Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance) (16 page)

“You scare the shit out of me, Trev,” she admitted.

“Yeah, well, you scare the shit out of me, too.” His eyes continued to focus on hers. “But in a different way. Right now, I think I’m okay with that.” He opened the door, stepped out of the car and came around to open hers but she was already out. “Let me just take a look inside to make sure it’s not a mess before you see it. Would you mind getting some of the stuff out of the trunk?”

Trev was already in the house when he spoke the last words. The screen door closed behind him. He touched his hand to the small wooden sign above the door that had the words “Prater Ranch” burned into it when he passed underneath. It had been done with a kid’s wood burning set. The letters were a little non-uniform and tilted to the right.

“Prater Ranch?” Sophie asked when he returned.

“Yep, that’s the name of the people that own this place. Okay, in we go.” He gathered everything she had not already gotten and followed her into the house.

The house was deceptive from the outside. It appeared much smaller than it was. Once inside, it opened up to a wide expanse with stone floors and large glass windows that allowed a view of a beautiful courtyard with a firepit and several lawn chairs surrounding it. At the end of the courtyard, rocks stepped down to the river behind it. Three bedrooms down a hallway extended off the back side of the house; each room had French doors opening to the courtyard. The main part of the house was just a very large living room, a game room, and a huge, country-style kitchen that all seemed to flow into each other.

“Wow, this is fantastic!” Sophie couldn’t help but appreciate the rustic ironwork, Austin stone, and wood furniture. “It’s so comfortable.”

“I had hoped you would think that.” Trev smiled. “There’s a hot tub out there where the yard drops down toward the creek, and a small pool, too. You can sit in the water and watch all kinds of wildlife wandering on the other side.”

“Really?” She was in awe. She stepped out onto the courtyard and walked to the end to see. “Oh, my God! This is great! Your friend must love it here. I don’t think I’d ever want to leave.”

“It belongs to his family. They only use it for hunting and fishing but they work so much, there’s not much time.”

“What a shame.” She looked around. It would be impossible not to relax here. It’s so peaceful. A person couldn’t help but enjoy it. “I wish I brought a swimsuit,” she said softly looking at the water.

“There might be an extra one or two in the second room there. That’s the girls’ room. You can put your stuff there for now.”

Sophie went to the room, dropped her purse and cell on the dresser, glanced around at the bright colors with a smile, and returned to the kitchen where he waited. Trev opened a cabinet and pulled down a glass.

“You want something to drink?” he asked. Strained and awkward was all she could think of at the moment.

“I’m okay.” She held up a hand and shook her head. Sophie’s cell blared at her from the other room.

“Better get that,” Trev said. As she headed down the hall, he added, “Mind if I listen in?”

“Why? It’s probably just work questions.”

“Could be, but right now, any call could be something we need to check out.” He raised his voice to reach her as she stepped into the room. The tone stopped as she approached. She snatched the phone from the dresser, noticed the fact that she had three voicemails, and carried it back to the kitchen where he waited.

“They left a voicemail. Looks like I have a few.” She played them back. Two from Callie and one from her assistant. They just wanted to check on her. She gave him a questioning glance. He waved a hand at the cell and nodded.

“Go ahead.”

Before she dialed, it jumped into action again, startling them both. With speaker phone active, she answered. Callie again.

“Jesus, you’re hard to get a hold of. I assume you’re still sick?” Callie blurted as soon as Sophie spoke.

“Yeah, this thing is a tough one. It’s really got me down.” Sophie warmed at the thought that she was becoming quite the actress. It wasn’t usually her style.

“What is it, a flu or something? You want me to come by and stay with you for a while?” Nice of her to offer.

Trev frowned and shook his head. “No! No need. I’m not at home.”

“I gathered that. I went by your place last night. Why’s someone guarding the door?”

“I didn’t know they were. I’ve been staying with Trevor. I guess the guy I reported the stalker to finally took it seriously.” Sophie swore she heard Callie intake a quick breath. A small stretch of silence occurred.

“You’re at
his
place? Wow! I had no idea he was a serious thing. Are you sure you’re okay? He hasn’t kidnapped you or anything?” Trevor almost choked on the water he’d just drank from the tap.

