The Ultimate Merger

Sabrina didn’t think she could have experienced a greater shock if the force of a lightning bolt had coursed through her body. For a moment she froze, bewitched by a pair of eyes as black as midnight.

Unnerved, she dragged her eyes away, but not before she registered the man’s other features: an aquiline nose, short-cut hair the same color of his eyes, and swarthy skin which suggested he might be Italian or Latin. His white shirt opened at the collar to reveal a strong throat and a sprinkling of crisp, black hair.

Even though she’d looked away, she knew he still watched. She could feel it.

“What can I get for you?” the bartender asked with a friendly smile.

She ordered a glass of red wine. When he walked away, she picked up the menu to check out the selection of appetizers, disregarding the biting intensity of the feelings that had just flowed through her. A few minutes later, she placed an order for stuffed mushrooms and had a glass of wine in her hand.

Glancing around the bar, careful not to look straight ahead again, she regretted telling Ernestine not to come. They always had fun when they hung out together. Well, she’d have the next best thing soon enough. She’d left Samuel a voice mail before she left work, so he should be here soon.

Unable to resist, she let her eyes drift back across the bar. A pretty brunette had joined the man, and he bent his head to her as they talked. Sabrina stared down into the maroon liquid in her glass. She was meeting Samuel, and she didn’t have dibs on the stranger, but a feeling of disappointment stole over her.

Between the problems at work and her overactive imagination about a complete stranger, she was on her way to winning the award for Doom and Gloom. During moments like these, the doubts started creeping in, and she needed a distraction from the empty void she feared her life had become.

“Nice band,” she said to the bartender as he set a newly replenished bowl of nuts nearby. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them play here before.”

“They’re new. This is only their second night.” He walked away to take another patron’s order.

She drummed her fingers against the top of the bar and did what she shouldn’t—compared her life to Ernestine’s. At forty, Ernestine was fourteen years older than Sabrina, and she had a husband and a family waiting for her. When she walked through the door, their eyes would light up and they’d be happy to see her. Maybe her son and daughter would even rush into her arms the minute she crossed the threshold.

Sabrina’s fingers slowed to a stop, and she swallowed hard to shut out the painful memories of growing up on the South Side of Chicago. The emotional scars kept her focused on the prize of success, but there were times when she wanted…She lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip of the fruity wine, shutting her eyes and welcoming the darkness for several seconds.

She wanted to be welcomed home. She wanted someone to miss her, need her. But the truth was, she feared taking the leap. She didn’t want her plans derailed, and getting involved with a man who didn’t understand her focus and drive could do that.

As a child, she’d managed to survive when her mother would disappear for days at a time, leaving her and her younger cousin in the apartment alone to fend for themselves. She knew what it was like to live on nothing but stale bread and ketchup or whatever she could beg for from the neighbors. Inconceivable to most people, but that was the world she’d known, and she could never go back to it.

The memories made her bust her butt every single day to succeed in the male-dominated world of the career she’d chosen—Plan A. She didn’t even have a Plan B because failure wasn’t an option.

Again she cast what she hoped was a surreptitious glance over to the other side. He and the brunette were no longer there.

Sabrina’s phone vibrated, and she retrieved it from her purse. Samuel had texted her. Something had come up and he had to cancel. She sighed heavily. She couldn’t win for losing today. What a great way to coast into the weekend.

“Excuse me.” A low, accented, very male voice spoke beside her. Sabrina looked up, and up into the dark depths of a pair of eyes set in a face even more striking up close. A knot formed deep in her belly. He held a drink in one hand. “My name is Renaldo da Silva. Do you mind if I join you?”