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She hadn’t waited on him, but she’d noticed him because he sat at a booth, alone, and she’d wished he’d sat at the counter, where singles usually sat. Pinkie’s had a policy about keeping booths free for larger groups. She’d debated asking him to move, but had decided against it since the diner wasn’t busy.
Something about him had drawn her interest. She remembered thinking he looked shifty, or maybe sad, the way he kept staring out the front window. Maybe both.
So. Oh, yes. She’d definitely seen Colin Morgan before; she’d seen him at Pinkie’s, sitting in the front corner booth. He’d been there that terrible, terrible day when Sabela had foolishly put all her hopes in a stupid lottery drawing. The day she lost the last of her innocence … she’d thought.
Colin had been there. Had he seen her crying in Diana’s arms?
Something was going on, and Sabela’s mind whirled with possibilities. She shivered again. This wasn’t right. Everything was wrong.
And somehow, she needed to find out what game Colin Morgan was playing.
Chapter Seventeen
THE HEAT THAT SPREAD THROUGH his chest and left him feeling alive wasn’t because of the scotch. Colin hadn’t had a drop of it yet. All of it was because of Sabela and how well their meal had gone.
For a while, he’d been so enthralled he’d actually forgotten about the plan.
Who knew that a dinner eaten in the kitchen would be enjoyable? The only times he’d been in the kitchen were to consult with Marie about dinner preparations, and even then his visits had been brief at best.
It had been spontaneous, and a good time. Maybe forcing Sabela into doing the activities he enjoyed was the wrong way to go about things. She seemed so much happier tonight than she had at any other time while in the chalet, and Colin wanted to foster that joy for as long as he could.
As loosened up and at ease with each other as they now were, he found himself in an excellent position to take advantage of the situation and really advance his personal agenda.
But Colin found he wasn’t as interested in exploiting her anymore.
Sabela was a bright and talented young woman. In many ways, she was superior to Blanca, and he felt guilty for making such a comparison. He couldn’t stop himself, though. Blanca had been sweet and innocent. There’d been no challenge in her. Sabela on the other hand …
Maybe his plans could be modified so no harm was done to Sabela. After all, it wasn’t her that Colin wanted to destroy.
Liquor would soothe his nerves and shake the shackles of what had been. Liquor always helped, and the scotch was as good as he had bragged it would be. What he didn’t tell Sabela was that this brand of scotch, Yamazaki 35-year old scotch, cost more than twenty-five thousand dollars. He looked forward to her reaction when she tasted it.
What else could he expose Sabela to that she’d never experienced before? She’d led such a narrow life in Brent Grove. The possibilities were limitless.
How many of them would make her smile like she smiled for him tonight?
Colin turned to hand Sabela a glass. She was no longer smiling. Instead, she glared at him, seated primly on the couch, hands clenched in her lap, lips pressed thin and brow knitted.
Then he saw the pink matchbook in her hand and realized what he’d done. The bottom fell out of his stomach.
“You were there,” she said. It wasn’t a question.
How could he have overlooked such an incriminating detail? Colin’s back went rigid, and he set the glasses of scotch back down upon the table, buying himself a second to think.
He’d committed another blunder. A stupid oversight. He’d been so pleased to share the evening with Sabela that he hadn’t remembered he’d left the matchbook in the lounge the previous day.
The plan was starting to unravel by its seams. His mind worked frantically.
Was it time to talk his way out, or was it time to let the game end without the victory he’d anticipated? He’d try the first and accept the second if absolutely necessary. Failure would be a bitter pill to swallow, though.
“I was,” he replied, keeping it simple, not certain of which day she meant.
The line between her brows grew deeper. ”Why didn’t you tell me that already?”
“I was there.” He could give up part of the truth. What he didn’t tell her would be the key to salvaging the plan.
Sabela’s fiercely calm tone drew him back to her. “So you saw what happened.”
