“Thank you for this tonight. Not necessary, son, but thank you. The presents were overkill, though,” Dad says in between sips of whiskey.
“Yeah,” I say, my eyes not leaving Haley. “We told them on the invite to donate to the Children’s Hospital. Apparently, your friends don’t take instructions well.”
He chuckles. “There’s a big one in red paper. I’m curious what it is.”
“That’s from Meredith. I could tell you what it is, but she kind of scares me.”
Dad claps my shoulder as he laughs again. “Always pick a woman who scares you a little. They keep you in line that way.”
I take a drink from a server as he walks by. “I don’t want to be kept in line.”
“You will. When you meet the right woman, you’ll appreciate the help in making sure you don’t screw up your life.”
Haley laughs as she and Meredith walk to the table. They sit, Haley’s mouth going a mile a minute.
I’m not surprised she fits in here, but I am surprised at how seamlessly she’s done it. As she sits with my father’s wife like they’re old friends, I wonder what it would be like to walk in here on a Sunday afternoon to this. Or on Christmas Eve with a few kids playing on the floor and a few hundred rolls of wrapping paper strewn around.
I shiver. Dad laughs. I drink half the liquor in my glass.
“I think,” Dad says carefully, “that you got me the best gift out of everyone.”
My attention is dragged from Haley at the table to my father. “Uh, I didn’t bring you anything. Sorry.”
“No, you did.” He smiles coyly.
“You mean the party? You’re welcome.”
“I mean that look in your eye, son.”
I scoff. “There’s no look in my eye, old man.”
“As you just so kindly pointed out, I wasn’t born yesterday.” He tosses me a wink, one of those gestures that dads do that lets you know they’re way smarter than you.
I’m not sure what he sees in my eye, and I’m completely sure I don’t want to be kept in line by a woman. I like spice and variety, and that will do me for years to come. But Dad did too. He had a revolving door after the divorce from Mom. Until Meredith.
Seeing him and Meredith standing together, seeing how their love seemed so similar . . . genuine, has made me wonder. He’s truly happy, and I think Meredith is too. Maybe he needed the right person to step in and open his eyes. As Dad moves away to talk to other guests, my eyes naturally swing to Haley.
I think about taking her home tomorrow.
That she doesn’t need résumé help anymore.
That the house is wrapping up and doesn’t need me anymore.
That there’s no reason for me not to walk away anymore.
CHAPTER TWENTY
HALEY
This is the time I usually check out of these parties.” A man saunters up to the kitchen island and takes a caramelized fig with bacon. He’s cute in a basic kind of way and has a friendly smile. “But I’m here for these things.”
I laugh as he takes a bite and pretends to melt. “Those are so good. I think I’ve eaten ten tonight. Or fifteen.”
“This is my eighth, so not far behind you.”
I smile at him, grateful for the distraction. The party has gone on for what feels like forever. My feet are starting to hurt in my heels, and I’d kill someone for a hot bath and a book.
I’d also kill for Trevor to come back.
For the most part, Trevor has been the perfect partner for tonight. Attentive, always ensuring I’m not left out in conversations, making me feel as though I belong here. I’d almost convinced myself he is right and that maybe, just maybe, some of the doting tonight isn’t because he wants his family to believe we are together.
Almost.
“There’s a fig cocktail around here somewhere too,” I offer.
“What is it with these people and figs?” He laughs. “Must be a thing for rich people because I’ve never been to a party with figs. Or caviar tartlets. Did you even know tartlets were a thing?”
“I did not,” I say. “I’ll be honest, and don’t judge me for this, but most of the parties I attend feature the combination pizza rolls.”
He chokes, grabbing a napkin and covering his mouth. His eyes water as he catches his breath. “I love that you specified the combination ones. Everyone always goes for the plain pepperoni.”
“Right?” I say, scanning the area for Trevor. “I usually go for pepperoni pizza, but the combination pizza rolls are where it’s at.”
