Fiance by Fate Read Free Page B

anyway.”
    “Rumor has it she’s not engaged anymore. But someone as smart and hardworking as she is would be a huge step up from the supermodel airheads you seem so accustomed to parading around with. It wouldn’t hurt to look for a woman with some family sensibilities. You know, I would like grandchildren someday,” he added with a smile.
    “You already have grandchildren.”
    His father’s jaw tightened. “Not from you .”
    Jack heaved a frustrated sigh. He hated to burst his father’s bubble, but it had to be said. “Look, Dad, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to suddenly get married and have kids just because it will look good to the Board and will somehow make me a better executive. Not going to happen. Plus, I don’t have time for a family. It’s not in me. I like—no, love —the way things are right now.” He’d given that life up to move back here. He paused and grinned without guile. “I’d love it even more if I was the National Sales manager.”
    “There’s more to life than this company.”
    Jack remained silent. There was no use arguing about it. He wasn’t about to change his father’s or the stockholders’ minds, so it seemed a moot point.
    “Jack, no one is forcing you to get married. But I think there are other ways—like keeping your personal life out of the spotlight, for one—that could highly influence them. Once I’m convinced you’re ready to get serious and start acting like a responsible man, I can go to the stockholders and we can talk again about that promotion. Fair enough?”
    Jack stared at his father. Just like that, he felt as if he were a teenager who broke the neighbor’s window with a baseball and now had to figure out how to make amends. It was humiliating, to say the least. He was a grown man—and dammit, he already was a responsible man. “Dad, you have to hear me out. I think if you went to the Board now and—”
    His dad raised a spread hand. “I don’t want to hear anything else from you. Go out there and show me instead.”
    Knowing all too well his father’s adamant look, Jack wisely shut his mouth. Without a glance back, he stormed out of the penthouse.
    Great. Just great. He came back to town and the first thing that happened was his personal life going under a microscope.
    There’s more to life than this company.
    No. Not for him there wasn’t. Work filled Jack’s life and had never let him down through all these years. He couldn’t give up on it now. It was his lifeblood. But he needed this company not only for himself, he also needed it for his father. Jack had already failed his mom. He couldn’t fail his dad, too.
    Jack hadn’t realized how his reputation with women had preceded him—or that it would be perceived as something bad. Women were a weakness to him, but not so much that he couldn’t change. He could. He had to. Desperation was not an emotion he was used to feeling, and he didn’t like it one bit. Who knew what his father’s health was really like? The Board could even force him to retire early. Time could be running out. Jack needed to change people’s opinion of him. And fast.
    Perhaps his father had a point. Maybe it was time for him to settle down and…
    No . The thought made him queasy, but it also made him wonder. Maybe he could convince his father and the stockholder board to reconsider quicker than he originally thought if it looked like he was ready to settle down. All he needed to do was find himself a nice, girl-next-door type of girlfriend.
    Or at least a fake one.

Chapter Two
    Sabrina spent a good fifteen minutes searching her kitchen cabinets for coffee and almost wailed when the only thing she came up with was chamomile tea. How was this possible? She usually had a perfect methodology to her grocery shopping. Yet somehow her organization and timing had failed her. Monday morning and she was completely out of coffee. Talk about bad luck.
    For a split second she actually entertained the idea of going to