“It’s beautiful. And I can tell it suits you.”
He couldn’t help but enjoy the compliment, especially from her. “Is your room okay?”
“My room is fantastic. The deck is amazing, and the bathroom is incredible. So is your kitchen. I hate my apartment in New York. The kitchen is awful in there. It’s a tight squeeze, with a midget refrigerator and no counter space, which always makes me sad because I love to cook. I get so tired of eating take-out food.”
“And I love to eat. You’re welcome to use any part of the house you want. Especially the kitchen.”
“Awesome. I assume you don’t have a chef here like you do in St. Louis?”
“No. Hammond stays there and doesn’t travel with me.”
“Too bad. I was getting spoiled by his cooking. But it’ll give me a chance to play in your kitchen.”
“I’ll look forward to that.”
“So you invited me here to do your cooking for you.” He laughed. “Yeah, that was the only reason.”
She pulled her sunglasses off. “I can see I’m going to have to keep an eye on you.”
He loved looking at her eyes. With her sunglasses off, and her hair previously wet from swimming, she was makeup free and looked gorgeous.
“I missed you,” he said, tracing his finger over her kneecap. She took a deep breath. “Did you?”
“Yeah.”
Dangerous territory, that he shouldn’t be venturing into. Getting emotionally involved with Haven was only going to cause trouble, because once she was finished with this assignment, he was going to have to let her go.
And he would let her go. He’d have to.
But right now he couldn’t help himself, especially since she was staring back at him, making him want to climb out of the water, run his hands over her body, and kiss her until this fire that had barely banked with his swim in the pool consumed them both.
“Well.” She laid her palms on the tops of her thighs. “Speaking of food, I’m kind of starving here. How about you?”
He was starving for a taste of her, but he could wait. “Yeah. I’m hungry. I can take you out to eat.”
She shook her head. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather eat here. You have plenty of food in your refrigerator, and like I said, I’m kind of geeking out over your kitchen.”
“I’m not going to object if you want to cook.”
“Great. I’m going to run upstairs and take a quick shower and change clothes, then I’ll be back to get started on dinner.”
“I’ll do the same.”
He climbed out of the pool, then pulled her to her feet. They dried off, then went inside.
“Meet you in the kitchen,” she said.
Haven disappeared upstairs. Trevor looked around, wondering if having Haven stay here had been a good idea.
He wanted his hands on her. He wanted her in his bed every night.
But soon enough, he was going to need her out of his life.
Shit. He was starting to wonder if he really knew what he wanted.
He dragged his fingers through his hair and started up the stairs to take a shower.
Chapter Twenty-Six
HAVEN MADE CHICKEN STIR-FRY FOR DINNER, ALONG with rice. They were eating in the dining room at a beautiful table Trevor had told her he’d found at a garage sale down the street from his house and rehabbed himself.
That had been a surprise to hear. She was learning all kinds of things about Trevor she hadn’t known before.
She loved the table. It bore scars from years of use, but he’d obviously sanded it and stained it a gorgeous dark color.
The man had many talents.
“You didn’t put your things in my room today,” he said.
She looked up at him. “Your door was closed, and the other rooms were open. I just figured you didn’t want me to invade your bedroom.”
He gave her a direct look. “Haven. First, if there’s something I want or don’t want, I have no trouble telling you. And second, believe me, I want you in my bed.”
Her body fused with heat. “Okay, then.”
He took a sip of water, then added, “Provided that’s where you want to be.”
“Oh, I want to be there.”
His eyes gleamed dark, a promise of what was to come. “That’s settled then.”
“I might leave my things in the guest bedroom, though. I kind of dig that shower.”
“You haven’t seen the one in my room yet.”
She arched a brow. “Really. It couldn’t possibly be any better.”