“I concur.” He plops the rest of the bite in his mouth.
I swish the water around my glass as he chews. My stomach is uneasy. I think it has less to do with the figs and more to do with Trevor.
A striking woman in a red dress arrived about an hour ago. I caught her staring at me while talking to an edgy-looking Jake. Then a little while ago, unless I’m paranoid, I caught Trevor following her outside.
It was Liz. It had to be.
I take a deep breath and force the image from my mind. I was, after all, brought here because of her. Maybe it was less to keep her away and more to make her jealous. After all, I haven’t known Trevor very long. Maybe he saw me as an easy solution to what’s really going on with him and Liz.
You don’t need to worry about this, Haley. You won’t see him after tomorrow. He’ll drop you off, Branson’s house will be done, and that will be that.
Jake walks up. He takes in Fig Boy and me and chooses to stand between us.
“How are you tonight, Haley?” he asks.
“I’m good.”
He lifts a brow, calling me out without actually saying anything. I lift mine right back, as if to ask him if he knows, why is he asking.
“You should be,” Jake says pointedly.
“Oh, I am. We’ve been having a fascinating conversation about our culinary tastes. Right . . .”
“I’m Noah. I work with Jake and Trevor.”
“Ah,” I say. “Noah and I have the same taste, it seems.”
Jake’s jaw twitches. He opens his mouth as if to say something but stops short of actually speaking.
“How do you guys know one another?” Noah asks.
Jake holds his hand out. “Why don’t you explain it, Haley?”
“Sure.” I set my water on the counter. I tried to prepare an answer to this question on the way here, but every time I thought about it, Trevor said something and sidetracked me. Here I am with no Trevor and no response. “I’m a friend of the family,” I say. “Kelly Construction is doing business with my family in Dogwood Lane.”
“Oh, yeah. I heard about that in the office last week,” Noah says. “I guess the carpenters down there are unbelievable.”
I note that to tell Dane. “Yes, they are.”
Jake turns so that Noah can’t see him. “Friend of the family, huh?”
“Makes sense to me.”
“Let’s see if this makes sense . . .” He fires a mischievous grin my way before excusing himself.
I lift my water glass again, unsure what he meant. The vessel almost slips from my grasp as a hand plants firmly on my hip from behind.
Trevor’s cologne floods my senses as I look into Noah’s eyes. He glances over my head before letting his gaze fall back on me.
My body roars in response to Trevor’s fingers biting into my skin. White noise rushes over my ears as I try to step out of his grasp.
Not happening.
Trevor holds me in place, my back to his front.
“Hey, Trevor,” Noah says.
“Hi, Noah.”
Noah’s lips twist. “Friend of the family, huh?”
“Yes,” I say, ignoring Trevor’s body pressed to mine. Not being able to see his face, to read him, to have some idea what he’s thinking, makes me crazy. “He needed a plus-one, and since our families are doing business right now, we thought it would be fun.”
Trevor’s fingers flex, ruffling the fabric of my dress between us.
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“Are you having fun, Haley?” The sweetness in Trevor’s voice is for my benefit. Being that he just spent a decent amount of time alone with Red Dress, he can take that sweetness and shove it.
Yes, I’m jealous. I’m mad. I’m frustrated with myself. Trevor, Jake, and even Fig Boy because he ate the last caramelized fig.
“I am,” I say, giving it right back to him. “Noah and I have a lot in common.”
“Is that right?”
Noah takes his drink and a big step back. “Not that much, really. Just an affinity for pizza rolls.” He forces a swallow. “I’ll see you in the office next week, Trevor. Nice to meet you, Haley.”
“You too, Noah,” I say.
Trevor stands even closer to me, if that’s possible. A vibration ripples from him, sinking into my body. As I absorb his irritation, I do my best to project my own.
“Are you having fun, Trevor?” I ask, staring straight ahead.