Sophie wasn’t sure how to answer that one. He held up a finger and wagged it. “Of course not, he’s right here — you’re on speaker.”

“Hey, Callie,” Trevor chimed.

“Oh, hey. Are you taking good care of my girl there?”

“That’s what I’m here for. She’s just not — responding as eagerly as expected to my bedside manner.” He grinned.

“Okay, I’m not
even
going to ask what that means but if you need a better patient, just let me know. Soph, take care of yourself and get back in here. Don’t forget we have lunch plans on Friday.”

“Let’s play it by ear, Cal. I’m about half dead now. If I kick this thing soon, I’ll be back in.” Sophie was getting frustrated with all the lies she had to weave together. Change the subject. “How’s everything going at the office? Any big emergencies?”

“Not a one, but are you still planning to do the migration next week?” That piqued Trevor’s interest. He moved closer to the phone.

“Oh, crap. No, I won’t be ready. Can you call them and see when we can reschedule it for?”

“No problem.”

“Anything else going on? You doing okay?”

“Sure, if you call drowning in debt okay. I need a sugar daddy. Know any likely candidates? Someone with a nice stash of cash that I can live off of for, I don’t know, the next twenty years?”

Sophie laughed. “If I did, do you really think I’d introduce him to
you
? I’d hang onto that myself, girl.”

Trevor shook his head and turned back to his water glass by the sink. He filled it again and took a drink.

They ended the call and Sophie slipped the phone into her pocket. “See, nothing to worry about. Other than my projects are all falling apart.”

“You plan to call back your assistant?”

“No need. I’m sure Callie’s probably already at her desk right now, letting her know we spoke and that I’m still out.”

“She sounds like a bit of a gossip.” He emptied the rest of the water glass and slipped it into the dishwasher.

“No, but there’s some kind of competition going on there, between them, as to who knows more about me. I don’t get it.”

Trevor shrugged. “Women. I’m going to make some phone calls for work. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable? If you want to swim, poke around in that room and see if you can find something to wear.” He drew his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. “Have fun,” he added before he turned around and walked to the front yard to make his calls.

Sophie went back to the room, searched around a bit, and found a suit she could wear. She decided to lie on the bed for a moment and rest instead. She felt exhausted and the bed was so lusciously soft.

When Sophie woke four hours later, the light was dimming in the window so she knew the sun was sinking into dusk. She stretched and rose to see what Trevor was up to. She found him down by the creek. He was wearing swimming trunks and cutting wood with a hatchet. His shoulders and chest were drenched in sweat. The minute she saw him, she stopped walking. Her breath caught in her throat; her mouth went instantly dry.
I could stare at that for hours.
He was solid muscle, head to toe. The scar on his arm continued across his underarm, ending just below his rib cage and served to only enhance the edginess of the rest of his body. She wondered what the story was behind the scar. More importantly, she wondered what he’d do if she reached out to feel it, to feel him. If a guy could be sumptuous, Trevor definitely fit the bill. As she stood there with her mouth open, watching him move, he looked up and saw her.
Oh crap, there’s that grin. Does he know what I was thinking?
He waved.

“Well hello there, sleepy head! I thought I was going to have to come wake you up before long.”

“Sorry. What time is it?” She ran her fingers through her hair trying to calm it down but the curls didn’t want to cooperate. She couldn’t take her eyes off his naked chest. Who would have known all that muscle was under those shirts!

“It’s around nine, I think. My watch is inside. Are you ready to go back to Houston?” He gathered up the wood and carried it toward her.

“I, uh … it’s late.” She was still staring.

“Yes, and if we leave now, we can get back by midnight.” He dropped the wood into the firepit in front of her with a loud thunk.

“Where would I stay when I get there if I can’t go home?” She hadn’t thought to ask Callie about staying with her earlier.

“That’s up to you.” Trevor put his hands on his hips and looked at the wood, then at her. “But I need to know if I should light this fire or not.”

Christ
, she thought,
you already did
. Sophie walked toward him, meeting him at the firepit. She stopped in front of him. “Sure. Light it,” she whispered. She didn’t know what came over her then. Someone else had taken her senses away. She slid her hand up his chest and behind his neck, pulling his face down to meet hers and then she pressed her lips against his mouth. She couldn’t believe what she was doing. She never pounced on a guy like this, but it was virtually impossible not to touch him. Especially after the way he had kissed her the other night. This was more than a little out of character for her. She started to pull away.

