Page 14 of The Cowboy's Second Chance Bride

When Paul didn’t answer, I brushed past him as I went into my office. We could not use Sabrina.

Paul followed me in. “She’s one of the best. She’s got an outstanding reputation, and she’s great in front of a camera. She’ll do an excellent job up against the media. You should go after her.”

I considered enlightening Paul as to how dangerous it would be to have Sabrina associated with the company, then decided against it. It wasn’t any of Paul’s damn business. She hadn’t been the catalyst for my father’s recent attack, though she would be adding an accelerant to the fire. Best to just move past this moment.

I cleared my throat. “If she’s one of the best, then get another one of the best other than her. Simple.” I took a seat behind my desk and avoided all the stuff written on the surface. “Who hired her?”

“Morgan.”

The next question was how my mother knew to approach Sabrina. The logical answer was Jace, because when Sabrina and I dated, I’d kept her far from my family. My mom and sister had been living with my dad at the time, and there was no way I was going to subject her to him. My house had been toxic. That was why we’d always spent our free time with her dad.

I couldn’t imagine my lifelong friend suggesting the company hire her. Jace was the only person other than me who knew the history. He wouldn’t put either of us in this position. He was such a reliable friend that he’d flown in when he heard I’d been shot.

I took out my cell phone and sent Jace a quick text:

Sabrina just left my office. What do you know about that?

Jace

Holy crap. How’d that go?

Much like you can imagine

Jace

Your mom asked about her. She knew Sabrina was a matchmaker because she knew that’s how Meredith and I met. I told her no way was Sabrina a good idea and she shouldn’t be on any list. Paul was there.

I looked up from my phone and glared at Paul. “I’m considering firing you,” I growled.

Paul shot me the bird. “Because I tried to hire a matchmaker that you have a personal connection to? That plays out in the media so much better than hiring someone you don’t know. That’s what you pay me to do. You need to explain to me why you don’t want her here.”

My phone chimed with a new text.

Jace

I’m sorry, man. That must have sucked.

She’s gone now. I scared her off.

I looked at the notes scrawled along the surface of my desk. I should wipe them off. What she’d written wasn’t flattering. Yet, for the most part, it was true. I would argue against having a stick up my butt. Having a serious nature was not the same as rigidity. Besides, I was in a business that required me to be serious. With one finger, I traced a word, then a sentence. Sabrina had always been that type—the sort that made lists and reminders. She got immense satisfaction from checking off a box. She took pride in those pointy marks.

“You need to go after her, Cal,” Paul said. “We’re on borrowed time here. Hitchens has already put out a statement about the improvements their app will have. Plus, we’re getting calls from former clients wondering if they should continue to recommend us. The Peru thing didn’t help. Some are ticked.”

My finger paused on one of the questions she’d written on my desk. Why? Don’t I deserve to know that? After all these years she still wanted to know why. And after all these years, I still had no intention of telling her.

And yeah, she was still ticked. My clients were ticked. I was ticked.

I stood. “As they should be.”

She really did deserve to know why I’d changed on a dime. But not telling her kept her protected. If she knew, she’d fight back.

“I have to take care of something. Find another matchmaker. Start selling the plan. Just leave Sabrina out of this. Please. Trust me when I say she doesn’t solve our problems—she complicates them.”

Deserve. She deserved to be loved and cherished. After what I’d done to her, I didn’t deserve love. When you abused it the way I had—kicked it hard when it was down—love tended to stay away. And rightly so.

ChapterSix

SABRINA

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