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Harley goes to speak, but I put up my hand. “Give me a second to fill you in. Relax. You’re like a fucking barracuda.”
I take a deep breath. “Carter approached me a few months ago. We had never met. He didn’t know why his father was so hot and heavy for my business, and he was trying to figure it out. He wanted to talk to me about it hoping that I had answers. Obviously, I didn’t. He said that his father made a comment about disliking our family, not just me, so he thinks it has something to do with a bad business deal with Jackson.” I look at Mom. “Carter has zero doubt that the fault lies with his father, not Jackson.” Mom nods.
“Please understand that Carter’s father is a misogynistic pig. There’s a reason I’ve completely limited your contact with him. Carter hates him and wants to rid his life of his father. He also wants to help his mother escape a terrible marriage. He can’t do any of that until his father retires and he takes over the company and the family trust.”
I take another deep breath. “Carter and I had a meeting of the minds. He said his father gave him two conditions to retire. One was that Carter settle down with a family-oriented woman, and the other was that he steals my business.”
Mom shakes her head. “What? Why would a man like Thomas Daulton care so deeply about your small business?”
“I told you. Carter thinks it has something to do with Jackson, but we don’t know for sure.”
“Anyway, he didn’t need to tell me any of this, but he did. He came up with a plan that we fake a relationship, and eventually fake an engagement. Once his father saw that he was settling down, and considering it’s with me, he would assume they’d get my business, he’d retire, and Carter would control everything. He promised me that as soon as he gained control, he’d leave my company alone.”
I close my eyes for a second before continuing. “Also know that one of my conditions was that there was to be no physical relationship between us. I know exactly what it would look like if we were physical and I got something out of it.”
The three of them are sitting there in silent shock. Harley eventually gives me a knowing look. “But then you fell for him anyway.”
“We fell for each other.”
“Atlantic City?”
I slowly nod.
“I witnessed your first kiss, didn’t I?”
I nod again. “It kind of ignited everything between us. Now it’s amazing, and we’re in love. I don’t want you to hate him. He’s a good man. He’s trying to do the right thing for everyone.”
Skylar shakes her head. “I’m confused. Are you actually engaged?”
I scrunch my nose. “No, I don’t think so. It’s not like he asked me to marry him.” I shake my head. “We’re not engaged.”
Harley sighs. “Where do you go from here?”
“I don’t know. We just expressed our love for the first time. I’m not in a rush. It’s like we have two relationships going and they’re on different timelines. We’re engaged in our fake relationship, but we’re blissfully happy, yet still a little new, in our real relationship.”
Harley stands, comes over to me, and throws her arms around me. “I’m worried for you. I’m worried for how this will end. What can we do to help you?”
I hug her back. “Just support me. This is a big deal for me. This weekend was the first time in my life I’ve ever told a man that I loved him.”
Harley smirks. “Did he happen to be inside you when you told him?”
I smile. “Maybe.” She and Skylar both laugh. “We’re happy right now. We’re letting things play out with his father, but it’s not our priority. Our priority is us and our real relationship. I’ve never experienced anything like what I have with Carter.”
Skylar asks, “What? Great sex?”
“Yes, it’s by far the best sex of my life, but it’s not just that. Everything about us just clicks.” I scrunch my nose. “It’s hard to explain.”
Harley smiles. “I certainly get it. It’s like two perfectly fitting puzzle pieces coming together. No pun intended.”
I laugh as I say, “Exactly.”
Mom stands. “Come on girls, let’s go inside and ask Jackson about his dealings with Thomas. I’d like to understand why he has it out for you. There’s some piece of information we’re all missing. We need to figure out what it is and deal with it. I won’t stand for him causing issues for your business because of something that happened between him and Jackson.”
She’s in mama bear mode now. You can’t stop her when she gets like this.
My sisters both grab my hands in support as we all walk inside. I whisper to Harley, “I can’t believe you told Mom I’ve slept with women. Traitor.”
She smiles and whispers back, “At least I didn’t tell her about the threesomes.”
