Page 22 of The Merger

“Nothing. He’s just freaking out about you leaving and apparently he locked himself out of his calendar,” Jana said chuckling.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. “If he would have let me hire his replacement this wouldn’t be happening.”

“I think he thought I would pity him and he could play naughty secretary with me during office hours.” Jana shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to find someone old and cranky like Beck’s secretary. Speaking of which. I’ve got interviews set up this afternoon, so I better head back and get ready for them.”

She grabbed her briefcase and headed to the door. Pausing in the doorway she looked back over her shoulder. “Caroline will take care of the documents once you’ve signed them. Let’s have dinner again soon. A little less exciting next time though.”

* * *

Silence stretched between us as I fought every urge I had to reach out and pull her into my arms. She was wary of me. We hadn’t spoken for a few days, not since having dinner with Colter and Jana.

She exhaled, and her shoulders slumped. “How do we do this?”

“Depends on what you mean by this?” I asked. “Work together, talk to each other, or deal with the fact we’re married?”

She looked down and pulled at an errant thread on one of the buttons of her jacket. “Any of those. All of them. I meant work together, but we’ll have to handle all of it.”

I walked around the desk and sat in the chair next to her. “What do you want to do?”

Sabrina threw her hands up and jumped out of her chair to pace in front of the large window. She spun around to face me, and my breath caught in my throat. Standing in front of the window in the morning light, her golden hair glowed. She was the embodiment of sunlight, and she lit up my life.

“I don’t know what I want to do.” She continued to pace. “Colt said we should get an annulment, but—” She took a deep breath and sat back down in her chair. She rubbed at the center of her chest. “What if that would be a mistake?”

I’d held my breath until she spoke those words. Emily Dickinson wrote, “hope is the thing with feathers that perches in your soul.” I understood that poem now. Hearing her sound like she was willing to give us a chance made my soul feel like it could soar.

“We could date,” I suggested.

Her face tilted up, eyes wide with surprise. “But we’re married.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “So we do it all backward. We had sex before we got married. Now we should date, spend some time getting to know each other.”

Her head bobbed up and down. “Yeah, okay. Wow, I figured that we, uhm, you know. I, don’t remember.”

I tried to hide my disappointment hearing that, but I’m sure she could tell. “I figured that out.”

She took a deep breath. “Pushing that aside for now. I think your idea could work. I need to talk to Malcolm first.”

My jaw clenched, but I nodded. “I’ve waited five years, what’s a few more days?”

She blew out a breath. “Well, want to show me around the office?”

“Might as well.” She followed me out to the main part of the office.

“Sheila,” I shouted when she wasn’t at her desk.

“Is your secretary hiding from you?”

I scowled at the empty office. “She might be. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Together we searched for her, but most of the staff weren’t at their workspaces. “I hope Jana won’t be pissed off when I fire most of the employees,” I bitched.

Sabrina bit her lip, something that would normally make me want to bend her over the nearest flat surface, but this time it made my chest clench with trepidation. “Do you think maybe they’re scared of you?”

This was not a side of myself I’d ever tried to temper. Being ruthless made me good at business, but it might also scare her away. “Maybe,” I admitted. “That’s why I need you, Sunshine.”

“Then let’s find them and get started,” she said, her blue eyes shining with determination.

It took us much longer than it should have, but between a couple of conference rooms and the break room, we managed to find the missing employees. Sabrina stepped up and corralled everyone in the large conference room. She introduced herself, and let everyone know she’d be the point of contact for them going forward.