My Missing Puzzle Piece (Creekside Falls #1) (13 page)

“I didn’t mean to snoop but I was looking for the bathroom.” Trevor said defensively.

Elle just said, “It’s okay, I wasn’t sure what to do with that room and just haven’t gotten around to decorating it.”

“You didn’t know what to do with it? How is that possible, every other room in your house is finished perfectly, you would’ve thought you’ve lived here for years. Does that room have some kind of significance?” Trevor added as he took a sip of iced tea knowing he just pushed her when he probably shouldn’t have, especially knowing she was still probably nervous and on edge, having told him about her and Rob.

“You’re right I do have every other room finished….”Elle said as she took in a deep breath, she was quiet for a
minute before she finally looked right at him and said, “The only person who ever noticed before is Taylor, and I’m surprised you did. Everyone else just figured I was working on it and truthfully I am but not sure how to make it….”

“No one else asked?” Trevor questioned.

“Nope and if it came up I just played it off and they didn’t ask further.”

“So there is a reason it’s empty?”

“Yeah…I guess so.” Elle took a deep breath before saying more. “When I first started looking for a house I was with my ex-boyfriend and he kept saying I should find one with at least four bedrooms. I wasn’t sure why but I thought that wasn’t a bad idea. I found a bunch I liked but when I’d ask him his opinion he’d find something wrong with them every time... he’s part of the reason I looked at so many places before I settled on this one. I finally asked what the deal was with all the bedrooms. He said he wanted enough room for kids. I always thought about kids and having them one day but we never talked about it before, so to say the least I was beyond surprised by his answer but then confused that the houses that were perfect for a family he said I shouldn’t even consider. Being blind in my relationship, I listened to him. I even stopped looking for a while. Then I found this place and it was perfect so I put money down on it, but I never could get him to look at it.”

“It turned out he didn’t want to help me pick a house because he was seeing someone else, a friend of mine no less. Apparently he didn’t want to deal with a house on
top of me and his lover, which I don’t get since it was me buying the house not him, but mainly he didn’t want to deal with me. So I stayed with Taylor a little while after I dumped him but I couldn’t bear to let this place go and after I moved in I couldn’t bring myself to turn that room into anything, I mean I have guest rooms, my office is in a room down here, there’s a little gym in the basement, I guess I just left that room empty for the what if….”Elle took another long, deep breath and said, “Wow! That was depressing and more than I was planning on telling you. I guess you could say it’s still a bit of a sensitive subject to me.”

Trevor took Elle’s hand and squeezed it, then said, “That guy’s a jerk and he was awful to you. You didn’t deserve any of that. I’m glad you dumped him.”

He heard the longing in her voice when she was talking about kids and a family, he could tell she still wanted that deeply. Then he started to say something but stopped and paused before adding carefully, “Do you really keep that room empty for a baby or is it just for the what if’s?”

She blew out a breath and took a minute to think it over; “You know I don’t know to be honest, even Taylor hasn’t asked me that question. I guess she assumed it was too sensitive a topic to bring up.”

He winced but she either didn’t see it or ignored because she kept on going, “I guess I do keep it empty for a possible baby or at least the hopes of a baby someday but that’s all still just a what if right now, so I guess it’s both.”

“Was that all too much for you?” Elle said as she played with the edge of the blanket nervously.

“No, it was honest and I’m glad you shared that with me.”

“Okay” Elle said self-consciously, but was glad she felt comfortable to open up to him with something so personal.

“If you feel like you just shared too much, I’ll share something too so you’re not embarrassed.”

He waited for her to nod before he kept going, “I want kids someday too, I’ve thought about it before and I know I want it all but it seemed so far away. Then one day I realized I’ve wanted a family for a while.” The fact that he just admitted all that didn’t make Trevor squirm like it would have if he’d told another woman. The truth was he hadn’t thought about the whole wife and kids deal until he “officially” met her the first time. Other than that he never really gave much thought to a family because he always thought he had time to find that person to settle down and do it all with; but somehow he saw all of it with Elle from the very beginning.

“Thank you for that,” Elle said and squeezed Trevor’s hand. “I think it’s nice you want all that and that you are willing to talk about it, even if it was only to me. Most guys don’t admit that stuff or talk about their feelings.”

“Just the wimpy ones don’t, the rest of us can do it but it’s not something you normally do on a first date…like I just did.” Trevor said as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Well I didn’t mind and I’m glad you’re not wimpy.” Elle said with a smile as she stretched up to give him a quick kiss. “And I’m glad we were able to open up to each other.”

“Soooo…..since we’re opening up and being so honest with each other, how long has it been for you?” Elle asked changing the subject. Trevor’s eyes widened at her question.

“Was that too forward?” Elle asked as she looked away slightly with a tint of red staining her face and neck.

Trevor couldn’t believe she just asked him what no woman ever had before. It was almost like the dreaded, “what’s your number” question, but he was glad she felt so comfortable with him to ask even though he saw her blushing. “Since my last girlfriend, if you could call her that, it was about seven months ago.”

“Oh okay, I was just curious.” Then a heartbeat later she said, “Wait, that’s around when we last worked together isn’t it? I didn’t know you were seeing anyone then, not that I would’ve since I didn’t exactly let you talk to me much about anything other than work but I wouldn’t have wanted you if I knew you were with someone else.” Elle covered her face and groaned, “Did I really just say all that out loud? Can I ever just stop talking?!”

He chuckled. “Yeah that is when we worked together and I stopped seeing her because I was interested in someone else who I was a hell of a lot more attracted to than her, so I didn’t think it was right to keep seeing her if I couldn’t stop thinking about another woman.” He said and looked away slightly to the fire.

Elle sat there for a few minutes than asked in a barely audible voice, “Who was the someone else?”

Trevor turned and looked Elle right in the eye and said, “Do I really need to tell you?”

Elle paused for a minute and just looked at him absorbing what he just said and more importantly what he didn’t say as he continued to stare at her.

“Me?” Elle said in a quiet and unsure voice.

“Of course it was you, who else?!”

It took everything Trevor had not to yell that it was
her
when she asked who the “someone else” was. Even though the more he thought about it he realized that there wasn’t any way for her to know that.

“Oh! You stopped seeing someone because of me? Why? I wasn’t even nice to you!” A heartbeat passed then she added, “Okay, wait I take that back. I wasn’t just ‘not nice’ to you; I was pretty bitchy to you. I never told you I really am sorry I was a class-A bitch to you last time.” She didn’t stop there. “Have you not dated anyone else since we worked together last?”

“It’s okay you don’t have to apologize. I wasn’t exactly warm and inviting to you... and, no I haven’t dated anyone since, I guess I was holding out hope to run into you again and maybe see what would happen. Lucky for me that it did, I wish it was under different circumstances but I’m still glad.”

“Awe Trev!” Elle grabbed his face and pulled him down to her for a full on kiss where she all but devoured his mouth. When the kiss ended she said, “I had no idea. People have told me I never noticed when men are into me, but wow I really don’t! I would have never guessed any of that in a million years. Well I’m glad we’re both here now.”

“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.