“Fran seems to think that just because her brother is a little person that I should be happy to date him.”
“He’s a little person, too?”
“Yeah.” Victoria sighed. “She’s been after me to meet her brother since she moved into the neighborhood six months ago. I’ve managed to avoid it so far.”
Trent glanced over at her. “Why don’t you want to meet him?”
“Because of other things she’d said about him. And hooking up? I’m not interested in hooking up with any guy. I don’t just automatically date every male little person that comes along. In fact, that’s not even on my list of things I want in a guy.”
“So you don’t judge a guy’s date-ability based on his height or lack thereof?” Trent stuck his head back under the desk.
“Of course not.” He smiled at the indignant tone in her voice. “I’m much more likely to judge a guy’s date-ability based on the size of his bank account.”
Trent jerked his head up, wincing as it connected with the desk above him. Rubbing the spot, he sat back and shot Victoria a look. “Say what?”
Crossing her arms, she smiled at him.
“Brat,” Trent said with a frown in her direction before returning his attention to the tower.
“Hey, you asked for that one.”
Trent supposed that he had, but at least he’d come away from the exchange knowing that she wasn’t holding his height against him. So it must be something else.
“Did you want something to drink?”
“Sure. Whatever’s cold.”
He heard her move away but didn’t look at her again. Her teasing was sorely trying his resolution to be more serious in his interactions with her. By the time she came back with a drink for him, he had the keyboard and mouse hooked up and had turned on the machine. He settled onto the chair again as the tower beeped and the monitor came to life.
“That’s a lot bigger than my old one,” Victoria said as she placed a bottle of his favorite soda next to the keyboard.
It shouldn’t have pleased him so much that she knew what he liked—after all, it was pretty much the only thing he drank—and had it on hand, but it still warmed him. “Yes, it is. As I said, your whole setup was out of date. I’ll be making sure that doesn’t happen again.”
He clicked a few different icons to check the settings and then slid from the chair. “Here. Why don’t you have a seat so I can show you what I’ve got set up.”
When Victoria was settled into the chair, he lowered himself to one knee, bracing his arm along the back of her seat. He pointed to an icon on the monitor. “Let’s start there.”
After about five minutes of showing her the different programs he’d installed, Victoria said, “I sure hope I can remember all this. I feel like I should be taking notes.”
“You don’t really need to remember in detail.” Trent glanced at her just as she turned her head. Given their positions, they were pretty much at eye level with each other.
Their gazes met and held. They were close enough he could see the dark ring around the outside of her irises and the flecks of black in her brown eyes. When her gaze dropped to his mouth momentarily, Trent felt his heart thud in his chest. But no matter how much his body clamored to make that physical connection to Victoria through a kiss, he knew it wasn’t the time. And he didn’t have that right. Not yet.
Clearing his throat, Trent looked back at the screen and tried to remember what he had been about to say. “Uh…actually, most of these programs I’ve set up run on their own at certain times. Your system will automatically back up your whole hard drive each night, and I’ve set it up to do virus scans on a regular basis. You don’t have to do anything, but I wanted you to be aware of what was going on with your system.”
“And all my other programs are still here?” Victoria’s voice was softer than usual.
“Yes, I reloaded all the programs from your old system and then used the backup I did yesterday to make sure all your files were intact.” Trent tried to keep focused on the matter at hand, but Victoria’s nearness, the soft scent of whatever shampoo or soap or perfume she wore, and how he felt about her were making that a huge challenge. Maybe another guy would have taken advantage of the opportunity to kiss her, but Trent didn’t want to do that.
Well, technically he did—he was a guy, after all—but he also knew it would complicate a situation that had been anything but simple right from the start. If they kissed—no, when they kissed—it would be a choice they made with the security of a relationship between them. Until then, he needed to make sure he resisted the temptation to give in to something that had no place in how things currently were between them.
“Do you have any other questions about the setup?” He looked at her, but this time Victoria was keeping her gaze on the screen.
“Is my printer ready to go, too? I need to be able to print invoices and such.”
“Ah, forgot about that.” Trent got to his feet. “I can do that right now.”
Victoria slid off the chair and moved a couple of steps away. “Is it difficult to set up a new printer if I were to get one?”
“No, not at all.” Trent wanted to kick himself for not thinking about adding a printer to the setup he’d done for her. “If you decide to get one, just give me a call. I can either walk you through it or stop by and set it up for you.”
“I should probably learn how to do this stuff for myself,” Victoria said, her gaze still on the computer screen.
“There’s no need for that when I’m just a phone call away,” Trent said as he clicked on the icon to bring up the printer screen. For some reason, it was important to him that there be something in her life that she relied on him for. Where some people may have used something like dwarfism as an excuse for not doing things, Victoria had made it clear that it wasn’t something that would stop her. He admired that, but still he wanted to be able to do something for her.
Her cell phone rang as he worked, and the music that had been playing ended abruptly when she answered it. “Hi, Eric.”
Trent winced as he heard her greet his friend. When they’d talked at church that morning, he hadn’t mentioned that he was coming over to Victoria’s again. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t told him about it, but he figured Victoria was going to.
