He put a hand lightly on her arm as they started out of the restaurant giving the staff members’ smiles as they left, and outside Alina shivered slightly as Trystan said, “So can I take that as a yes?”
Alina eyed him for a moment before she said without anger, “Something tells me that you won’t take no for an answer even if I did say it.”
He gave her a roguish grin as they headed for his car, and Alina couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess we shall have to see, won’t we, Trystan?”
Trystan had opened the car door when she replied and watched as she slid in the passenger seat without a second word, and as he closed the door he shook his head a rueful light entering his eyes. He almost forgot why he was doing this as he walked around the car and slid in the driver’s seat glancing over at his companion who buckled her seatbelt staring out the window. Her words brought him back to his reasons for keeping her close and he repeated her words back to her as he started the car. “I guess we shall, Alina.”
He headed back for the hotel and as they pulled up, the passenger door was opened for Alina.
“Thank you for dinner, Trystan. I have to admit it was fun,” she told him before she slid out and walked inside the hotel not looking behind her as she went up to her room. As the door closed behind her, she sighed in sorrow because she had fun even though it was a sympathy dinner.
“Oh well,” she murmured to herself as she headed to the bed kicking off her heels. “It was a fun night to record in my memories.”
Her cell went off a few seconds later and she answered as she took the clips out of her hair.
“What happened to you, Alina?” Samuel said looking out his front window listening for his father’s footsteps as Alina didn’t want him to know she was back yet.
“I went out to eat,” she replied, and he frowned.
“For four hours,” he asked.
“I met someone there and we talked while we ate. Is there any other questions, daddy?” she teased him.
He scowled as he told her, “You are still my baby sister so I worry about you.”
Alina sighed as she told him, “Sam, I appreciate the concern, but I promise you I can take care of myself.”
“Okay,” he said after a moment of silence. “I was just calling to tell you that we won’t be meeting tomorrow. Marla has to go out of town on business and she wants me to go with her. I was going to offer to bring you along but she said that it was important for her show and I don’t…”
“You don’t want to break her concentration right now,” Alina finished for him. “Also I think you want to spend some alone time with her before your big meeting.”
“It’s scary how well you know me,” Samuel said on a laugh.
“You’ve gotten older, but you haven’t changed as much as I feared.” There was laughter in her voice at she said these words and he shook his head.
“I am getting off now, but I will talk to you later,” he told her.
“Good night, big brother,” Alina said firmly hanging up before he could say anything else, and she rolled her eyes before putting the phone on the night stand. Then she stripped out of dress putting it with her dirty clothes before slipping on her night clothes and sliding tiredly into bed.
“Tomorrow is another day,” she murmured as her head hit the pillow and sleep claimed her.
Trystan walked downstairs the following morning with his suit jacket over his arm and he met Marla as she was exiting the house.
“Good morning, Marla,” he said a searching look on his face.
Marla nodded her head as suddenly a car pulled up and she turned with a huge smile before hurrying over to the door and opening it.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Samuel said walking around his car to take her in his arms.
Trystan walked over to them slowly as he said calmly, “Good morning, Samuel. How are doing?”
Samuel’s arms were wrapped firmly around Marla’s waist as he looked over and answered. “I’m doing well. How about yourself, Trystan?”
He nodded his head a thoughtful look on his face as he watched someone bring out a small bag to Marla. “Going somewhere?”
“I am going to Sienna for a few days to check on some things for my show,” Marla told him sending him a sharp look when he glanced at her. He knew for a fact that there was no reason for her trip to Sienna, but he kept his silence as he nodded his head.
“We will be gone for a few days,” Marla said stressing the days, and Trystan nodded his head at the meaning as Samuel looked at them with suspicion before he let it go.
“Let’s get going, Samuel,” Marla said giving him a kiss on his cheek as he opened the passenger door for her. Before she slid in, she gave Trystan a meaningful look as she climbed in the car.
Trystan nodded his head to Samuel who he smiled at him as he opened his own door and called out, “See you later, Trystan.”
Trystan just smiled as they drove away before he took his cell out of his pocket. “Trudy,” he said as he headed down to his car. “Do I have anything important that I can’t put off?”
He heard her go through his appointment book as he slid in own his car putting his suit jacket on the passenger seat as she confirmed, “Nothing important although you did mention that you were going down to Tiers to see your aunt this weekend.”
He frowned slightly at the remainder, but before he could say anything to her she added, “Also Miss Willians called for you this morning already.”
He grimaced at this because last night after dropping off Alina, he had planned to go to Bea’s condo but for some reason he hadn’t felt like it and went home instead.
“If she calls again, tell her I’m sorry but I will be out of the office for most of the day,” Trystan told her as he started the car and headed out. “I will be there in about thirty minutes and Trudy, let’s reschedule any other appointments I have today.”
“Okay,” she said slowly.
