One Little Indiscretion

by Joss Wood

  She couldn’t, unfortunately, look beneath the surface of a person’s psyche and see the black mess below. That wasn’t a superpower she possessed.

  She’d made the correct decision based on all the information she had. She hadn’t done anything wrong...

  Dennis, that superb conman, was at fault, not her.

  Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong with her judgment. And maybe, just maybe, she should start to trust herself again.

  Sadie leaned back and stared out the window of the upmarket bistro, not seeing the wet and dismal day beyond the cold pane. Sadie could feel something uncurling inside her soul, felt her heart starting to stretch.

  It felt good, dammit.

  More than good, it felt amazing.

  And she wouldn’t allow the Sturgis sisters to poison it. Being around them, listening to them, was toxic and she was done. Sadie looked at Tamlyn, taking in her perfect makeup and artfully arranged hair.

  Pretty but poisonous.

  And Beth’s loyalty would always be to her sister. Sadie understood it, but she needed to break the cycle.

  Enough. She was done.

  Sadie heard the ringing of her phone from her bag and pounced on the device, thankful for the distraction. Seeing Carrick’s name on her screen had her heart jumping and her lips curving. He made her heart smile. How could that be a bad thing?

  “Hey, Carrick.” She emphasized his full name and saw Tamlyn’s eyebrows pull together.

  “You left early this morning. Why didn’t you wake me?” Carrick’s deep voice washed over her. Sadie smiled and for the first time since she sat down, she felt at ease. Carrick made her feel like that; Tamlyn and Beth did not.

  Sadie saw the look the sisters exchanged and ignored them, choosing to focus on the man on the other side of her call. “I needed to work and I’m leaving for the airport soon.”

  “Remind me where you are going and when you’ll be back?”

  “Depending on what information I find at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, I’ll be back the day after tomorrow.”

  Carrick didn’t immediately reply and when the silence lengthened, Sadie fought the urge to break it.

  “I’m going to miss you.”

  So good things did come to those who waited.

  His voice was sandpaper rough, coated with emotion and his few words, quietly uttered, were the equivalent of him handing her the moon. Conscious of her audience, Sadie softly told him that she’d miss him, too.

  Carrick cleared his throat. “Oh, by the way, I think you left some pills on the bathroom counter.”

  Sadie frowned. “I don’t think I did. I scooped up all my toiletries when I left.”

  “Well, I’m holding a bottle of vitamins for pregnant women and another container labeled as folic acid.”

  Her pregnancy vitamins. Dammit. She’d forgotten all about them. “Ah, dammit.”

  “What’s folic acid?”

  Happy to be talking to him, and still hearing the emotion in his voice, Sadie placed her elbow on the table and rested her cheek in her hand, allowing her hair to be a barrier between her and the outside world.

  Sadie smiled at his pronunciation of the vitamin. But she couldn’t explain; Beth and Tamlyn were listening to her side of the conversation. “Suffice to say that its necessary for the proper development of the process.”

  “Ah. Then you shouldn’t miss a dose. Where are you? I’ll bring them to you right now.”

  Sadie grinned at the concern in his voice. “That’s really not necessary. I can easily pick up more.” She glanced at her watch. “And I have to leave in the next ten minutes if I’m going to make my flight.”

  “Don’t rush. Stress is bad for the baby. And for you.”

  His concern, and his tenderness, melted her from the inside out. “I’m fine, really.”

  “Don’t push yourself too hard. Try and get some rest on the plane.”

  Touched, Sadie didn’t point out that it was a ninety-minute flight from Boston to Richmond. “I’ll keep in touch.”

  “I’m about to go into a series of meetings so I’ll be going dark for pretty much the rest of the day. But be safe, okay?”

  “Will do.”

  “Hurry home, sweetheart.”

  Sadie heard his call disconnect and closed her eyes, wanting to hold on to the dizzy-making, soul-jumping feeling. This was what falling in love felt like, this deep-in-her-heart feeling of completeness. Suddenly, the impossible—a future together, being together as they raised their child, living and loving and fighting and touching—seemed possible.

