Page 7 of Four Money (Ever and Always 1)

Fuck that.

His hand flashed out and cupped her upper arm, preventing her from leaving. “Hey. Sorry. That’s not what I meant. Can I help you pick something you’ll enjoy for dinner?”

Holly wished she could stick her nose up at his offer, but damn it, her stomach was practically digesting itself by now and whatever the chef was preparing looked and smelled amazing.

So she swallowed her pride and nodded.

Trent shifted his gaze to the menu again and began to read each line to her without a moment of hesitation. There wasn’t anything on it he didn’t know, either. Even better, he did it discreetly, as if they were discussing the options, so that everyone else around didn’t figure out what he already knew about her lack of sophistication. And damn if that—along with his tight ass in his clean and well-pressed jeans—didn’t make her find him that much more attractive.

When he got to seared scallops in a white wine sauce, she nearly moaned. “That. I’d like that, please.”

He grinned, then placed her order with the chef before turning to lean his hip against the counter. “So this is some pretty fancy shit, huh? Can you imagine, our neighbors have really come up in life, huh? How about you? What are you doing these days?”

Living at home, watching my mom die.

Okay, so even she wasn’t that socially inept.

“Nothing as impressive as any of this. I’ve had some setbacks. Life happened, you know?” She sighed.

“I do.” Even the slight crinkles that developed around his mouth when his smile turned into a much more solemn expression were sexy, damn him.

She’d never seen him be so somber in the entire four years they’d lived in the same neighborhood. And she didn’t like being the cause of his changed attitude right then. “Anyway, Andi said you work out here too. What doyoudo?”

“I play cards.” He shrugged.

“I meant for a living.” She couldn’t imagine having enough extra money to risk it on gambling.

“So did I.”

Ah, shit.So much for that. Holly could never find someone so irresponsible and cavalier about finances attractive. To be clear, she thought he was insanely fuckable. Hell, he’d shown her just how good he was in bed, or a flower bush, during that party that had spilled outside into the yard between their houses. Just not anything more than that.

Kari had found not one but three guys to bring financial stability and passion into her life. Andi was paving her own way along with her trio of hotties. They might not be wealthy like Kari’s three, but they had worked hard to be secure on top of having the intangible stuff that mattered, you know, like true love.

With a guy like Trent, all she’d have was a quick, highly satisfying romp in some shady corner.

Though that could be what she needed this weekend.

The chef handed their plates over and Trent took them both, carrying them toward one of the black linen-topped tables. She should have grabbed hers and run, but her aforementioned stilettos weren’t exactly intended for evasive maneuvers and no way in hell was she risking that incredible meal tumbling to the carpet along with her bruised ego.

“Eat with me?” He pulled out a chair for her as if he were a gentleman instead of the scoundrel she knew him to be. It was a far cry from a campus cafeteria, and yet she realized it didn’t mean anything more to him than a chance run-in with a classmate would have.

“No, thanks.” She looked around for the guys he’d been with when she’d arrived, but they seemed to be off dancing. If they minded that women were in the minority at this soiree, it certainly didn’t show. They had trapped a single lady between them as they bumped and grinded. The man with long hair especially had a flair for moving to the music.

“Yeah, my roommates aren’t coming back any time soon.” Trent huffed. “Come on, let me stay. I won’t bite. I mean, I realize I didn’t make the best first impression on you back in our college days…”

Oh, it had beenquitethe impression all right. The number of times she’d fantasized about being the woman he’d fucked up against the exterior wall of the frat house, poorly concealed by some rhododendrons that had recently been trimmed, would probably surpass the tally of people sipping free drinks in Vegas right then.

He had looked up, seen her, and smiled while never missing a beat. From the wild moans of the woman he’d been riding, he’d been doing a good job of it too. So why hadn’t he even cared that she had spied them? And why hadn’t he ever mentioned it in the months afterward when their paths had seemed to crisscross constantly?

Frankly, she’d assumed he’d been too drunk at the time to remember later, but clearly that wasn’t the case at all. That alone made him the sort of man she shouldn’t care to spend one moment longer with than necessary.

“Stay, please. It’s always bugged me that I didn’t apologize for being such a dirtbag and for getting off on you seeing…well, what you saw.” He cleared his throat.

“Youlikedme watching you?” Her fork clattered to her plate before she scooped it up and sank onto the chair he’d held out for her.

Again pretending that he had manners, he scooted her chair in and handed her a cloth napkin before taking the seat next to her.

“You couldn’t tell?” He scrubbed his hand over his face, then asked, “Do you want a drink? I think I’m going to need one if we keep talking about this.”

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