Page 71 of Love Not Qualified

“Mhm?” I said, because I was certain that if I tried to get a word out, it wouldn’t exit my lips alone.

“I’m not sure if this is going to be a problem, but you and Tristan will have to share a room for the next two nights,” she announced. “He didn’t let us know you were coming so we booked a cabin with only two bedrooms.”

I choked on my saliva, completely forgetting about the war happening in my stomach. My eyes bulged out of their sockets as I gaped at Nadia.

What was she talking about?

I was sure it was an innocent misunderstanding, so instead of freaking out, I let out a small laugh. “That’s a joke, right?” I flicked my head to the side, but then I froze when I heard his voice.

“Haelyn,” Mr. Graves started. “When I realized, it was already too late to make changes.”

Was he joking? It took me long enough to convince myself to have dinner with them so they won’t feel disrespected, even though I was still upset about what he did, and now he’s telling me this? Couldn’t he have dropped the bomb earlier? Like the moment we got here?

Maybe I could’ve gone into town, grabbed a cab or god knows what. Damn, I would’ve even walked home. Or the rumors about him were real and he messed it up on purpose to have an excuse to get in my bed.

I pushed the chair back as I got up to my feet, wiping my mouth with a napkin I then left on the table. “Excuse me,” I said before turning around.

“Haelyn,” he called after me.

But without whirling on my toes to look at him, I replied, “I hope the couch is comfortable because that’s where you’re sleeping tonight.”

TWENTY-SIX

TRISTAN

A sigh escaped my lips as I snuck an arm under my head, dragging my knees upward. The couch was fucking uncomfortable, but that wasn’t what kept me awake after the clock hit midnight.

It washerwho stole the sleep away.

Haelyn had every right to be furious at me. Just like she said, I manipulated her into coming here, then I didn’t even bother to explain the arrangements of the rooms. Truth be told, I was delaying that moment as much as possible in the hopes that she would enjoy her time here.

I sighed, massaging my temples.

This was insane. What was wrong with me? I barely knew the woman and I was acting like a possessive boyfriend.

We just met and I’ve already turned into a mad man. And maybe I wouldn’t have thought what I did was messed up if it had worked.

But it didn’t.

Lying to her about the roads was a bad mistake. She was about to find out eventually which would only dig the hole I was in even deeper, and right now, I couldn’t see how she’d relax when she didn’t feel safe around me.

If she listened… if she listened, maybe she would’ve understood my reasoning. But she had the head of a bull and refused to acknowledge any words I said.

Fuck. What the hell was I thinking, fooling her like that? Or better yet why didn't my brain work to push away the idea of bringing her somewhere where she clearly didn’t want to be?

I swung my legs over the couch and got to my feet, knowing I needed to make this right if I wanted our collaboration to work. Haelyn proved herself as a valuable employee and I didn’t want to lose her because of my mistakes. Even if that meant acting 100% professional from now on.

When I passed Sebastian and Nadia’s room, I stopped for a second to make sure they weren’t awake. Once I was positive no sound made it past their door, I made my way to the next one, knocking softly.

“Haelyn,” I said in a rough whisper, my knuckles still resting on the door. “We need to talk.”

There was a big chance she was far away, lost in dreams while I spoke to myself, but if she was awake, this couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning. I had to fix things between us.

So I knocked again, this time harder. A muffled sound reached my ears and I sucked in a breath, waiting for her to show herself. Instead, I heard her voice as she made no move to let me in.

“What do you want?” she asked in a harsh tone.

My shoulder slumped and I took my hand away, threading it to my hair. “I want to talk.”

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