Matchmakers Box Set: Matchmakers, Encore, Finding Hope (57 page)

Her lips quivered against his. Her fingernails clawed at his flesh. Her voice carried his name as he took her to that edge and spilled over with her.

After, he held her close. Their hearts raced at the same pace. She’d given herself to him body and heart. How could he ever let go?

Together they lay in the same spot, their legs intertwined, their arms draped over one another. Their hearts still beating the same rhythm.

“I’m going to want to do that a lot more.” He smiled down at her.

“I’m glad I waited for you.” Her lashes fluttered up as she spoke, and the soft smile of her lips tugged at him.

“I’ve never felt anything like that. It’s like that first time we touched. That same electricity between us.” She gave him the slightest nod and he knew she’d felt it. There would never be anyone else again. He knew that.

The sun filled the room with warmth as it filtered in through the curtains. Hope breathed him in, afraid to move, afraid to wake him. She’d never awoken in a bed with a man and she realized she never wanted to wake in one again without him.

Trevor stirred, his eyes opening slowly. A smile slid across his lips and her heart began to race at the mere thought that he was happy to be there still wrapped in her arms.

“Good morning,” he said softly.

“Good morning,” she returned, but her voice shook.

He lifted his head and propped himself up on his elbow. “Everything okay?” he asked as he traced his finger over her jaw.

“I’ve never woken with anyone before. I’m afraid to leave this bed.”

“I was thinking last night that I don’t ever want to wake in a bed with another person but you again.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Do you believe in fate?”

“Fate? Yeah,” she said on a sigh. “I believe in fate.”

“I believe it was fate that sent me to you. And I know we haven’t physically known each other for too long, but in my soul I’ve known you for a very long time.”

“My grandmother has always come to me in my dreams,” she said shifting so that she faced him and propped herself up on her elbow as he was. His arm lay lazily over her hip and his fingers drew small circles on her skin. “She told me you would come.”

He smiled. “She did, huh?”

“Don’t laugh. But yeah, she told me you’d come looking for me.”

His dark lashes fluttered as he smiled before he moved in and gently kissed her. “What else did she say?”

“Your touch would be intense and I would fall in love with you.”

“I’d say our touches were intense,” he said, running his hand down her arm.

“And I’d say I’ve fallen in love with you.”

His brows knit. The slightest fear crept into her.

“Hope, don’t say things like that unless you mean them.”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. I have fallen in love with you.”

The fear left her when he smiled, and the smile was knowing and loving. “Hope, your grandmother never came to me and said I’d fall in love with you. But I believe in fate.” He took a deep breath. “About two years ago I began to have dreams. I had dreams about this fair-skinned, blue-eyed blonde,” he said, tunneling his fingers though her hair. “And the moment I saw you, I knew it was you. I knew I’d been steered in your direction.”

“Really?” Her voice was light.

“Yes.” He moved so that she was on her back and he looked down on her. “Hope, I was in love with you before I met you. Now that I have you wrapped in my arms, I never want to wake without you. I love you.”

Tears wanted to break through, but she fought them. He pressed his lips to hers and moved on top of her, making love to her again in the sunlight of a new day.

Much later, Hope moved about her kitchen. A smile permeated her lips as she looked out the window over the sink. She sipped at her coffee, listening to the sounds of another person in her apartment getting ready for the day. The scent of shaving cream lingered in the air. It felt comfortable having Trevor near.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said as he moved up behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

“Good morning.” She turned her head and kissed him softly. “Trevor, I could get used to this.”

“Good. Do you have to go in today?”

“Yes. What about you?” She raised her eyebrows.

“I’m calling banks.”

“Then I guess you’re working too. I suppose you could make those calls from my shop.”

A fleeting shadow darkened his eyes, so fast she might have imagined it. Then he kissed the top of her head. “Now, that would be a benefit, wouldn’t it? You do your job, I do mine, and I can kiss you in between.”

