My Missing Puzzle Piece (Creekside Falls #1) (21 page)

arly Sunday afternoon when Elle went to make them sandwiches she finally found their clothes from Friday night that had been thrown in all directions. She put on Trevor’s shirt and went upstairs with lunch. When she walked into her room he was lounging on the bed naked under the sheet.

“You look incredible in my shirt but you’d look even better without it.” Trevor said as he pulled her towards him. She put the food tray on the night table while he showed her exactly how incredible he thought she looked without the shirt.

Later when Elle and Trevor were downstairs on the couch, feeling sexually satisfied; over the past forty-eight hours they hadn’t been out of each other’s arms for more than a few minutes, with Bruiser at their feet in front of the couch. They were cuddled together and talking, that’s when Elle decided to drag reality back to their world. “I know we didn’t want to talk about work but I can’t help it.
I think I have a plan to make sure we get the person who’s screwing things up. But the catch is that we’re going to have to involve more people than the ones we suspect for it to appear legitimate and to know for sure. I want this whole problem behind you.”

“Ugghhh you had to bring work up. Isn’t this supposed to be our weekend, with no work?” Trevor groaned and leaned his head back on the couch.

“It is but I just thought of it and wanted to know what you think.”

“I didn’t want to involve other people but to stop this and know for sure I would be willing to. What is the plan, and can we tell the people we’re involving they’re part of this plan?” Trevor asked her, still reluctant to discuss it.

“Well, I don’t think we should tell them, it’s not that I’m trying to hide anything from them but I think it might be better if we don’t. If you want to tell them though, you can, it’s your call. It’s perfect in it’s simplicity and I think it could work. We give everyone a list of appointments and jobs that need to be set up and input into the scheduling module. Tell them they can’t overlap and be sure every job you have an appointment for gets put in. All the schedules will be for employees, teams and jobs. See who puts them in right when they have the power to switch it up, since you said you usually figure it all out and put it in yourself. Becky and the route managers have access to it now but can’t change it; this will be their chance. Before you ask, you will still make the schedule as always. They will each get a ‘practice’ module that looks like the real one but isn’t, they’ll also get a separate screen of their own so
they can’t see what the others have done because they won’t know that other people have schedules too.”

Trevor liked the plan. “It is simple enough that it just might work.” He sat up and stretched out his arms. “Why didn’t we think of this before? Why didn’t I think of that before I called you? We wouldn’t have had to work on this and waste our time for a month.”

“We had to make sure no one was working together and after those interviews I just don’t see that as a possibility any longer…and your people really like working for you. Plus we had to get a plan in motion so that if this got out it could be handled.” She said as explanation.

“Yeah, but all this,” he gestured around them, “could’ve been avoided, I could’ve done this without having to hire someone to
fix
this problem for me if I’d only thought of that. It’s obvious, why didn’t I think to do that and save so much time and money that’s been wasted…wasted on this crap!” He stood up and started to pace. He was frustrated and venting but Elle heard only one word, ‘wasted’.

She sat up and looked him in the eye, she didn’t want to be hurt by his comment about wasting their time but it stung. “You know Trevor I get that you didn’t want this to happen to your company but if it hadn’t we wouldn’t be here now.”

Trevor sat stunned for a minute then realizing what he’d said, and how it must’ve sounded to her, he silently cursed himself for saying what he did and hurting her feelings. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He tried to bring her closer to him again but she wasn’t moving
from her spot. Damn it! He screwed this one up big-time. How could he be such an ass?

“I didn’t mean it the way that came out. I’m sorry.” That was all he could think of to say.

“Well it sounded like you meant it when you said it. Maybe it’s time to stop this, if we’re just
wasting
our time anyway.” She was MAD.

How did they get from in each other’s arms and everything being fine five minutes ago to fighting?

“You really think we should just throw this away?”

“I don’t know Trevor, I wouldn’t have even considered it had you not said that.” Elle said honestly but he noticed her eyes were glassy and saw a lone tear slide down her cheek.

He wanted to grab her and pull her into his arms but thought she would fight him. Was she questioning whether they should be together and using his stupidity as an excuse or did he mess up that bad?

“I don’t think its best. We need to straighten this out.” Trevor was being serious with her now, but tried to still be sensitive to how she was feeling.

“There’s nothing to straighten out. You said what you thought and that’s fine but I can’t do this anymore and waste either of our time if that’s how you really feel.” Elle all but yelled back at him.

