Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance) (17 page)

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 planted 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?”

“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?”