Fiance by Fate

by Jennifer Shirk

  The woman shrugged. “If that’s what’ll make you happy.”

  Sabrina smiled, remembering the words of Madame Butterfly and clinging to them like a life preserver. “Don’t worry. Everything will work out in the end. You’ll see. David and I being together is…fate.”

  Sabrina’s smile faded as she turned away and walked back into her empty apartment. It seemed so lifeless with David’s things gone. No more of his ties carelessly hung over the back of her chairs after he’d come straight to her place after work. His lumbar back pillow he needed whenever they watched TV together wasn’t taking up room on her sofa anymore. He’d even taken back his Keurig coffee machine. The only reminder she had of him was his niece’s guinea pig. Sophia started suffering with terrible allergies not long after she got him, so Sabrina offered to take care of him for her. He wasn’t much company as far as pets went, but he was better than nothing.

  She had to remind herself that David had only been gone a month. Not that long, yet to her, it seemed like years. Maybe she was foolish to wait for him. But he was still everything she ever wanted—stable, family-oriented, handsome, kind.

  She walked over to her coffee table and picked up the only picture she had of her parents. She studied their smiling faces and wished she could remember them. They had died in an automobile accident when she was very young. But she had a feeling they still watched over her, even in some small way had a hand in her meeting David. After all, there were too many coincidences to ignore.

  Sabrina placed the picture back down, hoping they’d give her another sign soon. She had told Mrs. Metzger that she and David being together was fate, and that wasn’t a lie. She believed it wholeheartedly. But, then again, she had to.

  Because the idea of ending up alone was something far less imaginable.

  …

  Brenner Capital Investments was located on the thirty-second floor in One Financial Center, adjacent to Dewey Square in Boston. It consisted of a sizeable open space of about twenty desks where internal wholesalers sat and answered telephones or emailed questions about their mutual fund products and assisted the senior wholesalers who were out traveling on the road to the actual brokerage firms. Several private offices were on hand for wholesalers in the area to use when they weren’t traveling, and, of course, there was a huge private office for the founder and chairman of the firm, Mr. Leonard W. Brenner.

  As Sabrina approached her desk, she glanced over at her girlfriend, Chris, and had to suppress a laugh. Chris’s desk looked as if somebody declared war on it and her thin blond hair was already half out of her hair clip. Unfortunately, Chris looked as she always did first thing in the morning—like her day had just ended.

  “Good morning,” Sabrina called out.

  Chris beamed at her and made her way over. “You’re saying that now. Wait until you check your email.”

  Sabrina frowned at her computer. Why did the higher-ups wait to drop bombs on Mondays? “I can’t look. Just tell me.”

  “Brace yourself.”

  Sabrina placed her hands on her desk. “Officially braced.”

  “Jack Brenner has been transferred back to Boston. He’s in the corner office now.”

  Sabrina groaned even though she was hardly surprised at the news. When the National Sales Manager position opened up, she had assumed Jack would be given the job. All Jack had to do was go to Daddy and he’d be given anything he wanted. The man never followed protocol. He never paid his dues as an internal wholesaler first as everyone else had. He was automatically placed as senior above those who’d worked longer in the company. And now the spoiled prodigy son was back, expecting everyone to bow down before him.

  “Thanks for the warning. I’ll avoid that area. Wouldn’t want to poke a sleeping bear this early in the day.”

  Chris chuckled. “Yes, you do have a way of getting under each other’s skin. Hey, listen, before I forget, Joe’s side of the family is forcing me to have Thanksgiving this year, so if you want to hang out with our crazy family, you’re more than welcome.”

  Sabrina sighed. “This split between David and me is temporary.” She inwardly cringed at her own words. That statement was getting old fast and it sounded less and less convincing the more she said it. “David said he just needed some space to make sure we were making the right decision. It was completely mutual.” Sort of.

