She glared at him and yanked her suitcase out, in no mood for this shit. “Look, I just got home from a long day of travelling, and I just want to go back to my apartment in peace.” She slammed the trunk and locked her car.
The man stared at her. “So you still live here in your apartment after your marriage to Logan Campbell?”
She clenched her teeth. She’d suspected this would be a problem, but Logan had acted like it was no big deal. “I haven’t had a chance to move into his place, but we couldn’t be happier.”
“Pretty quick marriage.”
She ignored him and headed toward the sidewalk, pulling her wheeled suitcase. He kept stride with her. “Any comment on Willow Clarke’s artwork?”
She froze. That was her mother.
He went on. “She gave me an interview at her loft studio. She had interesting things to say about you.”
Bile rose in her throat. She just bet she did. She’d probably lined up a whole slew of interviews talking about Sabrina as a child, all the while making sure her paintings were in plain view of the camera. “No comment.”
“She said you were a dreamy child always making up elaborate alternate realities.” No kidding. What else was she supposed to do? She couldn’t even have friends over. Her friends’ parents wouldn’t allow their kids near “all that smut,” and even if they had, she would’ve died of mortification.
Sabrina kept walking. Her dad had sold her out. Her mom had sold her out. Next maybe her half brother would pose in his nude sci-fi body paint, talking about how odd he always thought she was. Irony.
The man’s voice gentled, speaking in a conspiratorial tone. “Hey, I get it. My family’s not picture-perfect either. Maybe that’s why you became a relationship counselor. Willow said your family doesn’t do commitment and it was a big surprise when you chose that career.”
Her gut did a slow roll, but she managed to keep walking, keeping her gaze straight ahead and heading upstairs.
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and called up to her. “Seems a bit fraudulent to bill yourself as a relationship expert, considering where you came from and the fact that you and Logan don’t even live together. Was the marriage fake too?”
She raced the rest of the way and let herself into her apartment with trembling hands. She got inside, locked the door, and sank against it, hyperventilating for a few moments while she desperately tried to take a deep breath. Finally she broke down in big gulping sobs—all of the events of the past week catching up to her.
After a good cry, she sat on the sofa and tried to think through her options. She had Logan on her side, she had Claire, she had a lawyer, though the lawyer had done very little. And then it hit her—she didn’t need any of them. What she needed was to confront that psycho relationship counselor face-to-face and end this thing. It had to be her behind this. She couldn’t imagine why this particular reporter was stalking her like this, digging into her past so much. He was probably paid to do that.
She’d ask Lexi for help; she lived right down the hall. Lexi could make an appointment with the psycho, and then Sabrina could show up in her place. She couldn’t imagine Tara would let her in the door otherwise. She pulled her phone from her purse to text Lexi, hoping she was still up. There was a text from Logan. Get in okay?
She texted back rapidly. A reporter was at my apartment. Now he knows we don’t live together. And my mom is giving interviews about me.
Her phone rang. Logan. She answered, and he immediately started ordering her around. “Get my house key from Ben and go ahead and move in. Stay with me until this blows over.”
“I will not.” It was too much too fast to be living together. Their relationship would implode from all the pressure.
“Just to get the heat off you.”
“I can’t just move in,” she said stubbornly. “We’ve only had one date. There’s an order to things.”
“Just for a visit. No big. I’ll be home Wednesday night, and we’ll come up with a game plan. We’re a team now. You don’t have to deal with this by yourself.”
Her breath caught. She really liked that he thought of them as a team. She always thought the best relationships were true partnerships.
He exhaled loudly. “Is your silence one of those passive-aggressive deals?”
She pursed her lips. Look at him, throwing around her psychological terms. “No, I was just thinking.”
“Nothing to think about.”
“How long would I live with you?”
“I don’t know. Until your mom stops blabbing about you in the news, and your dad stops selling pictures of you? Until everyone has lost interest in us as a news item?” He lowered his voice. “I read the interview your mom gave. Damn, Sabrina, it was bad. She got real personal about you.”
