He’d come to New York prepared to make quick work of a woman who’d humiliated him.
Instead, he’d discovered he’d made a terrible error in judgment. About her. About a lot of things. And he’d—he’d become taken with her. Such an old-fashioned word but how else to describe what he felt?
If that wasn’t enough to terrify a man, he couldn’t imagine what was.
His phone rang.
Caleb ignored it.
Don’t do anything precipitous, his brothers had said, but how else to deal with this situation except to move quickly?
He didn’t regret his decision.
Sage was everything a man could want. Everything he could want.
She was a woman a man could love.
The breath damned near seized in his lungs. Was that what this was all about? Was he—was he—
His phone rang again, this time giving the demented beeps that meant he had a text message. He grabbed the thing as if it were a lifeline.
The message shot him straight back to reality.
It was from Thomas Caldwell.
Is it true you canceled that test, Wilde? I demand an immediate explanation. Repeat, an immediate explanation.
Caleb bit back a groan.
How could he have let things slip so badly? He’d have to contact Caldwell …
But not right now.
He had other calls to make first.
He’d used his law practice as the reason he had to go back to Dallas but the truth was, it had just been an excuse.
His calendar was clear for the next week. He had a handful of client meetings, nothing major, especially since he now had a partner who could stand in for him.
Jake’s wife. Addison, or Adoré, as nobody was supposed to know Jake called her—except all of them did—was one fine lawyer.
Caleb almost hit the speed-dial button that would have connected him to his office, but didn’t.
Why phone, when you could text and head off questions you weren’t ready to answer?
There would be a lot to tell his family, and soon, but first, he and Sage needed some time to themselves.
Hung up here, he texted. Can you handle things for a week?
Addison texted right back.
Sure. Not a problem. And then she added, Is everything okay? which could have been just a general question or a more specific one, meaning Jake had maybe told her about the phone call he and Travis had with their brother.
It didn’t matter.
The only appropriate answer was Everything’s great, see you soon.
What next?