Crown's Chance at Love (5 page)

“Thanks” she says as she looks at me. She has this look to her eyes that is completely intriguing, like she is hiding some kind of secret, and damn if that doesn’t spark something inside of me.

“No problem, least I could do.” I spit out, taking my seat in front of her.

“Oh no, it was my fault really,” she says blushing lightly.

“So Sabrina, what are you doing at a Starbucks in the middle of the day?” I ask.

“Oh, well we have some construction going on in my office, the sound of power tools was giving me a headache, so my boss lets me run away for a while.” She says smiling.

“What do you do?” I ask, trying to sound genuine, like I didn’t already know.

“I’m an event planner for Ritz Events.” She says. “What about you?”

“I work for the corporate offices of Edwards Automotive.” I try to say nonchalantly trying to make it sound like what I did wasn’t that big of a deal, instead of the reality that I virtually ran our families’ business now.

“You mean the national chain of automotive dealerships and auto parts stores?” She asks her eyebrow raising slightly, catching me a little off guard that she was familiar with my company. Suddenly I’m a little worried, thinking maybe she knows about my brother. Maybe in the past three plus years she had gave in and learned Patrick’s name and backstory. All she would have had to do was get his name and Googled him.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” I say casually, trying to not show that my heart was about to jump out of my throat, “You’ve heard of us?”

“Yeah, I actually just put in a bid to plan a couple of your charity events.” She says smiling, I nod thinking about how truly small the world was as I breathe in a sigh of relief that she doesn’t know who I am.

“Oh yeah, which ones?” I ask, curiosity getting the best of me.

“The 5K for MS in June and then the Gala for Breast Cancer in October.” She says smiling.

“I’m on the board for both of those.” My mother would be surprised about my change of heart, but I would talk her into letting me be involved, after all she had let my best friend John into the committee, she surely wouldn’t deny her only son.

“Really, well it’s a small world then isn’t it?” She says her eyes smiling, as she takes a drink from her iced coffee. Watching her mouth over the straw makes me instantly hard. I seriously was a bastard. My brother had ruined her; she wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me if she knew who I was, how my actions had set the ball in motion that day and she had ended up paying the consequences.

“Yeah, it really is. So tell me about yourself Sabrina.” I try not to sound too interested.

“What would you like to know?” she asks tilting her head, smiling brightly at me.

“Anything you are willing to tell me.” I smile back just as her phone rings. She looks torn, as to whether she should answer it or ignore it, so I help her out.

“Go ahead”, I say gesturing to her phone. She is cute as she raises her eyebrows looking apologetic.

“I’m so sorry, it’ll just be one second.” She says as she stares at her phone.

“Hey baby, what’s up?” she says into her phone and mouths “I’m sorry” to me, “Yeah, sweetheart, that’s fine. I’ll pick you up from practice then. Yeah it’s fine, I have to work on a couple of things for the wedding we have on Saturday, so don’t worry about it. Tell Emmi thanks and tell your sister and brother to be good. Okay, no. No pizza for dinner tonight. Why? Umm, because dinner’s already slow cooking in the crock pot.” She laughs. She’s talking to one of her sons. I love the peaceful expression she has.

“Okay honey I better go. Love you Mark. Be safe.” She hangs up, taking a deep breath as she stares at her phone, and then looks up to me. Her eyes trying to mask some kind of apprehension, but as quickly as it had been there it disappears, her eyes becoming warm as they meet mine.

“I’m so sorry about that Mr. Crown. If it had been anyone else, I would have been able to ignore it, but it was my oldest and I had been waiting to hear from him.”

“You have kids?” I ask even though I know the answer as I look into her beautiful rich brown eyes. There is something about her eyes and the way that she looks at me that almost makes me breathless, and the fact that I notice is a big red warning flag that I need to tread carefully.

***

Sabrina

“Three actually, I had been waiting to hear from him to see if he had a ride to baseball practice. I really am sorry. I don’t want you to think I am easily distracted from work.”

