Nine
Carrick had plans to leave work early today since Sadie was flying in from Richmond—her return delayed by two long days—and they’d agreed to dinner at his place. He’d already had Marsha arrange for delivery of oysters, champagne and beef Wellington from Geraint’s, an exclusive caterer who provided meals to crazies like him who needed special food at the last minute.
He planned on opening a bottle of champagne Krug Clos d’Ambonnay 1995, despite the fact that Sadie wouldn’t enjoy more than a sip of the four-thousand-dollar bottle. He’d been keeping the bottle for a special occasion but Sadie was, in herself, a special occasion.
And possibly the best thing that happened to him in, well, forever.
And he’d missed her, probably more than he should. He’d considered making another trip to Richmond to see her, but he got bogged down at work and while his partners might overlook one quick, non-work-related trip in the jet, they might object to a second one in less than a week.
But damn, he’d been tempted to personally cover the costs and just go.
Because, despite only knowing each other for a brief period, he’d missed waking up to her, rolling over and pulling her body into his and dropping back off to sleep. Or rolling over and not dropping back to sleep.
Carrick shut down his laptop and closed the lid. Something had changed between him and Sadie; something had fundamentally shifted and he wanted it defined, explained, to pull whatever they were feeling into the light. This wasn’t love, not yet, but it was close. And he wanted to know if he was the only one along for the ride.
Carrick stood and placed his hand on the back of his chair and looked out his window, smiling at the weak sunlight trying to penetrate the low clouds. The sky reminded him of John La Farge’s Snow Storm...hell, the woman even had him relating everything he saw back to art.
Carrick leaned his shoulder into the glass and stared down, his thoughts a million miles away. He was crazy about Sadie; he had been since the first time she walked into his office in that Bohemian dress and boots. She challenged him, intrigued and fascinated him and, yes, he was completely obsessed with her body...
And that was even before he threw in the added complication of her carrying his child...
Was he falling for her too fast? Was this another woman who was going to break his heart? Few knew him well enough to know that under his corporate persona was a bit of a romantic—a man who’d always wanted a family, a wife, someone he could call his own.
He’d thought he’d missed his chance when he divorced Tamlyn, mostly because he refused to put himself in the position of allowing another woman to hurt him. He’d tried to keep his defenses up with Sadie but she’d snuck her way into his life, filling up those cold and empty spaces in his heart and life with her sharp mind and vivacious personality.
Carrick knew Sadie saw him clearly, that she was no longer influenced by the stories she’d heard via Tamlyn and Beth. She knew him...he could see it in her eyes, feel it in her touch, in the way she handed herself over to him, trusting him to not only pleasure her, but to also keep her safe and treat her well. He no longer heard doubt in her voice and hadn’t seen that speculative look in her eyes for weeks.
It had taken a little time, but he was convinced that Sadie, with no explanation from him, now saw him for the man he was.
And that man was crazy about her.
And, God, he hoped she was feeling the same.
Either way, he needed to know. If they were both slipping into something deeper, more meaningful, then they could plan to raise their child together, two parents in one house and hopefully, in time, his ring on her finger.
But if he was the only one who was feeling a little mushy, he needed to find out now so he could shut down any growing feelings. And he would shut them down, without her suspecting a damn thing. He’d never beg her to love him.
Love, not freely given, wasn’t worth a damn.
But they were at a crossroads, and one of them had to take the first step, to open the dialogue. And, yeah, if a super-expensive bottle of Krug made that conversation easier, he wasn’t going to think about the four-thousand-dollar price tag.
Sadie was worth it.
Sadie was worth...
Close to everything.
Carrick heard the brief knock on his door and looked around to see his younger brother Finn in the open doorway, his dark blond hair as shaggy as always. Finn was dressed in his usual uniform of designer jeans and a black button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up above his wrists.
Unlike Carrick and Ronan, who were in the public eye, Finn spent most of his time in the basement of the building, which he’d converted into an office-cum-library-cum-lab. His researchers shared an open-plan office on the next floor up, but the basement was Finn’s domain and they rarely disturbed him when he was holed up in his inner sanctum. Finn needed quiet and solitude to work effectively and since he was a genius at what he did—research and provenance and detecting—Carrick and Ronan left him alone.
Finn came up for air when he wanted to, and it was always a pleasure to spend time with his youngest brother.
Except for today, when he’d really wanted to get home early.
But because he was the CEO and Finn’s older brother, he waved Finn in. Finn immediately headed for the hidden bar fridge and pulled from it two bottles of water. He tossed one at Carrick, who snapped his hand around the bottle. He didn’t want water; he wanted Sadie and that champagne.
And that conversation.