Page 47 of Pretend it’s Forever

He tried to ruin me.

I knew he was taking my babies.

With a deep sigh, I stared at my phone and realized I needed to talk to someone.

Isabella and Blakely would be working, as there was a large meeting coming up with the Cages. I could call any one of my siblings, even my mother, but as my phone went to my contact list, I called the one person I shouldn’t—and hadn’t even realized I was doing so until it was too late to back out.

“Princess?”

At the sound of his deep voice, my heart slowed ever so slightly. No longer feeling as if I was going to pass out, I leaned against the counter and wondered if I had lost my mind. Why the hell was I calling this man at this moment?

“Don’t call me princess,” I said halfheartedly. Why did hearing his voice calm things in me?

I should hang up. I shouldn’t have called at all.

“Why are you calling, Sophia? Is there something wrong?”

I shouldn’t tell him a thing.

“Cale— Is he there? Are the girls safe? What did he do?”

I could hear him rustling in the background, as if he was moving, and my hand tightened around the phone. “He just called. And I heard his voice, and it was after we talked with the lawyers.” I explained everything that had happened, the words falling from my lips without thought. I could have called anyone else, and yet why did I call him?

“I should have just left it alone. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called. I shouldn’t lean on you.”

“No, you should have called me. And you did. And don’t apologize, Sophia.”

“You don’t deserve that burden.” He paused for so long I was afraid he’d hung up.

“Maybe it’s not a burden, Sophia.” Another pause. “I’ll pick you up in ten minutes. Bring a suit.”

I stiffened, looking down at the phone for a moment, trying to contemplate what the hell he had just said.

“What?”

“Are the girls with you?”

“No, they’re with my mom.”

“Pity, they would’ve had fun. But this is for you.”

“Carson...”

“Just breathe, Sophia.” A deep breath. “No promises. Right?”

This time that phrase didn’t wrap me in comfort, it wrapped me in apprehension. Yet I answered anyway.

“No promises.” And that was how I found myself on a boat on Cage Lake of all places, wearing a sundress over my bathing suit, a large hat covering my head and shoulders, staring at Carson as he maneuvered the decently sized speedboat across the lake.

When he showed up at the house, I thought I had been dreaming, and yet he had taken one look at me, brushed my hair from my face, and piled me in his SUV.

During the drive up we talked about the merger, and the girls’ upcoming recital. Nothing important and yet everything. I didn’t understand who this man was, or why he was here. But he seemed to be a fixer, one who needed to make sure everyone around him was taken care of. Maybe that was why he had done the same with me. Just like he did for his sister.

“When did you find out that your family owned this town?” Carson asked as he stopped the boat, and we rested on the water. He sat next to me, his feet outstretched, and I couldn’t help but look at the man. He had on long cargo shorts, a white muscle top, and a linen shirt over it. He’d put a ball cap on, but put it backwards, his hair longish underneath the brim. He also wore expensive sunglasses that just made him look sexy as ever. I had told myself, just like we had told each other, that we would not want anything more than that one night. And yet I couldn’t stop staring at him. What was this? And did I want the answers?

“I found out when the rest of my family did. I never even knew there was a small town called Cage Lake up in the mountains. But here it is, the perfect tiny town with its own lake and everything plastered with my last name on it. It’s a little disconcerting.”

“I should build a town for the Woods family. Just to rival yours.”