She didn’t say anything else, but he now knew which day she was referencing. Crowded around the dinky television screen in the diner, Sabela had dissolved into tears, and Colin had watched her do it.
As strong as she’d been at the Haberlin Chalet, he’d come to understand that she didn’t like exposing weaknesses. The fact that he had witnessed her breakdown likely made her feel vulnerable. He couldn’t blame her.
“I saw a young woman in distress after the lottery numbers were announced. All I did was ask one of the other waitresses what was wrong, and she told me that you had everything riding on that one ticket, and that you weren’t sure how you were going to make ends meet without hitting it big.”
Sabela’s face fell, her anger fading away. “It was so stupid to think I had a shot at winning, but it was all I could hope for. There wasn’t any other way I was going to get out of debt unless the stars lined up just right, and … do you understand what your assistance has meant to me and my brother?”
Colin had been prepared to be hardened against her response, expecting her to yell and scream at him for intruding in her life. He wasn’t expecting her to soften so soon.
“We’ve all encountered rough times. I was happy to help,” he said, falling back on old, trite platitudes.
“Why me?” she asked, her sparkling eyes gazing up at him.
The question hung in the air between them.
Colin stuck his hand into his pocket and picked up one of the glasses of scotch with the other. The amber liquid swirled against the glass, an excuse to look away from her.
The way she opened up to him, honest and sincere, made him ache. How could he plot against a woman like Sabela? She’d been doing her best with a bad situation, and he wasn’t going to make it any easier.
But he still couldn’t tell her the truth. The past hurt too much.
“Would you believe me if I said I don’t like seeing a beautiful woman cry?”
The glass of scotch clinked as he set it back on the table. He turned back to Sabela, swallowed the lump in his throat and took a few hesitant steps forward.
Sabela watched him approach, patient … trusting? How could that be when he’d done nothing but lie to her?
When he stopped before her, he gently ran the back of his hand down her velvety cheek. “There was something about seeing you in distress that day that struck a chord inside of me. I wanted to help you.”
The dark browns of her eyes shimmered. There were tears in them, he realized. Even when she was in pain, she looked stunning.
“All of this has gone wrong from the start,” he said. “I know that I’m not the easiest person to get along with, but I have a heart and I have feelings just like anyone else.”
Sabela remained silent, but her expression softened.
> “Will you give me a second chance?” he asked. “We can get to know each other all over again, and this time I’ll do my best not to stick my foot in my mouth. I’ll treat you with the respect you deserve.”
The tears grew fatter in the corners of her eyes, and she blinked them away. At last, she nodded.
Colin dropped his hand and sank down onto the couch beside her.
What would she think if she knew he had returned to Pinkie’s on that same day for the past four years? Sabela wasn’t dumb. He knew that she’d start to put the pieces together. She’d only begun to ask questions. Of that, he was certain.
He’d have to think fast to keep the plan moving forward.
There was a chance that he could see the game through to completion, but the prospect of winning didn’t feel so satisfying anymore.
Chapter Eighteen
SABELA SAT BESIDE COLIN, WANTING to start over, but not knowing if she could. How could she forgive a man who’d taken her from her home unannounced, treated her like he owned her, and had hidden the fact that he’d orchestrated a financial aid application?
Until she found the Pinkie’s matchbook, every moment with this man had been a lie. Was he lying still?
Outside, the snow had started to fall again. Big, puffy flakes hit the windows and slid down in wet streaks. Inside, the warmth from the fireplace soothed her.
The revelation that Colin was at Pinkie’s that night was shocking, but it also connected pieces of the story that hadn’t made sense to her before. It wasn’t her out of thousands of other applicants he’d selected to come play escort – he was helping her and her alone, and out of any other woman. And it was all because he’d seen her lose her composure at the diner.
Everything was overly complicated, though, and it didn’t all make sense, not yet anyway. She had plenty of questions that still needed answered.
Sabela wasn’t pleased with the choices Colin had made to get to where they were, but she felt less like an object and more like an individual now that the truth had come to light.