  “Well, of course it is, but I just want to give you options.” Chris glanced over Sabrina’s shoulder and her eyes went wide. “Uh-oh, poked bear at twelve o’clock. And he’s coming our way.”

  Sabrina clamped her lips together and resisted the urge to look. Jack Brenner probably couldn’t wait to gloat over his new promotion. That had to be the reason he was even gracing them with his presence.

  “Good morning, ladies,” Jack said as he approached. “Ah, Sabrina, I’ve been looking for you.”

  Of course you have. The last thing she wanted to do was make chitchat with Jack Brenner, but she forced herself to turn around. As soon as she did, he hit her with that devastating grin he no doubt had been using to unravel women since puberty, and her knees did an odd little wobble.

  Well. She obviously wasn’t as immune to Jack’s good-looks as she’d thought. He was a head taller than her and could fill a suit as if he’d been born in one. His cropped brown hair was gelled with a little flip in the front, giving him that leading-man kind of aura that the girls in the office loved to gush over. Jack smelled as enticing as he looked, too—like shampoo and spice—and a little shiver of awareness passed through her. Then she remembered to breathe.

  Get a grip, Sabrina.

  His blue eyes seared through her, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing even an ounce of reaction. Lucky for her she was in love with someone else. She could easily see how other women could fall for such superficial charms as his.

  “Congratulations,” she offered, beating him to the punch.

  His dark brows furrowed. “Congratulations?”

  Oh, he was good. Milking every last drop like that. Fine. Since he was now her boss, she’d play along. “Yes, congratulations on being named National Sales Manager. I assume that’s what you came over to tell us.”

  She mentally prepared herself, ready for the arrogance that would be plastered all over his face. But instead, his confidence looked shaken. “Actually, no. I came over because I wanted to talk to you. In private,” he added, glancing at Chris.

  Chris took the hint and made a thumb gesture behind her. “Right. I have to go make some phone calls anyway.”

  Sabrina folded her arms, knowing Jack wasn’t the type to mince words or waste time. Especially if that time was his. “What’s so important you want to talk to me about, boss?”

  He leaned in and lowered his voice. “You can cut the congratulations and the boss crap. For your information, I didn’t get the National Sales Manager position.”

  Now she was surprised. “But I thought—”

  “Yeah. I know.” His forehead wrinkled in a frown. “Me too.”

  She studied Jack and for a second, she almost felt sorry for him. She knew how much he’d wanted that position. Everybody knew. Then she remembered how she was passed over for the Connecticut wholesaler position because Jack had wanted it, and that moment of sympathy passed just as quickly as it came. He could charm any woman and had everyone in the company eating out of his hand merely because he was Leonard Brenner’s son. But it obviously took a lot more than connections to get the board of directors to give him that coveted position. Did it make her a bad person that she felt some satisfaction that the Boy Wonder finally didn’t get what he wanted?

  Still, good manners compelled her to say something encouraging. “I’m sorry, Jack. I know how it feels when things don’t go according to plan.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry too,” he said, gesturing to her bare engagement finger.

  She stuffed her hands in her pockets and lifted her chin. She didn’t know why, but Jack Brenner knowing anything about her person
al life rankled her more than it should have and as a result she felt an overpowering need to save face. “You heard wrong. I am still engaged. In fact, we’ll be setting a wedding date soon. Very soon.”

  “Oh. My mistake. I wish you both lots of luck then.”

  “Thanks, we’ll need that luck. After all, we all can’t be you.” She lifted an eyebrow in challenge. “Number three on Boston magazine’s Top Ten list of Bachelors? Wow, that’s quite an accomplishment. How do you do it?”

  Those full lips of his curved in amusement. “Well, you know what Walt Disney said: ‘All our dreams can come true—if we have the courage to pursue them’.”

  “That and I’m sure the breakup with—what was that actress’s name? Gazelle?—moved you up the list.”

  “Her name is Giselle.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “So you’re the one who told my father about that. I knew you had it in for me. That move cost me the promotion.”

