“This is so exciting! I was afraid LeLe would never take the leap again. Let me help you unload. I could use the exercise. I’m sick of sitting around all day.” She sighed. “I thought I’d get to spend time with her if I dropped by, but all she does is work.”

“Yeah, she’s driven,” he said.

If she wasn’t, he wouldn’t be here, bound by a verbal agreement to be her First Gentleman. Mom will be so proud. Hell, Tanner might even be jealous. It gave him a disconcerting amount of pleasure imagining how much his brother would hate seeing Trev getting positive press coverage.

Junie chatted nonstop the whole time they unpacked his car. Trev understood why Leanne avoided her; she was so desperate for company that she treated Trev like they were best friends already. When they finished up about forty minutes later, he knew an embarrassing and frankly inappropriate level of detail regarding her…colorful past. Bemused, he locked the car, headed back upstairs, and glanced around his new home, fighting a wave of incredulity.

This is so fucking surreal.

“Her taste is boring,” Junie said, misreading his expression. “It looks like a fancy hotel, but with even less personality.”

Trev turned, folding his arms. Junie seemed to agree with his parents: no qualms about disrespecting her kid. “You might not like it, but I do. Leanne has fantastic taste.”

“I sure do,” Leanne said.

She stood in the open door of the condo, and he hadn’t heard her come in, too busy starting an argument with her mom. Not the best beginning. Or that was what he thought, until she added, “I picked you, after all.”

She crossed to him and kissed him passionately, only pulling back to whisper, “Loving that loyalty, Trevor Montgomery. Knew I made the right call with you.”

Chapter 9

It did something to Leanne, coming home to hear Junie complaining about her “hotel bland” home decor, and then—

Trev, defending her without a flicker of hesitation, like she was really his person, the one he’d back all the way to the wall. No questions asked, no explanations needed. I’ve never had anyone like that. She was the woman they wanted to possess—for a night or a week—but they rarely imagined what a future looked like with her. She was a conquest, not a life mate.

Fuck, whatever.

The kiss was awesome. He was red-cheeked and glowing when she pulled back, running her immaculately manicured nails through his shaggy hair. It was impossibly soft, silky, and she wrapped a lock of it around her fingers before giving it a gentle tug. Mine. I’m keeping you.

For as long as I need you, she added hastily.