“Just learning about my new computer. Trent’s here getting it all set up.”
It was more than a little frustrating to only get half the conversation, Trent mused as he prepared to print a test page.
“Tomorrow? Yeah, that should be fine. It’s my grocery shopping day with Mom, but we can just bring Sarah along.” She paused. “Yep, I’m sure. If nothing else, I’ll bribe her with making cookies when we get home if she’s good.”
She’ll be a great mom.
The thought popped into Trent’s head out of the blue, and he blinked a couple of times trying to figure out where it had come from. He’d seen her maternal side before in relation to Sarah and Danny. It was just one of the many things that had drawn him to her. Even before they’d met, Trent had determined that whatever woman he eventually married would have to show herself to be good mom material. There was no way he was going to let any child of his endure the negligence he’d experienced as a kid.
“Okay, I’ll tell him. See you tomorrow.”
“Babysitting duty?” Trent asked he looked at the test page the printer had just spat out.
“Yep. Seems Staci has a couple of appointments she can’t take Sarah to.”
Trent swung the chair around to look at Victoria, confident her system was now completely set up. “You enjoy babysitting her?”
“Sure. She’s a firecracker though.” Victoria smiled. “Keeps me on my toes. I never imagined that there would be someone in our family like me without them being my own child. Although people often do assume she’s mine when I’m out with her.”
“Do you hope to have children someday?” Trent asked.
Her gaze flitted away from his for a momen
t and when she looked back at him, he couldn’t read anything on her face. She shrugged. “I go back and forth on that. When I had to have surgeries when I was younger, I swore I’d never chance having a child knowing that they might have to go through what I did. But when I’m not in the midst of the pain of the surgeries and when I see Sarah… Well, I think it might be nice to have one or two.”
“Is it a guarantee that any child you have will inherit dwarfism? I mean, neither of your parents or Eric or Staci were little people, and yet you and Sarah both are. Does it work the other way, too?”
“There is definitely a higher probability that any child I have or Sarah has will have dwarfism. And that probability rises if the father is also a little person. But two little people can also have an average-size child.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll make a great mom either way.” Trent picked up his soda and took a long drink trying to ease the dryness in his mouth.
“Only time will tell.” Her gaze went past him to the computer. “So, is the printer all set up?”
Trent swung the chair back around and picked up the test paper. “Yep. I should have thought to pick up a new printer for you, too. I’m surprised you can still get ink for this one.”
“I will likely buy one soon.” She walked over to the desk. “So how much is the total for all this?”
Trent hesitated. He really wanted to tell her it was taken care of, but he had a feeling she’d balk at that. “I have the receipts at home. I’ll email you a total later tonight.”
“Thank you. And tack on some for your time.”
He looked at her and gave her a half grin. “You couldn’t afford my time, babe.”
Her eyes widened briefly at his statement. “Guess BlackThorpe pays you well?”
“You better believe it.” Trent bent to gather up the old parts and put them in the monitor box to be disposed of later. “But I would likely do the job for free because I enjoy it so much.”
“That wouldn’t pay the bills.”
He gave her a quick grin as he stood up. “Yeah, but my trust fund would.”
This time, in addition to her eyes widening, her jaw dropped a little. Trent reached out and tapped her under her chin and winked. “Let’s just say that if you really were judging a man by the size of his bank account, I’d be your guy.”
“You do realize I was just joking, right? I didn’t know…”
Trent laughed. “Of course, I know you were joking. No one but Marcus and Alex know the true state of my finances, and they only know because of that background check they do on all of us. Well, you know now, too.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” The serious look on her face made him chuckle again.
“It wouldn’t really matter if you did. I just prefer people not know because they start to treat you differently when they realize you have money.” He lifted an eyebrow at her. “Although maybe having you treat me differently might not be a bad thing.”
She stared at him for a moment before a grin spread across her face. “Well, that’s not gonna happen just because you have money.”
Her response didn’t surprise him, but he was kind of glad for it. For some women, finding out about his money would have made him suddenly more interesting. In actuality, he didn’t touch his trust fund money. He hadn’t lied when he said BlackThorpe paid him well. He had more than enough for the fairly simple lifestyle that he chose to lead. All he really needed was the best computer money could buy and a comfortable bed, and he was set.
“I’m just gonna take this stuff out to the car. I’ll dispose of it later.”
As he stepped out onto the porch, the scent of barbecue tantalized his senses. Likely the smells were coming from the house where Victoria had been invited to go. He loaded the old computer into the back of his Jeep and then returned to the house.
As he closed the door behind him, Trent spotted Victoria walking toward the kitchen and noticed again a bit of a hitch in her step. Maybe it hadn’t been his imagination last time. He knew some people with dwarfism had difficulty walking, but that had never seemed to be the case with Victoria in the years he’d known her. It concerned him, but he didn’t want to say anything in case it really was nothing.
“I guess that’s it,” he said as he picked up the last of the trash from the packaging they’d opened earlier. “If you have any problems or questions about anything, feel free to give me a call.”
