TREVOR AWOKE WITH the sun pouring through the windows. Shelby still snuggled against him, her head on his chest as her breath stirred against it. He hated to move. He wanted to stay like this forever, just reveling in her softness and the scent of him on her skin. He hadn’t woken up with a hard-on in years. Instinct told him she would not be receptive to a repeat in the light of dawn, so he eased away from her and moved her head to the pillow.
Retrieving his shorts, he slipped them on and went into the kitchen. He started the coffee brewing before heading down the hall for a shower. Pulling his jeans and rugby shirt on, he returned to the kitchen and started laying out what he would need for omelets.
A sound from the doorway had him looking around to see Shelby, hair tousled and eyes drooping, the cute T-shirt hugging her slender curves. He gave her a lopsided smile, unable in that moment to form words. She returned the smile hesitantly.
“Good morning.”
He grinned. “Yes, it definitely is.”
Before he could cross the kitchen to reach her, Lark staggered into the room.
“I smell coffee.”
Trevor poured a cup and handed it to her. She dumped in sweetener.
“You added more sugar than there is coffee,” he said, bemused.
“Have to get rid of the nasty coffee taste,” she said, blowing across the top of the mug and taking a huge sip. “Ahhh.”
Trevor poured another cup for Shelby, who still hadn’t moved more than two steps into the kitchen.
“By the way, kiddies,” Lark said sourly. “I’m a heavy sleeper. I might wake up for a tornado, but that’s about it. You should have told me you were together. You could have had the bed, and I’ve taken the—unused—sofa.”
Shelby’s cheeks pinked, her eyes troubled. “I didn’t know if—”
“We are,” Trevor interrupted firmly, “together.”
Her face relaxed. “Okay.”
Lark shook her head in disgust. “Imma go shower while you two idiots figure things out.”
Trevor barely noticed when she left. He reached for Shelby, who melted into his arms. He held her tightly, throat choked with relief. She wasn’t going to run from him this time.
“We can take things slowly,” he said into her hair. “I know you’ve had some bad experiences.”
He felt her nod. “Thank you.”
“But I need you to promise me something.”
She tensed in his arms.
“I need you to promise me that if you get scared, you talk to me. No running away. Deal?”
Her breath whooshed out. “That’s . . . it? Talk to you?”
“Yes.”
She was quiet for so long he was afraid she was going to withdraw from his arms at any moment. He held his breath.
“I can do that.”
He exhaled hard in relief. “Good. That’s good.”
“Trevor . . . you have to know. I’m damaged goods.”
He laughed. That’s not at all what he’d expected her to say. “Honey, we’re all damaged to some extent.”
“No, but . . . you don’t understand. I chose Bruce. Even agreed to marry him. Dated Floyd. I make poor choices.” She sounded bitter.
“Those idiots are a gnat’s ass in my world. They should be in yours, too.”
She all but hid her face in his chest. “Bruce was incredibly ambitious.”
She stopped, and he waited quietly for it to come. He was pretty sure he knew what he was going to hear.
“I should say shamelessly ambitious. He used every advantage in his arsenal to climb the political ladder. Including me. I was his entrée into the so-called privileged world of politics. I was a commodity, nothing more.”
“He used you.” He kept his tone neutral, tamping down the urge to hunt Bruce down and beat him senseless. “Did you never want, yourself, to run for election?”
“Not once. I went to Girl’s State during high school. It’s like a make-believe Washington, D.C. You campaign and run for office and make political alliances. I hated having to do any of that. I liked to watch the machinations, and predict where everyone would end up. I was right more often than not.”
He continued to hold her, pleased beyond measure that she seemed content to rest within the circle of his arms. “So you were training to be an analyst, even back then. But you couldn’t see it with Bruce?”
“No. The first time he cheated on me, it was with the personal aide to a member of a subcommittee of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Soon after that, he landed a lucrative contract. That sort of thing.”
“The first time?” Try as he might, Trevor couldn’t keep the tightness from his voice.
She tensed in his arms, hearing it as well. “Yes. I forgave him. Didn’t mean a thing, never happen again, all sorts of bullshit. Lies. I’m pretty sure he cheated on me a couple of other times, always where it would benefit his ambitions.”
“So you dumped him.”
She swallowed so hard he heard it. “Not then, no. I was a naïve twenty-four. He was everything the men in Coon Bluff weren’t. He wore suits, used expensive cologne. When we were together, he paid attention to me, not my friends. I thought he loved me for me, not just to get close to someone else. I was so wrong.”
“Like the boys while you were growing up using you to get close to Raeanne Swinney, head cheerleader.”
“You remembered.” She looked up at him in wonder.
He smiled. “I do listen when you speak.”
“I thought all men were like that, until I met Bruce. And then he turned out to be the same.”
“He never deserved you,” Trevor said fiercely. “He was unworthy.”
He felt her smile against his skin. “Well, thanks for that, anyway.”
He put her from him, holding her by the forearms so he could look into her eyes. “No, I’m very serious. I’m sorry you ever experienced that. For you to say that you thought all men were that way, well, I can assure you we’re not.”
“I hope that’s true. So what happens now?”
He hugged her closer to him. “Now you remember you’re a kind, intelligent, wonderful woman who deserves the very best in life. You forget those morons as completely irrelevant. And I do my damnedest to prove I’m worthy of you.”
She looked at him, wide-eyed. After a moment, she took a breath. “Please don’t turn out to be a jerk.”
Trevor started to laugh, but abruptly realized that she was dead serious. He chose his words with care. “I will never deliberately hurt you, Shel. That doesn’t mean we won’t have disagreements or even arguments. But I can promise you that I’m an honorable man. I will never belittle you or cheat on you.”
“Well . . . good.”
“Have you idiots figured things out yet?” Lark said from the doorway. She leaned against the doorjamb. Today she wore a teal shirt over a shell and black leggings, her triple earlobe piercings winking in the kitchen light. Dramatic makeup and spiky hair made her look even younger than she had the previous night.
“We’re getting there,” Shelby said with a shaky sigh. She pulled out of Trevor’s arms.
“Then let’s go talk to that gnat’s ass, Floyd.”
“Do you always eavesdrop?”
“What about your class?” Shelby asked at the same time.
Lark looked from one to the other. “Fuck my class. And yes, I frequently eavesdrop. I learn stuff that way. Stuff you can’t learn in boring schoolbooks.”