My Missing Puzzle Piece (Creekside Falls #1)

by Kristin Hoepfl

  “Me too.” Trevor said than thought for a minute before asking, “Since you brought it up, how long has it been for you?”

  Elle’s face turned bright red this time, “Well…a long time….since I broke up with my boyfriend.” She added quietly, “About two and a half years.”

  He stared at her blankly for a minute than said, “You haven’t had sex in two and a half years? Have you dated? If not, I don’t get it, you’re amazing how is that possible?” As he said it he realized he didn’t want to think of Elle with anyone else; the thought of it made him more jealous than he’d ever been, he knew she had a past and so did he, although it wasn’t what most people thought.

  “Nope,” she answered. “I don’t let people in easily and I guess I figured the next person I let in would have to be worth it. Plus like I said to you before I don’t really know how to date, I’ve only ever had one ‘real’ boyfriend,” she said self-consciously.

  Trevor couldn’t believe she took a chance and decided to let him in, but he was happy as hell she had and would do everything in his power to not make her regret it and to make her happy and feel loved. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand again.

  “I won’t make you regret letting me in Elle, I promise.” A heartbeat passed before he asked, “You’ve had one serious relationship?” Trevor was thankful his shock didn’t show in his voice.

  “Yeah, in high school there was only Rob; in college I’d go on the occasional date or things would start to take off but stop before they ever really went anywhere and when I started to work I guess I couldn’t or wouldn’t find time to meet anyone, until my ex who I met when I was twenty-one. And before you ask that means I’ve only ever had sex with one person and to be honest it wasn’t very good, well I don’t think it was because I can’t compare, and he didn’t even want it much, he didn’t make me feel desirable. That should have been my first clue he was with someone else, huh? Or that I was doing something wrong which definitely could be true. So I went out with him for about eleven months and we only slept together about a dozen or so times.” A long pause then she said, “Damn it, I did it again! Smack me next time or something.”

  Trevor couldn’t believe she just confided all that in him, he was still processing but knew she needed him to say something; he wanted to share with her too but didn’t know how to do this with anyone especially with Elle. It made him territorial and it was probably even a bit early but he was glad Elle hadn’t had sex with Rob, that thought would drive him crazy.

  He decided to go for it. “I’ll share something too if you want.” Trevor said, wanting her to get to know him too.

  Elle nodded up at him and gave him the most amazing smile, then quietly waited.

  kay, well I know you’ve heard the guys who work for me talk, that I kind of have a reputation with women. You know, supposedly I’m the guy with a new woman every week. The truth is I do go out on dates but it’s usually only the one date, never a second and the guys play it all up as more than it is because I’m the boss and they think it’s funny. I’ve only had six real relationships, one in high school, two in college and three since then, but none was ever super serious, at least not to me. And I’ve had a couple friends with benefits, so that means I’ve had sex with eight people. I just want to be honest with you up front.”

  “Thank you for telling me that.” Elle said than mumbled under her breath so he had to strain to hear her, “…eight times more than me.”

  Trevor grabbed her face and tilted it towards him, “I heard that. I wanted to let you know that I haven’t had sex with as many people as you might have thought and I wanted to give you a number since you gave me one. Not to make you feel bad, or to make me seem like a player. This is why I don’t like the whole “what’s your number” question, someone always gets hurt by it; I just figured I’d share too. By the way I think you only having sex with one guy is a nice thing and don’t be ashamed of it ever especially not with me. I’ll be honest with you Elle and if I said this with some of my buddies sitting here they might laugh, but inside they’d the feel the same way, I like the idea of a woman having less, not more, lovers.” He was looking at her so sincerely; she knew he was telling her the truth.

  “Well…if you like that then you should know this too I guess….My ex and I didn’t do everything. So I guess you could still call me a virgin on some things but I want to do it all at some point, especially if you’re the teacher.” She said with a grin and gleam in her eyes that practically made him hard all over again.

  Trevor drew Elle in and hugged her before pulling his head back enough to lean down and kiss her. “Don’t worry about it, any of it. It doesn’t matter to me.”

  “You say that now but what if it does?” Elle asked.

  Elle saw the confusion cross Trevor’s face as he started to say something, “I’m not just saying it, I promise it doesn’t matter plus as long as I’m with you it’s all good. But I like that you want to do those things with me.”

  “Okay, I guess I’m going to have to trust you on that. But promise me you’ll be straightforward and honest with me about any of that stuff okay, it makes me all self-conscious,” then she inhaled a deep breath before blowing it out slowly and continued, “my ex always seemed to be all talk with foreplay stuff but in the end just wanted to get down to it and rush through everything. I don’t even think I’d know how to do some things.” Elle still felt confused, it was obvious she was self-conscious when it came to being intimate with someone.

  “I’m glad you’re trusting me, I want you to trust me, I need you to trust me more.” Trevor said very understandingly. He put his arm around her, pulled her close and said, “As far as all that goes when two people care about each other they take the time to learn what works and what doesn’t. You’re a beautiful, sensual woman Elle, you had me hanging on by a thread. Don’t ever think you’re not desirable or sexy, nothing is wrong with you. We’ll take this one date at a time and make our own rules as we go along.” He added with a grin.

