“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay. But if you change your mind . . .”
“I won’t. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She went to her room, stripped into underwear and a tank top, and climbed into bed, surrounding herself with her notes and her laptop. She spent a few hours making notes and organizing her plan of attack, then grabbed the remote to watch some television.
She startled awake sometime later, disoriented, her notes lying on top of her.
She took her laptop and plugged it in to recharge it, then grabbed her phone to look at the time, realizing it was after two in the morning.
Wow. She’d worked longer than she’d thought. Though she had no idea how long she’d been asleep. She scanned over her notes and felt good about her approach. She put on a pair of shorts and went downstairs and over to the main wing to grab a glass of ice water.
It was dark down there. She wondered if Trevor had come home already. She wouldn’t know if he had, since her wing was far away from his.
Not her business, anyway. She went to the cupboard and found a glass, filled it with ice and water, and headed outside onto the pool deck to enjoy the light breeze and to look at the sky. It was nice out now. She could sit out here the rest of the night and enjoy the soft breeze and stare at the stars.
She heard a car and saw the headlights in the driveway. She stood, figuring it was Trevor. She went back inside and took her glass to the sink, intending to greet him, then head back to bed. But Trevor came into the kitchen and flipped on the lights.
He wasn’t alone, either. There was a guy with him. And two very attractive women, both blondes. One of them was draped all over Trevor.
“Oh,” Trevor said, his lips curving into a smile. “I thought you’d gone to bed a few hours ago.”
“I did. I was working, and I got thirsty. Then I went to sit outside for a while. I wasn’t really tired, so I watched the stars. It’s really nice outside tonight.”
And he doesn’t need a blow-by-blow of your every move, idiot.
“Yeah, it is. Haven, this is my teammate, Tennessee. We call him Ten-Spot. And this is Audrey and Petra.”
She nodded. “Nice to meet all of you.”
“Who’s she?” Petra, the one clinging to Trevor, asked.
“Haven’s a friend of mine. She’ll be staying here for a while, traveling with me. We go way back. I knew her dad a long time ago—back in college.”
Petra gave her the once-over. “So . . . like a charity thing, huh?” Haven sucked in a breath, but didn’t take the bait.
“No, not like that. Why don’t you all go out on the deck? We’ll get in the pool.”
“Come on,” Ten-Spot said to the women. “Nice to meet you, Haven.”
“You too, Ten-Spot,” she said. “Is today your birthday?”
“Well, technically yesterday. But yeah.”
“Happy birthday.”
Ten-Spot grinned. “Thanks.”
“I want to stay here with you, Trevor,” Petra said, mimicking a very obvious pout so her glossy full lips looked even fuller.
Trevor squeezed her hand. “Just go on outside, Petra. I’ll be right there.”
“Okay.” Petra pouted some more, then grabbed his face and kissed him. Rather sloppily. Trevor was the one who broke the kiss.
Ick. Whatever.
After they closed the door to the back deck, Trevor turned to her. “Sorry. I thought you’d be in bed.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. This is your house. And I was in bed.”
He didn’t say anything else, so she did. “Look, I don’t want to cramp your . . . recreational time, Trevor. So maybe we need to talk about the whole living arrangement thing. I can stay at a hotel. The network will pay for it.”
“Nothing to talk about. I want you here with me. There’s plenty of space here.”
But she wasn’t sure it was going to work for her. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. You have fun with your friends. I’m going upstairs to bed now.”
“You’re welcome to join us, you know.”
The sounds of squeals and laughter drew her attention to the pool. She caught a flash of naked breasts, then shook her head.
“No, that’s okay. I’m tired. Besides, we have a business arrangement, remember?”
He gave her a look. “Sure. Whatever you say, Haven.” He went to the fridge and grabbed several beers. “I’ll see you in the morning then, right?”
“Right.”
Her stomach tightened, though she had no idea why she cared where he went and who he went with. She shouldn’t care. She didn’t care.
She walked up the stairs and went to her room, shutting the door behind her. She couldn’t shut out the sounds of laughter from below, though. And the memories came flooding back of every girl Trevor had been with in college. All the beautiful cheerleaders he’d dated, and how she’d longed for him to notice her as something other than his tutor.