Love Me Dear (Love Me Book 3)

Chapter 8

The wind was howling around the little one-bedroom cabin, but thankfully, the lights electric held steady. They had arrived in good time, giving Levi enough time to secure the building against the elements and bring in plenty of firewood in case they lost power. The stove was gas and would work even if the power went out, but the fireplace was the only warmth they would have.

Ben and Rainer had help Levi as much as they could and then had settled into work before power was lost. Trinity had nothing to do, so she found a quiet corner and curled up with a book, doing her best to ignore Levi's presence.

The cabin was small. It was one giant room that housed the living, kitchen, and dining areas and there was one bedroom with enough bunk beds to sleep six. There was a fireplace in both rooms but they weren't needed at long as they had power. The plan was to light both fireplaces only after the power went out, thus conserving as much wood as possible.

Levi frowned at something he was looking at on his computer, and Trinity had to bite her lip to keep from asking what was wrong. She was on vacation. It wasn't her problem.

She darted a look from Levi to Ben and caught Ben watching her as he leaned back in his chair. "It's killing you, isn't it?" he asked with a grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Trinity dismissed as she tried to turn her attention back to her book.

"Whatever Levi is looking at, you want to know what it is?" Trinity wanted to push him so his chair, which was balanced on two legs, fell.

Levi looked up at the sound of his name, looking at Trinity, confused.

"You can shoot me with hate daggers all you want, but I know you too well." Ben shrugged as his chair landed back on the wooden floor with a thump. "You might as well tell her, Levi. You already know she a wiz with numbers, she's more than doubled my money over the years."

"No thanks to you!" Trinity grumbled.

"You make it, I spend it," Ben said offhand as he turned his attention back to his computer.

It wasn't that simple. Their grandfather had left them both a good bit of money and while Christopher had spent Trinity's inheritance before she could invest it, Ben had invested his. That, coupled with his wildly successful writing career, meant he would never be short on cash.

"Fine, come look at this," Levi suggested as moved a pillow on the couch, making room for her to join him.

Trinity didn't feel like she had a choice, so she stood and joined him. The couch was old, and the springs weak so as soon as she sat down, she sank towards Levi because he was heavier. There was no way she could make space between them without making a show of it, so she did her best to relax and act as if his nearness was not affecting her.

But it was.

Her shoulder fell behind his, which meant that every time he moved his arm, it brushed her breast and her hip and leg were smashed against his. She could feel the heat as it radiated off of him and she had that thought that they wouldn't even need the fireplace if the power went out.

Levi appeared to be unaffected by her nearness as he talked her through some of the monthly numbers for the hotel.

As usual, the numbers took over Trinity's head as she tried to make sense of them and couldn't. She was so caught up in what she was doing that she took the laptop from Levi without thinking, crossed her legs, and settled in to figure it out.

Levi didn't object as he stood stretching. "I think I'll start dinner."

"Someone else besides me cooking will make a nice change," Trinity threw out absently.