He hit the call button on his cell and put it on speaker. He felt as if he was holding his damn breath waiting for her to answer the phone. “Hello,” she whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” he whispered back. “Shit—you don’t live alone and I called this late. I’m an ass, Trinity.”
“Not at all,” she said. “I don’t know why I was whispering. I live by myself. My place is much too small for another person to live in with me. It’s a shithole, really, but the rent control is hard to beat in this area. I can’t afford much more with my student loans and everything else, so I’m not complaining.” Trinity took a deep breath and let it back out. “Sorry, I’m rambling—nervous habit.”
“Do I make you nervous?” he asked. He hated to think that she felt anything but comfortable around him, especially since they had just spent the evening getting to know one another and hanging out.
“Sometimes,” she admitted. “Like earlier, when we were having dinner, you made me a little nervous. I’m not sure what to say around you, Ace. I’m sorry that I overstepped and asked if you had a good time with me tonight. I get it—that’s not what tonight was or anything. You were kind enough to agree to let me hang out with my niece and I guess I just misread the situation. It won’t happen again,” she promised. He wanted to tell her to stop making him promises that he wasn’t sure he wanted her to keep.
“What if I want it to happen again?” he asked. “I had a nice time with you tonight, Trinity.”
“No, you don’t have to say that Ace. I was just being pushy and I overstepped. Please don’t say something to make me feel better—it’s not necessary,” she whispered.
“One thing you need to know about me, Trinity, is that I never say anything that I don’t mean. I stand by what I said, I had a good time with you tonight. I’m happy that you want to be a part of Arabella’s life—God knows that I can use the help,” he said. “I’m hoping that you and I can get past this awkward phase and maybe even be friends. I know we had a rocky start with me being your sister’s ex and all.”
Trinity giggled and the sound made him smile, “I won’t hold that against you, Ace. You’re a good person and Arabella is lucky to have you. Charity was an idiot for walking away from the both of you, but as I told you earlier, that’s how she works. She doesn’t stick around very long, not even for the good things in her life.”
“We’ve both been hurt by Charity,” Ace whispered. “How about we make a pact to find a path forward without her? I mean, I plan on doing my fucking best to raise my daughter and I can’t do it by myself. Your agreeing to help me with Arabella helps relieve some of the stress I’ve been having since Charity took off. You have no idea how much I appreciate that Trinity,” he said.
“No problem,” she said. “I just hope I can live up to being the kick-ass aunt that Bella deserves.”
He knew that she would. Trinity seemed to be the type of woman who could accomplish just about anything that she put her mind to. “You got this,” he encouraged.
“We shall see,” she said. “I have to hit the hay if I’m going to be fresh for your princess tomorrow.”
The thought of Trinity climbing into her bed, wearing close to nothing, played through his mind and he bit back his grown. “Night, Trinity,” he breathed.
“Goodnight, Ace,” she said, ending the call. Yeah—he needed to remember that she was in this thing for Arabella and not him. If he wanted his daughter to have her aunt in her life, he needed to keep his cock in check, and picturing Trinity crawling across her bed half-naked wasn’t the way to do that.