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She looked at the blonde’s downcast head and was relieved to be able to answer truthfully. “No. It was never about love.”
Audrey looked up with relief. “Sonya, I have no idea how this happened. Truly. One moment we were employer and employee and the next . . .”
She let the words trail off leaving Sonya to fill in the picture. Knowing the character for which Tristan was, she had no problem filling in the missing image. “Tristan is a very handsome and sexy man with power to boot. It can be very flattering to have his attention, and very painful when he’s finished. I just want you to be sure you can handle it."
Audrey’s lovely blue eyes looked unsettled. “You think he’ll tire of me?”
She bit her lip. The pain clearly etched across the younger girl’s face. “Tristan Manning enjoys his females.”
A spark of anger lit her blue eyes. “Are you saying this out of jealousy?”
Now came her second performance in one night. “Truth is, I was never interested in Tristan.”
The look of mistrust on Audrey’s face was swift. Sonya knew she had to work fast and be persuasive to gain her friend’s belief in her lie. “Daniel and I have been an item for some time now.”
It worked faster than she thought. The mistrust vanished as quickly as it appeared. A look of pleasure lit her face. “I was wondering. The two of you act awfully chummy. Almost too much, as if you were trying to hide the truth.”
A frown dipped the corners of Sonya’s mouth. They had never done any such thing. Where would Audrey have gotten a misperception like that? Swallowing the automatic denial, she went along with her friend’s mistaken conclusions. “I was actually going to ask you a favor. Daniel asked me to—on a date on Friday night. It’s an important banquet for his computer design. Would you be able to cover my shift?”
“Yeah, no problem.” Audrey picked up her tray once more and looked more relaxed. “Is Daniel coming with you on the long weekend?”
Sonya nodded. “I figured with Maura bringing Patrick and you and Tristan making it a duo, I thought no better time than the present to reveal the truth.”
Audrey smiled. “I am so glad this all worked out. You don’t know how terrible I felt. I thought you were interested in Tristan. I tried to remain indifferent but, well, you know how it is.”
She gave a short smirk but felt anything but cheerful. “Yes I do.”
* * *
They stood side by side staring at the bed for the longest time. Neither spoke or moved. Sonya couldn’t believe she had never considered this. Everything had happened so fast that she had completely forgotten about sleeping arrangements. She wanted to sneak a glance at Daniel and see just how disgusted his expression would be but couldn’t bring herself to it. This little snag in their deceit was entirely her own fault. She should have thought ahead.
Finally, breaking the silence, she gave a careless shrug and tossed her luggage on the floor beside the bed. “No big deal really. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time we slept together.”
He turned an overly exaggerated arched brow in her direction. “Excuse me?”
“How many times have I crashed at your place in the past year?” She forced a grin and walked toward the bed.
“I don’t think this is the same.” The disbelief in his voice was clearly evident.
“Why not?” She was trying to make the best of the situation but he wasn’t making it easy.
“For starters, you generally crash on my sofa and for seconds you’re usually intoxicated.” He tossed his case on the floor next to hers.
She smirked. “Well if this weekend goes the way it is supposed to, I’m sure I’ll be able to bring about the latter.”
Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not sleeping on any couch.”
She darted him an irritated look. “If you haven’t noticed, there isn’t one in the room. And I can’t have you sleeping in the main room or that would appear suspicious.”
“Then.” He forced the issue. “What are the sleeping arrangements?”
She dropped down on the bed and took note of the softness of the mattress. With fidgety eyes, she shot him a glance before turning her head and appeared thoroughly engrossed in surveying the room. “I have no problem sharing the bed.”
He had no reply. As a matter-of-fact, he went silent for so long that she couldn’t take the tension in the air and shot him a look from under her lashes. He was staring at her openly. His face looked a little pale and he looked far from happy.
Irked, she raised her chin and looked him squarely in the eye. “Do you?”
He cleared his throat and shifted his leather coat in front of him. “It has been proven that sleep deprivation caused by poor sleep conditions decreases the metabolic activity in the brain and can cause a low white blood cell count in the immune system.”