  Elle took another cookie and kissed Trevor. She then curled into him. He grabbed another cookie; a sip of iced tea and put the cookie jar on the table. He slid further down the pillows so he was lying on the floor. Elle followed him. They both lay curled together under the blankets looking at the fire.

  “Thanks for everything tonight. By the way I do trust you, I trust you completely.” Elle said. Surprising herself that she trusted him so easily but knowing that she meant it.

  “I’m glad to hear it and don’t worry I’ll make sure you don’t regret it and that you know I trust you too.”

  “I’m not worried.”

  Those were the last words spoken before the two of them fell asleep in each other’s arms in front of the fire.

  Elle woke up in the middle of the night and turned off the fire; she was hot wrapped in blankets and Trevor’s body heat. She couldn’t believe everything she had shared tonight but she wasn’t sorry for revealing any of it. She felt happy for once and didn’t even think twice about having him stay over. She figured she’d deal with her feelings for him later; right now she’d enjoy it all. She felt so comfortable and safe with him, at that thought she drifted off to sleep in the arms he wrapped tightly around her again.

  Elle woke up with the bright sun coming in the windows and was silently cursing herself for not closing the blinds all the way last night. She rolled over away from the light and found Trevor awake and looking at her. He smiled and said, “Good morning.”

  “Good morning, have you been awake long?”

  “Maybe ten minutes, but you looked so cute and comfortable I didn’t want to wake you up.” Trevor said as he rolled over and put his arm across her waist.

  She sat up and with enough distance and said, “Did you sleep okay? I know the floor isn’t too comfortable.” She started to stretch and felt her back ache, telling her exactly how uncomfortable it was.

  Trevor almost stopped breathing when he saw Elle wake up and look over at him,
he realized he had it bad especially when he felt himself getting a little too turned on from her just stretching out the kinks from sleeping on the floor. But it jutted her breasts perfectly against her top drawing his gaze. He decided to move around to distract himself. Trevor had slept on floors before and didn’t mind but his back felt about sixty years old this morning, it was all worth it though since he was with Elle, “Yup I have it real bad,” he thought to himself again. Trevor started to sit up too and said, “I slept pretty well, you?”

  “Me too, until the sun blinded me, the little bastard,” she said with a giggle, “Did it get you too?”

  Trevor thought he’d never get over hearing Elle’s laugh, it was sweet like a young girls laugh. “Only a little, I guess you blocked it for me.”

  “Glad I could help,” Elle smiled at him and said, “I’m gonna run to the bathroom real quick, do you want pancakes for breakfast?”

  “I’d love some.”

  Elle hopped up and ran upstairs, once she brushed her teeth, went to the bathroom and ran her hands through her bedhead she was heading back downstairs. She stopped at the top of the steps and thought, “What am I doing? I feel like this could work but I have absolutely no clue what the hell I am doing, and this is all moving so fast, I could end up getting badly hurt or finding lifelong happiness….”The thought of those two extremes made her stomach flip.

  When Elle went back down she saw Trevor had put all of the pillows they used back where she got them and was folding the blankets they’d used.

  “You didn’t have to do that.” Elle said walking over to help.

  “I know; I wanted to. I think I am going to change real quick if you don’t mind…I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay” she added as he was walking to the steps, “If you want there should be a few toothbrushes in the hallway bathroom cabinet, I keep them there because my family is notorious for forgetting those things when they come. I have a whole closet of stuff, I’m like a mini-pharmacy.” She didn’t want him to think she was offended by morning breath and him not brushing his teeth, but she would’ve appreciated the offer if it were her.

  When Trevor came down a few minutes later he saw Elle had already put coffee on and was making the pancakes. He couldn’t resist, he grabbed her waist from behind and gave her a quick kiss. “Sorry I couldn’t help it,” he said when he pulled away.

  “It’s okay, I like it. Feel free to do it anytime.” Elle said as licked her lips and tasted the mint from toothpaste. She poured them each coffee into the mugs she had out. She handed him a cup and he smiled at her for remembering he drank it black like she did.

  “Thanks.” Trevor said as he took a gulp of the hot coffee.

  “Do you want anything in the pancakes? I was thinking of plain, blueberry and chocolate chip.”

  “That sounds good to me.” Trevor said at the same time his stomach began to growl, they looked at each other and laughed. He kept thinking he could get used to this. Trevor watched as Elle got their breakfast ready, when he went to get another cup of coffee he offered to set the table, Elle handed him plates. Trevor remembered where she grabbed spoons from the night before for hot chocolate and grabbed some forks and knives from the drawer, napkins from the table, the last thing they needed was syrup and she must have read his mind because she was setting it on the counter as he turned around to ask. They moved so in sync with each other, it was like they had been together for years.

  When the pancakes were done it looked like she was feeding an army. As Elle set the platter down on the table, they both sat and Trevor said, “This looks great, but I hope you don’t expect me to eat all this.”

  They ate ravenously for a little while until Trevor took a breath and said, “These are really good, thanks for breakfast.”

  “You’re welcome, I’m glad you like them.” Elle took another blueberry pancake as Trevor reached for a chocolate chip one.