  It was a heady feeling...

  “You’re crazy about him.” Tamlyn’s words were coated with accusation.

  Yep, she was.

  “Are you insane?” Beth’s question sounded a tad screechy. “Has nothing we told you about him penetrated your stubborn head?”

  Without Beth’s trust and support, Sadie didn’t know how they could continue to be friends. As for working together... Beth was a great virtual assistant but she was also privy to all Sadie’s personal information. If she couldn’t trust Beth on a personal level, could she trust her with business details?

  Sadie shook her head. “Beth, your determination to interfere in something that has nothing to do with you is hurting our friendship and our working relationship. It needs to stop. Right now.”

  “Don’t talk to her like that, Sadie. She’s just trying to help you. Carrick is bad news. What will it take for you to believe that?”

  Beth sent Tamlyn a panicked look, obviously caught in the middle. Sadie wasn’t going to ask her to choose between her and her sister—she’d probably lose if she did—but she wouldn’t tolerate them bad-mouthing Carrick.

  But neither did she need to give Tamlyn any information to spread around.

  “I like Carrick...” Jeez, she could practically feel her nose growing longer with that lie. “I genuinely think he’s a nice guy. We are friends. That’s all that’s between us.”

  Yep, her nose was definitely an inch longer.

  But it wasn’t a complete lie; they were friends. She was in love with him, he wasn’t in love with her and friends-sharing-sex was probably all they’d ever be.

  Sadie sent Tamlyn a hard look. “And I genuinely believe you’ve badly maligned him, possibly because he had the balls to get out of a toxic marriage. But apart from being my client, he’s also my friend and I refuse to listen to anything else you have to say about him.”

  “But...”

  Sadie held up her hand to stop Tamlyn from speaking. “No, I’m done listening to you. And if there’s a whiff of speculation in the press about us, about Carrick, I’m coming after you, Tamlyn.” Sadie turned her determined glance onto Beth. “And I do not want to hear another negative word from you about Carrick ever again, Beth. Are we clear?”

  Beth nodded, her expression sulky.

  She wasn’t getting off that easy. “I need to hear you say the words, Elizabeth.”

  Yeah, she was using full names to get her point across.

  “Yes, okay...jeez!”

  Sadie wanted to call her out on her tone and her massive eye roll, but this wasn’t the place and she was out of time. Standing up, she picked up her tote bag and put it over her shoulder.

  Feeling exhausted, Sadie rested her hand on the handle of her overnight case and tapped the stack of books she left on the table.

  “Beth, I’ve sent you a couple of emails. Please deal with those. And please contact the property management company in Paris and tell them that I am not renewing my lease on the apartment in Montparnasse.”

  She saw the questions and concern on Beth’s face and shook her head. It would be a while, if ever, before she felt comfortable sharing her thoughts and feelings with Beth again. “And please return these books to Finn Murphy when you next
head that way. If he’s not available you can leave them with his PA, Cole.”

  Beth nodded. “Okay.”

  Ignoring Tamlyn, Sadie told Beth she’d be in touch and walked away, pulling her suitcase behind her. Tamlyn was out of her life, and Sadie’s relationship with Beth was forever changed.

  All because Sadie chose to believe her intuition about Carrick.

  Man, she hoped she’d made the right call.

  * * *

  Joa followed Keely into the Irish pub and, over her shoulder, saw Tanna waving at them across the room. Joa smiled at her enthusiasm and then noticed the Brogan twins sitting on the bar stools on either side of her. Their oldest friend Darby stood next to Jules and they all watched Joa and Keely’s progress across the room.

  The whole gang was here.

  Yay.

  Joa pulled a smile onto her face and tried to look enthusiastic. Girls’ nights out weren’t her thing, but Keely, as bossy as hell, had nagged her into joining this one, telling Joa that she needed an uncomplicated evening with uncomplicated people.

