Page 29 of Unleashed

“Your daughter asked if I was bad, and you still haven’t answered her.” Trevor lifts one hand, raking his long fingers through the mess of his hair. “Answer her.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” No one has ever tried to tell me what to do, and I’m not about to start letting it happen now. Certainly not from someone like him. “And are you sure you really want me to answer her?” I make a show of looking him up and down. “Because from where I’m standing, you were parked outside my house, sleeping in your car. And that is not something normal people do.”

Honestly, if it had been anyone else, I’d be freaking out right now. Probably taking a baseball bat to the body of their vehicle to make it clear they had no business being here.

But while Trevor is an asshole, and the bane of my existence, he’s not dangerous. Not the kind of guy I need to worry about. I’m very familiar with those types, and he’s not one of them.

Trevor seems to freeze in place. Like it hadn’t occurred to him what he’d done was brow raising at best. A call to dispatch at worst.

For a second, he almost looks a little panicked.

Not an expression I’ve ever seen on this man. Anger? Yes. Frustration? Sure. Annoyance? Absolutely.

Lust? Once. By accident. That won’t be happening again.

“It’s not like that.”

Trevor’s explanation piques my interest. Because what in the hell could it be like? One doesn’t just accidentally park and fall asleep in their car outside an employee’s house.

But I don’t have time to find out what is actually going on, because Zara is going to be late for her appointment. And if Zara is late for her appointment, they will make us reschedule. And if we have to reschedule, she won’t get the therapy she desperately needs.

So instead of questioning Trevor further, I roll my eyes and turn away, going straight for the driver’s door as his steps trail behind me. I climb behind the wheel and start the engine, slamming the door in his face.

Again.

Thankfully, he stays out of my way as I back out and pull away.

Just to be sure, I glance up at him in my rearview mirror, eyes lingering on his disheveled form as the distance expands between us. He doesn’t budge from his place—watching us go until we’re out of sight.

All the air rushes from my lungs when he’s no longer staring back at me, and I choose to believe it’s from relief. That I’m glad to be away from him.

Not that maybe I was accidentally holding my breath because that weird feeling is back in my stomach.

I drive as fast as I dare, given my complete lack of interest in paying for a speeding ticket, and manage to get my sister to her appointment on time. While she’s in the back, learning exercises to help strengthen her muscles and stretches to increase her flexibility, I log in on my laptop and get a start on the day.

The first thing I do every morning is look over Brooke’s schedule. I double check that meetings are still where they were and that no one has canceled or rescheduled anything. Only one has been bumped, and it doesn’t really surprise me. That particular meeting wasn’t going to be beneficial for anyone involved anyway.

One of the coders on Titus’s team hasn’t been pulling his weight, and both Titus and Brooke have done everything they can think of to move him to an area where he might be more inclined to perform. So far, they’ve been unsuccessful. Today was going to be a last-ditch effort at finding a place he might not suck, but Titus must have found something better to do—likely not a difficult thing to accomplish—because the meeting is gone.

I’m about to change tabs when another meeting pops up in its place.

And the title of this one has me grinding my teeth together.

Meeting with Trevor

That’s not actually a rare occurrence. Brooke and Trevor meet relatively regularly. Trevor very much likes to be aware of everything happening at McKinley Security Systems.

The part that has me scowling at my computer screen is the note beside it.

Maren only.

What the fuck is he thinking? This is Brooke’s schedule. Outside of the fact that I make sure she has everything she needs to follow it, it has nothing to do with me. It certainly can’t be used to block out time to annoy me.

So, I cancel the meeting.

I don’t want to talk to Trevor. I don’t want to discuss why he was parked outside my home this morning. I don’t care what he was up to. And I sure as heck don’t want to answer whatever questions he’s going to lob at me.

Plus, the last place I want to be is alone in an office with Trevor Bradshaw. I know what can happen when we’re in a confined space without witnesses.