She rubbed her temple. She didn’t even want to know what her mom had said. Logan was on her side, and she’d be foolish to turn away what he offered. Looking like a happily married woman instead of a fraud with a troubled childhood sounded really appealing right now. “Okay, I’ll move in.”
“Awesome. Does that include cooking?”
She pushed down the pang of anxiety that he wanted her in his bed and in his kitchen in that order. “Yes, I’ll cook. I cook every night.”
“Damn, this just keeps getting better and better.”
“I need to go. Thanks, Logan.”
“No problem. Bye.”
She hung up. It was after ten. She texted Lexi, who texted back right away. Come on over.
Sabrina cautiously opened her apartment door, peeked around to make sure the reporter was gone, and headed down to the end of the hall where Lexi lived.
She rang the bell, and the door sprang open to a smiling Lexi, arms wide open. Her brown hair was up in a ponytail, and she wore a long tank top with yoga pants like she’d just been doing her yoga routine. “Congratulations!” She pulled Sabrina in and hugged her.
Sabrina gave her a squeeze. “Thanks, but that wedding announcement was just for the press. Between you and me, we’re not really married.”
Lexi frowned. “Oh, sorry.” She brightened. “Actually, I’m kinda glad because I was bummed I missed the wedding.” She gestured to her dark green sofa. “Take a load off. Want some wine?”
“No, thanks. I just wanted to ask you a favor before I go to bed.”
“Anything.”
Her eyes stung. She had really good friends. They were her family that she chose. “Thank you for that.” She waited for Lexi to join her on the sofa before filling her in on all the damage Sabrina thought Tara was behind.
“That bitch!” Lexi exclaimed.
“My feeling exactly. I want to talk to her face-to-face and put an end to this.”
“But what if it gets ugly? She might use what you say against you. You said she threatened you with her lawyer.”
“My lawyer isn’t putting an end to it. I have to be the one.”
Lexi leaned in eagerly, her brown eyes gleaming. “So what’s the plan? You’re just going to show up at her office?”
“That’s where you come in. I’d like you to make an appointment in her Fieldridge office, whatever time works for you. She does some individual counseling. Then I’ll show up in your place. She’ll have booked the hour. That’ll give me enough time to get in there and have my say.”
Lexi’s brows drew together in concern. “Maybe I should go in with you. Like a witness.”
“No, thanks, I prefer one-on-one.”
“At least set the recorder on your phone. For your own protection. Maybe she’ll admit everything she’s done and throw it in your face.”
“Okay, good idea.”
Lexi rubbed her hands together. “We’ll bring her down. All that bad juju she put out in the world’s going to bite her in the ass.”
She smiled. Lexi didn’t hesitate to play hardball. “I’m glad you’re on my side, tiger.”
Lexi clawed the air with one hand. “Rwowr.”
“Let me know a
s soon as you can get an appointment.”
“I will.”
She stood. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
Lexi squinted up at her. “What’s going on with Logan? We were all so happy for you. It just seemed natural that one day your friendship would become something more.”
She flopped down in her seat again. “I don’t know. It’s been so crazy.” She filled her in on the whole Olivia situation right down to her and Logan getting it on that very night.
Lexi elbowed her. “Get it, girl.”
She sighed. “And the whole fake-marriage thing was to help restore my reputation, but now I so regret it because it’s made all these complications for what’s just the early tentative stage of our relationship.”
Lexi grabbed her phone from the coffee table and scrolled over to Sabrina’s embarrassing text in all capital letters. YOU GUYS! LOGAN AND I GOT MARRIED!
“You sounded so happy,” Lexi said. “I think it’s fun. Besides, you’ve been getting to know each other for more than six months now. I’d say you’re past the early stage.”
“Tomorrow I’m moving into his house,” she blurted.
Lexi smacked Sabrina’s arm. “What!”
“Ow!” Sabrina scowled, rubbing her arm.
“I thought you said it was fake.”