  The Brogan twins and Keely were Boston royalty and Darby was the daughter of a well-known judge. They were smart, sophisticated and successful...

  Joa was...not.

  She fought the urge to bolt and when Keely’s hand encircled her wrist, she knew her friend was holding her in place. “You are not that fourteen-year-old runaway anymore, Joa Jones,” Keely hissed.

  Joa tossed her a sour look. “We have nothing in common, Keely.”

  “Rubbish. They are nice people and when you forget about that chip on your shoulder, you are, too. Now, smile, dammit!”

  Joa tried to tug her wrist from Keely’s iron-clad grip, but Keely was stronger than any restraint. Knowing that she was risking a scene, Joa followed Keely to her friends and hung back when they all exchanged what seemed to be genuine hugs.

  Joa, not being the touchy-feely type, kept herself out of hugging distance.

  Tanna smiled at her and asked what she wanted to drink. When they all placed their orders, Keely turned her attention back to Joa. “What’s the situation with you and Ronan? Are you going to help him out or not?”

  This again? Lord, she’d forgotten how pushy Keely could be. What she hadn’t forgotten was Ronan Murphy standing in his kitchen, looking messy and fierce and frustrated and so very sexy, muscles rippling under his tanned skin. Those memories ambushed her constantly.

  She thought about him far more than she should...

  Keely didn’t wait for her to answer. “Poor Ronan is pulling his hair out trying to work and look after them.”

  Why was that her problem? There were agencies and nannies in Boston—surely finding one wasn’t the impossibility Keely made it out to be?

  Before she could respond, Tanna, Ronan’s petite sister, jumped into the conversation. “Listen, I’ve heard some stories about my brothers when they were young that would curl your toes. I suspect Ro is raising himself. Times two.”

  Joa accepted her glass of wine, smiling at Tanna’s fond but frank assessment of her brother. She could easily imagine Ronan raising hell.

  Joa looked around and didn’t see Sadie, the one person she actually knew. “Sadie isn’t here?”

  Keely shook her head. “She’s gone to Virginia to do some research on our Homer.”

  “Our possible Homer,” Joa corrected her. There was no point in getting their hopes up.

  Keely ignored her and raised her eyebrows at Tanna. “How do you feel about becoming an aunt again?”

  Tanna smiled. “I’m over the moon. I just hope this one is a girl. I don’t know if this family can cope with more boys.”

  Keely laughed. “But can you imagine Carrick with a daughter? He was super-protective of you growing up. Can you imagine how overprotective he will be of his daughter?”

  Tanna pulled a face. “Sadie will keep him in line. I hope.”

  Darby sucked on her straw, her attention captured by a commotion at the door. “Well, wow.”

  They all turned around to look. Four impossibly good-looking guys stood by the entrance shedding their coats.

  “Darby Brogan-Huntley, you are so married!” Tanna said, laughter in her voice.

  Ignoring the thought that none of those men were as sexy as Ronan, Joa jumped into the conversation. “But I’m not. In fact, I’m very, very single. Who are they?”

  Keely slapped her arms across her chest and glared at the foursome who were heading toward the pool room to the left of the bar. “Those are the Seymour brothers. The one on the far left is the executor of our estate, Joa, Wilfred ‘Dare’ Seymour. How can you not know that?”

  Well, easily, since she’d only very briefly met the man, and, at the time, she’d been coping with soul sucking grief over Isabel’s death. Since returning home she’d heard a litany of complaints about Dare Seymour but Keely had never once mentioned that he was tall, dark and sinfully sexy.

  Purely to wind Keely up, Joa placed her tongue in her cheek. “He’s really hot. I think I need to be formally introduced to him.”

  “Do it and die,” Keely seethed.

  When none of them could contain their laughter, Keely tossed her hair and defiantly downed her glass of wine. “This is a girls’ night out and we’re not going to hit on, ogle or drool over any men.”

