Trinity
Trinity paced the spacious kitchen and couldn’t stop smiling like a loon. She was crazy for even considering taking Ace up on his proposal of moving in, especially now that he had kissed her. He told her that he wanted her and that made the whole situation a bad idea. What happened if Ace decided that he didn’t want her anymore? What would happen to her then? Would he ask her to move out or push her out of Bella’s life? Was being with Ace worth risking her relationship with her niece? The answer was simple—it wasn’t. He wasn’t worth giving up her place in Bella’s life and she needed to put a stop to what was about to happen next between them.
She wasn’t a naive schoolgirl. Trinity could feel the need pouring off of his big body. He wanted her, that much was now crystal clear. His erection jutting into her belly was also a pretty good indication that he was on board for all of the dirty, kinky thoughts that ran through her mind while he was kissing her senseless. The question was, how did she go from that scorching kiss with Ace to putting her foot down and telling him that she didn’t want him in that way. She’d be lying, sure. But that might be the only way to save face after the way he licked his way into her mouth and made her pant with need.
“She’s out like a light,” Ace said. He had rolled up his sleeves to his dress shirt, showing off his sleeves of tattoos that ran up and down his arms, and all Trinity could think about doing was tracing his ink with her tongue. What was it about a good man who looked just like a bad boy that got her girl parts all worked up?
“Good,” Trinity breathed.
“Now where were we?” he asked reaching for her. As he pulled her up against his body, she put her arms out, effectively stopping his progress. “What’s up, Trinity?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she lied. He stared her down and she sighed. “Fine, everything. We can’t do this, Ace. What happens when you get sick of me being around? I want a relationship with my niece and when you get tired of me—when you stop wanting me and send me away, I’ll lose Bella and that will kill me.”
“I’d never do that to you, Trinity,” he promised. “Look at me, please,” she let her eyes rise to meet his dark gaze and he smiled. “I’d never keep you and Bella from seeing each other,” he said.
Trinity gasped, “You called her Bella,” she said.
“Yeah, well, her very sexy aunt keeps calling her that and it’s rubbing off on me some,” he teased.
“You think I’m sexy?” she squeaked.
“Very sexy,” he agreed. “We haven’t even seen where this thing can lead and you’re already breaking us up, Honey. How about we make a new set of rules?”
“New rules?” she asked. She hadn’t even gotten all of her old rules out on the table yet and he wanted to make new rules?
“Yep—ones that don’t involve you wearing more clothes or me keeping my hands to myself. Your first two rules were bullshit, Baby. We need rules that give you some rights when it comes to Arabella. How about we sit down and write something up and I’ll have my lawyer officially draft a document that will allow you access to Bella no matter what happens between us. You know a good lawyer who can take a look at everything on your end?” he teased.
“I think I can find someone. In fact, I know just the woman, I hear she’s a pretty good lawyer too,” she said.
“Great,” he agreed. “Let’s finish our dinner and then we can get to work on our new rules,” he said. He helped her up onto the barstool and leaned into her. “For the record, counselor,” he breathed into her ear. “I don’t think I’d ever get tired of you.” He kissed the side of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine, making Ace chuckle. How was she supposed to eat her dinner? Hell, eating and making small talk suddenly seemed like foreign concepts to her, but she wanted to pretend that she wasn’t all tied up in knots from what had just happened between the two of them.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked.
“About a month now. I found this place after Charity left me for Rooster. I knew that sooner or later; I’d get Arabella back from that bi—” Trinity could tell that he had stopped himself from calling his ex a bitch. She hated that he had to watch what he said around her, but she had to give him credit for not being a complete ass about Charity leaving him. She was still her sister.
Trinity giggled, “You can call her a bitch,” she said. “I know who my sister is, Ace. So, she never lived here with you and Bella?” Trinity asked.
“No,” he said. “She and I lived in a little run-down apartment. I wanted to buy a place and settle down for Arabella’s sake, but Charity was against it. She said it was too much of a commitment and now, I’m sure I know why she felt that way. About a week after I pushed her into looking at this place, she took off with Rooster. If I had to guess, I’d bet that she and Rooster were planning on taking off for a while and when I told her that I wanted to move out of our shitty apartment, it just moved up their plans. Why do you ask?”
“Well, this place doesn’t feel like my sister. It’s nice and I have to admit, I can see myself living here with you and Bella. But I didn’t want to live with my sister’s ghost. You know?” she asked.
He nodded, “I understand,” he breathed, “it’s one of the reasons I moved out of my apartment as soon as she left me.”
“You couldn’t stay there without her?” Trinity asked.
“No,” Ace said. “I couldn’t live there without Arabella. As soon as your sister cheated on me, I was done with her. I couldn’t stay with her knowing that she did that to me—and with one of my best friends. Your sister leaving only confirmed what I already knew—she wasn’t the right person for me. Charity gave me Arabella and I’ll forever be grateful, but we weren’t meant to be together. You’re considering moving in here then?” he questioned.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I am. Full disclosure?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “If you’re going to move in here, we’ll need to be completely honest with each other from here on out.”
“Well, that won’t be an issue for me, Ace. I’ve never been anything but honest with you,” she promised.
“Same,” he breathed.
“Good,” she said. “I hate my place. I moved in while I was still in law school and had no help and no money. The price was right and it seemed safe enough. The old landlord was nice but when he died, this other guy took over and he’s—” she paused and Ace filled in the word for her.
“Sleazy,” he assessed.