Pushing the Boundaries (Picking up the Pieces #3) (26 page)

The first thing I noticed when I walked through the front door was the lit candles that covered every surface of the house. The second thing was the trail of red rose petals that led from the door up the stairs. Curiosity took hold and I followed them up the stairs, thinking the whole time what a pain in the ass it was going to be to try and vacuum all of them up. As I neared the bedroom, soft saxophone music played through the air.

What the hell
?

When I stepped into the doorway, what I saw had me frozen in place, my jaw dropped to the floor.

“Hello, lover,” Trevor’s deep voice rumbled. Several things assaulted my senses all at once. Firstly, candles of all shapes and sizes were lit all over the room. So many, in fact, I was certain it was a fire hazard. Secondly, rose petals covered every. Single. Available. Surface. This was going to take
forever
to clean. And lastly, the thing that stood out the most was Trevor himself, lying on his side in the center of the bed, propped up on an elbow with a long-stemmed red rose in his hand. His white dress shirt was tucked into a pair of black slacks but was unbuttoned all the way down to his waist, leaving his shiny chest on full display.

Wait…why the hell was his chest so damn shiny?

“Uh, what’s happening?” I asked as I scanned the room again, looking for a hidden camera or something. Because this had to be a joke.

Trevor climbed from the bed and moved toward me, each step slow and methodical, like he was trying to be seductive, but it just came across like he had something clenched between his butt cheeks.

“This is me romancing you. I’m going to make love to you tonight.” He said in a husky tone as he reached up and ran the rose in his hand across my cheek. His eyelids drooped and his lips puckered. I sucked my lips between my teeth, but it was no use; I lost it. An indelicate snort escaped as I hunched over in a peel of laughter. Everything about this—the room, how Trevor was dressed, the way he was talking—was beyond ridiculous.

“Did you just use the term ‘make love’?”

“What’s wrong with that term?” he asked defensively.

I tried so hard to stop laughing, I really did, but it was just too damn funny. “Why are you all shiny?” I ran my finger down his chest before quickly pulling it away. “Ew, gross! Is that…” I lifted my hand to my nose to smell, “baby oil? Why’d you cover yourself with baby oil?”

“This is supposed to be romantic, damn it!” Trevor shouted, throwing his hands in the air. “You’re supposed to love all this mushy shit.”

Another wave of laughter came over me. “Who told you that?” I asked between giggles and snorts. Yeah, I was a snorter. So sue me.

Trevor reached for something on the nightstand and held it up. “Well, you’re always reading this shit. The douchebag in the book did this. I thought that was what you were into.” I looked up and saw he was holding one of my historical romance novels, complete with a Fabio lookalike on the cover, shirt open and billowing in the wind, bronzed chest glistening. And I died. I’m talking ‘tears running down my face, unable to breathe, hysterical laughter’.

“Oh, God! It’s too much,” I panted, trying to catch my breath. “I gotta take a picture of this. The girls won’t believe it if I don’t have proof.” I pulled my cell from my pocket and tried to take a picture, but Trevor was already on the move.

“Wait, where are you going?” I called as he stomped from the room with his chin in the air.

“Somewhere where I’m appreciated,” he declared as he stormed down the stairs in a huff.

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that. You have to admit, this shit was pretty damn funny.”

“
Hmph
.” He crossed his arms over his chest and shot a narrow-eyed gaze my way. “Well, I’m glad I could amuse you.”

“Honey,” I tried to placate as I stepped in front of him. I reached up to put my palms on his chest then thought better of it seeing as he was covered in baby oil. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh.” I tried to suppress it, but a tiny giggle escaped.

“You’re laughing now!” Trevor was in a full-blown hissy. Sometimes it felt like I was the dude in the relationship. Before I could get a word in edgewise, he turned and thundered out the door. A second later, I heard his truck start up and peel out of the driveway. I wasn’t sure where he was going, but I hoped wherever it was, he at least buttoned up his shirt.

It took an hour of randomly giggling and calling every one of my girls to give them a full recap of what went down, but by the time Trevor walked through the front door later that night, I’d managed to get myself under control.

Okay, yeah, maybe I’d been a little insensitive; I was willing to admit that. And I knew I needed to apologize yet again. I dug through my drawers for one of my prettiest, laciest nighties. Trevor was always talking about how he loved me in green; he said it made my eyes stand out. I lucked out with a deep-green satin number which hit just at mid-thigh with black lace stitched around the neckline and hem. I managed to get up all the rose petals and put away a majority of the candles, only leaving out a select few. I hit the switch and let the dim glow from the candles light the room as I sat in the middle of the bed and waited for Trevor to get home.

After half an hour, panic set in. What if he didn’t come home? What if I’d really hurt his feelings? What if he decided to punish me by going home with another woman? Just as my thoughts ran away from me, I heard the front door open and close. The faint click-clack of nails against the hardwood told me Merle had gone to greet Trevor at the front door. I gave it a while longer, knowing Trevor would pet the puppy before heading up the stairs. My chest rose and fell with heavy breaths as anxiety coursed through me. What if he didn’t forgive me?

When had I become
that
girl? I’d always prided myself on my independence and confidence. Only when it came to Trevor, I turned into this insecure, whiny, sniveling little girl. And I hated it. It made me feel weak, and weakness was
not
a concept I was comfortable with.

