The Arrangement

Chapter 42

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Chapter 42

I had another restless night’s sleep.  I woke up about ten minutes before my alarm and I turned it off before it went off and went to make myself coffee.  There, sprawled out on the couch was a sleeping Trent.  He was too big for my cramped little couch.  One leg was hooked over the arm of the sofa and his other foot was on the floor.  One of his arms was carelessly thrown over his eyes the other stretched above his head and hanging over the other arm of the couch.  A blanket was scrunched and partially draped across his torso.  He looked boyish with his mouth hanging open.

I felt a smile tug at my lips then reminded myself I was still mad at him.  With a sigh I picked up the blanket and draped it over him.  As I was about to leave I felt his hand wrap around my wrist.

“Good morning,” he smiled, his voice rough with sleep.

“Morning,”

“Come here,” Trent gave my wrist a gentle pull and tried to get me on the couch with him, but I shook my head.

“I have to go to work.”

“Two minutes?”

“It’s never two minutes with you, and I need to go in early.”

Trent looked up at me for a long moment before he let me go.  He sat up as I went to grab my coffee.

“Can we get lunch today?”

I shook my head.  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want you anywhere near my work right now.” I answered thinking back to my director’s threat.  “Plus I still need some space and some time to think.”

Trent nodded.  “Fair enough.  Does that mean you don’t want me staying here?”

I shook my head.  “Not really.  I don’t think it’s a good idea.  I don’t think clearly when you’ve decided you’re going to distract me.” I told him giving him a warning look.

He looked abashed and I could see a faint pink tinting his cheeks as he shrugged.  “I can’t help it.”

“You can, you choose not to.  I need to figure out what I want.  Right now, I need to focus on my study.  That has to be done, it has to be taken care of.  After that, then we can figure out what the future holds for us.”

“How is the study going?”

“It’s good so far.  I have to make the finalizations and find a location to conduct the study.”

“Can I help?”

I shook my head.  “Trent, I need you to be a silent partner.  If you want to get some places that can house the study, fine, get them to my real estate agent.”

“Who are you using?”

“Someone Nikki recommended for me.”

Trent nodded.  “I can do that.  I want to help.”

“You can help by funding and letting me get to my own answers.  I need you to promise not to interfere.”

Trent nodded.  “I screwed up big time.”

“Yeah, you did.  This is my life’s work.  You can’t screw with this.  I won’t let you.”

Trent sighed.  He got up and walked over to me.  His arms encircled my waist and I tensed up.  He kissed my neck just above my collar bone.  “I understand.” He held me like that for a long moment.  “I won’t interfere with you research.  Your funding is unlimited.  Get whatever you need.  If you need to hire people, do it.  Don’t think twice.  I have deep pockets.”