Page 21 of Four Money (Ever and Always 1)

Home.

She thought of her mother and the apartment they shared. It was a place to live, but it wasn’t what she considered a home. Would Trent’s place be any better? Holly was willing to give it a try; she just couldn’t let herself forget it was temporary.

“Can I take you somewhere?” a man called from down the street. When Holly glanced up, she realized it was an operator with a horse-drawn carriage.

Trent looked at her and laughed. “Hey, why not?”

Holly grinned. She couldn’t deny the thought of snuggling up to him in the romantic ride while looking at her shiny new ring made her feel a lot better about what they’d done, even aside from the money. He boosted her into the carriage, then took the seat next to her, giving the driver directions to his place, which wasn’t very far away.

“Help yourself to some drinks,” the man suggested as he steered them into the road.

Trent took a pitcher of something fruity and bubbly and poured them each a flute before handing her one.

Holly held it up and made a said, “Here’s to getting what you need.”

“I’d rather toast to getting what you want.” Trent clinked his glass with hers. “Maybe we can figure out how to do both.”

Warmth—and not only from the alcohol she’d imbibed across the night, the effects of which were amplified by her riot of emotions and lack of sleep—spread through Holly. Her toes curled when Trent sipped from her lips and the sound of the horse’s hooves on the pavement made a steady rhythm for them to make out to. Already she’d gotten used to the way they came together, how natural and seamless it was.

And she wanted to spend what few hours were left in the night doing it over and over.

9

The world spun as Trent swept her off her feet, literally. He swung her into his arms and carried her from their ride, across the threshold, and into the house he shared with Lorenzo and Owen. It was too dark for her to see much, but from what she could tell it was modest and well maintained.

And given the direction they’d traveled from the strip, it couldn’t be more than a mile from the apartment she’d been existing in with her mother for the past few years. Son of a bitch.

He and his hot friends had been here the whole time, just like college all over again.

Well, tonight she didn’t plan to waste the chance to finally be in the same house, and same bed, as him. Hopefully he was planning to consummate their faux-marriage with very real orgasms, like she was.

Of course she’d understand if shock, grief, or even pure exhaustion prevented them from acting on the wild magnetism drawing them together. None of that seemed to be slowing him, though.

Instead of setting her down in the living room, Trent marched straight to what she assumed was his room. He lowered her to the floor and kept a hand on her waist when the world kept wobbling just a little. She might have had one too many glasses of peach champagne on the way there. It wasn’t every day she planned to seduce someone, never mind her newly wedded husband.

Was Trent thinking the same thing? His hand rubbed up to her ribs then back along her sequined dress, almost onto her ass.

“I never thought my bride would wear black.” Trent shrugged. “Well, okay, I never imagined I’d get married, but I wouldn’t blame you if you’re sad about it. I promise it’ll just be for a few months and then we can forget this ever happened.”

Holly wasn’t sure why that thought didn’t reassure her much.

She might have needed one more celebration drink to overcome her inhibitions and say what she was really thinking….what she really wanted. But that wasn’t an option now, so she imagined what her friends would say if they were there.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity! We saw the way he looked at you before, and how he was making out with you. There’s chemistry there and you’re both adults. Do it before it’s too late.

“Is this where I’m going to be sleeping?” she asked.

“This is my bed.” He waved toward the soft, rumpled gray duvet, which did look pretty damn comfortable. “You heard what Cooper and the rest of the lawyers said. It has to look…no,bereal. Especially given the timing of our nuptials, I’m guessing someone’s going to investigate our marriage to vet it.”

Holly bit her lower lip. It might be the perfect excuse to take what she wanted but never otherwise would have had the guts to go for. She nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s do this.”

She took the hem of her dress in her hands and began to shimmy it up her body, revealing the sexy lingerie she’d worn mostly to humor her friends. Thank God they were more worldly and smarter than her, because they had to have guessed it might pay off.

“Whoa. What are you doing?” Trent asked, putting his hand over his face, though his fingers split, allowing him to peek through them at her curves.

“Getting undressed. You can’t expect me to sleep in these clothes.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. Let me get you a T-shirt or something.”

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