Page 24 of Pretend

“Right there,” Eric said softly as he pointed at something etched into a stone in the house’s foundation.

Trying to make out the carved mark that was surrounded by a thick layer of green moss, Morgan took a step closer and-

“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, throwing Eric a curious look as she released his hand and moved closer so that she could run her fingertips over the N and B that had been carved into the stone.

“Noah Bradford.”

“Your great-grandfather?” Morgan asked as she tried to wrap her mind around what she was seeing.

Eric’s great-grandfather Noah had been an incredibly talented carpenter, building some of the most beautiful homes in Southeastern Massachusetts. From what she’d been told, he’d learned everything from his father, Robert, also a talented carpenter despite being born into one of England’s wealthiest families. He’d left England for a new start so that he could raise a family with his wife and one-time childhood nemesis, Elizabeth, whom he’d fallen deeply in love with.

They’d raised several sons, one of them Noah, who’d followed in his father’s footsteps, creating some of the most beautiful houses that she’d ever seen. He’d started off working for his father, building furniture with intricate designs that hid secret compartments before moving onto bigger projects. Noah started by building barns, churches, and quickly moved on to building houses. It wasn’t long before he had more requests than he could keep up with and was able to expand the business, hiring his brothers, and eventually their sons along with his own to keep up with the demand.

Over the years, most of the houses that Noah built were passed down from generation to generation, some were sold, and others were abandoned after years of neglect. Several generations of Bradfords had made it a point over the years to find the houses that had been neglected and set them to rights. When they were twelve, Eric’s father managed to get his hands on one of the houses, a colonial that she’d instantly fallen in love with that he’d renovated with the help of his brothers.

She’d offered him her allowance for a year and the rest of her peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the house, but he’d simply smiled down at her with a murmured, “God, you’re adorable,” before stealing her sandwich. Since then, she’d kept her eye out for another one, more than willing to do whatever it took to get her hands on it and now…

Now, she was leaving, Morgan reminded herself as she looked away along with the reminder that she didn’t have a choice, only to go still when she saw it, an RB carved into the stone next to Noah’s. She reached over with a trembling hand and brushed her fingertips over the engraving as she threw Eric a questioning look.

“Robert Bradford,” Eric murmured, letting her know just how special this house really was.

“I-I have to take a closer look,” Morgan mumbled in a daze as she stood up and quickly made her way up the stairs, telling herself that she just wanted one look and knowing before she reached for the doorknob that she was lying her ass off.

“The key’s in the mailbox,” Eric said, chuckling when she shifted her attention to the oversized cheap aluminum mailbox that had been nailed into the wall and shoved her hand inside and grabbed the key.

In seconds, she had the front door unlocked and was stepping inside the large foyer, absently noting the gray wall-to-wall carpet that had to go, the fact that someone thought it was a good idea to paint the walls lilac, the parlor to her right and the den to her left as her gaze locked on the grand staircase taking up most of the foyer. Deciding that she’d start at the top, Morgan quickly made her way up the stairs, cringing when her foot came in contact with that same ugly gray carpet lining the first floor and kept moving.

As soon as she reached the second floor, Morgan was opening doors, noting a random piece of furniture draped in a sheet here and there before she continued making her way down the wide hallway, noting the linen closet, the stairs to the attic, the room that looked like it had been used as a nursery over the years, several large bedrooms until finally, she came to the master suite, and-

Really wished that she’d left when she had the chance.

CHAPTER15

“You’ll pay for this,”came the warm greeting when Eric answered his phone, which, if he was going to be honest, was understandable considering that he’d been forced to blackmail his uncle into selling him this house.

“You really didn’t leave me with much of a choice,” Eric reminded him with a satisfied sigh as he took in the incredibly beautiful Victorian house that he knew that Morgan wouldn’t be able to resist.

“I could always keep the house,”Uncle Jared pointed out when they both knew that he had no intention of going back on their deal.

“That really wouldn’t work for me,” Eric murmured absently as he grabbed their bags and made his way up the stairs, noting the ugly off-green siding that Morgan probably decided had to go within seconds of seeing it.

This was definitely going to work.

Last night, after he’d realized that his plan to stay at the resort wasn’t going to work, he’d started making calls, searching for something, any-fucking thing, that would give him a chance, knowing that the only way that he was going to pull this off was if Morgan was in her element. She was never more relaxed than when she lost herself in a job.

He'd called everyone he knew, debated starting on Baker House or one of the many projects waiting for them early but…

He’d needed something better.

He’d been seconds away from giving up and trying to make the resort work after all when Uncle Ethan told him about a certain property that his brother accidentally came across a year ago and hadn’t been able to get to yet, and one that Eric knew without a doubt would be the one thing that Morgan wouldn’t be able to resist. Finding out that his great-grandfather built this house with help from his father all but guaranteed that Eric would do anything to get his hands on this house.

Even cross a line.

Knowing that he didn’t have a choice, Eric called up his uncle and asked him how much he wanted for the house, which, of course, led to his uncle fucking with his head for his own amusement. That’s when he found out that his uncle had been waiting for this moment, hoping to get his hands on Baker House and leaving him with no other choice but to do the unthinkable, mostly out of spite.

“Who told you?”Uncle Jared demanded as Eric walked into the foyer and took in the gray wall-to-wall carpet and just fucking sighed as he dropped their bags by the door.

“Does it matter?” Eric asked, wondering just how badly the previous owner had fucked this place over.

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