Page 29 of Pretend

That’s when Eric started taking the long way home.

It was also the time when she started noticing that he was studying turn-of-the-century hotels. He borrowed books, looked through her old sketchbooks, and kept an eye on Baker House, watching as the price slowly began to drop and when it was just out of his reach, he made his move.

And so did she.

As soon as Eric managed to talk the owner down on his price, Morgan began working on the designs, checking out all those books that Eric tore through, looking through the notes that he’d made, asked questions, searched online for ideas, and began visiting historic hotels every chance she got, until finally, she had everything that she needed to make sure that Eric was able to pull this off. She did the same thing for all the projects that they’d been hired to complete, making sure that Eric had everything that he needed when she left.

She wanted him to be happy.

But now, the incredibly sweet man that she loved more than anything went ahead and gave up his dreams so that she could have hers and she had no idea why. She just…

She couldn’t let him do it.

“Stupid sweet man,” Morgan mumbled sadly as she blindly reached over and grabbed her phone. She-

You can do better.

-couldn’t help but wonder why Eric’s father was texting her.

Deciding that she’d worry about that later, Morgan scrolled through her contact list until she found the first one that she was looking for. Wondering why Eric was trying to destroy all of her hard work to make sure that he was going to be able to run Bradford Remodeling without her, she found Nathan’s phone number and sent the text message that she’d been trying to figure out how to word all night since the stubborn man broke the news to her.

After letting Nathan know that she was going to need a few more days, Morgan made sure to assure him that she was on top of everything and would still be able to get the plans to him on time. Once that was done, she scrolled down to the next name on her list, and once she found Uncle Jared’s phone number, Morgan prepared her glare to give her the edge that she was going to need to fix this mess.

As soon as she heard the call connect, Morgan opened her mouth and-

“Oh, come on!”

-realized that she’d made a tactical error by not checking to make sure that the bedroom door was locked first when the large, tan hand that had turned stealing her food into an artform plucked the phone out of her hand with a satisfied sigh. That was followed by tossing her phone onto her bag before she could stop him, grabbing her hands and giving them a gentle tug that had her grumbling as she allowed Eric to pull her off the bed.

“Just let me call Uncle Jared and fix this before it’s too late!” Morgan said with a frustrated groan when he kept going.

“No,” was all Eric said as he led her towards the bedroom door.

“You’re making a mistake,” Morgan muttered, not really caring that she was pouting as they made their way down the hallway towards the grand staircase that was going to need a lot of work.

“You don’t love the house?” Eric asked, throwing her a questioning look as they made their way down the stairs.

“You know that I love the house. That’s not the point,” Morgan mumbled weakly as she glanced around the beautiful house that she loved more than anything as he led her to the front door, knowing what she had to do.

“Then, I don’t see the problem,” the man that was making this more difficult than it needed to be said as he opened the door and-

“Ummm, why are you still manhandling me?” Morgan couldn’t help but wonder as he dragged her outside.

“Because I want to show you something,” Eric said, making her swallow hard as she mumbled, “I-I honestly don’t think my heart can take anymore.”

Chuckling, he said, “God, you’re fucking adorable.”

She needed to call Uncle Jared and put a stop to this deal before it was too late, Morgan thought as she waited for Eric to lock the door behind them, only to find herself wondering why he was still holding her hand.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting into character,” Eric said with a satisfied sigh.

“I see…” Morgan mumbled absently, slowly nodding as she glanced back down at their hands and raised her foot, only to have Eric quickly release her hand with a curse and put some much-needed space between them so that she could think straight.

With a sad shake of his head, Eric said, “We really need to work on your anger issues.”

“And I really need you to focus,” Morgan pointed out as they made their way down the long driveway towards the road.

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