It had been a long day, and Trinity was exhausted. It wasn't helping matters that the awkwardness level was rising as she and Levi rode the elevator up to their floor and then started the long walk down the hallway towards their room.

Levi pulled out his key card and pushed open the door, entering, and then holding it open for her. They had stopped by the room earlier to drop off their luggage, but they had left almost immediately to register and attend the opening luncheon for the convention.

There, they had stuck by each other's side while eating, but afterward, they had moved to the main ballroom and split up to check out the different vendor's tables. Trinity had been looking in a general sort of way, talking to people about what it took to start a spa and getting the lay of the land. She spotted Levi a few times, talking with a few different vendors, all of whom were beautiful women.

Finally, the day had concluded with a drinks reception for the attendees, but she still didn't see a lot of Levi during the event, not that she lacked company. Trinity hadn't been to a convention or conference in years, and she had forgotten how some people treated it as a place to find a little side action. She had been relieved when Levi had approached her and asked her if she was ready, he had disentangled her from a conversation that was getting more uncomfortable by the minute.

Now it felt as if she had jumped from the frying pan to the fire as they entered the hotel room together. It was a strangely intimate as they stood there in awkward silence.

"I told you it would be awkward," Trinity said as she finally met his eyes.

"I've been in worse situations," he said as he reached for his bag and placed it on the chair in the corner. "Did you decide which bed you want?" he asked.

"I'll take the one closest to the bathroom." Trinity followed his lead and laid her bag on the luggage rack by the dresser. "Next time you should book a suite just in case," she suggested.

"Hmmm, yes. I still have to talk to Shana and find out what exactly happened." He was rooting around in his bag, looking for something.

"Please don't," Trinity begged as she stopped unzipping her bag and turned to look at him.

"Why not?" He found what he was looking for and stood upright once more.

"Because I would prefer if no one found out that we had to share a room. It would only make the rumors worse." She pulled out her toiletries case, debating if she should sleep in her makeup. Part of what made the situation so uncomfortable was that Levi would see her in her pajamas, without makeup, and with messy hair.

"Ah, yes, the rumors," Levi said as he threw a laptop and charger on the bed before sitting on the end of the bed and pulling off his boots.

Trinity turned to stare at him and he stared back for a moment. "What?" he finally asked.

She waved her hand at him, changing the subject. "I am guessing there was a reason for your relaxed attire today? You usually would have worn a suit to meet and greet." She wasn't going to follow through on her thoughts of disbelief about his casual attitude about the situation.

"Well, I'm shy and I thought it would be awkward to change when we arrived." He stressed the word awkward. "I thought we were pushing the limits when I had to watch you change shoes."

Trinity's eyes narrowed. "No, you didn't."

Levi pushed himself to the top of the bed, grabbing his laptop and settling in to work. "Do you want to order room service or eat downstairs?"

Trinity thought about it as she reached for the room service menu. "I think we should eat here. If we go downstairs, we'll inevitably run into someone else that's here for the convention, and honestly, I'm tired of trying to be pleasant handsy perverts wearing wedding rings." 

The clicking of the keyboard stopped, and the sudden silence made her turn to look at Levi, who was watching her with a stern expression.

"Who was handsy?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

Trinity paled at his words and expression. There had been times when she had made the mistake of telling Christopher about men who had hit on her, and it had never ended well.

"I can take care of myself, remember?" She reached for her cosmetic bag and threw the menu at him "Are we in for the night?"

"I guess. It's still early though, did you want to go see the sites or something?" He must have picked up on her lack of willingness to discuss the matter since he allowed her to change the subject.

"No, I have work to do. I can't afford to miss a day or it gets out of control." Trinity reached for her pajamas which were pants and a button-down long sleeve top in red and black flannel. Definitely not something for a seduction scene. "Order me a burger and fries with iced tea, please."

"Yes, Ma'am." Levi saluted, not bothering to look up from his computer.

*******

Levi did his best to keep his eyes trained on the screen in front of him as Trinity grabbed her stuff for the bathroom. She had been right, it was awkward, but it was also nice. It was as if he was getting to spend time alone with a close friend even though he wouldn't say they were close.

There was always a certain mystery that surrounded Trinity. There had been since the moment Levi had hired her. She had captivated and intrigued him from the beginning, but it was something he had had to ignore because he had been married at the time.

However, now there were changes in her that he had started to notice. Trinity wasn't as cold as she had been, and she even cracked the occasional joke, but there was also a fear there that he had never noticed before. He had seen it when he had surprised her in her office, during the self-defense class, and just a few minutes ago when he had been upset at the idea of some man touching her without her permission. He hadn't imagined her sudden pallor or her quick need to leave the room. What he couldn't figure out was why she was frightened? Trinity had proven to him that she was capable of taking care of herself.

He had been just as hesitant to share a room with her as she was to share with him, but he had the feeling that it was for different reasons.

Trinity wanted her space, but he wanted her.

He heard the shower in the bathroom turn on, and he took a fortifying breath.

Levi knew he had to make the best of the situation so he reached for the phone and ordered them hamburgers and fries along with milkshakes. If Trinity didn't want hers, he would drink both.

He looked up a few minutes later when Trinity exited the bathroom with a cloud of delightfully scented steam following her.  She was barefoot and wearing baggy pajamas. Her beautiful chestnut-colored hair was a soft cloud around her shoulders and she wasn't wearing a speck of makeup.

He wanted to tell her she was beautiful but he knew it would make her uncomfortable so he smiled and turned his attention back to the computer screen, not really seeing anything.

*******

"I ordered you hamburger well done. There was this note on the bottom of the menu that mentioned something about eating under cooked meat being a hazard, so I thought it best not to take the chance. I figured it was a hint from management about the standards of the kitchen."

Trinity gave a little laugh at his dry humor as she grabbed her laptop bag and climbed into bed, making herself a little nest with the pillows. "How do you feel about turning on the television?" she asked. The background noise might make Trinity feel like she didn't need to try and make conversation all night.

"Fine with me," Levi said with a smile, all of his attention focused on the computer in front of him.

Trinity found a retro station that was playing an old black and white television show and she left it there. The less flipping she did meant the less likely she was to land on something embarrassing.

They worked until the food came, then ate while they discussed their opinions on the different companies they had learned about that day. After that, they both worked independent of one another until about midnight when Trinity said good night and turned out her light.

She thought she would have trouble sleeping but she didn't. When she woke the next morning Levi was already gone, having left a note saying he would meet her downstairs for breakfast.

He greeted her with the fact that she snored, dissipating all awkwardness once again, then told her that they had found him a room.

Trinity was surprised that she felt disappointed by the news.