I don’t know what I hope he says. I don’t even know where I’m going with this question. I only know I have to say something to break the ice and figure out what he’s thinking.
“Not as much as you.” His tone is rough. The rawness in the way he says the words scrapes over my skin. “I know you saw me with Liz.”
I’ve heard him talk about her a number of times. But hearing him say her name now that I have a face to put with it—a memory of the two of them together—makes it a different animal.
Before, she was an obsessed ex he didn’t have any desire to see. Now, she’s a knockout he sneaks around with at parties.
What isn’t any different is my non-relationship with him, and I’ll be damned if he thinks I’m going to chase after him like Liz.
His head dips to the side of mine. His breath is hot on my neck. “She didn’t appreciate me bringing you here.”
“Then I guess your plan worked.”
His chest shakes behind me. I hear his tongue swipe across his lips as he suppresses a chuckle. “What was my plan, exactly?” His hips roll ever-so-slightly. His cock sweeps over my behind. “I seem to forget.”
My insides tighten so hard it knocks the wind out of me. I find a black-and-white pencil sketch on the wall above the table and glue my eyes to it, hoping to find some balance.
Jake comes around the corner, locking eyes with me for a split second before glancing up at his brother. “Hey, Trev. Dad wants to see us real quick.”
I heave a sigh of relief. “You better go.”
Before I can react, Trevor takes my hand and pulls me with him. It takes me two steps to match his one.
My heart shoves blood down my veins at double the speed it should. That, in combination with Trevor’s hand against mine, makes me a little light-headed, and I’m glad when we stop in front of Branson.
“What’s up?” Trevor asks as we reach his father. Branson stands next to Jake, each of them with a glass in his hand.
I try to slip my hand from Trevor’s. He grips it harder. I want to yank it from his and would if it wouldn’t cause a scene.
“This is incredible,” Branson says. “You two are the best.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Jake says.
The three Kelly men stand in a row. Jake and Trevor bear a striking resemblance to their father, with strong jawlines and heavy brows and a subdued charisma that’s magnetic.
My hand still in Trevor’s, I plead silently with him to let it go. Every time I try to slip it away, he squeezes it tighter.
Emotions all over the place, I try to focus on Branson as he talks to his sons. His eyes crinkle at the corners when he speaks, like Trevor’s do, and there’s a lilt to his voice, much like Jake’s.
Branson searches the room until his eyes land on Meredith. His entire persona changes. It’s like his heart opens so fully that it spills into the room around us.
I look at Trevor and wonder if he has that in him. If he met the right person and could allow himself to believe in crazy things like love, like his father so obviously does.
If he could do that with me.
My heartbeat slows as Trevor casts me a small smile.
“And thank you for coming, Haley,” Branson says, pulling me back to the moment. “Meredith and I hope you’ll join us for dinner when we get situated in your neck of the woods.”
“I’d like that,” I say.
He looks at his sons. “Now, I’m going to chat with my guests until they leave and then properly celebrate my retirement by taking Meredith upstairs and—”
“Yeah. That’s enough, Dad.” Jake groans.
Branson laughs, giving his sons a final handshake, and leaves to join his wife.
Jake slips a hand in his pocket and looks at his brother. “I’ll wrap this up if you two need to go.”
“We’re fine,” I say. I remove my hand from Trevor’s as discreetly as I can. “We can absolutely stay and help you clean up, if you’d like.”
“No, we can’t,” Trevor says.
I look up at him, nonplussed. “Yes. We can.”
Jake laughs. “You’re losing your touch, Trev.”
Instead of ribbing him back, Trevor locks his jaw.
“On that note”—Jake points at Trevor—“I’m going to go check on the guests. While I could kick your ass, I don’t really want to do it tonight.”
“Good night, Jake,” I say.
“If I don’t see you again, it was nice to meet you, Haley.”
“Same here.”