  Elle looked at the clock, it was after 10:00, she couldn’t believe it. She sometimes got a late start but never had it been like this with her ex, not that Trevor was anything like her ex at all. She looked at him across her kitchen table and realized she was falling for him, hard…and fast. That thought was both exciting and scary as hell. When they were talking about wanting a family last night she was able to see it all with him, even though she knew the thought was crazy.

  Trevor had never stayed over at a woman’s place that wasn’t his girlfriend and even then it hadn’t been fun and sweet like this, but with Elle it was so easy, like so many other things with her.

  They continued to eat and talk until finally they finished almost the entire huge batch of pancakes and a whole pot of coffee. It was noon when they finally looked back up at the clock again.

  Trevor knew he should be going but wanted to spend more time with Elle. He knew he couldn’t ask her out again for that night but maybe something else…

  “I was thinking of going for a run with Bruiser in the park today since it looks nice out,” he said looking out the kitchen windows, “and was wondering if you’d want to come with us?”

  “Now?” Elle asked.

  He laughed. “Well, no not now, we did just eat all those pancakes, maybe like one or a little after.”

  “Sure why not. Anything I was going to do I can wait. Running with you and Bruiser sounds good.”

  She had always been so self-conscious about working out and sweating in front of guys, and her ex was so critical of her if she wasn’t decked out to perfection. But somehow she didn’t care that Trevor would see her all sweaty from a run. They made plans to meet up at the benches around 1:00. He had to get home to Bruiser; he had left his poor buddy at home without a bathroom break for too long as it was. He had gotten a text from Jake early this morning saying he stopped by to let Bruiser out before he went to check on a job. Jake didn’t ask where Trevor was; guess he figured that one out.

  Trevor was walking out the front door with his jacket in his hand, he turned to face her and said, “Thanks for everything last night and this morning.”

  “Thanks to you too. I think that was the best date I’ve ever been on.”

  He smiled and when she looked up at him he grabbed her arm and pulled her just inches away, he saw the submission in her eyes and went all in for the kiss. He pulled her in even closer so they were plastered together as she tilted her head back to change the angle of the kiss to deepen it. Their tongues tangled and played for a while, while they kissed, he thought, “God her lips are so soft,” that was the only thought he could manage.

  Elle pulled up on her tiptoes kissing Trevor and loving every minute of it. The hard press of his lips on hers, their tongues tangling, and the sweet light suction of his kiss made her knees go weak. She felt herself slumping down, either she would melt to the floor or they’d both end up on the ground if they didn’t stop soon.

  Trevor pulled away slightly to catch a breath; he looked at Elle with heavy, glazed eyes and saw her eyes looked like she could barely keep them open. “We almost combust every time we do that you know.” He said to her as he pulled his head back.

  “I know, but man I am not complaining.” Elle said with a smile and started to feel the desire again.

  Reluctantly Trevor backed away and said, “I really should probably go now.” He looked at his watch and said, “How about we meet in forty five minutes at the park? Or would it be easier if I swung by on the way and picked you up?”

  “Forty-five minutes is good, that’s okay; I’ll meet you there.” With that she pushed up on her tippy toes and gave him an all-to-brief kiss on the lips before gently pushing him out the door and saying, “See you soon,” with a wink before the door shut.

  Damn! He thought to himself, on the drive home. That was the best he could think of to express his feeling about everything that had gone down between them in the past twenty-four hours. Just damn!

  Elle got ready for her run with Trevor after he left her house; the whole time was a blur. Her mind kept going all o
ver the place trying to comprehend what happened with them since yesterday. She didn’t regret it at all; that part didn’t surprise her because she didn’t do regrets. Sometimes she did second-guess herself but not this time, not even for a second. It just felt right this time.

  Trevor spotted Elle at the benches waiting for him. He grinned as he watched her stretch, getting ready to run. He sure did enjoy looking at her. He made sure to say something as he walked up, so as not to scare her, “Hey you.”

  “Hey to you too.” She said with a smile as she bent down to pet Bruiser. “Hey Bruiser.”

  When Elle stood up she turned to Trevor and said, “Okay, are you ready?”

  “Let’s go.” He said and off they went. Bruiser stayed with them the whole time they ran and stopped to walk with them when Elle slowed down for a quick breath. After about five miles they started walking to cool down, heading back to the benches.

  “He really does like to run with you. I thought he was gonna out run me most of the time.” Elle said taking a deep breath, still panting from the run.

  Once they caught their breath and made it back to the entranceway into the park Trevor lightly pulled her to him so he could give another of his soul-scorching kisses. He kept this kiss brief since they were in such a public place, in the middle of the day. When he pulled back he said, “Thanks for meeting me and Bruiser. I had fun and I’m going to speak for him; he did too.” With that he bent down to pat Bruiser on the head.

  “I had fun too. I’m glad you asked me to come.” She bent down and pet Bruiser and said, “Bye buddy.”

  She stood back up and said, “I better get going; I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Okay sounds good.”

  Elle leaned forward just enough to get on her tippy toes and give Trevor a brief kiss and say, “Bye,” before walking to her car.