Page 76 of Sugar & Shadows

I took his hand anyway. His grip was firm and controlled, just like the rest of him.

“How are your parents?” I asked.

He let out a practiced laugh. “You know Dad. Probably looking for wife number six, and Mom is in Palm Beach full time now.” Another sip, still watching me over the rim of his drink. “I was just congratulating Sabrina,” he said. “Impressive presentation. I was telling her that this town needs someone sharp like her to turn things around.”

The insult was thinly veiled, but I smiled anyway. And he wasn’t wrong. Sabrina was smarter and sharper than every person in this room, him included.

She didn’t react. She didn’t smile, didn’t soften. Just sipped her water, then turned to me slowly. “Do you have feedback? Is that what brought you over?”

She blinked a few times while I stared at her face, unable to look away.

She was focused and sharp, but with a hint of softness underneath. And an unreadable air. There was a lot more to her than she let people see. She held on to her secrets with both hands.

I wasn’t sure why that bothered me. Or why I was suddenly so obsessed with figuring her out.

Ethan cleared his throat. “I think what you’re building has real potential. Especially if scaled properly.”

Scaled.

Dumbass corporate speak. With every minute that passed, I liked the guy less. And I already hated any idea he could come up with.

Sabrina leaned forward, her brows raised in interest. “What kind of scaling are you envisioning?”

He put his elbows on the bar, his face way too close to hers for my comfort.

This motherfucker was flirting. Hard.

“We’re looking to optimize across verticals. Leverage assets dynamically.”

Was this guy serious? Teeth gritted, I eyed Sabrina.

Her expression was as serious as ever. She wasn’t flirting back, was she? No. Granted, I wasn’t sure she could flirt.

Not that it was stopping Ethan. With a sparkling smile, he went on. “Strategic partnerships. Investment. Expanding reach.”

Nothing specific; just more bullshit.

“We’re quite busy, but I’d be happy to talk specifics.” Sabrina’s response was polite and professional, but definitely not flirty. Though she wasn’t shutting him down either.

What the hell? The Sabrina Monroe I knew would have threatened him with castration by now. But she seemed unbothered.

With me she was verbally and sometimes physically violent, yet she seemed to have no trouble tolerating this.

“Maybe over dinner?” he suggested. “That will give us time to get into details.”

There it was.

The ask. It made the blood simmer in my veins.

“I’m pretty booked up.” Sabrina pulled out her phone and scrolled through her calendar. “Next Wednesday?”

“Seven?” Ethan asked, digging his own device out.

It took effort not to scoff. He probably would have agreed to meet her in five years if she asked.

“Works for me,” I said a little too loudly.

Sabrina blinked at me several times, her face unreadable.