Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance) (27 page)

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As he and Blackie cleared the trees and started back to his house, Trevan admired the way the hills greened up with the small amount of rain they received the week before. A short-term lushness, he knew, as this area normally got pretty dry by mid May and then stayed that way all summer.

“Trev, can I have a drink of your water?” Tiffany asked as she came up next to him on her horse. He glanced sideways at her. She looked pretty good for a new mom, tired but happy.

He originally wanted to live here because it was remote and he could get away from all the craziness at work. When his parents talked about selling the place, it was an easy decision to take it off their hands. It worked out pretty well as far as keeping up with his family. When he traveled, they used it for a vacation place. When he was home, they visited a lot. He hadn’t seen Tiffany in almost a year and it was nice … but truthfully, it made him feel a little like a third wheel with her husband and kid. How can just a few short months completely change a person’s perspective on life? He’d never felt envious before of big sis’s life but in a weird way he wanted that now.

“Sure, no problem.” Trev lifted the water bottle from the bag he had looped over the saddle horn and moved closer to Tiff so he could hand it to her. As soon as she reached out for it, he gave in to a sudden urge to squeeze the bottle and water spurted up into her face and down her shirt.

“Hey!” Tiff’s fist lashed out and belted him on the thigh, startling his horse a little. “Thanks a lot, jerk.” She wiped the water from her eyes and reached for the bottle while Trevan snickered with satisfaction.

Tiffany took a slow drink as her horse moved lazily along. She glanced over the top of the water bottle as she drew in from it. “Looks like you’ve got company, brother.” She gestured toward the house with the plastic in her hand.

Trev turned to look where she motioned and almost missed Sophie’s rush across the patio. But when she emerged a few seconds later in a dead race to the front yard, he realized she intended to make a getaway to the Dodge.
Nope. Not this time.
He kneed Blackie into a gallop and got to the car just as she opened the door to slide in. He slid off the horse and rushed toward the car but she slammed the door. “Sophie, wait!” He yelled after her as she started the car, spun it around, and headed for the gate. Gravel spewing scared Blackie. He made a snort and took off for the barn.

“Dammit!” Trev jumped in the Jeep, started it up and drove it straight across the grass in an attempt to get to the gate before her. She followed the gravel path, which hugged the line of the hill, so if he just went straight up the hill, he’d beat her there. He bounced up the hill, hitting his head on the roll bar, and knocking through the gravel to slide to a stop in front of the Dodge about fifty feet before she reached the gate. He bolted out of the Jeep, striding toward her before the engine had even died.

“Sophie, get out of the car,” Trevan said as he held his palm up to stop her. She just started backing up to go around the Jeep and he moved to block her by placing both hands on the hood of her car. “Stop!” he shouted. “Get out of the damn car!” His eyes focused on her as she shook her head and bit her lower lip.

“Trev, what’s going on?” Tiffany came up next to them on the horse in a full gallop, watching him try to block the car with his body.

“This is Sophie, Tiff, and by the looks of her face, I don’t think she knows who you are.” His brows furrowed angrily over his eyes in frustration.

“Your Sophie?”

“Yes! No.” He shook his head. His Sophie? “Hell, I don’t know. Would you please put your horse between the gate and her car until I can get her out of the damn thing?”

“No problem, brother, why don’t you just take the rope and tie her up while you’re at it!” Tiffany laughed but nudged the horse in front of the gate.

Sophie’s escape route was completely blocked by the horse, rider, and Jeep. She stopped the car and sat behind the wheel, shaking her head and pounding the steering wheel.

Trevan refused to give up. He slid around the car, keeping his hands on the hood, and yanked the door open before she could hit the lock button. He snaked a hand into the car and pulled on Sophie’s arm to get her out of the car. “What’s your hurry, woman!” He growled as he reached into the car and pulled the keys from the ignition and threw them into the trees.

“Hey!” Sophie protested.

“Good grief, brother, stop manhandling the poor girl!” Tiffany scolded. “That’s no way to win her over.”

Sophie glanced from one to the other with confusion.

“Yeah. That’s right!” The exasperation in his voice was beyond blatant. “My sister, Tiffany Sorrenson.” He made an introductory wave toward Tiff, who stepped forward and held out a hand in greeting.

