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They walked up the stairs and into the bedroom. Nerves assaulted him. They hadn’t discussed it, but he wanted her to come into his room, talk without William monitoring what they were saying, and never leave him.
“Goodnight,” Jennifer said brightly. She darted at him, planted a loud kiss on his cheek, and then pulled away.
“Jenn,” he moaned, reaching for her.
She scurried back and hit the opposite wall of the hallway.
“Come stay with me,” he murmured, following her, easing close, and brushing his fingers gently down her cheek. He meant the line innocently. He wanted her to come talk with him and work everything out, hopefully snuggle and kiss, but nothing inappropriate.
Jennifer leaned into his touch, her dark eyes intense and full of him.
Suddenly she straightened and ducked away from him. “I’d better rest in my own room. If my dad caught us together…” She made a cutting noise and pretended to cut her own throat.
He nodded, though he wanted to protest. She was overwrought, tired, and stressed. Her parents in that maniac’s power was taxing and terrifying. Hopefully she wasn’t also thinking Tristan had willingly danced with some blonde while she sat waiting for him in his suite at the castle.
“Goodnight.” She walked across the hall and shut the door.
Tristan had no other option but to go to bed. He slept fitfully, wanting to sneak into her room and carry her into his so they could finally talk. There were so many missed days and misunderstandings they needed to work through.
He felt off the next morning as he showered and got dressed in casual clothes. No morning weight training or trail run, no suit to wear or meetings to deal with. Without Henry, the focus had to be on getting him and Leslie back.
Today he wanted to drag Jennifer into the bedroom free of recording devices and into his arms. They needed to talk freely and kiss even more freely.
Unfortunately, neither talking nor kissing would happen any time soon. Her door was ajar, so he went down to the main level. She was in the kitchen chopping vegetables. “Omelets?” she asked brightly, but her dark eyes were red-rimmed.
“Yes, please.” Tristan was once again reminded of the recording devices. Suddenly, being trapped in a villa with the love of his life wasn’t so appealing. He didn’t know what to say that would keep William from hurting Henry and Leslie. The guy was so unstable it was hard to know what to do.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked, striding around the kitchen bar to help. His arm brushed hers and made him warm all over. She startled and glanced at him, but stepped away.
“Yes. You?”
It was such a lie. Her face and entire being looked worn out.
“Great. Thanks,” he lied back. All he’d wanted was to be with her. Sleep could wait.
They set about making breakfast, exchanging small talk but not much else. They ate on the patio overlooking the lake. Chad hadn’t said if there were recording devices out here, so they didn’t talk about anything substantial.
After breakfast, Tristan realized this would be a very, very long day. If he and Jennifer couldn’t talk, and she was keeping her distance from him because she either thought he was a player or was too worried about her parents, it was almost as miserable as being apart from her. He had her right here, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
They cleaned up breakfast and looked at each other. What to do that wouldn’t tip William off? He was hopeful for a knock on the door and a note telling them what William wanted next. The anticipation was always worse than the action.
“Thank you for being with me,” Jennifer said sweetly. If only he knew if it was for William’s recording devices or genuine.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he said.
“Oh … it seemed you quite enjoyed the dancing last night.” Her eyes sparked a warning at him.
“I didn’t, actually.” He eased in closer. “It’s much more exciting to be here with you.”
“I can imagine.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Let’s do something really exciting, then.”
“Oh?” His nerves thrummed with excitement. They couldn’t talk through deep issues right now, but they could certainly kiss the time away while they waited for that note.
“Phase 10,” she declared.
“Phase 10?” His forehead wrinkled in confusion.
“The card game.” She gave him an impertinent glare and tossed her golden-brown curls as she stomped to the cupboard, grabbed the game, and returned to the table.