“Oh also check to see if Miss Barks is still in her room,” he added before he hung up unaware of Trudy’s answering smile as she muttered, “Oh, I see.”
Trystan walked in the hotel exactly thirty minutes later as Alina exited the elevator, and he smiled as he caught sight of her.
“Alina,” he called out catching her attention and even though she stopped she looked at him strangely.
“Good morning,” she said giving him a suspicious look. “What are you doing here this morning?”
Trystan thought fast before he said, “I need to get some papers from Mr. Tyeson’s secretary before I head to Tiers for him. Would you like to go with me?”
Alina thought for a moment before she shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but no thank you, sir.”
He grabbed her hand in his pulling her close to him as she gasped and tried to pull away. “Do you want me to be a little more forceful with you?” He asked looking down into her hazel eyes.
She frowned at his words as she struggled to free her arm. “Let go of me.”
He tightened his hold as he leaned down until their faces were very close that he could see the sprinkling of freckles dusting her nose. “What did I tell you to call me?”
She stilled as she looked at him in astonishment before she said in a voice full of shock, “Just because I didn’t call you Trystan, you’re doing this?”
He smiled as he let go of her hand slowly moving back and she stared at him with open incredulity at his behavior.
“You are crazy,” she said without thinking twice about her words, and Trystan laughed at her before grabbing her arm turning her around and heading to the elevator.
“Where are you taking me?” Alina asked as she struggled to break his hold on her arm.
Although his grip wasn’t painful, it was still strong enough that breaking it was quite impossible unless she used force against him and after looking at him from the corner of her eye, she subsided.
“Good girl,” he commented earning him a glare as the elevator moved up after he push
ed the button for the top floor.
She grumbled something underneath her breath as she faced the doors and Trystan smiled briefly looking down at her having to admit that he found her more attractive in her casual clothing than the dress last night.
“I have to go to Tiers to check out a building site for a new hotel as requested by my Mr. Tyeson,” he explained as they exited the elevator, and he turned right to his suite instead of left to his office. “As I want a companion on the way, I thought I would take you with me as a treat.”
Alina frowned at him as they stopped in front of a door he opened with his own key card and as they stepped inside, she said sharply, “I may have plans today that can’t be cancelled.” She wouldn’t admit that going to Tiers was high on her list of things to do because she remembered her mother mentioning it once when she was young. Of course, at the time, she hadn’t realized that her mother remembered it fondly because it was where she met one of her many lovers she had.
Trystan only smiled as he closed the door behind them and indicated the living room. “Make yourself comfortable while I change.”
He walked to his bedroom without another word closing the door behind him before stripping out of his suit. He hadn’t had plans to go visit the new site for his next hotel, but it was easy to make a few changes as he zipped up his jeans and pulling the t-shirt over his head grabbing his cell to make a quick phone call.
After he hung up, he emptied the pockets of his trousers putting his wallet and car keys in his jean pockets before sliding his cell into his shirt pocket and exiting the room.
As he entered the living room, he frowned when he didn’t see Alina until he noticed her at the window looking out at what stretched before it.
“You have a gorgeous view of the city from here,” she said catching his reflection in the glass. She turned with a laugh as she commented, “I thought my view was good, but yours definitely beats it.” She gave him a searching look as she asked, “Mr. Tyeson even lets you stay here?”
“Mr. Tyeson has his own home so he lets me rent this out until I can find my own place,” he lied easily giving her a smile.
He walked over to her as she nodded her head and studied his casual clothing before she chuckled as he stopped in front of her.
“What is it?” He asked putting up a hand to smooth a piece of hair that had escaped her ponytail and she stepped away from the touch pushing the stray hair behind her ear herself.
She scrunched her nose up at him as she said, “If I tell you, I will be digging my own grave so I think I will keep it to myself.” There was no way she was going to admit to this man that she find him to sexy as hell in his jeans even more than the suit he wore last night.
“Now Alina…” he began only to be stalled as his cell rung.
In exasperation, he pulled it out of his shirt pocket catching Alina’s arm as she moved to walk around him.
“Hello,” he said giving her a sharp look. She rolled her eyes before calmly breaking his hold as he wasn’t holding her tightly and walked around him after mouthing, “I will wait outside.”
He smiled at that because it meant she was accepting his high-handed invitation and turned to watch her as she walked out the door.
Then he focused on the voice on the other end as Bea said sharply, “Where are you at right now?”
His eyebrows lifted slightly at her tone of voice although he answered calmly, “In my suite, but I will be leaving in about five minutes. I need to go out of town to visit one of my sites.”
“Why didn’t you ask and I would’ve gone with you?” She said on a soft sigh. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have accepted this job for today.”
“It was a last minute decision,” he admitted honestly. “I will return later this evening and maybe we can have a late date if you are not too tired?”