She filled her in on the reporter and her embarrassing mother. “He’s just being nice, helping me out.” She leaned in, finally voicing her real concern. “Lex, I’m a little worried. I think I’m in love with him.”
Lexi gave her a sympathetic look. “Oh, sweetie, I know you are. You’ve been in love with him practically since you met. He’s a good guy. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“There is!” All of her worries came out in a rush. “I’m new at relationships, he just broke up with a woman he was about to move cross-country to be with, there’s a ton of pressure on us from the media attention, not to mention the pressure of suddenly living together after just one weekend of hot sex. He says not to worry, you say not to worry, but I worry, Lex! I know from my work how hard it is for couples to commit and stay committed.” She rubbed her temple, the beginnings of a headache throbbing there. “I think I did this all the wrong way, and there’s no way to go back and do it right.”
Lexi patted Sabrina’s arm. “Okay, I hear ya loud and clear.”
“What do you mean?”
“I totally get being insecure about a relationship. Story of my life. That’s why I’m done with them.”
“I’m not insecure.” Was she? She knew how much she felt for Logan, she was sure of that. And, yes, he was a good guy, but that didn’t mean he felt as strongly for her as she felt for him. Oh, shit. Lexi was right. Everything else—all those other worries—were secondary. She was scared and feeling insecure because she was in deep.
She loved him.
Her heart pounded hard at the realization. Damn, Lexi would’ve made a good counselor too. “Maybe you’re right,” she said.
Lexi elbowed her. “Course I am. You’ll settle down when you’re more sure of him. And let me just point out, most guys wouldn’t let a woman move in with them so easily. It says big-time relationship commitment.”
She waved that away. “It’s just until the whole mess blows over.”
“If you say so.”
“I think he just wants me for my cooking and my body,” she said lightly, half-joking, half-worried. “He’s like orgasmic every time I cook him a meal.”
Lexi cracked up. “And for your body too!”
“Seriously, it’s like I can’t even talk to him without his hands on me, and it’s an embarrassingly short time later before we’re screwing again.”
Lexi shook her head. “I can’t believe I have to explain this to you, Miss Relationship Expert, but this is not a problem. Go nuts! Be happy!”
Sabrina sighed. “I am happy. I’m just…well, we’ll see, I guess.”
“How’s the sex?” Lexi asked.
“Uh…” She hesitated to share the intimate details. It felt private what went on between her and Logan.
“Okay, okay, scale of one to ten,” Lexi said. “One being ho-hum, ten being Fierce trilogy hot.” That was the erotic romance series they all loved from book club.
“Gazillion times better than the Fierce trilogy,” she admitted, heat creeping up her cheeks.
Lexi high-fived her. “Go, Logan.”
“How do you know it’s him? Maybe I’m the one making it great.”
“Sure, okay.” She smirked. “It’s probably both of you.”
It was mostly Logan taking charge in the bedroom, but still. Did her friends see her as an untouchable porcelain doll too? She should explain why she’d needed a quiet stable life, but she just wasn’t up to it right now. The tumultuous weekend and travelling were catching up to her. “Okay, on that note, I’m going to bed.” She stood and headed for the door.
“Last night as a single woman.”
She stopped to look over her shoulder at Lexi. Her friend winked.
Sabrina shook her head, smiling, and headed out the door, hoping some of Lexi’s confidence in Sabrina’s new relationship would turn out to be right.
Chapter Fifteen
Logan returned home Wednesday night tense as all hell. And it wasn’t because of work, which was going well, or that Sabrina had moved in for a temporary stay, it was what he had to tell her. He sat in his car in the garage, trying to mentally prepare for how best to deliver the news. He really didn’t want to hurt her. The truth was, they were just starting as a couple, and he wasn’t at all sure they’d be able to keep going once she heard.
All right, get your ass out of the car. He just had to tell her, explain the situation, and hope she’d understand. He was still in shock himself.
