy cane striped flannels on. Doesn’t it just figure? Someone like Jack probably had women answering the door in lacey undergarments and hair-thin thongs. But not her. Noooo. Here she was, looking about as appealing as Mrs. Claus after an all-nighter.

  “Yes well, it is a holiday,” she huffed, trying to hide her mortification. “I’m off the clock. I can dress however I want.”

  Laughter showed in his eyes as he brought the flower up to his nose and breathed in its scent. “You’ll get no argument from me, however, as charming as you look, you can’t come to my sister’s house like that.”

  “That’s fortunate, because I’m not going to your sister’s house.”

  He stilled. “Oh? You have plans with Dr. Wonderful?”

  She forced herself to ignore the thrill she got at Jack’s jealous expression. “No.” She sighed. “David never called.”

  “Good. You have to come with me then.”

  “Uh, you’re taking this fake fiancé stuff too far. I don’t have to do anything.”

  “Yes, you do. You have to come to dinner with me.”

  “What? I thought you got me out of going to your family’s place.”

  “I never said that. Besides, my father will think it’s suspicious if I show up for Thanksgiving without my fiancée.” He pointed the rose so hard at her, she thought the bud was going to fly off. “What will I tell him?”

  The bubble of him showing up at her doorstep because he wanted to spend time with her officially popped. She was a fool. Jack wasn’t interested in being with her. He was only concerned about appearances with his family. Now she was glad she was in her pajamas and only wished they were baggier.

  “I don’t know what you’ll tell him, Jack. But I have full faith that you’ll come up with something brilliant to save face. You always do. We’re done here.” She started to close the door, but his hand shot out against it.

  “Hey, you can’t break up with me yet. We have a deal.”

  “Well, our deal is not working, as you can plainly see by my attire and lack of David’s company.”

  “You said you’d give me time,” he protested. “The stockholder meeting isn’t for another three weeks. You can’t give up now.”

  She folded her arms and gave him her best just watch me look.

  “Look, David was getting into his car when I pulled up. He had his hospital gear with him. So I guess that means he’s working today.” She didn’t confirm or deny his statement—partly because it was news to her—but it did explain why David hadn’t invited her to dinner. Not that she was really upset at that. She was more upset with her growing feelings toward Jack and what she should do about them.

  Jack’s mouth twisted, misreading her silence. “Who cares what he’s doing today anyway? You don’t need him when you have me. Let him eat hospital cafeteria food. My sister is a fantastic cook, and I know my father would love to see you.”

  She bit her lip and thought about her other prospects—which were exactly none. “I don’t know…”

  “Okay, forget all those other reasons then. Come for me. This may not mean a whole lot to you, but I’d want you to spend Thanksgiving with me even if we didn’t have this deal between us.”

  She tried, but failed, to keep the surprise out of her face. “You would?” She gazed up and into his eyes. There was no way she could misread the genuineness she saw in them.

  He tilted his head, then traced a finger along her cheek. “Please come.”

  Her resolve deflated like a leaky balloon. Jack was becoming harder and harder to resist—in more ways than one—and she nodded a yes.

  “Besides…” His expression turned playful as he looked around. “Why am I still out in the hall?”

  She blinked. Then, opening the door wider, she stepped back as he waltzed in and thrust the rose into her hand.

  “Gee, Jack,” she said, biting down on a smile, “while you’re polishing your image, maybe you could polish your manners too.”

  He took off his jacket and shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. I took your advice and am going meatless for a little while—even today of all days, so help me. I’m a little on edge.”

  “With your personality, I hardly noticed.”

  Jack brushed off her comment with a deadpan look, but as she continued to stare at him, she noticed that he seemed troubled.

  “Are you feeling all right?”

  He ran a hand over the light stubble on his face and sighed. “Yeah. I had a doctor’s appointment last week and was told my cholester
ol was a little high, which is another reason why I took your advice.”

  She walked over and rested her hand on his shoulder. “It’s great you’re taking your health more seriously.” He gave her a stiff nod, so she judged he was having a tougher time than he was letting on.

  “Have you tried Tofurkey?” she suggested.

  He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. It tastes like crap. I don’t know how you survive eating this way.”

  She stifled a laugh. “You get used to it when you start seeing how much energy you get. I’m excited just thinking how good your body’s going to feel.”

  Something flashed behind his eyes and she saw them turn dark and sexy. “Oh, yeah?”

  Realizing her slip of the tongue, she sprung her hand back as if his body had turned to fire. “I…I meant that”—she cleared her throat with a cough—“your body is getting healthier as we speak.”

  A wicked grin appeared on his lips as he closed the distance between them. “I suppose that’s one way of putting it.”

  Heat flooded her cheeks, and her brain became pudding as his finger toyed with the lapel of her pajamas. Oh, Lord, she had to be strong against this six foot vegetarian temptation of a man. Squeezing her eyes closed, she willed herself to step away. And to her surprise, she did. Like ripping off a Band-Aid, only the sting still lingered. But it was better to do it now, because if she let herself succumb to Jack’s charms, it would hurt much worse when he was done with her and she was alone again.

  “I’ll go get ready,” she said, hoping to change the subject. “We should probably take two cars in case you want extra family time alone.” Jack didn’t say a word, but as she walked past him to get to the bedroom, she noticed the same broad grin still lingering on his face.

  “Oh, Sabrina,” he drawled.

  She stopped and warily looked back. “Yes?”

  His mega grin grew and was now up to a million watts. “I’m excited just thinking about how good my body’s going to feel too.” Then he broke out into laughter.

  With a groan, she ducked into her bedroom and slammed the door.

  …

  Jack’s sister, Laurie, lived about twenty minutes north in Marblehead. It was a small picturesque town on the coast that still maintained its colonial houses and tight winding streets that were there before the Revolutionary War.