She laughed huskily as she told him, “That is one thing you never have to worry about with me, Trystan.”
For some reason, he didn’t find that as comforting as he should have but he laughed and responded back to her in his charming voice. “Then I will see you this evening, sweetheart.”
He hung up on a sigh as he shook his head putting his phone on vibrate before heading out of the suite only to relax as he saw Alina leaning against the wall waiting for him.
“Let’s get going,” he told her stepping forward to take her arm pulling her away from the wall.
“I can walk by myself you know,” she told him as they got on the elevator heading down and Trystan smiled as he merely shifted his hand so that it had a firmer grasp on her arm.
“Just in case you decide to run away,” he told her as she looked down at it before glancing back up at him.
“Believe me,” she said turning her head away to face forward, “if I wanted to run away, the chances of you finding me would be slim to none unless you were lucky and someone decided to help you who knew where I was.”
He laughed at her words as the elevator doors opened and they headed out of the hotel and to his car unaware of the hard eyes that followed them.
Chapter 4
Trystan looked behind him as they walked around the new site for his next hotel as his construction foreman said, “I was surprised that you wanted to it view so soon, sir, as we haven’t even broken ground yet.”
He only smiled turning his attention to him as he said, “It was the spur of the moment decision. Besides, I am meeting someone later this afternoon so I figure I would take a look around at the same time.”
The foreman nodded his head not going to second guess his boss as they walked around the site where the new hotel would be going up. Trystan listened as the foreman talked aware that Alina followed behind them with no complaints.
As they finished almost an hour later, his foreman smiled at Alina as she handed back the hardhat he loaned her. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Alina,” he said with a nod.
“The same here,” she said with a smile. “Also make sure to check that recipe out and if you have any problems making it, let Trystan know and he can get hold of me as I am staying in one of his partners’ hotel for a short period of time.”
“I will,” the foreman said giving her a weird look before he was called away, and Trystan gave a relieved ‘goodbye’ in response to his hasty one as he walked away.
“A recipe?” He asked as they headed back to his car.
“He said that his wife was a good cook at one time, but lately she hasn’t had the energy to prepare meals so he has been doing it. Unfortunately,” she smiled here as she stopped next to the passenger door, “from what I gathered, his cooking is not receiving great reviews in his home so I gave him a simple recipe that anyone can follow and still taste delicious.”
“So you are a food critique or a chef, huh?” He asked as he opened her door.
She shrugged her shoulders as she said, “Something like that” as she slid in and he closed the door behind her with another thoughtful glance before going around to his side.
“So what did you mean that you were meeting someone in the area and decided to check out the site at the same time?” She asked as he pulled away from the site. “I thought Mr. Tyeson requested you to look over the new site.”
He threw her a grin before focusing back on the road he was driving. “I knew you were paying attention even though you weren’t looking at us.”
It reminded him of the night at the restaurant when he saw her with Samuel and his mouth tightened slightly before he relaxed it.
“Just because it seems as if someone isn’t paying attention, doesn’t mean that they are not aware of what is going,” she told him simply looking out her side of the car.
He glanced down at his watch before glancing over at her. “I have a long standing meeting most weekends and Mr. Tyeson knows this so he asked if I would stop at the site to look around before I visit with her. At the moment, the woman I’m meeting is probably out as she told me not to arrive before three so I have a few hours to waste. Would yo
u like to go sightseeing until then?”
His breathing stopped for a second when she turned to him with a smile that lit up her face and her eyes sparkled with pleasure. “Can we? It won’t cut into anything else you have to do, will it?”
Trystan find himself shaking his head as he told sincerely, “No, I have no other plans besides my meeting.”
She smiled at him with warmth as her hazel eyes danced and he noted that although the wariness was still there, it was dimmer than before, and he took that as a good sign. “Then let the tour began,” he said with enthusiasm as she laughed at him.
For the next few hours, that was exactly what they did as he took her to a famous focal point of Tiers which was a huge castle that someone had built back in the 1800s although Trystan admitted quite honestly, “It was only someone who wanted to bring some standing to Tiers by claiming royals once lived here.”
Alina shook her head at the explanation as she said, “How sad to put so much importance on standing, but it is beautiful.”
“Would you like to see inside?” He asked putting a hand on her lower back.
“May we?” She asked mindful of the hand but for some reason, she found it comfortable so she didn’t mention it.
“Come on,” he told her with a wink as they headed inside touring each room, and he laughed as she shook her head at some of the decorations.
After the castle, he took her to a maze that someone designed years after the castle and he found to his delight that she enjoyed the maze more than the castle.
“You can definitely get lost in there,” she remarked as they finally find their way out. She looked at him in embarrassment as she told him, “It’s a good thing that you have good direction, or we would have been there until night fall if not longer.”
He thought about that as he said slowly, “I should have taken my time then in getting us out of there.”
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