Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [23]
Sage tried holding on to her smile. “May I come in, Rose?”
“Sure,” Rose responded, stepping aside. “Sage, please tell me what’s wrong.”
Sage nodded. As she turned toward Rose’s living room, she heard a noise coming from Rose’s bedroom. It was then that she noted Rose was wearing a robe, and it was obvious she didn’t have on anything underneath.
“Oh, Rose, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come. You have company,” she said, moving toward the door to leave.
Rose reached out and grabbed her arm. “Whoa, slow down. You aren’t going anywhere. Besides, he was just leaving.”
No sooner had Rose spoken those words, than a man walked out of the bedroom, buttoning up his shirt. Sage blinked, and her mouth nearly dropped open. It was Mr. Poole. He glanced up, surprised to see her as much as she was to see him. He was wearing the same clothes that she had last seen him in earlier, which meant he had come home with Rose straight from the airport.
Sage racked her brain trying to remember if she had noticed something going on between them while they were in Anchorage or on the flight back home, and for the life of her, she hadn’t detected a thing.
“Ms. Dunbar,” he greeted, after clearing his throat.
“Mr. Poole.” Goodness, she thought, the man was their boss, yet he stood in Rose’s living room with obvious signs of what he and Rose had been doing. What on earth could Rose have been thinking to sleep with him? But then, Sage decided, she had problems of her own to deal with and couldn’t get involved with anyone else’s.
“Are you all right, Ms. Dunbar? You seem upset about something.”
Sage felt her cheeks heat up. From the way both Rose and Mr. Poole were staring at her, it was obvious they could tell she’d been crying. “Yes, I’m fine, but a personal matter has come up. Will it be possible for me to have tomorrow off?”
He nodded as he continued to look at her. “Yes, sure. And if you need more time, let me know.”
“Thank you.” Sage nibbled on her lower lip, suddenly feeling awkward when he walked over to Rose and whispered something in her ear. Whatever he said made Rose smile.
“I’ll see you when you return to the office, Ms. Dunbar,” he said, holding her gaze.
Sage nodded as she watched him open the door and walk out, closing it behind him.
Rose didn’t waste any time crossing the room, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the kitchen where she pulled out a chair from the table. “Now sit and tell me what the hell is going on, Sage,” she ordered, taking a chair across from her.
At first Sage couldn’t say anything, but her hesitation lasted for only a moment. She could feel fresh tears spring into her eyes when she met Rose’s gaze and said, “Erol took nearly every cent I have from my bank accounts without telling me.”
“How could he do such a thing!” Sage didn’t think she had ever seen Rose so mad. After telling her friend the entire story, she had watched Rose silently get out of her chair and walk over to the sink to make coffee. She had said nothing during the process, but after setting a cup on the table in front of her, Rose evidently had gathered her wits and had quite a lot to say.
“I just can’t believe he would do that to you, Sage. What on earth could he possibly have been thinking about?”
Sage had the answer to that one. “Getting rich quick,” she answered bitterly.
“Yes, but he should have talked it over with you first,” Rose responded, shaking her head. She reached out and touched Sage’s arm. “Are you sure you want to go so far as to call off the wedding, though?”
Sage nodded slowly, decisively. “Yes. Erol had the perfect opportunity to tell me about it that morning, and he chose not to. And the thought that he let me go to Alaska without sufficient funds in my checking account tees me off. What if I had needed money due to some sort of an emergency? But the really bad part about it is that he used the money my grandmother gave me. He knew how I got that money and what it was for. Part of it was to pay for our wedding and was to be used as a down payment on our