“I guess so.”
“Good. You hungry?” He pulled a couple of bottles of water and two paper bags out of the satchel. He handed a drink and bag to her and moved closer. “It’s just sandwiches, but it’ll take us a while to get back so I thought it might be good to eat here.” He sat against the rock wall, patting the rocks next to him for her to sit also.
“Okay. I’m not really hungry but the drink sounds good.”
Despite her words, she bit into one of the sandwiches. He watched her eat, his mouth twitched a little when she finished the last bite.
“What’s so funny?” she asked noticing his attempt to keep a straight face.
“For someone who’s not hungry, you sure have an appetite.”
“Blame it on yourself, buddy, between last night and this morning, you’ve given me quite a workout.” As soon as she said it, she got a little embarrassed.
“In that case, you better eat another sandwich.” His eyes sparkled in the sun as he chuckled. “I wouldn’t want you to run out of energy later.”
She looked away, hiding her own smile. “It’s probably time to go.” She rose from the wall.
“No.” His voice softened. “Not yet.” He stuffed their trash into the satchel, pushed her gently back onto the wall, and spread his lanky legs so they held her captive against the rocks. “Kiss me, Sophie,” he murmured. And she did. “Are you still scared?”
“Scared as hell,” she admitted as he wrapped his hands into her hair and kissed her senseless.
Chapter Fifteen
The afternoon sun was searing into their skin by the time they returned to the ranch house. “I think I’m going to jump in the pool for a minute. I’m burning up.” Trev pulled off his shirt and walked toward the back of the house. Sophie felt her stomach flip watching the muscles flex in his shoulders. His skin was damp with sweat and had a slick sheen to it.
He strode back through the living room in his swimming trunks a couple minutes later. She swallowed hard when she saw his bare chest and arms. “Come join me,” he said, as if giving an order. He hesitated at the back door and smiled over his shoulder, “That is, if you’re not too scared.”
“Are you daring me?”
He was already out the door and headed down the courtyard, whistling something as he strode toward the pool.
Trev was under water when she wandered up to the pool in the borrowed bikini. It fit a little loosely but still covered her well enough. His head emerged and he rubbed the streams of water from his face with his hands before opening his eyes. When he saw her standing there, he moved to the edge of the pool in front of her.
“Henry, you are fucking beautiful.” He squinted into the sun shining from behind her. He put his hand on her ankle and stroked her calf sending small trickles of water down her leg.
“The suit’s a little big.” She walked to the pool steps and lowered herself into the water. It was deliciously cool and she slid in quickly. He was in front of her before she went very far. He circled his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. Trevor’s mouth covered hers and a tingle pulsed through her stomach; the warmth of his body engulfed her like a blanket. He pushed her back to the edge of the pool. His hand slid under the small piece of cloth covering one breast and he squeezed gently, his mouth trailed down her shoulder and back up her neck.
“The suit’s perfect.” He muttered against the skin of her neck. “You’re perfect.”
“Not as perfect as this,” she whispered stroking a hand across the muscles in his chest. She trailed her fingers across the scar. “How’d this happen?”
“Sailing.”
“Yeah, right. Seriously, how’d you get it? If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay.”
“I’m not lying. I was sailing. First time out. I’d gone with a friend. Actually, it was part of a job. The wind was pretty strong and caught the sail and it flew from one side of the boat to the other. I didn’t know anything about sailing and didn’t know what he was saying. It caught me full on and sent me over the side. I ripped my arm trying to hold on for dear life.”
“I didn’t know you sailed.”
He smiled, “Obviously, I don’t. Never went on a boat again after that. I had more stitches than Frankenstein.”
“That must have hurt.”
Her hand slid down his stomach where it stopped, resting her fingers at the top of his trunks. His eyes narrowed a little. He lifted his head back to look at her. She slipped her fingers into the waistband, stroking his abdomen and he groaned loudly before crushing his mouth back to hers.
“That was nothing compared to what you’re doing to me. You’re gonna kill me, woman, I know it.” He breathed against her lips. “I think I’m the one who should be scared.” He hugged her tightly and the tingle in her stomach spread through the rest of her body. Her hand slipped further down his abdomen, pressing against him, feeling him respond to her touch. She saw him catch his breath for a second as she stroked him. Then his hand was on her wrist, holding her still. “Not here, babe.” He spoke softly and pushed her toward the stairs.
“Why not?” She looked around at the trees. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“See that little place at the top of the hill over there?” He pointed to a wood and stone structure that looked miles away. “That guy’s good friends with the family that owns this place and he’s got the biggest telescope I’ve ever seen in that little window you see at the top. We do this here and the whole town of Tervis, population one hundred and fifty, will know about how the Pr … I … screwed the gorgeous girl in the pool at the Praters’ ranch.”
“Oh. Well, I probably won’t see any of them anyway, but I get it. I guess it would be kind of embarrassing for you.”
“Not for me. I’d be the town hero.” He grinned. “You, on the other hand, might be afraid to show your face here again.” He pulled her hand up to his lips. “Let’s take this inside, okay?”