He left the car, grabbed all of his stuff from the trunk, and walked into the house. He stepped into the kitchen, half expecting it to be full of weird appliances and kitschy farm animal decorations the way a woman might decorate, but everything looked exactly the same. The dark gray granite counters were polished and free of clutter. It smelled good, though, like Sabrina had cooked dinner, some kind of meat.
He set his laptop on the island and put his stuff down. He was about to look for her when she appeared, her long dark blond hair up in a cute high ponytail, wearing a pink long-sleeved pajama top and pink flowery pajama bottoms. Bare feet and her toenails were painted pink. She looked like she lived here, relaxing in her pajamas. God, he’d missed her. Three days apart felt like forever.
“Hi,” she said almost shyly. “I made pot roast.”
“Thanks. I ate on the plane, but I could have some for lunch tomorrow.”
She nodded, crossing her arms. A moment of panic gripped him because her expression looked a lot like the untouchable professional she used to be with him. Had she heard something?
He opened his arms to her, and she closed the distance, giving him a hug. Not an awkward hug, but a little stiff.
He pulled away and cleared his throat. “I need to talk to you.”
She blushed. “That story was from Claire. She’s been putting out the word through her contacts to counteract the bad press. You know, you and me happy newlyweds in our love nest.”
He jerked his chin. Thank God for Claire. Sabrina’s mom was still giving interviews and had appeared on a major news show this morning, a competitor to Sunshine America. He’d rather have no mom in the picture than a mom who profited off him like hers did. And the stuff her mom shared…no boundaries at all. Like that Sabrina had hung out with her stuffed animals the way other kids hung out with friends, imagining they were having fun slumber parties well past the age most girls moved on to real slumber parties. He read between the lines, imagining a young lonely Sabrina, but most people would probably just think she was strange.
“It’s not about that,” he said.
He took her hand and led her to the living room sofa. Once she took her seat, he met her eyes directly. “I care about you. A l
ot. I just want to say that up front.”
Her eyes got shiny like she was going to cry, which got him choked up, because he could tell the deep feelings went both ways. Dammit. Things were just starting with them, and what he was about to say might finish them for good.
“Me too,” she whispered. “A lot.”
He blew out a breath. “Olivia got in touch with me today and told me she’s pregnant. She says it’s mine.”
She slapped a hand over her mouth, her brown eyes wide.
He shoved a hand in his hair. “I swear I used protection, but I guess it’s not a hundred percent. I was with her two months ago, so it’s possible.”
Sabrina dropped her hand. “Do you believe her? She did cheat on you. Maybe it’s that other guy’s. He’s supposed to have an arranged marriage. Maybe she knew she couldn’t get anything out of him.”
“She heard we were married. I don’t think that would’ve stopped her. I told her I want a paternity test. I found out she can get one as soon as next week, totally noninvasive. She does a blood test; I give a cheek swab. I’m flying back to California as soon as she can get an appointment. I just wanted to prepare you for the possibility.”
Sabrina stared at him, her eyes wide and searching. “What does this mean for us? Are you going to move to San Francisco to be with her?”
“Not to be with her, but if it’s true, if that’s my kid, I want to be a part of his or her life. A big part. So, yes, I’d move out there for the kid, not for her.”
She stood abruptly.
“Where’re you going?”
She didn’t meet his eyes. “I’m-I’m going home. There’s no sense pretending we’re married. She’ll probably tell everyone she’s having your baby, while you’re supposed to be married to me, and the whole thing is so sordid.” She crossed her arms tightly over her stomach. “Oh, God, I’m going to be sick.”
She ran to the downstairs bathroom just off the kitchen.
He winced at the sound of her retching. This was fucked up. But what choice did he have? Never know his kid? His own dad had set such a strong example of what a good father was both to his own kids and all the other kids he took under his wing through the Police Athletic League. There was just no way Logan could ever be a long-distance father. He hadn’t expected to be a dad so soon, but here it was, and he had to step up.
Chance of Romance (Happy Endings Book Club, Book 8) Page 17