  She snorted. “Oh, please. I didn’t have to tell him anything about what’s-her-boobs. He has eyes.”

  He shook his head with a laugh. “You are the most uptight woman I’ve ever met.”

  “You’re the most arrogant man I’ve ever met.”

  “Who are you calling arro—”

  The door to Mr. Brenner’s office swung open. Her boss’s expression was curious—and a bit cautious—as he stepped out and noticed them both standing there with fingers pointed in each other’s face.

  “Ah, good,” he said, a smile growing on his lips. “Jack must have already told you the news.”

  Sabrina blinked. “News?”

  Jack cleared his throat. “Actually, no, I was just getting to that.”

  “You were just getting to what?” she asked.

  Mr. Brenner came alongside Jack and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve moved Jack back home. He’ll now be covering the territory of Massachusetts up through Maine. Chuck Wilson will now cover Connecticut and New York.”

  A fog began to swirl in her head as she pieced together that information. “But I worked with Chuck. That means…” Her gaze slowly traveled to Jack.

  Jack actually had the nerve to look like he was enjoying himself. “You’ll be working with me.”

  Oh, crud.

  Mr. Brenner smiled at her. “I knew you wouldn’t have a problem with the switch.”

  Sabrina’s world spun as she stared at her boss. She could see the family resemblance now. Father and son standing side by side, she noticed how they both had the same square jaw and deep-set eyes, although Mr. Brenner’s eyes were more of a baby blue and nowhere near the ice color of Jack’s. One other difference was a bit more obvious, though. Where Mr. Brenner’s mouth wore a gentle, pleasant expression, his son’s smirk said he was a man who enjoyed pushing the envelope. Jack was going to be hell to work with.

  Double crud.

  “No, that’s absolutely fine,” she choked out. And it would be fine.

  If she had a lobotomy.

  “Good,” Mr. Brenner said with a nod. “I knew I could count on you. You’ll make a great team.” Then with a pointed look at his son, he turned around and disappeared back into his office.

  Jack stepped closer to her, making a tsk-tsk sound. “Gee, my ‘it’s going to be nice to work with you’ speech I had planned just seems awkward now.”

  She cut him a sharp look. “Please. I know you don’t like this any better than I do.”

  “That’s not necessarily true. We may not get along personally, but professionally I can admire many of your fine assets.”

  “Keep your eyes off my assets.”

  His simmering smile returned. “Touchy.”

  “You won’t be doing any of that, either.”

  He sighed and looked away, over her head. “You know, Sabrina, contrary to those newspaper and magazine articles you’ve read about me, I don’t have a one-track mind.”

  Sabrina wanted to retort with something childish and insulting, but figured she’d pressed her luck with him enough. Jack Brenner may not be her boss, but he was her boss’s son. And now, her business partner. Time to rise above her dislike. She would have to suck it up and play nice. But considering it was Monday morning and she hadn’t any caffeine yet, she allowed herself one last cheap parting shot.

  “As long as you remember that, playboy, we’ll get along just fine.”

  Then, not trusting herself in Jack’s presence any longer, she walked away in search of her sanity—and a good, strong cup of coffee.

  Chapter Three

  With warring feelings of frustration and admiration, Jack watched Sabrina storm off. He had to hand it to her. No other person in this company would ever have the nerve to go toe-to-toe with him like that. Although, he didn’t have a good feeling about what that meant with regards to his partnership with her. His dad had to have made a huge mistake.

  The door to his father’s office opened again. “Sabrina, I—” Leonard Brenner looked up from the papers in his hand and frowned. “Oh. Where did Sabrina go?”

  Jack shrugged. “She mentioned something about coffee.”

  “Fine. Tell her I want to talk to her when she gets back.”

  “Dad, wait. Are you sure this is a good idea about Sabrina and me? Maybe she’d be better off staying as Chuck’s internal assistant?”