“Okay.” She wondered if he would even want her to show her face here again regardless. They ascended the steps toward the house. He laced his fingers between hers and, with gentle impatience, tugged her past the towel lying on the chair. Sophie smiled and reached behind her back. A little gossip might be good for him. Besides, she’d never see them, anyway. She pulled the strings to the bikini top loose as they started across the courtyard and slid the top over her head. She lifted her hand to her side and let the garment drop from her fingers onto the stone. “I wouldn’t want you to go completely without a little hero worship.”
Trevor’s eyes slanted sideways at her. “Damn,” he exhaled. His jaw twitched as he strengthened his grip on her fingers. They continued their pace into the house as he shot a protective scowl over his shoulder at the hills.
• • •
It was dark again when they lay exhausted on the bed in his room. His heart was pounding fast but steadily under the palm of her hand as her cheek rested on his chest. Trevor was flat on his back with one arm draped over her shoulder. “Trev?” She lifted her head and looked at his face. “Why don’t I fix us something to eat?”
“Did the sandwich wear off?” He raised his hand and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.
“A long time ago.”
“Yeah, me too. Why don’t we drive into town and get something?”
“You mean so you can gloat?” She grinned. He responded with a short laugh.
“No, not to Tervis, I was thinking maybe a little farther, into Fredericksburg. Tervis rolls up the sidewalks by eight so nothing’s open there.” He raised his arms above his head and stretched a long, sexy stretch before adding, “Come on, get up.” He rolled her off him and spanked her gently on the behind to get her moving.
An hour and a half later, they were sitting outside under a latticed roof over a large patio, eating pizza and drinking wine. A lone guitarist was singing in the corner of the patio as he strummed along on the guitar. There was a cool breeze blowing just enough that they had to anchor thei
r napkins to keep them from being whisked away.
“This is nice.” Sophie sighed.
“Yeah, it is. Really nice,” Trevor admitted. He patted her thigh under the table and took another bite of pizza. “So, tell me something.” He swallowed. “Do you happen to have another USB copy of the accounting database anywhere?”
“Yeah, sure. I made two copies in case you couldn’t read one of them. Why?”
“I left the one you gave me at the office. I kind of thought we could go back tomorrow morning and look at it but I don’t have it. Also, again, who has access to the server besides you?”
“The two network admins and one of our DBAs.” She looked at him.
“What about client side access to change the data?”
“There are quite a few with that but mostly in the accounting department. In my area, there are only two people. The DBA and a systems analyst that’s been doing the financial reports for years.”
“I need names. Write them down.” He removed the knife that was holding his napkin in place and handed the napkin to her. “You have a pen in your purse?”
“I’m repeating myself, but why are you asking?”
“Soph, I think you already know that, don’t you?”
She studied his expression curiously. He squeezed her leg where he had patted it earlier, and smiled. “Whoever wanted those reports knows you know something’s wrong. So, if what you did find is important to them, maybe criminal, they’ll be back because they know that you know.”
Yes, she’d already thought of that. She wasn’t sure how to deal with it and truthfully, didn’t know exactly what she’d found yet because she hadn’t spent enough time with the data to tell.
“We need to know what’s in the data before your office opens on Monday so we know whether you can go back or not.”
“Of course I can go back! I have to work. How am I supposed to pay my bills?”
“Depending on what’s happening, it might not be safe to go back. I know you’ve thought of that, too.”
“Yeah, I have, but it seemed a little melodramatic.” She talked quietly.
Trev raised his wine to his mouth and took a slow drink before answering. “Crime usually is.”
“I don’t even know if there is a crime right now.” She handed him the napkin with the names on it.
“No, you don’t, but I do this for a living, and I’m pretty sure.” He folded the napkin and pushed it down into his pocket. “Let’s go home and get some sleep so we can leave early tomorrow, okay?”
Sophie found it interesting that Trevor referred to the hunting cabin at Prater Ranch as home. It lent a familiarity to their time together that seemed a little too “relationship-like.” To some extent, it made her uncomfortable, but she still liked the feel of his hand as he reached for hers to guide her reluctantly out of the patio.
“Trev, what am I going to do if it really is that bad? I’ll probably lose my job.” She spoke the fear she’d felt several days before.
“It’ll all work out fine. You’re going to be great.”
When they got back to the ranch, Trevor remained outside and made some phone calls while Sophie went in and changed to her nightclothes. She slipped between the sheets in the girls’ room and closed her eyes. She couldn’t sleep, wondering what would come of all the changes in her life. The door quietly opened and Trevor spoke from the doorway, “Henry?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you mad at me?”
“No, why would I be?”
“Are you afraid of me?”
“No, not really.”
“Then why are you in here?” He sounded hurt.
“I don’t know. I just wasn’t sure.”
“Wasn’t sure of what?”
“That you’d want — ” She wasn’t really sure he wanted her there and she wasn’t going to assume he did. She heard him walk to the bed and toss the cover away from her. Then he lifted her up and carried her back to his room. He slipped her under the covers and slid in next to her, holding her against him.
