Page 29 of Empowered
“Ah, Jesus, Sarah… he can’t know about it.”
Sarah bristled. “I agree, but I won’t tell him if nobody else does.”
“You’re good at looking past the crap and getting your job done. Is this Blackbourne? You know how men like him are.”
She flashed him a derisive look. “I sure do, Nigel.”
“Ah… sorry. If you want, I’ll throw out these flowers.”
“No, don’t. No sense letting them go to waste. Let Carly take some if she wants them. We’ll put one in the living room and I guess one’s in the bathroom now.”
“Maybe I could take them to work tomorrow. Sometimes we give a flower away to people who come in for dates.”
“Do that, then.”
“Sarah.” Nigel wrapped his arm around her shoulders. His instant comfort may have been much needed, but she wasn’t going to let down her guard. “You gonna be okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“After what happened Friday…”
“I’m fine!”
Her brother backed off. “Carly and I are going to the zoo later today. Wanna come?”
Yes.Sarah wanted to be wrapped up in the safety of her brother and his girlfriend. She wanted to go out and forget about Lucas, about Russell, about her precarious situation at work and the dangerous things she did to feel alive once in a while.
But she also knew she shouldn’t intrude on her brother’s love life. He deserved to have personal date time with his girlfriend. Just like Sarah deserved to have her own time away from her brother.
Fuck me.She sighed. “Think I’ll stay home today. I’m not going to see him. Don’t care what he thinks.”
She finished setting out the three plates of breakfast. By the time Carly returned, the flowers had been redistributed and they were not brought up again. When Carly and Nigel went off on their date shortly after noon, Sarah settled in for a day of Netflix and maybe a long, hot bath with that book she couldn’t be bothered to read the day before. With any luck, her boss wouldn’t text her with a last-minute need for her professional services. Sarah needed the time to herself – toxic thoughts not included.
***
The doorbell rang at nine that night. Nigel and Carly weren’t back yet.“We’re hanging out at a bar with some of her friends. See you later tonight,”was the text Sarah received two hours before. Fine with her. She didn’t mind having the place to herself for the whole day.
So when the doorbell rang at nine and she was all alone? Fuck. That.
“I’m not answering you, Mr. Blackbourne.” The doorbell rang again. Sarah didn’t need X-ray vision to know Lucas stood on the other side of the door. “You will deal with being stood up on a date I never agreed to.”
Well, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to check out what it was. Just in case itwasn’tLucas.
Ha! How stupid of her. Of course it was Lucas. Dressed in a three-piece suit, sans tie, the top few buttons undone and the rest of his white dress shirt rumpled from a day’s use. His face was covered in more than stubble – he clearly hadn’t shaved a bit since Friday morning. And that piercing gaze that loved eating at Sarah’s soul? Currently boring a pothole in her sanity, trafficnotredirected.
His gaze only faltered when he glanced up, eyesight landing directly on the only bouquet left in the living area. “I knew you got my message,” he growled.
Sarah tried to shut the door. The damn thing got stuck, giving Lucas enough time to put his hand out and hold it.
“You enjoy standing men up, Ms. Clayborn?”
Really? Typical man.Sarah could growl right back at him. “It’s not standing you up if I never agreed to see you to begin with.” .
“It didn’t have to be a date.”
Sarah had to do a double-take. Did billionaires dress like that tonondates? Oh, of course they did. She should have known that by now. “Sure, and I’m a humble servant girl.”
“Have I done something to offend you?”