“Nice to meet you, Sophie. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

A long pause, uncomfortably long, grew between them as she looked from the girl to Trevan. Then Sophie cleared her throat, squared her shoulders, and held out her hand to shake Tiffany’s briefly.

“Can you leave us alone now, sis?” Trev shot over his shoulder as he continued to face Sophie. He looked away briefly to see Tiffany get on the horse and trot toward the house and beyond to the barn. Slowly his eyes narrowed and returned to Sophie’s face. He sucked in a deep breath. “Nice to see you, Henry. What brings you out here?”

“I came to see you. To see how you’re doing,” she stuttered.

“I was pretty good until the last five minutes.” He reached up and rubbed his shoulder, wincing as he felt the sharp tinge of pain where the scar rubbed against his shirt.

“I tried to visit you in the hospital.” Her eyes concentrated on the ground and she moved the toe of her shoe in a circular motion in the dirt. “They wouldn’t let me in.”

“Yeah, they get pretty protective when something like that happens. Immediate family only. Sorry.”

“So, you have a scar?”

“Yes, but it’s not too bad. I’m on eight weeks of R and R, while I rehab the shoulder. Two surgeries to repair the wound and some internal damage, nothing major.”

“No problems with your arm?”

He flexed the hand and fingers but only lifted it partially from his side. “It’ll take a while to get it back, but I’m told I’ll have full use of it in a couple of months. We’ll see.” He studied Sophie’s face. “What about you, you doing okay?”

Sophie averted her eyes toward the house and then the trees, studying the way the house fit into the countryside. “I went to see my dad.”

“I know,” he stated softly. “I came to see you as soon as they let me out of the hospital. You were gone. I called your office.”

“I quit my job.”

“Yeah, they told me you’d gone to New York.” He felt the pain again when he learned that she’d decided to move there. “How are things with your dad?”

Sophie hesitated. She seemed to be picking her words carefully. “Good. Good. I needed to know why everyone … everyone who knows him loves him, except me. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get past it. I wanted to understand why he didn’t care enough about me to stay. I guess I thought that I wasn’t the daughter he wanted.” She looked back down at her shoes. “I wasn’t sure if it was because I wasn’t capable of loving anyone or — ”

“Afraid to give them a chance?” Trev finished for her. His good hand raised and he ran his fingers over his hair then dropped them to his side, slipping them into the pocket of his jeans.

“Maybe.”

“So, did you figure it all out?”

“Pretty much. At least, I think I did. I guess it was easier to — ”

“Leave someone that cared about you before they decided to leave you?” He quirked an eyebrow at her and narrowed his eyes again, shielding the emotion. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Your dad left when you were a child. Your college boyfriend deserted you, your mom died. But in a way, that represented leaving, too, didn’t it? So, you just decided to make sure it wouldn’t happen again by being the first to leave.”

“Yes, Dr. Phil. I guess you could put it that way.” She put a hand to her hair to move a curl back out of her face.

“So, why are you here?”

“I don’t know. It didn’t make sense. Giving up on something because you’re afraid to lose it. That’s kind of forcing yourself to get what you feared in the first place.”

“Figured that out, did ya?” He smirked, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

“Yeah, with a little help from my father.”

“So, how’s New York life treating you?”

“I wouldn’t know. I didn’t stay. I was only there a week.” She took a deep breath then winced at the pain in her ribs caused by the movement.

“God, Henry, I forgot to ask. Are the ribs healing up okay?”

“I wasn’t sure if you knew or not. Two broken, lots of bruising.” She patted the air outside the tender spot.

“Nate told me. He called regularly with updates.”

“Yeah, he stopped in once in a while when I was in the hospital.” She watched his face.

“So you’re not staying in New York?”

“No, why would I do that? Everything I want is here.”

“Not your family.”

