Page 13 of Chance of Romance
She crossed her arms. “I would’ve kept it in confidence.”
“You threw me under the bus. Olivia’s going to be pissed.”
“Olivia who?” For some perverse reason, she wanted to hear all about the woman he’d hidden from her.
“Olivia Slater. You’ve probably heard of her family, they’ve got their hands in everything. Old money.”
“I’ve heard of the Slater Foundation. They do a lot of good work for children in need.”
“Yup. She runs it.”
Dammit. She sounded like a nice person. “Is she the college girlfriend you’ve been pining over for years?”
He jabbed a finger at her. “That is from Mad. First of all, I didn’t pine. She pined for me. Second of all, I was right not to tell you my personal shit.”
She pressed her lips together, eyes watering, throat tight, really hurt that he’d hid his life from her. Even if he didn’t return her lusty feelings, she’d thought at least their friendship was strong. “Is it serious?”
“Yeah,” he said softly. “If things go well with our investor meetings, I’m thinking of opening an office in San Francisco. That’s where she lives.”
She swallowed hard, her chest tight, making it hard to breathe. He was leaving, and she hadn’t had a clue. “And she’s happy about this?”
He inclined his head. “She seemed to be.”
“And you’re happy about this?”
“It was my idea.”
His casual tone pissed her off. “Here I thought we were such good friends, and I had no idea you even had a girlfriend. And now you’re leaving! When were you going to tell me, huh? After you moved?”
He frowned. “Why’re you so mad? I’m the one that got thrown under the bus. Now I have to deal with Olivia and, believe me, I’m going to hear it from my family. They’re going to want to know why I didn’t tell anyone you and I were dating for six months.”
“I’m mad because I thought we were close.” Her voice choked, and she didn’t even try to hide her hurt, meeting his eyes directly. “You’re the only one who showed up here for me.”
His voice lowered, husky and coaxing. “Sabrina, come on. We are close.”
“Just go to your stupid jealous girlfriend. My car’s over there somewhere.” She looked up and down the street, suddenly aware of a photographer with a zoom lens aimed at them. Was that her dad?
She took a step closer to the photographer. “Hey!”
The guy turned and ran away. His hair was black in a long ponytail, unlike her dad’s dark blond, but definitely one of his ilk. Why would anyone want pictures of her? She couldn’t possibly be that famous after one article and a TV interview. Paparazzi stalked people for pictures they could sell to the highest bidder. No one would pay a lot for her picture. Unless…was that psycho relationship counselor behind this? Did Tara Brinkman actually pay someone to dig for dirt on Sabrina? Her mind boggled at the thought.
“What’s the matter?” Logan asked.
“Nothing,” she replied absently, scanning the crowd to make sure the man wasn’t coming back.
“An apology would be nice,” Logan said, all haughty and righteous.I was wronged, and you must apologize!
She turned back to him and scowled. “So sorry I said you were my boyfriend. We’ve officially broken up. Send me a postcard from San Francisco.”
He blew out a breath. “Don’t be like that. I was going to tell you when I told everyone else, once I knew I could afford to make the move. I should know in a couple of weeks the way things are going to go. I still want to be friends.”
Her shoulders slumped, her anger leaving her just as quickly as it had appeared. He was leaving for good, and she didn’t want to end things on a sour note. This was her fault, after all. And she was putting way too much expectation on the one friend who’d come through for her. “Me too. I’m sorry I screwed things up for you. I’ll talk to Olivia if you want. I’ll explain it was all just a misunderstanding and nothing’s going on.”
He rubbed his light brown beard. “Yeah, I wish it were that easy. I’ll handle it.”
Her ride, a black Mercedes, pulled up and parked a short distance away.
She managed a small smile for Logan and gestured to the car. “That’s my ride. Thank you for coming today.”