  Leonard pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and blew out an impatient breath. “No. Sabrina’s too good a worker for Chuck. I’d like to see how he functions without her. When I said you and she would make a good team, I meant it. She’s just the partner you need if you’re serious about doing well in this company.”

  Jack straightened. “I am. You know that.”

  “Good. Now’s the time to take a break from those late night parties and start spending those nights getting to know the territory. Sabrina can help you with that.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jack turned away and headed to his desk. Well, it looked as if he was stuck with Little Miss Perfect. Great. He supposed he could put their mutual dislike aside and work it out with her. After all, he was a professional and had always thought Sabrina was quick and smart. She definitely had ample in the spunk department. And—if he was being completely honest with himself—she wasn’t hard to look at, either.

  Sure, he could admit Sabrina was pretty in a natural kind of way, if you were a sucker for that soft blue, sloe-eyed look, or happen to have a Snow White fetish. Not someone he would ever get involved with. She was a little high strung and prim for his taste. Probably needs to cut down on the caffeine, he thought gruffly. Of course, Sabrina had the power to make work miserable for him. Which meant his life would be miserable—since his life was his work.

  How could he look responsible to his father and to the board if his very own partner thought he was too much of a player to be considered good for the company?

  That magazine article certainly confirmed whatever opinion Sabrina had already made about him, and if she felt that way, it was no wonder the stockholders felt the same. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed Sabrina Cassidy on his side for more than just their working relationship. His father respected her. And if she could change her opinion of Jack, it would go a long way in changing others’ opinions too. He thought about that, then headed to the elevators, suddenly in the mood for a cup of coffee too.

  Sabrina wasn’t a woman to be charmed into reconsideration. No, he’d have to appeal to her more logical side. Although with the way she’d completely shut him down, he doubted he’d ever find it. Or that she’d even let him close enough to try.

  But if he wanted to save his reputation, that’s exactly what he was going to have to do.

  …

  Sabrina stood in line at the first floor coffee shop and rubbed her pounding head. She should have called in sick. If she had bothered to check her horoscope today, she was sure it would have told her the same thing.

  Shifting her stance, she craned her neck to see the front of the line. Apparently the entire east end of Boston wen
t out for coffee at nine forty-five in the morning. Lucky her. That only added to her tension. Jack Brenner and his blue I’m-too-sexy-for-my-face eyes were the main cause.

  The Playboy was now her partner. Wonderful. She hoped future correspondence with him would be minimal—and if there was a God, through email only. First problems with David and now problems with work. Could her week get any worse?

  Glancing out the window, she caught sight of a familiar head of blond hair. Forgetting about her need for caffeine, she jumped out of line and ran to the large window overlooking the street. With hands and face pressed against the glass, she watched as David strolled down the sidewalk with that same redhead from Saturday night. With each step they took, a little piece of her heart broke off and shattered.

  He looks happy, she thought miserably, then watched him cock his head to say something in the woman’s ear. Sabrina wished she could have heard what he said, because whatever it was caused the redhead to shove at him and burst into exaggerated laughter.

  Sabrina’s heart dropped accordingly. She couldn’t remember David saying anything so funny when they were together. Since when had he become such a comedian? Her throat ached in defeat as she continued to watch them. What she wanted her ideal life to be flashed before her eyes and fizzled into a massive puff of red-haired smoke.

  “You look like you’ve lost your best friend.”

  Sabrina jumped, even though the words were said soft and low. Pushing herself away from the window, she glanced up into Jack Brenner’s handsome face.

  “What are we staring at?” With amused eyes, he leaned his body in and looked out the window for himself. His expression quickly sobered. “Ah, I see,” he said with a nod. “Trouble in paradise?”

  “What are you doing here?” she spat, trying to keep her lower lip from quivering.

  Stupid Jack Brenner was showing up at the worst possible time. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her cry. But loneliness—her archenemy and best friend—wound its way inside her chest and squeezed hard.