  Aw, but wasn’t that one of the joys of a girls’ night out? At least for single women?

  Oh, well, it didn’t matter since none of the Seymour clan could hold a candle to the current star of her sexual fantasies.

  * * *

  In Richmond, Sadie sat cross-legged on the bed in her very boring hotel room and squinted at the appalling picture on the wall opposite her. Call her spoiled but she’d spent a lot of time in Carrick’s house lately and his art collection was fantastic. Looking at generic, boring images as she went to bed was a hell of a crash back to earth. And reality.

  She loved Carrick’s house, loved the big rooms and the molded ceilings and original black-and-white-tiled floors. Okay, it was a little tired decor-wise, but nothing a paint job, new drapes and a few scatter cushions couldn’t sort out.

  When the baby came, they’d have to remove the precious and breakable items from the desks and tables, and put childproof locks on the cupboards and a security gate at the top of the stairs...

  Oh, God, she was acting like she was going to live there, like she had a say in how to decorate and childproof his house.

  She didn’t...

  She was just the mother of his child, and his current lover.

  And if she kept hoping and dreaming and planning, she would be setting herself up for a hell of a fall. It would be a long, painful plummet back to earth. Be sensible, Slade. Keep your expectations reality-based. And she should be thinking about where she wanted to live as she no longer had an apartment in Paris to run back to. Should she rent something close to Carrick’s house or should she buy a house? Could she even afford to buy anything in Carrick’s expensive area? Leaning forward, Sadie tapped her laptop keyboard and quickly entered a search for houses into her browser.

  Rolling through the options for sale, she grimaced at the prices of Beacon Hill properties.

  Her business was doing well, but not that well.

  She’d probably have to rent. Or look for a house in a less salubrious part of Boston. But one that had good schools.

  Or would Carrick expect their child to attend the same expensive schools he did? She didn’t know how she felt about private school education; she’d attended public schools and she’d turned out okay...

  They had so much to talk about. Discipline, schooling, manners, visitation rights...

  Feeling a little overwhelmed, Sadie fell backward, her head hitting the pillow. At some point they’d have to make decisions. They couldn’t keep operating in a sexual haze forever.

  She wanted
to, but it wasn’t practical...

  Her phone buzzed and Sadie patted the bed next to her, looking for the device. Picking it up, she held it close and squinted at the screen.

  Where are you? What are you doing?

  Her lips curved upward and her heart bounced off her chest. Carrick.

  In my hotel room. She hesitated, wondering if she was brave enough to tell him how she was feeling. I’m looking at an awful painting and missing...

  She deliberately stopped there, wanting to tease.

  Missing what?

  She laughed out loud while she typed. Your art. Sadie waited for a few beats before typing again.

  And you.

  Good answer. What are you wearing?

  Sadie looked down at her yoga pants and baggy sweatshirt and knew that she had to lie.

  Nothing.

  Mmm. Have you ordered something to eat?

  Sadie wrinkled her nose. She’d expected him to reply with some sexy comment, not to nag her about eating.

  I’m waiting for room service. They should be here any second.

  She saw that Carrick had read her message and sighed when she heard the sharp rap on her door. Climbing off the bed, she typed another message to Carrick.

  Stop nagging. My food has arrived.

  Not checking the peephole, she wrenched the door open, her eyes on her phone, waiting for Carrick’s reply. When she didn’t hear the rumble of a food cart, she looked up and her heart nearly exploded when she saw him standing in her doorway, a scowl on his masculine face.

  Sadie squealed, launched herself at him and he caught her as she jumped into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist.

  Sadie rained kisses on his face, so damn happy to see him. “Yay, you’re here,” she said in between kisses. “Why are you here?”

  Carrick gently covered her face with his big hand to stop her kisses. “I was missing you and I haven’t used my plane in a while.”

  Sadie leaned back to look into his amused face. “You have a plane?”

  “Mmm.”