Page 31 of Chance of Romance
Chapter Eight
Sabrina flew first class to LA courtesy ofThe Joanne Show, feeling extraordinarily tired. After she’d said goodbye to Logan, she’d been on the verge of tears and ran into Claire, who arranged for a ride home for her and then waited with her in the foyer while Sabrina babbled about how none of it had worked. Logan had noticed her dress, but he had absolutely no problem with all her good wishes for him and Olivia, and he’d even been cool with saying goodbye to their friendship. Never mind that the goodbye was what she’d wanted in light of his obvious devotion to Olivia. She’d held out a desperate hope that he’d step up, declaring Sabrina was too good a friend to let go. She sighed. It really was over. Logan was in the past.
Her future was ahead in a blooming career. She’d promised her literary agent she’d work up an outline for her relationship book while she was in LA, and she was excited by the idea. If only she could get past her total failure in the relationship department, then she could be open to whatever happiness awaited in the future. The hard thing was waiting for that future to happen.
She closed her eyes, her mind replaying the party last night for the hundredth time. She’d really tried to give Logan a signal, but she’d gotten more and more nervous about exactly how to do that without throwing herself at him, and ended up drinking more and more wine. He’d spent most of the time looking baffled, some of it entertained, and then he’d yelled at her just because Marcus drank from her glass. That was uncalled for. It wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong. Although…he had said she looked amazing in Claire’s dress. Of course, so did her friends, so that didn’t mean more than a friend thing.
There was a moment there. A brief moment after he’d apologized when he’d leaned so close she’d thought they might kiss. And she’d wanted that more than anything, but then she’d remembered that was her attraction for him, not his for her. And he was with Olivia.
Goodbye, Logan. Hello, future happiness. She hoped. She deserved a little happiness, didn’t she? She reclined her seat, tired of wallowing, and drifted to sleep.
She woke just before landing. Once at the airport, she found her ride, which whisked her off to a hotel in Beverly Hills. Her appearance onThe Joanne Showwas tomorrow afternoon. Claire had advised her to arrive a day early to get over the jet lag.
And what a day it was! She relaxed poolside, feeling decadent as she readMarried to my Fiancéand sipped pomegranate-flavored iced tea. She could get used to this kind of life. Claire had arranged everything, and she couldn’t thank her enough.
The next day she arrived atThe Joanne Showfor the one o’clock taping, refreshed and ready to go. The show would air at four o’clock today. She was whisked to hair and makeup, where first her makeup was applied and then her hair done. She wore her royal blue silk blouse with charcoal gray pants and her new metallic heels with wings. Claire had declared her outfit was the perfect middle ground between professional and stylish.
Joanne Fisher walked into the hair and makeup area to greet her. In person she was even prettier than on TV. She was probably in her forties, her dark hair highlighted with auburn, ending just past her jaw. Her eyes were brown, warm and sparkling with good humor. Like Logan’s eyes.Nope. Not going there.
Joanne took the makeup chair next to Sabrina. “So you’re the Hollywood Love Guru. Who’s on your client list?”
Sabrina felt herself flush. Claire had encouraged her to embrace the label. It was, after all, the main reason Sabrina had been invited on all these talk shows. As uncomfortable as it was for her, knowing it had only been gossip that led to the label, Sabrina went along with it for the greater good. Her agent had assured her that the talk shows would lead to a lucrative book deal with a big marketing budget, which would mean a large audience for her book. That was what it all came down to for Sabrina—helping the most women she could with the kind of committed relationship they deserved.
Sabrina kept her tone professional. “Patient confidentiality means I never share identifying details.”
“But you helped Claire Jordan.”
Sabrina smiled, repeating herself. “Patient confidentiality means I never share details on any of my clients.” Claire had advised her to repeat her answer over and over whenever she didn’t want to go into more detail, until the interviewer moved on. It was better than saying “no comment,” which Sabrina had thought sounded too closed off for a counselor.
Joanne shifted gears. “So I reviewed the tape fromSunshine America.” The makeup artist smoothed foundation on Joanne’s face. “You mentioned helping your friends who struggled with committed relationships. Was that them having trouble committing or their boyfriends?”
Sabrina chose her words carefully. The last thing she wanted was to throw another friend under the bus. She didn’t kid herself that anything said backstage wouldn’t then be brought up in front of the cameras. “Eventually, there was a mutual commitment. My friends and I are in a singles book club, the Happy Endings Book Club, originally for the purpose of finding love.”
“I love that! The Happy Endings Book Club!”
Sabrina smiled to herself, thinking of some of the early votes for club names. Mad had been campaigning hard for SLUTS (Super Lovers of Underrated Terrific Stories). “It turned out no men were interested in dishing about books with us, so we dropped the singles part and just focused on the romance novels we all love.”
“A romance book club. Cool! What’s your favorite read?”
“We all loved the Fierce trilogy. That’s how we met Claire Jordan. She was brought in by a former member, the author of the books.”
Joanne grabbed Sabrina’s arm. “Those books are so steamy.”
“Right?”
Joanne looked up while makeup was applied to her eye. “So the Happy Endings Book Club is dedicated to romance, and you help your friends achieve that in real life. Is that how it works?”
“In a way, yes. We help each other, you know, bear witness to all the ups and downs. Everyone’s so supportive.”
Joanne pushed the makeup lady’s hand back from her eye and leaned close to Sabrina. “I think I want to join this book club too.”
Sabrina smiled. “We’d love to have you, but you’d have to move to Connecticut.”
She laughed. “So have you worked things out with Logan?”
Sabrina tensed; the loss of him still fresh. But Joanne didn’t know that. As far as everyone else knew, they’d had a lovers’ quarrel on the street in Manhattan. “We’d like to keep our relationship private. Everything’s fine, though.” She was not about to declare a fake breakup of her fake relationship just before a big interview. Besides, she wanted to keep the focus on her career, not her crappy love life.
The makeup lady resumed adding eyeliner to Joanne’s eyes, and Joanne got quiet. Good. Sabrina had handled that like a pro. She decided to ask a question of her own. “So—”
