AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They could just be saying hi to me when they are on their way to work on you. I mean, I hope you tell them you are seeing someone. Or is that the problem? You don’t want them to know. I’m not sure I want them to know right yet. The more that know, the more it could get back to Eli.”
“I know,” he said. “And it seems I have to spell this out more clearly for you. Though they haven’t said your name specifically, you’re the person they are trying to set me up with.”
“No way,” she said. “Why? They’d never pick me.”
“Why not?” he asked, frowning. “Why do you do that? Knock yourself down like that.”
“I’m not knocking myself down,” she said. “I just don’t know why they think I’d be good for you.”
“Because youaregood for me,” he said firmly. “I’d like to think I’m good for you too.”
She was putting her foot in her mouth on this. Probably because she was stunned by what Trent was saying.
“I’m sorry. I do think those things. I guess it goes back to me being guarded and having trust issues. But you’ve got to be wrong.”
He laughed at her. “I’ll admit if I’m wrong, but I’m not. How many times does my name come up by anyone with the last name of Fierce or Janine?”
She waited a second and then said, “Oh my God. A lot.”
“That’s right,” he said, laughing now. “And the same is happening when they come see me. Just recently I’ve realized they must have pulled Janine in. She’s going overboard with bringing your name up.”
“She does it a lot when she comes down to see me. She tells me how wonderful you are. She’s been doing it since July. Are you sure she hasn’t been part of it since then?”
Roni wasn’t sure how she felt about this.
“I don’t think so. I think that is just her nature to do it.”
“I have to be honest with you, Trent. Part of the reason I think I softened towards you is because Janine just seemed so sincere in what she said about you as her boss. I believed her. You know my opinion on lawyers and men in general.”
He got up and moved closer to her and had her facing him, his hands on her arms. “Listen, Roni. I’m telling you this because I wanted it to come from my mouth. I’ve suspected it for a while but held off. Today was the final sign that it was happening. All those reasons you gave me a chance are true and there was no malicious intent with it. I know your trust in men has taken a hit and I wanted you to know we aren’t all alike. The Fierces never are malicious, but I was determined to find my own woman, not let someone else push me in a direction I might not want to go.”
She felt better hearing that but still didn’t know what to think. “I understand that. I just feel kind of played.”
“Don’t,” he said. “I don’t want you feeling like you can’t trust them or me. Or better yet, everyone might feel that, but I don’t wantyouto. I don’t feel it and I was put into this like you. I wasn’t positive you were who they had in mind. I just knew they were trying to set me up and I saw you and decided I was going to make my move. I wasn’t leaving anything to chance. Not them saying they did it. Not them picking someone. If it wasn’t you who they thought, I’d be like, ‘Too bad, I’ve got a woman.’”
“I’m not going to be someone’s possession,” she said with her hands on her hips. It felt like she’d been down this road before, which sucked after he’d just said he was trying to get her to see all men weren’t alike.
“I’m making a mess of this and I was just trying to be transparent. I’m not trying to make you my possession. I’m trying to let you know what is going on around you because I don’t want you blindsided.”
She moved back to the stove and focused on dinner while she thought of what he’d said. She felt she’d been blindsided enough in life and he knew it. He was helping and trying to prevent it. It’s like he said, he was part of this too, not that he had a hand in planning it.
The water was boiling so she dumped the rice in and then added the sauce to the meat and mixed it.
“What makes you so sure I’m the person if they haven’t said the name?”
“First off,” he said, “I don’t care if you are the person or not. It’s not about that. It’s about us and me letting you know what I know or suspect. It’s us being on the same page and doing this together.”
If he said anything else she might not have softened toward him, but she should have figured he’d find a way to get her to see. Unless this was his smooth talking and she was falling for it.
She hoped not.
“Tell me how today proved something to you,” she said.
“First off, don’t be mad. Again, I’m telling you the truth.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” she said. Why was her heart racing so much in fear? It just felt like she might lose what she was starting to feel. “When someone says don’t be mad, that means they know you will be mad.”
“I’d rather you’d think it was romantic, but I know that isn’t your thing and I shouldn’t have done what I had. It’s childish, but I guess I was desperate and that says a lot for me.”
