Page 55 of One Little Indiscretion

“Beth, your ex-sister-in—”

For the love of everything holy... “I know who Beth is, Finn.”

Finn’s uneasiness ratcheted up. “She dropped off some books I loaned Sadie and she was just about to leave when she took a call. She was in my office, standing on the other side of my desk so I couldn’t help listening in on her conversation. What she didn’t realize is that I am fluent in French.”

He was also fluent in German, Spanish and could converse in Mandarin and read Japanese. Finn had a gift for languages... And a gift for math, science and any type of learning and literature. Carrick just wished he didn’t love adrenaline as much as he loved books. He could do without knowing that his brother threw himself off buildings with just a parachute or dashed down steep passes and trails on a mountain bike.

You’re avoiding the issue, Murphy, trying to distract yourself.

Finn had stopped talking and Carrick knew he wouldn’t continue if Carrick didn’t encourage him to do so. He could just walk out of here, right now, and everything would be as it was before Finn opened his mouth.

But he knew himself well; not knowing would drive him nuts.

“Just tell me, goddammit.”

“Sadie is going back to France. I know how important it is to you to be a part of your child’s life, be a dad. How are you going to see your kid if she’s living in Paris?”

Carrick felt the punch to his heart, the fist squeezing his stomach. Finn had to be wrong, he told himself. “Why would you think she’s going back to Paris?”

Finn winced, his eyes sympathetic. “Why else would she be renewing the lease on her apartment in Montparnasse? Because Beth was talking to her landlord, and she asked him to courier her a new lease for signature.”

Carrick dug his fingers into his chair and stared at his brother, wanting him to pull his words back, to say he was joking, pulling a prank. When Finn just held his gaze, his eyes not showing a hint of amusement, Carrick accepted that his brother wasn’t yanking his chain.

Sadie was intending to go back to France when her contract with Murphy’s was over. Since she hadn’t spoken to him about living in France, nor even hinted at her plans, he was obviously not a factor in her decision.

Hurt, hot and sour, rolled over him.

What a surprise, he’d done it again. He’d fallen first, he’d fallen harder and, yet again, fallen for the wrong person. And he was obviously far closer to falling in love than he thought because he ached, dammit. Icy fingers clutched his heart and his stomach twisted itself into a knot.

When would he ever learn?

Sadie skipped up the steps to Carrick’s Beacon Hill house, her heart in her throat and bats in her stomach. She’d missed Carrick so much and the tender, funny messages they’d exchanged over the past few days—and the fact that he’d commandeered the company plane to spend the night with her—gave her hope that they’d turned a corner, that something was growing between them that was precious and special and...

Right.

Like Tab A that was designed to slip into Slot B, they fit.

Carrick would be an amazing partner, an incredible significant other and a brilliant father. As she’d come to learn, he was a good man. He worked hard, took care of his family, treated his staff with respect and, best of all, he was, she was sure, a little crazy about her.

Maybe also a little in love with her. Or was she jumping the gun? No, she’d seen the way he looked at her, with lust and amusement and tenderness and buckets of hope, and she wasn’t imagining a damn thing.

Sadie touched her belly, cradling her tummy, and closed her eyes to enjoy the surge of emotion coursing through her. Her baby was healthy, she was in love and she was pretty confident her love would be returned. Maybe not today but sometime...

Sometime soon...

Sadie lifted her hand to ring the doorbell and hesitated, remembering that just a few months before, love had been a concept she no longer believed in. She’d genuinely believed she would never be happy and hopeful again.

How silly she’d been...and, yeah, she owed Carrick for opening her up to love again. And maybe she’d been meant to marry Dennis, to experience the worst of love before she could appreciate what a good man looked like, how he acted.

Maybe she’d needed to howl and curse and feel like crap so that when the right man arrived, she could say, “Yes, this is right. This is who I’ve been waiting for.”

Maybe she’d needed to experience the bad so she could recognize the exceptional.

Because Carrick was exceptional, in and out of bed.

And talking about bed, she really hoped he liked the sexy lingerie she’d picked up in Richmond, a barely there number that enhanced rather than concealed, that tempted and tantalized. She was wearing jeans and an aqua cashmere thigh-length sweater, nice enough, but not terribly sexy so her lingerie should be a pleasant shock.

Although she doubted she’d keep it on for long.

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