He heard the sound of the elevator opening and Mara glanced at him in confusion. He pushed back from the table. "Please excuse me, everyone."
Trent held up a hand to Mara so she wouldn't get up. There were only a few people who had clearance to come up so there was no need to interrupt their dinner while he found out who was there. When he turned the corner, Avery stood in the entryway.
"Hey. I was visiting my parents. They wanted to keep Travis for a sleepover so I decided to swing by and see what you were up to. I feel like I haven't had a chance to spend any time with you since you've been here."
Laughter rang out from behind him and she looked quizzically at the sound. "Oh wow, I'm so sorry. You're having a party. I should have called first." She looked over his shoulder, naked longing and loneliness all over her face. She turned to leave. "I'll just catch up with you later."
Damn it. Trent couldn't let her leave looking like that. To what, go home to her empty place and sit alone? Eat alone.
His hand shot out to stop the elevator doors from closing. "No, you should stay. It's just family. Mara's brother and his fiancée are here. We have plenty of food."
Avery looked up hopefully. "Really? Are you sure Mara won't mind?"
"Of course not." He hoped not. "We've got plenty of food and this will give you two a chance to get to know each other better."
"I'd like that." Avery followed him off the elevator and dropped her coat over one of the stools in the kitchen.
Mara looked up when they entered the dining room. "Avery! Hello." She gestured across the table. "This is my brother Matt and his fiancée, Penny. Guys, this is an old childhood friend of Trent's, Avery Maxwell."
Avery waved to everyone as Trent brought her a plate. Mara caught his eye as he passed behind Avery's back and he shrugged. He could only hope she wasn't pissed that he'd invited Avery to stay but it was getting harder and harder to avoid uninvited guests since the word had gotten out that he was back in town. His place was starting to feel like Grand Central station.
"So, Avery how long have you known this guy?" Matt gestured toward Trent.
"It feels like forever," Avery responded. "We were just kids when we met. But there used to be a bigger group of us that hung out. Over the years it seems like everyone has scattered." She turned to Trent. "Did I tell you Trix is back in town? She called me about some new charity she's starting. It provides free art classes or something like that."
Trent froze, then forced himself to continue cutting his chicken. "Not surprised. She was determined to change the world, even when the rest of us were just focused on exams and getting our driver's licenses."
"Well, I'm not sure being a nude model for some guy who calls himself Drago is changing the world but she seems happy. She's back in town for her cousin's wedding."
Matt's head swung back and forth between them. Having known him so long, he could interpret his buddy's facial expressions perfectly. He was watching Avery, or more accurately, watching his interaction with Avery. It seemed his friend still hadn't let go of his suspicions that he was cheating on Mara. Trent sighed.
"This is absolutely delicious. Trent, I know you didn't cook this."
The comment drew laughter from the rest of the table. Even he had to smile a bit. "No, this is definitely not my doing. Mara is a magician with food. Every dinner tastes like it comes out of a five star restaurant."
Mara shrugged but her cheeks tinged pink at the compliment. "It's nothing, really. There's a little trick to how you layer the spices when you stuff the artichokes in, that's all."
Avery turned the full force of her smile on Mara. "Would you teach me sometime? I'm okay in the kitchen but I would kill to be able to make something that tastes like this."
"Of course. That would be fun." Mara glanced over at him, her eyes shining with pleasure.
For years, she'd lamented her lack of time to spend on her recipes. Once he convinced her to quit that job she hated, she could spend as much time as she wanted working on her recipe book. Hell, he'd buy a publishing company for her to distribute it if that would make her smile. Although knowing her damn independent streak, she wouldn't want him to do that. She'd want to make it on her own. Not that it would stop him from doing it anyway.
He was finding there wasn't a whole lot that could stop him from doing things to see her smile.
Chapter Thirteen
FLUSH WITH THE warmth of good wine and even better conversation, Mara carefully stacked the plates on the counter next to the dishwasher. If Trent caught her doing this he'd fuss at her to leave it for the housekeeper but it was too deeply ingrained in her to clean up immediately. She looked up when someone entered the kitchen. Avery stood behind her holding several wineglasses.
"Here you go. I figured I'd grab the ones left on the table. Trent is showing off his game room."
Surprised, Mara accepted the glasses and set them on the counter next to the plates. "You didn't have to do that. You're a guest."
Right at home, Avery opened the dishwasher and pulled out the bottom rack. "I know we've only met a few times but I already feel like we're friends. Besides, I wouldn't want to be stuck cleaning up all this by myself!"
Mara rinsed the wine glasses and set them on the counter next to the plates. "Trent is going to tell me to leave it for Bianca but I just can't do that. It'll annoy me every time I walk by the kitchen to see a mess on the counter. Plus, I'm still not entirely certain Bianca even exists. I've never seen her."
"When we were staying here, she started coming by more often. Little boys tend to create messes. I think she was happy when I moved back into James' place."