The Fate Date (Glengarry Curse #1)

6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sabrina

“ S orry, what?” One moment they’d been talking about his dead dad, and the next he was asking her out?

Sabrina had entertained her fair share of outlandish romantic gestures. She’d been serenaded on no less than three occasions. But this was kind of unnerving.

“Yeah, no, that could work…” he said, more to himself, trapped in whatever fictional universe he thought she had been flirting with him.

Where it had been comforting before, the heat blasting from the dash felt suffocating. She switched it off. Considering she was trapped in what amounted to a steel cage travelling at eighty kilometres per hour for the foreseeable future, she tried to let Gavin down easy. “Um, I’m not trying to be rude,” she kept her tone breezy, not at all indicative of the discomfort coursing through her, “but I’m not really looking to date right now.” She paused, but he stayed quiet. “We have nothing in common,” she tried next. More silence. Then, enunciating each word very slowly so as not to startle him, “I don’t have feelings for you.”

“I know. That’s what makes it perfect.”

“I have a taser in here,” she said, shifting gears real quick.

He glanced down at her bag filled with pamphlets, tarot cards, paperwork, and the free toothbrush she’d gotten from the dentist three months ago, among other things.

“Like you’d ever find it in there,” he said.

She hated that he had a point .

“Look, can I be frank?” he said.

“This isn’t frank?” She cradled her head in her hands. How difficult was it to roll from a moving vehicle? They made it seem so easy in the movies. She looked out the window at the blur of cornfields whizzing past her. They’d find her body days later, eyes pecked out by ravens, decomposing among the shrivelled beige husks.

“I need a date for a corporate event in mid-October.”

“Yes, as I explained, I’m not interested.” It wasn’t a lie, even if she did inexplicably want to bite that chin dimple of his. Dating was a distraction she didn’t need right now.

“No…Uh. This is difficult to explain.” He scrubbed one of his hands over his face and gave her a quick look before saying, “And slightly embarrassing.”

Sabrina’s head snapped over to him. She loved embarrassing stories. She couldn’t help it. Second-hand embarrassment made her cringe and laugh like she was experiencing it too.

“You can tell me,” she whispered.

He stayed silent for another minute and Sabrina held her breath. At least if they were swapping stories, he couldn’t go all Jack the Ripper on her.

“I’m up for a promotion at work, and I’m expected to bring a date to the corporate retreat where they’ll be making a decision.”

“That seems dumb,” she said without thinking. “Why should your relationship status have any bearing on your job performance?”

“Exactly what I thought,” Gavin exclaimed. It was the first show of genuine emotion she’d seen from him all evening. “The problem is, I lied and said I had a girlfriend. That she was a government worker, and that we had been dating for over a year.” He paused. “I don’t have a girlfriend, obviously.”

“I’m not surprised,” Sabrina muttered under her breath .

“It would feel unethical to date a girl just to bring to this event and, what, dump her when it’s over?”

“Yikes, yeah, don’t do that.”

“I may have a reputation for being ruthless, but even that’s a bit below the belt.” He shook his head, “Look, I can’t believe I’m even proposing this, but would you consider being my fake date for the event?” Sabrina opened her mouth to speak but he continued, a bit more rushed this time. “It’s wild, I know, but you’re intuitive with people and I’m, well, not. I could really use someone with your talents and skills to help me land this job.”

She recognized the patronizing flattery at the end, but he wasn’t wrong. He did make a terrible first impression.

“Besides, there’s absolutely no chance I will develop actual feelings for you. The universe wouldn’t be that cruel.”

Aaaaand just when she thought he was being nice—he always seemed to twist the compliment. She had no interest in this ridiculous scheme, but still, a girl had feelings. “It’s gonna be a hard pass from me.”

He ran a hand through his dark waves and shook his head again. “Right, sorry, of course. Sorry.”

Silence bellowed for five minutes, the numbers on the dash clock stuck in what felt like disturbing slow motion. It was so awkward even her toes cringed in her kitten heels. “Besides,” she said, desperate to end it, “I don’t see what’s in it for me. Someone told me this evening that wasn’t good business sense.”

He winced. “That was perhaps a bit premature.”

“Are the words, ‘sorry, I was wrong’ not in your vocabulary?”

“They are when I’m wrong.”

“Dick,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Believe it or not, you’re not the first person to call me that today.”

“Oh, I believe it.”

She studied him with narrowed eyes, considering her best comeback, but his arms momentarily distracted her. She wanted to reach out and feel just how bulky those biceps were.

“Maybe that’s something I could help you with?”

Her face heated. “Um, sorry, what?”