When his large frame hit the doorway, everything in me froze. Even after knowing him for as long as I had, the sight of him alone was still enough to undo me completely. I’d never get used to how handsome this man was. Everything about him was beautiful, inside and out. Trevor was a work of art. As I stared up at the man before me, my heart beat frantically in my chest. I was head-over-heels in love with him. There was no use denying it anymore.

“Hi,” I whispered as he propped a shoulder against the doorframe. I didn’t know where he’d disappeared to, but wherever it was, he’d showered and changed clothes. My mouth watered at the sight of him in low-slung, thread-bare jeans and a faded t-shirt.

“Hey,” was the only response he gave me.

“Where did you go?” I asked, pointing to his new clothes.

“Emmy and Luke’s.” At his answer, a wave of relief rushed through me. “Luckily, they had a change of clothes. Not that I didn’t get a ration of shit first. The two of them laughed almost as hard as you did.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I shouldn’t have laughed like that. I feel awful.” But as I spoke, my lips tipped up in a grin at the memory of what Trevor looked like when I first arrived home.

“I might believe you feel bad if it weren’t for that shit-eating grin on your face,” he deadpanned.

“Oh, come on! I can’t help it,” I giggled. “I’m really trying here. I swear.”

He reached up and ran a hand through his sandy-blond hair, messing it up in a sexy, disheveled way. A deep sigh passed his lips just before his mouth twitched like he was fighting a smile of his own. “It was pretty bad, huh? What the hell was I thinking?”

“It was sweet,” I insisted, even though I kinda-sorta agreed about the whole bad idea thing.

“Remind me to never
ever
take advice from Luke again.”

I laughed loudly. “You listened to
Luke
?”

“I must have lost my damn mind. That so wasn’t me at all.”

I stood on my knees, reaching up and ran my fingers through his silky hair. I couldn’t be so close to him and not touch him. “It wasn’t
us
. We don’t need overly-romantic gestures. We’re good for each other just how we are.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, placing a kiss on my palm. “You look beautiful,” he told me, finally letting his eyes drift over what I was wearing for him and him alone.

I plopped back down on the bed, my legs straightened out in front of me as I leaned back on my elbows, giving him the full effect. “I wanted to apologize properly for being so rude earlier,” I said with a seductive grin.

One of his brows arched as a smirk spread across his face. “Is that right? Well then, I should let you get on with this apology, shouldn’t I?”

I nodded and watched with rapt attention as he reached back and pulled his t-shirt over his head. I’d never get tired of watching him undress. He was mouthwatering in clothes, but seeing him out of them should be illegal.

“You know, I realized something when you were gone,” I admitted as he crawled up my body and pressed his weight against me. My breath hitched in my lungs as I felt him grow hard against my stomach.

“And what’s that?” he asked against my lips before he trailed them down my neck. I moaned as my hips circled against him, grinding into his hard length. He felt so good. Everything about him was so perfect to me. With each nip and suck of his mouth against my skin, my brain short-circuited. But I had something I needed to get out.

Placing my hands on his shoulders, I pushed up until we were face to face. My stomach fluttered as I looked into his teal-blue eyes. The realization that he was everything to me was both terrifying and invigorating all at the same time.

“I realized that I’ve been in love with you for a really long time, too,” I spoke quietly as nerves caused my limbs to tremble.

His eyes widened as the black of his pupils overtook the deep-blue color. “What?” His deep voice came out gruff.

“I love you, too. And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to say it. I’ve known how I felt for a long time now; I was just scared.”

He tugged on a loose curl and asked, “What are you scared of,
cher
?”

I turned my head to the side, breaking away from his penetrating gaze. I couldn’t look at him as my insecurities were brought to the forefront.

“I was scared that I wouldn’t be enough for you. That you’d realize one day that you could do so much better than me.”

“Hey.” He spoke softly, taking my chin in his hand and turning my face back to his. “Don’t you see? There is
nothing
better than you.”

He was so confident, so sure of what he was saying that I felt myself melting. There was no protection around my heart when it came to Trevor. He’d broken down every tiny piece, leaving it open and exposed to him. I had to trust that he’d take care of it. There was no other choice.

“You can hurt me,” I admitted on a whisper. “You’re the only one I’ve ever felt this way about. No one else has the power to hurt me the way you do.”

His brows furrowed and his head cocked to the side. “I could
never
hurt you,” he insisted with fierce determination. “You are the most important thing to me. I’d rather lose a limb than hurt you.”

“Promise?”

I had no doubt that if my girls could see me now, they’d kick my ass for being such a chicken-shit. Hell, I wanted to kick my own ass.

“I swear on my life,
cher
.”

I couldn’t love this man more than I did at that very moment.

Resting himself on his forearms, he pressed his lips to mine and kissed me so deeply that a fire deep in my belly ignited, burning through my body. My mouth opened on a gasp, allowing him easy access to whatever he wanted. Goose bumps broke out on my skin as he ran his fingers up the outside of my thigh until his hand was under my gown. I needed him. God, I needed him so badly.

“Trevor,” I pleaded.

“What do you need, baby?” His voice was gravelly with unrestrained desire. He felt it, too. He needed me just as badly as I needed him.

“You. I need you. Please, honey,” I whimpered, my desperation growing until I felt I might cry.

“You have me,
cher
. You’ll always have me.”

I had been so lost in what he was doing to me that I hadn’t noticed he’d undone his jeans and pushed them down his hips until his fingers slipped between my legs and moved my drenched panties out of the way, giving him perfect access. With one swift move, he thrust into my body.

And I finally felt whole.