My lips pressed together, and I stood so I could see him and Ceri’s house both. I didn’t like this at all. “We had an incident. Look. I’m not doing it, so just leave, okay?” I felt like I was talking to a dog who had followed me home. Bad dog. Go home.

I boldly turned my back on him and, feeling the hair on the back of my neck prickle, strode to the stairs. Not wanting him to follow me in, I paused two steps down from the landing.

“Ten thousand for two nights,” Trent said, pulling two garment bags from the trunk.

“Your rehearsal is on my birthday. I have plans. Reservations at Carew Tower.” A thrill went through me at the admission. It was going to be a date to remember.

But Trent squinted, looking as if the heat couldn’t touch him. “Bring your date along.” He gently pushed the trunk’s lid down. The motor engaged and the trunk whined shut. Adjusting the garment bags over his arm, he came forward. The closer he got, the more nervous I became.

“You may have breakfast in the Carew Tower every Tuesday,” I said, “but I’ve never been up there, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m not asking my date to change it.”

“Thirty thousand. And I’ll get your reservations changed to whatever night you want.”

He was a step down, and his eyes were even with mine. “Everything is so easy for you, isn’t it?” I said, disgusted.

A tired, haunted look showed in his green eyes, and his hair shifted in the breeze to ruin his professional carriage. “No. It only looks that way.”

“Poor baby,” I muttered, and his jaw tightened. Carefully arranging his hair, he returned to his callous self.

“Rachel, I need your help,” he said with an irritated acceptance. “There’re going to be too many people, and I don’t want an ugly scene. Your being there might be enough to stop any trouble before it starts. You won’t be doing this alone. Quen has his entire staff—”

“I don’t work under anyone’s direction,” I said, my gut tightening as I looked past him to Ceri’s house. I wanted him gone. If she came out, everything would go to hell.

“They’d work around you,” he persuaded. “You’re there if something slips by them.”

“I don’t play well with others, and I run with loaded guns,” I said, taking a backward step up to distance myself from him. “Besides, Quen is better than me,” I said shortly as the wind mussed his hair again. “There’s no reason for me to be there.”

His free hand smoothed his bangs as he saw me look at it. “You sat in the front. Why?”