The kids knew they could call me at anytime, but talk about horrible timing, I mean Michael Crown was a possible client, and now I felt like I had ruined any chances of somehow landing the two accounts. Plus, something in me was a little disappointed to know that I would have to see Michael Crown as a potential client, because when he had asked me to have a coffee with him I had felt a spark, an interest. Emmi and Nick had been pestering me about trying to date, they had even set me up a couple of times on blind dates, but that spark had always been lacking. But there was no way I would ever risk business with pleasure. That was what Michael Crown was made exactly for.

“Three, wow. They must keep you and your husband pretty busy huh?” he asks and I shake my head without thinking.

“Just me, it’s just me.” I say quickly, not knowing why I want to make sure he knew it was just me. But thinking about the way that I had said that made me feel icky and a little guilty. Almost as if Sean wasn’t around because he didn’t want to be.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” he says sounding genuine, his pale blue eyes warm almost with concern.

“Don’t be. It was just… umm one of those things.” I see the confusion in his eyes like he is about to ask something but before he can I say, “I know your company usually only exclusively works with SPARK for your events, any particular reason for the request on bidders for your company’s events this year?”

He looks at me seriously and licks the side of his mouth, and heaven help me, if it isn’t one of the sexiest things I have ever seen. His mouth looks so good, for a second I think what it would be like to kiss lips like his, but I shake my head and try to focus on what he is saying.

“You did your homework, I admire that. Honestly, SPARK was getting comfortable, and every event felt the same, outdated, or if you don’t mind me saying half-assed.”

“So by you requesting bids from other noteworthy event companies, it lights a fire under SPARK Events to get their stuff together?” I ask and he nods with a small smirk on his face, “Smart” I mumble. Smart for them, but sucks for those of us who had really wanted a chance to show them what we could do, SPARK would undoubtedly hear about the request for bids and put their butt’s in gear.

“You think we won’t go with anyone else,” his eyes amused, almost as if he could read my mind.

“Honestly? No. I mean look no disrespect, but your company has been pretty loyal to them for the last twenty years. They got comfortable, and you guys gave them a slap on the wrist. Either way I am glad it will work out for Edwards Automotive. These events at the end of the day are about helping the charity at hand.”

“Can I ask you something?” he asks his voice deep and I nod.

“You said you put in bids for the 5K and The Gala, but why not the MADD event? Being a mom of three I would have thought maybe you would be interested in that particular organization, you know Mothers Against Drunk Driving.”

When I had created my bids I had seen it and skipped right past it. His question made me feel a little unsettled and I decide that I should just go the professional route on this one.

“Honestly, the event is in the middle of wedding season.  There was no way I could commit to it and make sure the weddings I already had on the books would get my full attention.” I say, instantly regretting lying to him. I just met him, but the expression on his face was almost like he knew I was lying, but he didn’t call me on it. I had never been one to have a poker face so it was probably written all over my face. But at the end of the day I had just met him, there was no reason to tell him about Sean, even if he was the first man in almost four years to catch my attention.

“That makes sense, just one thing.” And I raise my eyebrow, “You don’t believe we are actually going to go with anyone else’s bid, so why not just enter one anyway?”

“Not my cup of tea I guess Mr. Crown.” I say seriously as I take a drink of my iced coffee, letting the cool liquid seep down my throat, then I take a deep breath.

I knew why I didn’t want to tell him about the real reason I hadn’t bid on it. I didn’t want to see that look of sympathy or pity that I had been seeing from everyone these past three and a half years. It was weird how after something like what had happened with Sean, marks you.  How suddenly everyone expected you to jump in to fight the problem. But I hadn’t. I didn’t condone people drinking and driving in anyway. How could I it was the major reason my life had been taken off it’s course. But I also knew myself. If I jumped in volunteering for a great cause like MADD, I’d let myself drown in the ugly feelings I kept at bay towards who killed Sean. Where I was in life all I had time for was my three kids and my job. Maybe when the kids were older I would be able to do it, but for where I am in my life, it just isn’t for me.