“With your shop. And, well, not to be presumptuous, but I was the executor for my father’s estate. If you need help with death duties and taxes for your mother—I can help you navigate that.”

Sabrina glanced at her bag, where she knew the confusing mess of paperwork was stuffed at the bottom. It was probably covered in glitter by now. Would they still accept it?

“Describe the agreement.” She would at least entertain all her options, even drastic, unhinged ones.

Like he read her mind, Gavin said, “Do you really have another choice?”

“If I have to be in your presence for more than ten minutes then yes, I will be picky,” she snapped back.

“I like that you’re not afraid of me.”

The comment was so unexpected she felt like she had whiplash. It was strange. For the first time in her life, she didn’t care what someone thought of her. She wasn’t trying to befriend or impress Gavin—and that’s what he liked about her?

Definitely a psychopath.

“I will be your business coach for the next month,” he continued. “I will allow you to ask unlimited questions, help with your mother’s paperwork, and guide you in developing a targeted marketing plan to help save your shop from going under.”

“My mother’s shop,” she corrected, but she didn’t bother denying how dire things were. “And what are your credentials? How do you know you can even help me? ”

“I have an MBA and my CPA and PMP designations,” he rattled off. She knew from business school that this was impressive. “I’m the director of the research and development branch of IM Securities, a tech company here in Ottawa, where I’ve worked for the past ten years. Part of my job is to evaluate opportunities for investment. I manage a budget of $37 million. I know what a successful business plan looks like.”

Her jaw dropped. “That’s a lot more zeroes than we have at the shop.”

He shrugged. “Same principles, just on a smaller scale.”

He could magic up a business plan and solve all her problems? Transiting Jupiter, the planet of abundance, was in a supportive trine her natal Venus, planet of love, beauty and money. It wasn’t like she was inept—she’d tried to fill out the free business plan templates she found online. She’d salivated as she scrolled through the courses that business influencers offered on Instagram—a cool $5000 listed as the “investment” fee. When you had to pay for your mother’s palliative care and use the local food bank to eat, that wasn’t feasible. He was saying all she really had to do was chit-chat with some old fogeys at a corporate retreat?

“And what are your expectations of me, in return?”

“In return, you agree to be my fake date at this four-day corporate retreat. Help me schmooze so I don’t have to make small talk with the board.”

“I can do that.”

“I know,” he said matter-of-factly. Like there was no doubt in his mind that she could pull this off.

“To be absolutely clear—no sex,” she stated.

Gavin flushed. “God, no, what part of fake date was unclear to you?”

“Hey, that’s what Richard Gere said, and we all know what happened on the piano in Pretty Woman .”

“What?”

Sabrina sighed. “Never mind. ”

Was it really such a terrible bargain? The retreat location would likely be swanky and have good food. It might be nice to get away from the shop for a few days and take her mind off things. Besides, it wasn’t like she was going to fall in love with Gavin. She could barely stand the man. His presence was tortuous.

She just needed her lady bits to get the memo.

Sabrina shifted in her seat. “So, after the retreat weekend, our business is complete.” She liked the finality of that.

He nodded. “Acceptable?”

“Yes, but can I take some time to think about it?” It was a rule for her—any sort of Neptune or Jupiter energies needed extra thought. She texted him her number as she recognized the restaurants and shops along Wellington Street.

“What if the business plan doesn’t work?” she said, in more of a whisper, voicing the fear that had been not-so-subtly gnawing away at her these past few weeks. If a business guru couldn’t help her be successful, what did that say about her? What would her mother think?

Gavin pulled up right in front of the shop. The streetlight cast long shadows on the same window display, and her heart sunk a little.

“We’ll make it work, Sabrina. You can bet on it.” He gave another little wisp of a smile before he said, “Bet on us.”

He looked at her then, with a softness she hadn’t witnessed before. His lips, which still teased the hint of a smile, tugged her gaze. Those same butterflies she’d experienced earlier in the night resurrected themselves, the subtle flutter tickling her stomach. Without her knowledge or consent, she found her body leaning closer. The car had turned cold since she’d shut off the heat, and she craved the warmth that radiated off him. Alarmed by the sudden compulsion to nuzzle his turtleneck, she pried her eyes up to meet his. He was staring at her lips.

“What?” she breathed out .

His gaze lifted above her head. “You’re still wearing your elephant hat.”

Sabrina froze, apart from her fingers, which climbed clumsily to clutch the “trunk” of her hat that was curiously shaped like a penis.

She let go of it quickly.

Fumbling with the door handle, she cast a “thanks for the lift” over her shoulder and stormed back into the shop to head to her apartment above.

Not cool universe. Not cool.