“If you don’t want to be here, you can leave whenever you want to, but if you think I don’t want you here, you’d be wrong,” he whispered into her hair. “I wish I could stop wanting you here. It would be so much easier for both of us.” He was so warm against her back. It made her feel really, really safe — and wanted.
“You feel great, Trev,” she murmured as she drifted off to sleep. Really great.
• • •
The ride back to Houston was quiet. Too quiet. Trevor was focused on driving and didn’t seem to want to talk. After an hour of silence, Sophie laid her head back on the seat and closed her eyes.
“You tired, Henry?” Finally, he speaks.
“No. Just tired of talking to myself. You haven’t said a word since we got in the car,” she muttered grumpily. “What’s bugging you?”
“Nothing.” His lips tightened. “I was just thinking about, well, everything I need to do over the next couple of days.”
“And I got in the way of that?”
“No. That’s not what I meant. I’m worried about how it’s all gonna pan out in the end.” She had no idea what he was talking about but it sounded like she should.
He slid his fingers around hers and squeezed. “I didn’t mean to ignore you. I was just deep in thought, I guess. What do you want to talk about?”
“Nothing really.” She closed her eyes again. Now she was ready for some quiet time.
“Nothing at all?”
“Nope.” Her thoughts were screaming Yes! I want to talk about YOU … US. What’s going to happen when we get back? Do we act like this never happened? What do I do if we really do find a problem in the data? Why are you here? Now that the weekend is over, are we over, too?
“Okay, then.” He squeezed her hand one more time, then let it go.
Chapter Sixteen
They arrived back in Houston just before noon on Sunday. Trev never told her where they would stop first. He didn’t ask where she wanted to go and knew he couldn’t take her back to her place yet, not unless he went with her. He doubted she’d ask him to, so he took the only option that seemed easy and plausible — he took her to his apartment. It was the best way to keep her safe, he told himself, and they could use his computer equipment to investigate the data.
She had nodded off but woke when they got into the city and the stop and go driving became more difficult for sleeping. He looked at her on the passenger side with her hair pulled back and the sunlight flickering across her face. That same face had lain on his arm all night, her soft breathing had tickled his flesh. He still felt the warmth of her back against his chest and the thought made him want to go back to the ranch.
Things were probably going to get sticky now. She would hate him when she found out he had been following her for a long time. If he told her now, he’d risk everything they’d done so far on the case. If he didn’t, he would most likely lose her when she found out. There wasn’t really a choice — he had to do his job.
“Here we are,” he stated quietly as they pulled into the parking garage.
“Why don’t I call Callie to come get me? That way you won’t have to babysit me anymore.”
“I’m not babysitting you. We need to work together on this if we’re gonna figure out what’s happening at your office. I need your help.” Then he corrected himself. “You need my help.”
Sophie sighed. “I wish we could have stayed there longer. I liked your friend’s ranch.”
“Yeah, me too.” She had voiced his own thoughts. “Wanna go back?” He quirked an eyebrow at her, wishing she’d say yes.
“No.” She stretched her arms above her head, hitting the roof of the car. “We’re here, let’s do this.”
Was it possible to be disappointed and relieved at the same time? He turned off the car and walked around to her door to open it.
“Let’s don’t go up just yet.” He had a thought. “Let’s go down the street and get some lunch.
I’m hungry. What about you?” He knew it was probably risky to have her out in the open, but he wanted it to be normal. Like it could have been if they’d met differently. He wanted her to be with him under her own volition, not because he was keeping her safe.
Sophie lifted herself from the car, taking the hand he’d offered. When she rose, she was against him, not really touching him but he felt her. He waited for an answer.
“Sure, sure. Yeah, we skipped breakfast so I’m a little hungry, too.”
“Are you a breakfast person?”
She nodded as he turned to walk toward the door of the garage, keeping her hand in his. “Most important meal of the day!” she answered cheerfully.
“That’s right. Most important,” he agreed. “I’ll make breakfast tomorrow.” She looked at him when he said it and he wasn’t sure if she smiled a little or not.
“Who said I’d be around for breakfast?”
“That’s up to you. If you want to go somewhere else, just say the word.”
“I really want to go home.”
“Okay, well, not that word — anywhere but there or work.” He squeezed her hand and they walked to the deli near his apartment. He made sure to keep an eye on every person there — and watched the street, also.
It took a while to get the data restored onto his computer because he didn’t have the right version of SQL database software to read it. Once he loaded the right version, they restored the data and started digging through the transactions looking for the detail that she’d seen on the reports stolen from her apartment. Without the reports, they were working mainly off Sophie’s memory of the transactions, so backtracking through the various tables of the database was tedious at best. By ten P.M., Trevor had determined that the database had indeed been manually edited to hide the transactions. He also saw that most of the transactions ended up going to a trust fund called Brotherhood of Hope. The address was a post office box so that wouldn’t help a lot. He’d have to get a subpoena for the state filings on the business name and the bank records.
Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance) Page 14
