Page 67 of Falling for the Bad Boy
But Trinity. She was waiting for me upstairs, completely unaware that I held her fate in my hands.
As I opened my eyes, I let out a low groan. There was no way out of this where no one got hurt. The longer I let it go, the harder it was going to be.
“Let me see what I can do.” I didn’t wait for a response.
Every step I climbed took me closer to Trinity. My feet seemed to weigh a ton. The effort it took to lift one up and place it on the step ahead left me breathless. I was stalling, dragging out the moment before I turned on her completely. Right now, right this second, I still held a piece of her heart. But when she found out I’d sold her out in exchange for a slice of Wyatt’s pie…pissed off wouldn’t come close to describing how she’d feel about the betrayal.
I entered the apartment to the sound of classical music and the sweet smell of something flowery. She’d pulled all of the shades, shutting out the sun. I blinked as my eyes tried to adjust to the darkness.
“Trinity?”
“Back here.”
Her voice came from the back corner where I’d set up my bed. Earlier this afternoon I would have given just about anything for the kind of evening she obviously had in mind. But not now. My heart wasn’t in it. I might be able to put my feelings aside to shut her down. But I wasn’t going to do it while stringing her along as well.
“Hey, we need to talk.” I stopped at the edge of the bed.
“Come here.” She reached over and pulled me down next to her. “I’ve got other plans for your mouth right now.”
CHAPTER 29
Trinity
I reached for him, pulling him down on the bed next to me. He seemed hesitant, like he was holding back. I propped myself up on an elbow and let the sheet dip lower.
“Are you naked under there?” he asked, cocking his head and reaching for the sheet.
I held it tight against my chest. “Maybe. You said you wanted to introduce me to your shower. I figured it would be best to work up a sweat first.”
Groaning, he flipped onto his back and scrubbed his hand over his cheek. “You’re killing me.”
I leaned over and kissed my way up his neck. “You wouldn’t be any good to me dead.”
“I’m not sure I’m any good to you alive.”
My fingers roamed over his chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Wyatt’s got plans. Big ones. He wants to expand into the space next door and open up a craft brewery.”
“Well, that’s impossible. My space is next door. Can’t he do it somewhere else?” I edged my fingers under his shirt, needing to feel closer, craving the skin-on-skin contact.
“That’s what sucks. No, he can’t. I guess it just makes me wonder, why can’t you?”
“Why can’t I what?” My stomach clenched. I didn’t care for the direction the conversation seemed headed.
“Why do you need to be in this building? There are so many other options. Downtown is full of abandoned warehouses that seem like they’d be perfect for what you want to do.”
“Are you asking me to shut down my business before I even open and give up my space to your asshole boss?” I jerked my hand away.
“No, of course not.”
“Well, that’s what it sounds like.”
He rolled onto his side to face me. Those brown eyes held a hint of hurt. Maybe it was confusion. It was hard to tell since I’d pulled the shades. “I’m just wondering why you picked this place. When you could have chosen any one of a dozen or so other buildings, what made you pick this one?”
I didn’t owe him an explanation. Especially since it seemed he was asking more for Wyatt than for himself. But I didn’t want him to think I was being a bitch about things either. I needed his help if I was going to pull everything off. He’d proven to me over and over again that I’d underestimated the amount of work and knowledge opening up the co-op was going to take.
“First off, it was for sale. There might be a bunch of empty buildings downtown, but most of them want renters and weren’t willing to work with me on a contract for deed. Also, zoning was a big deal.”
