When they got into his office, Carter closed the door and waved her toward the leather sofa while he got a couple of bottles of fancy water out of the little refrigerator.
“Oh, this looks good,” he said when he took the salad out of the bag. “Are you trying to get me to eat healthier?”
“Not really. I just thought it might be tasty.” She paused. “You’re not a bad eater, are you?”
“Eh.” He was adding the salad dressing and unwrapping the utensils. “When I’m busy, I eat too many burgers and fries.”
“I didn’t know that. You look like you’re in such good shape. I guess it’s a good thing I brought the salad then.”
Carter offered her one of the pieces of the bread, and she accepted it. Not because she was hungry but because it was good. “How did your meeting this morning go with the Harrises?”
“Good. Really good. They seemed to like my ideas a lot. Thanks for recommending me to them.”
“You’re welcome.” He was digging into his salad now. It looked like he was enjoying it, which made Ruth irrationally happy.
While he ate, she told him about the meeting with her clients and about her plans for the new addition to their house. She normally wouldn’t have gone on quite so long since she always assumed most people weren’t interested in the ins and outs of her work. But Carter appeared to be genuinely listening. He asked intelligent questions and seemed to respect her opinions.
It was a heady feeling. She wasn’t used to it.
After about ten minutes, he’d finished the salad and together they’d eaten the bread. Since the conversation had faded into pleasant silence, he leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes.
She reached over to stroke his face. It was probably too intimate a gesture for their relationship, but she really couldn’t help it. “What time did you get in this morning?”
“I don’t know. Around five.”
“That’s ridiculous, Carter. You can’t keep working such long hours without taking breaks. It’s not good for you. It wouldn’t be good for anyone.” She wanted to keep petting him, but she made herself drop her hand.
“I know.” He still had his eyes closed. “But there’s just so much to do. I wake up in the middle of the night worrying about it.”
She didn’t reply immediately. Unable to stop herself, she reached over to caress his cheek again. This time he leaned his face into her palm.
Her belly twisted with tenderness. And also nerves. She cleared her throat and pulled her hand back again.
Carter opened his eyes. “I know this is what I wanted. I wanted this position. I wanted control of the company. I did things I really shouldn’t have done to get it. But now... I don’t know. Most people don’t have this much responsibility until much later in their careers. I think there’s probably a good reason for that.”
“If you need more help, then you should get it. Can’t you hire people to take some of the workload off you?”
“I’m working on it. I thought I wanted this, but the truth is... Lately I’ve been wanting more in my life than this.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but she liked the sound of it. “Anyone would, Carter. It’s your family company. It makes sense that a Wilson would be in charge. But that doesn’t mean you have to do everything. You’ve turned things around this year, haven’t you? I mean, I’d heard things weren’t going well before, but now they’re better?”
“Yeah. They’re a lot better now. I think I’ve done all right so far. Although...”
When he trailed off, Ruth asked softly, “What did you do that you shouldn’t have done to take control of the company?”
She probably shouldn’t have asked. A more tactful person wouldn’t have. The question lingered in the air for a long time, and Ruth wasn’t sure Carter would answer it.
He finally said, “When my dad was dying, I had this plan. I needed a big influx of money to make the merger earlier this year work, and Summer could give me that investment. But the only way she could have access to the funds was to... was to...”
“Oh my God,” Ruth breathed, putting pieces together in her head. “To marry Lincoln.”
Carter wasn’t meeting her eyes. “Well, she was supposed to marry me. We had it all arranged. It was just going to be a friendly, convenient thing, and everything seemed to be falling into place. I keep thinking about what