Ace
Ace woke up to the bright sunlight filtering in through his windows and realized that he didn’t close his blinds the night before. He had a sexy as hell woman wrapped around his body and all he could remember from just before he fell asleep was that he had asked her to move in with him. He was either the stupidest man on the planet, or he was a fucking genius. She hadn’t shot him down completely, not yet at least, but he had a feeling that was what today was going to entail. At least she agreed to spend the night and not venture home at one in the morning.
Trinity stirred next to him and when she realized that she had her arms and legs wrapped around him, she scurried to remove her limbs from his. “Um—sorry,” she squeaked.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I don’t mind.” He more than didn’t mind—he liked it. He liked having a woman in his bed again and he liked Trinity, even though he wouldn’t be telling her that.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Just after seven,” he said. “Sorry, I’m a bit of an early riser, especially with Arabella now. She’ll be up in a few minutes and I usually try to take a shower before she’s awake.” He liked the way her cheeks heated when he pulled his shirt off. Maybe he was being an ass but he was testing her to see how far she’d let him get in the stripping process before she stopped him.
“You mind if I take a quick shower?” he asked.
“Um, sure,” she squeaked. “If Bella wakes up while your in the bathroom, I’ll change her diaper and give her a bottle.” He unbuttoned his slacks and noted the way her breath hitched.
“Thanks,” he breathed. “I won’t be too long.” Trinity nodded and watched him walk to the master bathroom. He could feel her eyes on him the entire way. Just before he walked into the bathroom, he dropped his pants, revealing that he wasn’t wearing anything underneath and when her surprised gasp filled the master suite, he smiled to himself. Yeah—he had her just where he wanted her.
Ace turned on the shower and stretched and yawned. He was tired, having spent most of the night laying beside Trinity hard and confused. How the hell was he falling for his ex’s sister? What kind of asshole did that make him? There were plenty of women out there, but his cock seemed to want the hot little number innocently sharing his bed with him. Hell, just last night, he had five women slip him their number during his dinner meeting. He was used to women tossing him their number, offering him a good time. He saw nothing wrong with taking them up on their propositions, especially after Charity left, but since meeting Trinity, he had lost interest in their offers. Ace was polite, smiling and thanking them for their numbers which he simply pocketed and went on with his meeting. He found that he spent most of his time thinking about Trinity back at his place, hanging out with Arabella. All he wanted to do was get his very long day over with so he could go home to them both.
That’s when he came up with the idea of asking her to move into his place with him and Arabella. He needed help with his daughter, that much was apparent, but the idea of Trinity moving in with him had him all tied up in knots. He was hoping that she’d automatically agree to his proposal, but when she didn’t, he needed to come up with a better plan than just blurting out his idea. So, he spent the rest of the night awake and hatching a new plan—a better plan. One that would have Trinity not only agreeing to move in with him and Arabella but also sleeping in his bed every night. Ace had decided two things during his sleepless night. The first was that his plan to have Trinity move in and help with his daughter was a damn good one. The second was that he wanted her and whether that was right or wrong, it was just how he felt. He wanted his ex’s sister and he didn’t give a fuck what that sounded like to everyone else. What anyone else thought about him wasn’t his problem. He had two women in his life to impress—his little girl and now, Trinity.
Ace could tell that Trinity wanted him too—but she was holding her cards close to her vest, something he’d never really learned to do. If he wanted something, he went after it and the consequences be damned.
He was just about finished his shower when he heard Arabella crying over the baby monitor, followed by Trinity sweetly talking to his daughter, promising that everything was going to be all right. She had a way with Arabella and if Trinity agreed to move into his place with them, his daughter would be the luckiest kid on the planet.
Ace quickly dried off and pulled on a pair of sweats and a clean t-shirt. He was going to have to work from home today since Arabella couldn’t go into daycare, but that worked for him. He had enough of the office over the past two days. He put out fires and dealt with more shit in just two days than he usually did in two weeks. Ace knew that Knox would be able to handle whatever hit them today and their casino would be in good hands.
Ace found Trinity and Arabella in the kitchen and he smiled at the way she seemed to belong there in his space. “Here, let me take her. I’m sure you need to shower for work,” he offered.
“I can’t do that here,” she insisted. “I don’t have anything that I need.”
“Well, if you took me up on my offer to move in, you wouldn’t have that problem,” he teased, taking his daughter from Trinity’s arms. He kissed Arabella’s forehead and noted that she didn’t seem to have a fever.
“I just took her temperature and it’s back to normal. What will you do for daycare today?” Trinity asked.
“I’m staying home with her,” he said.
“No urgent meetings today then?” she asked.
“Well, I’ll have to cancel my late afternoon meeting, but it was supposed to be a quick one anyway,” he admitted.
“Oh,” she breathed. “Well, I have a jam-packed morning, but I’m free to help out this afternoon,” Trinity offered.
“Really?” he asked. “But you had to cut out of work early yesterday. Won’t that cause problems with your employer?”
She laughed, “No,” she said. “As I told you before, my employer has already weighed and measured me. I’m not a man and therefore have no place in my law firm. I’ve been thinking about looking for a new job for months now, but the idea of having to go through a job search feels daunting. I guess I’ve just been putting it off, but I’m starting to see that I need to get on with it. Anyway, I have time to use, so I can take off this afternoon—about three-thirty work for you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Ace agreed. “That would give me enough time to get to the casino for the meeting. Are you sure? I can make it quick so you can get home early tonight,” he offered, noting the hint of disappointment in her blue eyes. “Or, you could stay over again,” he almost whispered.
“Stay over?” she asked as if she didn’t understand the question.
“Yeah—you know, like a sleep over here,” he said.
“I—I haven’t decided if I want to move in here, Ace. I just need some more time to think about your offer.” He took the bottle that Trinity handed him and started feeding his daughter.
“How about you stay here for a few nights? You know, just bring a few things over and see how it goes?” he asked.
“You mean like a trial run?” she asked. He didn’t care what the hell they called it, as long as she’d consider his proposition.