“New York is cold all the time and dreary. I couldn’t live there if I wanted to.” She shrugged. “Dad gave me an ultimatum though.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, he told me if I intended to live here I had to get a bodyguard or he would do it for me. So, these past few days I’ve been interviewing all sorts of candidates. Most of them huge, muscle-bound dudes that could probably lift a truck.” She watched as his eyes flashed and his jaw tightened but he said nothing, just watched her face and listened. “They weren’t real big on the hours or the pay.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Well, it’s mostly nights and weekends. Sometimes it would require accompanying me to social outings if I go anywhere.” She paused for a minute, aware that he edged a little closer to her. “Or just hanging around if I don’t.”

“So, what didn’t they like? Where’s the bad part?”

“There’s travel, too. To New York once in a while on family visits.” Sophie stared at her feet, pausing to take another rib ticking breath. “It’s been difficult to find a good candidate. Know anyone that might be interested?” She stepped toward him.

“I can think of one guy.” He shoved his hand deeper in his pocket as he closed the gap between them. “But there’s one problem. Sort of a big one.”

Sophie’s hand brushed softly up his chest, her fingers stroking against his collarbone. “What would that be?”

“He doesn’t live in Houston. He lives here.” He tossed his head in a gesture toward the ranch house. “And the commute would be too long.” He looked down at her through veiled lashes, enjoying the movement of her hand.

Sophie stepped back and reluctantly withdrew her fingers. “I see.”

“But I hear there are jobs available in Austin in your field,” he said. “And it’s close enough.”

“Austin, hmmm.” She hadn’t thought about moving to Austin.

“You could make the drive easily,” he suggested.

“From here?” She raised an eyebrow. Was he asking her to move here? With him?

“Yeah.” He looked away as if tensing for the answer.

“Okay, well, in that case, there’s more.” She smiled slyly.

“Let’s hear it.”

“He’d need to sleep in the same room that I do. Since the break-in at my apartment, I don’t sleep well by myself. Maybe even cook breakfast once or twice a week?”

Trevan snaked his good arm out and slid it around her hip, pulling her tight. “Yes, you’re pretty demanding, but I think it could work. Where do I sign up?”

“Right here.” She caressed the side of his face, sending a shudder down his length. “You want to help me find my keys so I can move my car?”

“No. We’ll worry about that in a couple of days when the tendency to run wears off.” He grinned, half serious.

“I brought a swimsuit with me this time, just in case.” She smiled back.

“Really? That’s good.” Trevan took her hand and started to pull her toward the house. “Where is it?”

“In my bag in the seat of the car.” She motioned toward the vehicle behind them.

“Great. Hang on just a minute while I take care of that.” He jogged back to the car, opened the door and punched the lock button then slammed it shut before returning to her side. “Oops. I guess it’ll have to wait a couple of days, too. You’ll just have to do without.”

Sophie laughed. “Sneaky. What about your sister?” She glanced sideways at him, eyebrow crooked.

“She’s leaving with her family in a few minutes.” He walked toward the house with her hand in his, squeezing her fingers. She loved him. He knew she did. She was afraid to say so but she did.

“You know, you can say it, Soph.”

“What?”

“I pretty much told you everything before I got shot. There was nothing more to say. The rest was up to you. That’s why I didn’t try calling again after you went to New York. I figured if it wasn’t enough, then you didn’t want it — me. It wasn’t going to work.” He focused his eyes forward, holding her hand, but not looking at her.

She tugged lightly on his hand. “You would give up that easy?”

“You really think that was easy for me? You’re not the only one that’s afraid to be left.” He pulled the keys to the Jeep out of his pocket and put them in her hand. “So, here’s the deal. I’m not going anywhere. When you’re ready for me to leave, you can give these back. Or you can go dig your keys out of those trees and leave yourself.”

Sophie looked at the keys. A lump formed in the back of her throat and she blinked her eyes a couple of times. She tossed the keys in the general direction that he’d sent hers earlier and tightened her fingers around his.

“I love you too, Trev.”

They walked a few paces and he turned and took both of her hands in his as he faced Sophie. He glanced warmly back at the two vehicles sitting haphazardly across the drive. “I have a question for you … ”

“I’m listening.” She traced her fingers up his arms and clasped them behind his neck before pressing her lips against his in a slow, wet, kiss.

Not wanting to pull away, Trevan spoke softly against her lips as she continued to kiss him. “It’s about this bodyguard gig. What happens when I travel for work? Should I find someone to stay with you?”