They eased into the morning of work. Trevor had set himself up at the table in the back room and began plotting out banks in the area and checking them off the list. He kept his files in the trunk of the car to keep Hope from finding them.

On Wednesdays, Hope spent most of the day ordering supplies and placing orders for new items for her shop. She did her bookwork and she’d mentioned to Trevor that she was glad she only had one slow day a week.

Likewise, Thomas and Carissa’s school was quiet. Hope told him they saved Wednesday mornings for helping at the kids’ school. Their own students wouldn’t arrive until the afternoon.

So, the atmosphere was quiet.

Trevor dove into his work. He’d found five banks in a two-mile radius of David and Sophia’s home. There were another sixty-seven lying within a thirty-mile radius. Once he had his list, he began to whittle it down by the year that the bank location opened. Twenty-three years was a long time for a bank location to stay open. The list shrank, but not by much.

He walked out of the back room, moving his neck from side to side to work the kink from it.

“We only have twenty-seven phone calls to make.”

Hope blew out a breath and scowled. “Bring me the list.”

Trevor smiled. “How about something to eat first?”

“Taken care of. My mother is bringing us lunch.”

Though he tried, he couldn’t help the surprise he knew crept over his face. Trevor walked to her side and gathered her hands in his, kissing the tips of her fingers. “Does she know what we’re doing?”

“No, and we aren’t going to tell her either.”

Trevor nodded. He didn’t like getting involved with someone and keeping secrets from her parents, though this time it seemed necessary.

“Maybe I should pick up my papers and put them in my car until she leaves.”

Hope considered it. “Maybe you’re right.”

Trevor kissed her on the cheek and retreated back to the back room to gather his paperwork and laptop.

As he closed the trunk to his car, Sophia pulled up in front of Hope’s store. Trevor put on his happy face and tried his best to calm his nerves.

“Hello, Sophia.” He crossed the street as she climbed from her car.

“Hello, Trevor. Did you just get here?”

“No. I came in with Hope. I’m using her back room as an office for the day. Just trying to catch up on some paperwork.”

Sophia opened the door to the passenger side of the car and pulled out a basket. Trevor walked up behind her.

“Let me help you.”

“Thank you,” she said handing him the basket and gathering another bag. “I’ll bet she loves the company.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ve been too social. I’ve been making phone calls and she’s been doing her ordering all day.” He opened the door to the store for her. “In fact, I don’t think we talked for three hours.”

They laughed easily as they walked through the store.

Hope was in the back room adding a folding chair to her small table. When her mother walked through the door, she kissed her on the cheek and took the bag from her hand.

“You went all out, didn’t you?” she asked, peeking at what her mother had packed.

“Your father is meeting us here, and Carissa and Thomas were going to go into the school early so they’re dropping by too.”

Trevor swallowed hard. After the morning of trying to discover the secrets of Hope’s other parents, he wasn’t sure a full family reunion in a crowded room was what he wanted. Unease filled him. Would they all know what he was doing?

“Hope tells me she finished the portrait of you for your mother,” Sophia said as she began to unload loaves of French bread from the bags and assorted meats from the basket she’d packed.

“Yes. Her birthday is at the end of August. I can’t wait to see her face,” he said, and his gaze shifted toward Hope’s.

“I hope she likes it. I’m kinda nervous about giving it to her.”

“Why?” Sophia looked up at Hope. “You are an amazing artist. I can’t imagine why you would be nervous.”

“Because his mother knows his face pretty well. What if she looks at it and thinks it’s all wrong?”

“What if she looks at it and sees it through your eyes and realizes she’s missed something all along.” Sophia smiled, and Trevor’s nerves settled. “Trevor, I think she’ll love it.”

“I know she will.”

The chime over the door rang and David called back to them, “I’m here to buy the whole place.”

Hope laughed as she moved past them to embrace her father in an enormous hug. He kept one arm around her as he looked at the food his wife set out on the table.

“You did say come by for a sandwich, right?”