“Yes there is! Damn it will you just listen to me! I am not walking away from you and you’re not giving up on me or us because I said that. I didn’t mean I didn’t want to see or spend time with you. Just that this whole mess could have been cleared up quicker. But I don’t know if I
would have come up with that plan on my own, no matter how simple.”

“I am not giving up! I’m being practical. How would we make this work anyway?” Elle fought back.

She felt a sense of fear rising up inside like it was going to choke her from within. She couldn’t believe any of this was happening, she realized she might be overreacting but didn’t know if it would work out between the two of them. What if he didn’t love her back? She felt her heart crack at the thought. She couldn’t make out the look in his eyes and it scared her.

“We’d make it work like we’ve been doing. I know it’s just been a little while but we’re doing fine, or so I thought. It isn’t supposed to be like this.” Trevor said with all the conviction he had in him.

“What’s not supposed to be like this?” Elle said in a defiant tone in her voice, turning back to face him.

“Loving someone isn’t supposed to be like this. Why in the hell won’t you listen to me? Why are you being so stubborn?” Trevor said but blinked when he realized
what
he just said.

Elle stood there silent for a few minutes just staring at Trevor. Did he just say he loved her? Was she hearing things?

“What did you just say?” Elle asked as she looked into Trevor’s gorgeous blue eyes.

Trevor drew in a deep breath at knowing what he just said and how it came out, “It wasn’t supposed to come out like that. But I love you, and I am not letting you throw this away.”

“You love me?!” Elle said as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Yeah I do. And don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m saying or that it’s too fast because I’ve never been more sure of anything before in my life.” Trevor said as he stepped forward and brought Elle into his arms.

His hug squeezed her so tight she felt his love, his tenderness and the solid rock of a person who would be there for her always. She knew Trevor wouldn’t say it if he didn’t mean it.

Elle pulled back slightly, looked up at Trevor and said, “In case you’re wondering. I love you too,” then paused, a little embarrassed, “I’m sorry I didn’t let you explain, I do believe you didn’t mean it. I overreacted, I’m sorry.”

Did he just hear her right? Did she say she loved him too? Damn this was a bouncy half hour!

Trevor looked down at Elle with a look of joy on his face and said, “You love me too?”

“Yes. I don’t know when it happened but it hit me like a load of bricks. I was afraid you wouldn’t feel the same.”

“Of course I do. How I could I not fall in love with you? You’re amazing, beautiful, smart, funny, driven. I can keep going if you want.” He said with a loving smile.

“Are we moving too fast?”

“Hell if I know, but I don’t really care, to me it feels just right.” He smiled down at her and a lone tear slid down his cheek.

He couldn’t believe she was in love with him. He felt like the luckiest guy ever. He had never felt happier than he did right now.

Elle was a bit taken aback by her own feelings and that he felt the same but she was crazy happy and never wanted this to go away.

“I’m sorry about fighting with you.” Elle said as squeezed him in a hug.

“It’s okay and I’m sorry too. Come here.” Trevor pulled her into an even tighter hug and lifted her chin to give her a soul-scorching kiss that she felt all the way to her bones.

onday was a crazy day for Elle. She had three clients call before 9:00 demanding she and Taylor meet with them ASAP, so with both of them out of the office and only one intern there, not a lot was accomplished. They finally made it to the office a little before lunch.

Elle sat at her desk thinking back over the weekend; it definitely hadn’t gone how she had planned…it was even better! She was in love and the best part was that Trevor was in love with her too. She couldn’t believe she started that fight with him. She wasn’t happy about what he said because it hurt her but she believed he didn’t mean that he didn’t want to have spent time with her. God she had acted so immature with him yesterday, it was unlike her to do that in a relationship. She felt such a deep connection and need for him, it created some insecurity in her; she would have to keep that in check and not let it take over.

Trevor’s morning flew by because he was busy with scheduling and nailing down details of what each client wanted at their houses and businesses before his teams went out on the jobs. It was almost lunch and he wanted to finish up so he could go eat; he knew just what he wanted to eat and just who he wanted to eat with.

Elle was at her desk typing up notes she had taken at the meetings with their clients that morning when their intern, Don, called into her office and said someone was there to see her. She wasn’t expecting anyone and didn’t know anyone who would come visit her at work. She pushed back from her desk and walked to the front.