“I’m sorry Sabrina, please call me Mike. Mr. Crown is my dad, and honestly makes me feel closer to turning forty than I want to feel.” He says smiling.
Hmm he is older than me
. I mean I could tell that, with the cute lines by his eyes and the slight greying at his temples and in his facial hair, but there was something that made him even sexier knowing he was older than me.

“I couldn’t, we should really keep things professional Mr. Crown.” I say looking at him.

“Please Sabrina? Mr. Crown makes me feel old.” He says with a smile that reaches his eyes and they brighten up like they are filled with mischief, and I laugh.

“Okay. So tell me how is it that someone working in the corporate offices of Edwards Automotive can escape in the middle of the day? Don’t you guys have pretty assistants that do that for you?” I ask smiling at him, watching him drink his coffee. I watch as one of the sides of his lips starts to twitch into a smile.

“Honestly? I needed a break. Lucky for me, my clumsiness paid off for me today” his deep voice is so sexy, and I almost think he is flirting with me, surprising me.

“Paid off for me too.” I say softly, “So what do you do at Edwards Automotive, other than being on the events committee?” I ask.

“I’m the VP.” He says and I try not to look surprised.

“Wow. That’s pretty impressive.”

“I guess you could say that. My grandfather is the founder of Edwards Automotive, and on paper the President, so I think being the oldest grandson, I was pretty much thrown into the position.”

“You mean when you were little you didn’t dress up in suits and pretend to be in charge of a huge company?” I joke with him trying to keep the conversation light-hearted.

“No” he says laughing, and oh boy does he have a beautiful smile. When he smiles it makes him look even more handsome, giving him a carefree vibe compared to the serious look I had first seen on him when I had bumped into him.

“What did you want to be when you grew up?” I ask.

“Honestly?” he asks and I nod, “A doctor.”

“Interesting.” I say smiling.

“What about you? What did you want to be when you grew up?”

“When I was five my mom says I wanted to be a fireman.” I say smiling.

“Really? Huh…” he says a little surprised.

“What did you think I was going to say? Something like a ballerina or teacher?” To this he laughs. Rich and deep laughter and I couldn’t stop my grinning if I had wanted to.

“I was actually. So Sabrina, do you like being an event coordinator?”

“I do, and it doesn’t hurt that I am really good at it.” I say confidently, “Honestly I also love that it gives me the flexibility, time wise, to take and pick up my kids from school, things like that, and I love finding new undiscovered vendors and promoting them to everyone like crazy.”

“What do you mean?” He asks genuinely.

“For example, like this new little bakery I found in LA, Izzy Tizzy’s. Two twenty-something friends open this incredible little bakery and let me tell you it’s the best place EVER! Not just for wedding cakes or birthday cakes, but their pastries as well. I love finding little places and showing them to people and watching those people fall in love with them as well. Or this photography team in Ontario who I found on Facebook by chance, probably seventy-five percent of my couples book them for their weddings and eighty percent hire them for their engagement sessions.”

“I’ve heard of Izzy Tizzy’s! They have these mandarin napoleons and cannolis that are suppose to rival any Italian Nonna right?” he asks animatedly, almost charging my own energy up a notch.

“YES! That’s them!” I say smiling and I look at my watch and frown, “I should get going. I wanted to sit and watch a little bit of Mark’s practice.”

“Oh. Okay then.” He says sounding as disappointed as I feel.

I look at him, his pale blue eyes on mine, my eyes roam down to his lips and I really wish I didn’t have to go.
He is so damn hot!
My bad girl yells as the practical side silently agrees with her. I pick up my bag and decide to search for my sunglasses. “Things always fall to the bottom of these bags. Oh well hopefully it isn’t too bright out to need sunglasses” I say and look at him and his face goes from serious to a sexy grin as we both stand up.