“I did.” Sophia turned and kissed him. “I think I covered everyone’s favorites right down to a small jar of peanut butter and jelly for my grandbabies.”

“And to think, you almost gave all of this domestic stuff up to travel Europe.”

Trevor watched as her eyes changed. She turned toward David, placed a hand on his cheek, and smiled. “I’m still trying to make up for those years I lost.” She placed a gentle kiss on his lips again and Trevor thought he could feel tears tugging at him. He turned and pulled out items from the basket. The sentimental moment he’d just witnessed between two people who loved each other so much made him long for that same connection. In twenty years, would he and Hope share moments like that?

He lifted his eyes to see her. She was smiling at her parents as though she’d appreciated the moment as much as they had.

The ringing of his cell phone interrupted his observation. He reached into his pocket and answered.

“Trevor Jacobs,” he said as he walked past Hope and her parents to take the call. “When?”

Hope had walked out of the room and toward him as he spoke. He held up a hand to tell her it was urgent. “I see. And the police?” he asked, and he saw her eyes widen. “Okay. I’ll be right there.”

“God, Trevor, what happened?” She reached out and touched his arm.

“Someone broke into my hotel room,” he whispered, not wanting to alarm her parents, who were probably listening closely whether they meant to or not.

“Oh, God!” She covered her mouth. “Why? What were they looking for?”

He gently pulled Hope through the store toward the front door.

“I don’t know.” He knew they wouldn’t have found anything but his clothing and toiletries. All his files were in the trunk of his car—he didn’t want Hope finding them yet either. “I have to go.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No.” He shook his head. “You’re not going with me.” He gathered her hands in his. They were shaking. “I want you to stay here. You’re going to have to tell your parents and your sister because I don’t want you to be alone.”

She nodded at his instruction. “Why do you think someone did this? Do you think this has to do with Mandy?”

“I don’t know. But if it wasn’t random and they were looking for something that I have, then maybe they know I’ve been with you.” He kissed her gently. “Don’t go back to your place and do not leave this store without someone with you. Tell them what you must, but I want you safe.”

She nodded again and gave him a quick, hard kiss on the mouth. “Be careful.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Whoever had broken in to Trevor’s room had trashed the place, torn down the drapes, turned over the bed. The items Trevor had left were in a pile on the floor.

“Do you have an idea of anyone who would have done this to you?” the police officer asked as he jotted down notes about the room.

“I’m a private investigator. I suppose I could have enemies.”

“Anyone tied to a case you might be working on?”

Trevor knew it was tied to the case he was working on, but he wasn’t about to tell the officer that. He’d pay for the damage to the room. What he couldn’t pay for was any harm that may come to Hope if he spoke.

He shook his head. “It’s never happened before.”

As he walked farther into the room, his cell phone rang. It was Bryce, and Trevor sure as hell wasn’t in the mood to hear about the redhead from upstairs, but to keep the police officer’s stare off him he turned his back and took the call.

“Hey, Bryce. What’s new?”

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” The string of curses from Bryce had Trevor smiling.

“Redhead break your heart?”

“Asshole, they broke into the apartment!”

Trevor was glad he had his back turned to the officer because he couldn’t have hidden the shock that must be plastered across his face.

“Hey, let me call you back in a few.”

“What? Can’t you hear me, dammit?”

“I heard you. Give me ten,” he said, hanging up the phone and turning back to the officer. “Sorry, broken-hearted friend.”

The officer nodded. “Well I’ll head back to the station and fill this out. We’ll be looking into the surveillance tapes for the floor as well. If you come up with anything, please let us know. And drop by the station later today. There’ll be an incident report for you to sign.”

“Absolutely.”

He walked through the room only partially aware that the manager of the hotel and the officer were outside the door. He picked through his clothes. There was nothing ripped or torn. They had only thrown them on the floor. He began to fold them up and dig through the remains of the room to find his suitcase.

“Mr. Jacobs, I apologize for all of this.” The hotel manager waved his arms to signal the destruction of the room.

“Please, I know this isn’t your fault.”