Run To Rome

Her words brought back memories of last night. How she’d decided to put aside her worries for one night. His jaw tightened in tandem with his grip on the gun, and he made a small questioning gesture with the weapon. “Why’d you take this?”

“I started thinking about later and got so claustrophobic I couldn’t breathe down there.” She motioned below deck. “I had to get some air, and thought I’d feel safer up here by myself if I had the gun. Stupid, since I don’t even know how to use it.”

His gaze narrowed at the wobble in her voice. Damn, she was good. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I know you didn’t get much sleep the past couple nights.”

He immediately pictured why he’d lost sleep last night. Judging by the increased flush coloring her fair skin, her thoughts travelled the same path. He forced the erotic images from his mind and asked, “I take it that was your sister on the phone?”

She nodded. Trent leaned against the railing, gun held casually at his side, ready for anything. He did another scan of the immediate area around the dock and George’s house but noted nothing unusual. “What’s going on? Is she okay?”

Halli sidled past him to sit at the table where a mug of coffee rested. “She’s feeling okay, but said Simone got a phone call this morning that really shook her up. Not that she could understand Simone’s Italian, but Rachel said it looked like she’d seen a ghost. And when she asked if something was wrong, Simone completely clammed up. Wouldn’t even look her in the eye. Rachel said it was very strange and freaked her out.”

Trent frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. Halli distracted him with a downward sweep of her gaze, reminding him he wore nothing but navy boxer briefs. Betrayal had effectively taken care of his morning hard-on but her attention threatened to bring it back. He was an idiot.

More color stained her cheeks when she raised her gaze to his. It wasn’t possible to produce blushes on demand, was it?

“Do you think it’s strange?” she asked.

Yes. Everything in his life was strange these days.

He shrugged. “Hard to say since I wasn’t there.”

Halli lifted her coffee, only to thunk the mug back down without taking a drink. “I realize they’re not friends or anything, but Simone really seemed like she wanted to help yesterday.”

Trent kept his own concern hidden to see how far she’d carry the act. “It could’ve been a call from the hospital.”

“Yeah.” Her fingers gripped her mug, knuckles white.

“Would you feel better if I called her?”

Those blue eyes pleaded. “Would you, please?”

He extended his arm for the phone. She handed it over with a thankful smile that lit her eyes and wrenched his gut.

Was she really playing him, or did he have it all wrong? A moment ago he’d been certain, now he waffled. Shouldn’t he, the actor, be able to figure out if someone was genuine or running a con?

Simone sounded a little out of sorts, but assured him she was just tired. With miles separating them and the day marching forward relentlessly, he was forced to give her the benefit of the doubt. He asked about Rachel again, and then made Simone promise to get some rest when she could before hanging up.

“Everything’s fine.”

Halli’s relief was palpable, until their eyes met and her smile faded. She took her still half-full mug and brushed past to go below deck. Trent followed, watching her dump out the coffee while he reached for his jeans on the floor. The phone bounced where he dropped it on the unmade bed, but the gun he set on the corner of the rumpled comforter farthest from her while he dressed.

“Exactly how are you and your sister and brother better than your parents?” He cringed at the slight note of accusation. Nothing like telling her he was on to her.

“You heard that?”

“And the rest,” he stated, buttoning his jeans.

She turned around, hands braced against the counter behind her. She looked nervous, but met his gaze directly. “Rachel’s just worried about Ben, please don’t take her doubt personally. A million dollars is a lot to ask even a close friend to fork over, let alone a stranger.”

Not quite the angle he’d expected. Trent tugged a clean white T-shirt down over his stomach and let his gaze linger on her curves as he stuck the gun into the back waistband of his jeans. “We’re hardly strangers, Halli.”

Color deepened in her cheeks and neck again. Trent’s heart insisted she couldn’t fake that, or the shyness he swore he saw in her eyes when he stepped closer. It was unnerving how bad he wanted back what they’d shared last night. So bad that he couldn’t keep from crossing to her and reaching out to touch despite his insidious suspicions.

He brushed the back of his knuckles along her jaw and tucked her hair behind her ear. One moment she looked up at him with such a pure expression of trust, and the next she wrapped her arms tight around him. He tensed with the instant thought she was going for the gun, but all she did was lay her cheek on his chest and lean against him.

Forcing himself to remain somewhat vigilant, he removed the gun and laid it within his reach on the counter before returning Halli’s embrace.