Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance)

by Shelley K. Wall

  “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.

  Now, his leg sprawled lazily over her thigh, trapping her to him possessively.

  “You awake?” he said softly.

  “Mmmm, sort of,” she whispered into the pillow. “Not really.”

  “Come here.” He wrapped both arms around her and hauled her against his bare chest. Instant electricity, she thought. “I’m not sleepy,” he spoke into her ear. Then he proceeded to show her just how awake he was, how awake he wanted her to be, with his hands and mouth. When he was done and she thought she was going to die, he smiled in the moonlight from the window as she lay against him.

  “Are you sleepy now?” she said. “’Cause I’m exhausted.”

  “In a good way, right?”

  “Yeah, a really good way.”

  “Okay. Get some sleep, babe. We have a lot to do tomorrow.” He kissed her hair and squeezed her shoulder with his huge hand. Sophie closed her eyes, thinking how nice it was to have someone call her babe. She’d always thought it corny before, but it sounded good now, real good. She tried to sleep, but her four-hour nap had pretty much pegged out her sleep meter. And with everything he’d done, she couldn’t really block it out of her mind long enough to think about sleep. She couldn’t stay here against him like this without wanting more of him. She extricated herself from his leg and arm and slid quietly out of the bed.

  • • •

  Early Saturday morning, Sophie followed Trevor up and then down a pathway nestled among hills. The lane was edged by trees of unknown variety and it meandered in what seemed like a completely unplanned route.

  “Where are we going?” she spoke between breaths as they climbed a pretty steep incline. He had a black backpack over one shoulder and a small satchel in his other hand.

  “You’ll see in a few minutes. We’re almost there.” He glanced back to make sure she was able to keep up.

  Keeping up didn’t pose a problem. Controlling her over-active sweat glands was another matter. That was one of the things she hated about herself — even the smallest amount of exercise caused her to be a complete puddle of perspiration. She envied the girls that could still look beautiful while exercising or even at the beach. She wasn’t one of them. She ran five miles a day when she could and she looked like she’d been in a rainstorm every time. When they crested the hill, the path headed downward and opened into a large grassy field. At one end, there was a line of rocks piled up like a fence line. The field itself looked like a dumping post for people’s old equipment. There was an old lawnmower, a tractor, parts of different cars, and several empty barrels.

  “Here we are,” Trevor proclaimed with satisfaction.

  Sophie looked around. “Where exactly would that be?” She couldn’t help but show a little sarcasm and he looked sideways at her with an eyebrow arched.

  “This is school for you.”

  “School?”

  “Yeah, today you’re going to learn to shoot.” He started down the hill without checking to see if she was following. There wasn’t anywhere else to go anyway.

  “Shoot? I don’t need to know how to shoot! I’ve already told you I don’t have a gun.”

  “Listen.” Trevor walked to her, and stood over her with his eyes only inches away. “I heard you, but after what happened the other day, you’d be a lot safer if you at least knew how to protect yourself if something else happens. Everyone should be able to defend themselves if they ever need to, even someone as naïve as you are.”

  “I’m not naïve!”

  “Yes, you are. You live in the fourth largest city in the country. A city that’s in the top ten for number of annual murders, and you walk around thinking nothing bad will ever happen.” He picked a small twig from her hair. “Chances are it won’t, but wouldn’t it be smart to at least be prepared just in case?”

  “But I … ”

  “Don’t argue with me, Henry.” He focused on her mouth and she thought for a minute he was going to kiss her. “It’s important you at least can defend yourself in a crisis. I’m not asking you to shoot anybody, just learn how to use it so you can take care of yourself if you have to.” He turned and descended the hill to the rock wall. When she caught up with him, he had placed the backpack on the wall and was unloading a few handguns along with several boxes of shells. He set the satchel next to the backpack and motioned for her to follow him.

  “Here.” He handed her one of the handguns and a fistful of bullets. “The button on the side here,” he pointed, “is the safety. It’s in the on position right now. Keep it there unless you intend to shoot something. If you move it to the off position — there — put it back as soon as you know you’re not going to use it. That’s probably the one mistake more people make than anything. Safety stays on except while shooting, then it goes immediately back when done shooting. Got it?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Got it.”

  “Here.” He placed several shells in her hand. “Watch me load and then load yours.”

  Sophie observed his movements and mimicked them until both guns were filled.

  “See that old lawnmower out there?” He pointed. She nodded. “We’re gonna start with that. It’s close and should be pretty easy to hit.”

  “That’s close? I can barely see it.”

  “Watch me.” He turned the safety to the off position, raised the gun with his right hand around the handle, thumb on the trigger, and his left hand under the gun to steady it. He plant
ed himself firmly against the wall, aimed, and pulled the trigger. “Now you.”

  He stood behind her and watched as she copied his actions exactly. “Good. Where were you aiming?”

  “The lawnmower.”

  “Try again.” She lifted the gun again, aimed at the mower and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Trevor looked puzzled. “Aim about a yard to the right of the mower.”

  Sophie lifted the gun and aimed at a clump of dirt that emerged from the grass. When she pulled the trigger, a small poof of dust rose from the ground.

  Trevor smiled faintly. “Do it again. Same place.” Another small dust cloud rose nearby. “Good, now hit the lawn mower again and listen carefully when you pull the trigger.”

  Sophie held her breath. She did as instructed and heard a very, very faint ping as the bullet hit metal. “I hit it!” she smiled and turned to Trevor. He put the safety back on before she got completely around.

  “Yeah, you did. Every time.” He grinned. “For someone who doesn’t like guns, you’re a pretty good shot. Let’s try hitting something farther away.”

  They spent forty-five minutes aiming at the various piles of junk strewn across the field. Trevor reminded her frequently about how to hold the gun, how to anticipate the wind, various safety rules. When they ran out of shells, he returned everything to the backpack.

  “One last thing,” he said as he pulled the other satchel open and reached inside. “If you ever have to use a gun to defend yourself, shoot here, here, or here.” He pointed to both shoulders and legs. “Start with the legs. Hitting someone there will maim them and most likely give you time to get away. But it probably won’t kill them.” He hesitated. “The only time you should ever shoot at the head, chest, or abdomen is if it’s your life or theirs. And you better be sure.”

  Sophie’s eyes widened as she weighed his words. “You’re scaring me again.”

  “I’m not trying to scare you — just prepare you. You’ll probably never need to use that, but if you do, don’t you think it’s good to know what you’re doing?”