“Thank you again for helping me.” The smile she gave him kicked his heartbeat up a notch.
“Next time don’t wait so long,” he chided her. “You could have lost a lot of your data.”
She lifted a hand to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Yeah. I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Good. And it wasn’t so bad having me around for a bit, was it? I know when to behave myself.”
She laughed. “Yes. I was pleasantly surprised. Which is good, because I still owe you a dinner.”
“And I do plan to collect,” Trent assured her. “But since you just fed me a delicious meal the other night, I’m going to spread the goodness out a bit.”
“Just let me know when you want it.”
As they walked to the front door, Trent watched her out of the corner of his eye. Though the limp didn’t reappear, he noticed that her mouth had tightened into a firm line.
“Wow, I can smell the barbecue,” she said as they stepped out onto the porch.
“I’m sure the invitation to join them still stands.” Trent pressed the button on his fob to unlock the Jeep.
“Oh no.” Victoria shook her head vigorously. “I’m going to lock my door and not answer it again tonight. Uncle Seth can find someone else to hook up with.”
Trent thought about suggesting he stick around, but he didn’t want to press her when things seemed to be going so well. “Have a good evening.”
“You, too.”
With a last smile at her, Trent headed down the porch steps to his car. He wasn’t thrilled about returning to his quiet apartment so he turned in the direction of the compound instead. No doubt Justin would be hanging around since the guy seemed to live out there. A good sparring session seemed the perfect way to burn off some of the frustration he felt when it came to his relationship—or lack thereof—with Victoria.
CHAPTER SIX
AFTER locking the door, Victoria walked back into her living room. She rubbed at her left hip, hating that it was becoming more and more clear that she was going to have surgery again. With a sigh, she settled on the couch with her legs stretched out across it, a pillow behind her back.
She was still trying to absorb all that she’d learned about Trent over the course of the past couple of hours. Never in a million years would she have pegged him as a trust fund guy even though he’d mentioned that his family had money. Oh, she’d known he wasn’t poor. Just by being around Eric, she knew that BlackThorpe paid its employees well, so she hadn’t really thought much about Trent’s financial status.
Victoria wondered what it would be like to not have to worry about money. Unfortunately, it was a major issue for her, particularly when it came to her surgery. The deductible for the insurance she had was high, and even though she’d been putting aside money in case surgery became necessary, she knew what she had wasn’t nearly enough. And she wouldn’t share that information with her family or she’d end up being a charity case, and they’d already done so much for her.
She was grateful that the house she lived in cost her nothing. Her dad had inherited it after the death of his mother, but they’d already had a home they loved. They’d offered it to Brooke, but she’d outright refused it since she wasn’t interested in taking anything from their dad at that time. They’d rented it out for a while and then when Victoria had wanted to move out on her own, they’d given it to her to live in. It had been a blessing in that she could have her independence without spending a lot on rent.
Victoria lifted her arm to cover her eyes. Some days she really wished that all sh
e had to worry about was planning for a future with a husband and children. Unfortunately, she had so much more than that to have to consider. Being with Trent, having him help her the way he had, had brought to life a longing to have someone at her side.
For as long as she could remember, Victoria had tried so hard to prove that she could do it all, that her dwarfism didn’t hinder her from being able to do everything. But she was tired of that. Frankly, there were things that were just more difficult for her to do. Things she didn’t like to do, and things that would be easier to tackle if she had someone by her side. Someone who loved her and didn’t mind that sometimes she just couldn’t do it all.
But the flip side was that things like this impending surgery made her a burden. Though Trent had seemed interested in taking things to another level with her, he’d had no clue what that would have involved now that surgery loomed in the not too distant future. But surgery or not, something had changed for him.
The time spent with him over the past two days hadn’t helped her to have clarity on the issue at all. At times, he’d appeared to be flirting with her but then when things seemed to get a little more intense, he’d backed right off. Like when he’d found that picture of the two of them. She’d expected more of a reaction, a teasing comment about how good they looked together or something, but instead he’d just slid it back into the drawer.
He’d left her confused. Not that she hadn’t already been confused by her own feelings where he was concerned, but now she was confused about his feelings for her.
She had to just focus on one thing at a time. First, she had a proposal she needed to put together. If it was accepted, the money from that would go a long ways to helping with the finances needed for her surgery. Once that was done, then maybe she could look toward a future that included a relationship with someone. Whether that someone would be Trent or not, she had no idea.
By Friday afternoon, Victoria was finishing off the last of a proposal. It was a presentation for a hotel chain about putting some of the products her company had developed in their hotels across the US and Canada. She’d put together a packet of information on which products she thought would be most useful in their hotels for little people or people with limited mobility who might be staying there. If they ordered three or four kits for each of their hotels, it would help her immensely. Up to this point, she’d only had success in getting individual places to buy a kit or two. Having a chain interested in purchasing for all their hotels would be such a boost to the company.
When There is Love: A Christian Romance (The McKinleys Book 3) Page 5
