Maddening was a good word for it. “To make things worse,” he added, ready to let loose about the will. But then he stopped himself. Andie was a part of his frustration where that was concerned.Shewas one of the perfect strangers his granddad had essentially handed half of the business to. Of course, she didn’t feel like a stranger anymore.
Andie wrapped a hand around his bicep, an expectant look on her pretty face. “To make matters worse?” she urged.
“Well,” he stammered. “He left more questions than answers in his death, that’s all.”
“Can’t someone help you get answers now?” she asked. “Like Betty. Do you think she knows anything?”
“No,” he said quickly. “He was very guarded with his past, even around her. But his attorney knows something. In fact, he gave me a clue of sorts to look into when I pressed him the other day.”
The song was coming to an end now. Which was probably for the best. Just why did Trenton want to open up to this woman anyway?
“Did it lead anywhere?” she asked.
Trenton glanced up to see Don take the mic.
“Let’s get everyone on their feet to do a little twisting and shouting,” he cried. The next song kicked up, loud and lively.
Andie shot a look to the closest patio door. One leading to the woodsy yard out back. A few families sat gathered around the bonfire. Some were already coming to a stand to dance along to the blasting beat.
“Let’s go somewhere quieter,” Andie suggested. “Like to my place.”
She couldn’t have known what that sentence did to his insides. Sparks of warmth flared low in his belly.
Or maybe shedidknow. “Just so we can talk,” she added as her cheeks went pink. “Privately.”
Trenton’s inhibitions flared up, clashing with the brewing excitement within. She was far too easy to talk to. And did he really want to start something he couldn’t stick around to finish?
But it wasn’t really a dilemma at all, was it? Reservations aside, Trenton couldn’t get himself to say no if he wanted. So he gave her a mellow nod instead.
“Sure,” he said. “That sounds good to me.”
Chapter 11
Andie’s heart was attempting a breakout. The heavy hammering seeming to clamber against the cage that held it as Trenton creaked open the door for her to step through. Away from the crowd and the music. Toward a new and private setting where she and Trenton would be alone at last.
She knew how forward she was being. Heck, she was no better than Linda and all of her touching and flirting and flinging her head back in laughter. And while she couldn’t be sure as to Linda’s intentions, Andie knew that hers were, well, nottooscandalous.
Yes, the kissing comments had gotten her mind going, she’d admit that much. But it wasn’t curiosity or even chemistry that drove the invitation from her mind to her lips as their dance came to an end. It was the mysterious details of his past.
The poor guy. She couldn’t imagine being raised by someone who refused to tell her about her own parents. Andie’s father, as distant as he might have been most of the time, made sure the kids knew all about their grandfather who’d gone to prison. They’d visited him a few times, talked to him on the phone and in emails too.
Of course, it seemed Trenton had adapted well enough. And from what Betty had shared, he’d had a normal childhood, moonlit kisses and all. In the end, Andie was very curious about Trenton McGrath. He took her mind off her troubles—he had since the moment they’d met.
And though Andie had been dying to ask more—to change their twenty-question game into a hundred and twenty questions—she knew the topic required a different setting. A quiet one, where they felt safe to open up, be vulnerable, share things they’d kept to themselves for who knew how long.
As long as you don’t share any specifics,she reminded herself. Basic details like where they were really from, the company Mom’s dad owned, and the whole other-grandpa-in-prison thing must be kept to herself. Which, oddly, left only the more personal, intimate details. Funny, since those were the things she’d normallykeep to herself.
Like what she’d shared about her mother. Andie hadn’t expected to bring that up in the least. But there she was, pouring her heart out, revealing something she hadn’t voiced to her own brothers.
Maybe because she hadn’t wanted her suspicions confirmed. Part of her hoped very much that she was wrong about Mom. And that she’d actually been fulfilled in the life she’d chosen.
“Not quite so warm out here away from the crowd,” Trenton said.
His comment made her realize how quickly she was walking. She slowed slightly to look over at Trenton. “You’re right. It’s making me walk like a mad woman,” she admitted with a laugh.
“Here.” Trenton held his arm out to her. “I can keep you warm along the way.”
Andie glanced at his rolled-up sleeves, a contrast to her flannel-covered arms, somehow knowing that hewouldin fact be warmer. She moved into him, looping her arm through his, and sighed; she was right. He was warm, solid, strong, and scented with masculine goodness. Spicy with hints of leather and pine.