Without hesitation, his hands flew to her face, both of them cupping the back of her neck, pulling her back to him. His thumbs were rubbing against her earlobes, as he crushed his mouth to hers. He smelled of sweat, cologne, and wood. Sophie’s hand dropped to Trevor’s chest and then his waist, squeezing his flesh as she pulled him closer. She loved the feel of his skin stretched over the hard muscles. She couldn’t help the faint moan that escaped her lips. She heard a low answering groan from inside him and his tongue glided around the inside of her mouth before trailing down her neck. Oh, he was good.

“Trev?” she said softly.

He lifted his head, his breathing was rasped and heavy, and looked in her face to see what she wanted.

“Please don’t be a bad guy.” Her eyes were on fire as she reached for him.

“Oh, Soph,” his lips brushed gently against hers, “I’m not. I swear I’m not. Surely you know that?”

“I believe you.” Sophie sighed. She didn’t really understand why he’d helped her so much. Why he’d brought her all the way here just to protect her, but right now she didn’t care. She wanted his skin against hers. Surely that wouldn’t be a big deal. Just that. She wanted to feel the warmth of his chest touching her own. She reached up her arms and lifted her shirt over her head as she watched desire leap into Trevor’s eyes when he saw her breasts, covered in small wisps of lace, released from the cloth.

“Aw, Henry. You’re
so beautiful!
” His head dropped to kiss her again and she caught her breath when his tongue stroked the inside of her mouth before descending to lick the bareness of her skin on his. Lord, he knew what to do with his mouth and his hands. Just how to touch, and where. All she wanted to do was get closer, to crawl inside those arms. Every inch of him was hard as concrete against her and she wrapped her own arms around him, clutching into his skin to mold him closer. Her legs felt weak and she stumbled a little as his hand pushed her breast up to meet his lips. She quivered as he moved from one side to the other, taking his time caressing.

“Are you cold?” He stopped to look at her, his eyes dark and burning. “Do you want to go inside?”

“Yes. Inside.” She wasn’t cold. It wasn’t possible to be cold when he did that, but she didn’t think she could stand up much longer.

His eyes crinkled when he laughed softly, as if he knew what she was thinking. He slipped the shirt back over her head temporarily, then took her hand and pulled her inside the house to the first bedroom he found. She didn’t really understand why he wasted the time to get her shirt back on but she wasn’t going to argue. As she followed behind him, she watched the ripples in his back as he moved. She placed her free hand on them so that she could feel the motion.

Chapter Fourteen

When Sophie woke in the middle of the night, she knew her life had changed so significantly that she’d never return to what she thought of as normal. There were so many reasons for the change and very little she could do to corral it back in, even if she wanted to — and she wasn’t sure she did. Someone had broken into her apartment for a reason, not just a burglary. It had to be more than that. And she was pretty certain it had a lot to do with the problems she’d found in the accounting reports. Whoever it was, they didn’t want her to see what she’d seen.

Amazingly, that all seemed secondary to the change that happened last night. As she snuggled against the chest of this intoxicating man, listening to him breathe, she knew she’d never forget how he felt against her in the dark or how he smelled of sweat, soap, and wood at the same time. Trevor was a stranger in so many ways but he was warm, and strong, and passionate, and most importantly — safe. His hands had played over every inch of her during the night. Obviously, he was well practiced at this, because it took him no time at all to turn her into a panting crazy woman.

She had struggled to pull him closer and closer. She’d found herself smelling his skin on his stomach, then tugging the dark hairs on his chin with her teeth. She was embarrassed remembering it all. He had laughed at her hunger to feel and touch and taste, but his laughter let way to a flood of other words, soft words, and gentle words as he caressed her back while she lay on his stomach. Then stronger, more demanding words when her hands and mouth moved down his front. When they eventually came together, he’d taken complete control and his movements were strong, forceful, and demanding. He ceased words altogether and just let out a loud, guttural curse as he called out her name. She barely noticed it because she was panting and lost in her own wave of emotion.