Page 73 of I'll Carry You

“So I’m just a slut, then?” She narrowed her gaze as though trying to decide if she was offended.

“No.” He pulled her closer, kissing her jaw. “You’re the perfect combination of innocent and dirty, exactly when you need to be. Which makes you unbelievably fucking hot.” He swept her up into a kiss, and she gave a low, throaty moan before pulling away.

“If I don’t hurry, I’m going to be late. And my parents like to sit in the front row with my brother Warren and his wife. I don’t want to cross over everyone to get to Colby.” She disentangled herself from his arms.

“The one time you worry about not being late.” He gave her a teasing glance, lifting a brow.

“Oh, shut up.” She laughed, grabbing her overnight bag and hurrying to the bathroom.

When she’d left, Jason made a coffee, grabbed his laptop, and returned to the loft bed. He opened the browser to theFinancial Times,an old habit he’d developed in college.

He’d avoided the thought of another job while he was here in Brandywood, but it was something he’d have to think about soon. Ironically, as long as he’d been in the world of business, he’d never had to search for a job. He’d started going into the office with his father as a boy and later interned there in high school and college. As luck would have it, the CFO position opened a year after he’d graduated with his master's. Cavanaugh Metals was a family business. Of course, it was going to stay in the family.

Until it didn’t.

With forty percent of the shares to the company tied up in an inheritance trust, who knew if there would be a company for Colby to benefit from in fifteen years?

The thought made his stomach clench with nausea. And there was little he could do to change things now. He was on the outside without those shares and fired. He’d watch Powell and Chad torch what his family had created—and it would die.

Just like everyone else did.

He rubbed his eyes, dropping back against the pillow, trying to get more comfortable. He could still smell the scent of Jen’s perfume against the sheets. Time was running out to settle the inheritance issue for Colby. And Ned was bound to find out the truth soon if he hadn’t already. But if he told Jen about everything now and his idea to marry her and adopt Colby, would he lose her? He couldn’t promise her the marriage of her dreams, but they seemed to be compatible. Sex was great, too. In a lot of ways, this was the best solution he could have come up with. It honored what his grandfather wanted to do with his will, in theory, while still allowing Jason the chance to save the company.

He wouldn’t lie to her and let her make the mistake of thinking about this romantically. It was a business transaction. He’d never wanted to marry again, and he couldn’t pretend the thought really appealed to him. Women changed when they were comfortably married—both in and out of the bedroom. But he cared about her and Colby, and she would want for nothing. If he could get Mildred to let him work something out with that hardware store, too, he’d give her the key to her dreams. She could stay in Brandywood, and he would...he’d find something somewhere.It wouldn’t matter. Jen didn’t really need him.

Cavanaugh Metals wouldn’t lose its importance. He wouldn’t be the Cavanaugh to let it fail. His father wouldn’t have let it fail because his father never, ever gave up on the people he loved. Jason knew that all too well.

Swallowing a bitter sip of coffee, he turned his attention back to the computer and clicked through the headlines. Then he saw Bill Powell’s photo.“Bill Powell: Guiding Cavanaugh Metals Into the Future as its New President.”

Rage surged through him.That son of a bitch.

Closing the article, he slammed the laptop shut and sprang out of the bed. He was tempted to call the bastard and ream him out.

The phone rang in his hand. A number he didn’t recognize popped into his call log, but from the area code, it seemed to be local to Brandywood. He answered.

“Jason.” TJ’s voice had none of its typical humor. “You busy?”

“Not at the moment.” Jason sat on the edge of the bed, staring out the enormous window of the loft. Outside, the sky was a crystalline blue, the bare branches of the trees reaching into the cloudless view.

“I’m in jail. I need you to bail me out.”

As TJ walkedout of the police station with Jason, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’m going to kill you. I never gave you those cameras, thinking you’d turn around andgive them right back to Ned.I’m facing felony charges, dude. Fel-o-ny.”

The knot in Jason’s stomach tightened. “I’m so sorry, man. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

TJ glared. “I know what you were thinking. You were thinking you could pull some macho, tough-guy move. Telling Ned we were onto him, I was fine with. Giving him the damn cameras, though?” He hooked his fingers into claws, shaking them in front of him as though he was strangling someone. “My fingerprints are all over those damned things!”

Jason cringed. He hadn’t thought about that. “Doesn’t water ruin prints?”

“Not necessarily. Especially if the objects don’t stay in the water long. Vickers might be lying to scare me, but if he’s telling the truth, I’m screwed.”

“I’m going to pay for your legal fees.” Jason unlocked his car as they approached it.

“Doesn’t mean I won’t go to jail. Stalking. Illegal surveillance. Threats. Not to mention the fact that I can’t follow the dude anymore. I have a fucking restraining order.” TJ opened the passenger door, plopped down into the seat, then slammed the door.

Normally, Jason would comment about someone slamming his car door, but TJ’s anger was warranted. He got in the driver’s side and sat, letting out a slow sigh. Ned had been quiet for too long. He should have known he was planning to strike a move.

“What now, then? What do we do about Ned?” Jason started the car. He felt a headache coming on, the muscles in the back of his neck and shoulders so taut that they felt as though they might stay permanently frozen like that. He tried to roll them out.

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