Page 70 of The Rented Bride

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

“You need to get back. The jet has a bedroom. You can sleep.”

“I’m not tired.” Her shoulders drooped. “I actually slept great. I can handle a standby flight.”

“Let me do this for you.”

“Fine. How soon can I leave?”

The tone of her voice hit him like a punch to the gut. “Twenty minutes. You have time to finish your coffee.”

Twenty minutes later, Trent stood in the doorway and watched Henry open the car door for Cassie. When the limo disappeared from view, Trent went up to visit his grandfather.

“He’s resting,” Annie said. “He had a rough night.”

Trent approached the bed. A hollow feeling settled over him. “What am I going to do without him?”

Annie rested her hand on his arm. “He’s doing okay. He complains, but I think he just likes to fuss. Eventually, he does what I ask.” She smiled. “Mostly.”

“I’m grateful for the care you give him.”

Annie returned to her little television in the corner, and Trent headed to his bedroom. After a shower, he’d throw himself into work and forget about the last few days. He entered his bedroom and stopped short. The bed was already made and the room immaculate, just like the rest of his carefully organized life. But the blouse Cassie had worn last night lay draped over the back of the corner chair. He should hang it up. Out of sight, out of mind. Instead, he stared at the damned thing another full minute before turning away.

What the hell was wrong with him? He had work that wouldn’t complete itself. Trent closed the door, irritated with himself for getting hooked on a woman who was a temporary solution to an unforeseen situation.

He strode to the bathroom, determined to get his thoughts together and put Cassie out of his mind. He pulled his t-shirt over his head as he stepped into the bathroom, hung it on the hook to the left of the door, then sluffed off his jeans and hung them over the t-shit. Trent reached into the shower and twisted the knob on, then shoved his boxer briefs from his hips and kicked them aside. Steam began to roll out of the shower and he turned to step inside. A sparkle on the counter caught his eye. The diamond ring sat beside the wedding band. Tent felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach with a baseball bat. It only made sense that Cassie would leave the rings there, but it hadn’t occurred to him she would. He picked up the diamond and stared at the solitaire. The large diamond was attention grabbing, just like the woman he’d purchased it for. Lindsey.

But it belonged on Cassie’s finger.