Chapter 3

Dominic's POV

I was driving past the bridal shop when I saw her.

Grandma had set up another blind date for tonight. I took the long way around the city just to avoid the restaurant. Then I caught the flash of white in the window. A bride yanking a curtain open so hard the rings rattled. I slowed the car without thinking.

It was her. Sabrina Winston. The girl who showed up at Titan Capitals six months ago with those damn strawberry tarts. The one I had been trying to push out of my head ever since.

She stood frozen for one second, then her face changed. She looked at the man in front of her like she wanted to kill him.

It was Mike. My customer service manager. Also, Sabrina's fiancé. And some woman in Sabrina's wedding dress, legs still wrapped around him.

Sabrina said something I could not hear through the glass. Then she drove her knee straight up between his legs. Hard. Clean. Mike dropped like someone cut his strings.

I felt my mouth pull into a smile I did not plan. Cool girl.

She turned and shoved the shop door open. The white dress dragged behind her as she ran into the street.

Something in my chest pulled tight. I told myself to keep driving. She was Mike's problem. Not mine. But my hand was already on the door handle.

I got out and followed her.

I called her but she walked fast at first and didn't hear my voice.

Then she walked slower. I stayed half a block back.

She wiped her face with the back of her hand. Black streaks came off on her skin. She talked to herself. I caught pieces when the wind shifted. Something about the farm. Money. Her parents. Mike had threatened to kill the investment.

Mike. I had barely noticed the name before. Just another manager in customer service with numbers that never stood out.

The kind of face that blended into every meeting. Then six months ago after Sabrina showed up with those tarts, I came back from a business trip and thought about asking her to dinner.

My assistant Andy mentioned she was dating one of the managers. Mike. That was the first time the name actually stuck.

I wanted to ask that crying girl what happened.

Just then three men appeared. Hoodies. One with a tattoo on his neck. They moved in on her like she was already theirs. One grabbed her arm. I was walking faster before I decided to.

"Take your hands off her."

They froze. I kept coming. They saw my face and stepped back. Smart.

She bit the one holding her. He yelled and shoved her hard. She went backward, arms out, dress tangling around her legs.

I moved without thinking. My arm went around her waist and caught her before she hit the pavement. Her back slammed into my chest. Warm. Soft. The thin lace did nothing to hide the curve of her waist under my hand.

I kept my arm there. I did not want to let go yet.

Andy and two of the security team pulled up in the SUV right then. I had texted him the second I saw the men.

They handled the trash fast. The three guys were gone in under a minute.

I looked down at her. She was still pressed against me. Her breathing was fast. I could feel it. She opened her eyes.

And I was done pretending I could forget her.

Sabrina's POV

I opened my eyes and looked straight into ice-blue eyes.

Mr. Dominic Hudson. Mike's boss. The man I had only met once, six months ago, when everything was already falling apart.

The memory hit fast.

The hurricane had wrecked two greenhouses. The bank said no to any more loans. Dad's face had gone gray when he told me.

I took the last of our savings, baked every strawberry we had left into tarts, and drove to the city.

I had no appointment. The front desk at Titan Capitals laughed when I said I needed to see the owner. They told me to leave.

I was desperate. When I saw him walk in through the side entrance I ran after him like an idiot.

"Mr. Hudson!" I had called out, holding the box like it was gold. "I'm your biggest fan from the farm! I made this strawberry tart special for you. It's fresh out of the oven… Go ahead and taste my pie. I promise it's warm, juicy, and I made it by hand this morning."

The second the words left my mouth I wanted to die. My face went hot. I sounded like an idiot. But he had stopped, looked at me for a long second, then taken the tart and bitten into it right there in the lobby.

"Good," he said. "Send the proposal to my client manager."

That client manager was Mike. That was how everything started.

Now Dominic Hudson was holding me up in the middle of the street, his arm still tight around my waist.

His chest was solid against my back. I could feel his breath near my ear. My heart was hammering for too many reasons.

I turned in his arm so I could see his face. The words came out in a rush.

"Please," I said. "Don't pull the investment because of Mike. The farm needs it. I'll give you more of the profit on the new vegetables we're growing. Whatever you want. Just don't let him kill the deal."

He looked down at me. His eyes were calm but something dark and heavy sat behind them. He still hadn't moved his hand from my waist. His fingers stayed pressed against the lace like he had no intention of letting go.

He cut me off before I could keep begging.

"I can keep the investment," he said. His voice was low and cold. "But I don't need money. And I don't do charity."

He stepped in closer. The space between us disappeared. His gaze dropped straight to my mouth and stayed there.

"You help me deal with my grandmother," he said. "Marry me."

I stared at him. The word hit me so hard I forgot how to breathe.