Jake slips into a small crowd that’s laughing behind us. It takes all of two seconds for Trevor to spin me around to face him.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.” I set my jaw too. “Why does something have to be wrong?”
His Adam’s apple moves in his throat as his eyes heat.
I squirm, my dress too hot. Too tight. Too everything.
“I need some fresh air,” I say.
He takes my hand again. “I’ll take you.”
“I can go alone.”
“Yup,” he says, pulling me toward the door.
With a flick of the handle, it swings open. A moment later, we’re outside. The sky is dark, the moon and stars bright. I close my eyes and feel the cool air on my face. When I open my eyes, Trevor is in front of me.
“You give good advice,” he says, his voice soft.
“Why?”
“I was honest with Liz.”
The sound of her name on his lips is like nails on a chalkboard. I’m not even sure what he had to be honest with her about.
“I thought you said you were very clear with her from the start?” I ask.
He looks at the ground, slipping both hands in his pockets. “I was. Sort of.” He raises his eyes to mine. “I heard what you said about people wanting what they can’t have. And how maybe she’s misinterpreting my behavior as playing hard to get.”
I run my hands up and down my arms. “And?”
“And I talked to her tonight. I told her I probably suck at communication. That I wasn’t playing games with her. She’s a great person and she’ll make a great companion for someone, but that someone isn’t me.”
What?
My hands falter. His eyes meet mine. They make me forget about the temperature and the stars and how eight caramelized figs are seven too many. All I can focus on is the sincerity in his beautiful blue eyes.
“She said seeing you with me tonight helped,” he says.
“I’m glad.”
He grins. “She said I never looked at her like I look at you.”
My stomach drops to my knees as I catch the heaviness of his words. I don’t know what to say to that or if I heard it right or if it means anything other than he thinks I’m crazy.
My mind races and my mouth can’t catch up. “I—”
My words are stolen by his lips touching mine. A rush of helplessness washes over me as I sink into his arms. He pulls me so close to his strong, hard body that
we may as well be one. As I go limp, the world outside his lips blurs.
He tastes like the sting of bourbon and the sweetness of Coke, and of the hundred fantasies I’ve had of this exact moment. Only those daydreams weren’t nearly as satisfying as having Trevor Kelly in the flesh.
My lips part, giving him permission to do all the things he’s telling me without words he wants to do. He slips his tongue inside, gentle but demanding, like he can’t wait a moment longer.
His nose nudges mine, his hands cup my face. He makes contact in every way possible as we kiss under the moonlight.
Breathless, I pull back. He rests his forehead against mine, and I’m not sure if his groan is because I stopped the act or because it happened at all.
I suck in a lungful of air, every cell in my body tingling. He locks his hands at the small of my back and keeps his forehead touching mine.
“There’s no room for Jesus.” It’s a dumb thing to say, but it’s all I can come up with.
He chuckles but makes no apologies or room.
“Why did you do that?” I ask.
“Did you hate it, Ohio?”
“No.”
“Then why ask?”
My pulse gallops as I lean back.
Screw the rules and the fear and the chance he’ll break my heart. He might. Judging by how I reacted to seeing him with Liz, he could. But as hard as I tried not to be, I’m interested in this thing with him, whatever it is. The only hope I have that he might be interested, too, is Liz’s words. How ironic.
“She said I never looked at her the way I look at you.”
This is a risk—a huge one—but we’re here. I’m here. And . . . I want to be.
“Because if you’re gonna kiss me like that, I need a warning. Hey!” I say as he jerks me around.
He has my hand tucked in his and is leading me toward the truck. We pass the truck and continue down a little solar-lit walkway. At the end of the path sits a small outbuilding with an arched room and floor-to-ceiling glass walls.
He unlocks the door with a four-digit code, and we step inside. The lock is engaged with a sharp snap. There’s a rustle behind me as Trevor searches for a light. And then softly, small, twinkly lights glow around the room.
Tangle Page 17
