Salvage

  ****

  “Can you repeat the question?”

  The lawyer rolled his eyes. Denise’s focus wasn’t there. Hadn’t been there the whole week.

  Every time she closed her eyes, let her mind wander, there he was. Not Markus. R.J. Those sea blue eyes and crooked smile were stamped into her memory bank and she suspected her heart. She hadn’t thought of Markus all week. It was a small consolation.

  Denise shook her head to get back to the matter at hand. Losing focus while testifying in court was beyond unprofessional and she didn’t want anything she said or didn’t say to allow the defendant to walk free. Except, being in a courtroom reminded her of R.J.

  “Is this the weapon you retrieved from the scene?” the lawyer asked for the second time. He was an older man near sixty with a sharp mind and quick tongue. They’d encountered each other before during other cases.

  Denise studied the silver pistol in the clear plastic bag dangling from the lawyer’s hand. “Yes. It was hidden in a box which was found during a routine crime scene search.”

  “Was this the only weapon discovered?”

  “At the scene, yes. However, a revolver was found on the defendant.”

  The lawyer paced in front of her. “Agent Gasteaux, can you tell us what else you found at Mr. Coburn’s home?”

  The defendant’s home had been packed with an array of illegal goodies. Denise remembered the arrest and search and seizure like it was yesterday.

  She placed her hands in her lap. “We found about a million dollars worth of cocaine packaged in Mr. Coburn’s attic. There was also a shed being used to manufacture meth.”

  The lawyer went on to ask more questions. Denise answered each question truthfully and hoped it was enough to put Coburn in jail for a while. Not only did he produce drugs, but he also sold them to schoolchildren. How low could a person get? Much lower, she knew. People never ceased to amaze her on their level of dirty deeds.

  When the court proceedings were over Denise breathed a sigh of relief. Trial days were often long and tiring though most of the time she just sat there listening to others talk.

  However, with that out of the way, her mind drifted back to R.J. or Robert Jr., as was what the letters of his name stood for. Okay, she might have done a little snooping, but she worked for the Information Retrieval Agency. Information was at her disposal. And he was on her mind a great this past week.

  Denise got into her car and wanted so much to drive over to his place again, but she made such a fool of herself the last time. What was she thinking by kissing him? She knew she would have taken things further if R.J. hadn’t stopped her. No wonder he pushed her away. What kind of woman behaved so forwardly?

  They just met. A week and a half. That’s how long she knew R.J., but somehow he found a way to bump Markus right out of her life. She didn’t even harbor any bad feelings toward Vivi and Markus anymore. In fact, she hoped they were happy. How was that for growth?

  For that brief period while she was with R.J. and Barkley, she felt happy. Not just fleeting happiness. Denise felt fulfilled.

  R.J. was obviously gorgeous. He was kind. He comforted her after she confessed loving another man. When he was kissed her, a bliss she’d never known erupted within her. During that moment she believed his feelings ran deeper than the physical attraction they shared.

  It surprised—no, shocked—her the way R.J. made her feel. Not even Markus gave her butterflies at just the thought of his touch. So, she went for it. She didn’t care that he was asleep. Actually, she thought it would be easier that way—to kiss him and pretend it never happened. But he’d woken up and given her the best kiss of her life. Her lips tingled just thinking about it.

  He told her to leave because he thought he’d been taking advantage of her when in actuality, she took advantage of him, of his kindness. Forgetting about R.J. would have been easier if he simply told her the truth that he wasn’t interested in her. Instead, he chose to spare her feelings by making up that lie.

  Nevertheless, she owed him again. He comforted her. He helped her get over Markus. Denise would help him pass his bar exam whether he wanted help or not. R.J. wanted to pass and become a lawyer, but he was afraid of failure. She read it in his eyes. He didn’t want to be a disappointment.

  Romance might not blossom between them, but she’d be a monkey’s uncle if R.J. didn’t pass the bar this time.

  Later that night, Denise put on the brand new dress she bought earlier. It wasn’t for R.J. She hadn’t bought anything in a while, so she felt it was time for something new. Yep, that’s what Denise told herself.

  The fire engine red dress was strapless and hit her a few inches above the knee. Denise tied her hair into a bun atop her head and slipped into a pair of strappy heel sandals. As for makeup, she only smoothed on a bit of lip-gloss. She didn’t want to overdo it and look as if she was trying too hard.

  Denise pulled into the parking lot of Bolt. She hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake. R.J. might not want to see her. She’d just have to be okay with that.

  Walking into Bolt was like walking into a vortex. The music, the vibe, the heat sucked you in, threatened to never let you go. Denise made a beeline for the last available seat at the bar and was disappointed not to see R.J.

  The pretty, college-aged bartender trotted over. “Hey, there. What can I get you?”

  Definitely nothing alcoholic. A hangover was the last thing Denise wanted to wrestle with. “I’ll just have cranberry juice for now.”

  “Coming right up.”

  Denise sipped her juice while waiting for any sign of R.J. At his place last week he told her that he was a frequent mover. She hoped he hadn’t left, though this wouldn’t be the first time someone moved without telling her.

  A young man who looked barely old enough to be out of diapers saddled up next to her. She saw his mouth moving but heard no words.

  She pointed to her ears. “I can’t hear you.”

  He raised his voice over the bass thumping music. “Do you want to dance?”

  “No, thanks.”

  He smiled and Denise was pretty sure he still had baby teeth. “I won’t bite. Come dance with me.”

  She pointed to her nonalcoholic drink. “Maybe later.”

  He grabbed his chest in mock pain. “That hurts. You promise to save me a dance?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  As soon as he twirled away, Denise got out of there. Not because of the young guy but because R.J. wasn’t going to show up. Two hours of waiting was enough to tell her that.

  Denise couldn’t hide her disappointment as she slogged to her car and drove home. She’d gotten all gussied up and had a speech planned out to help her convince R.J to let her assist him in passing the bar exam. All for naught.

  Worse of all, her heart tugged at not being able to see him, just a glimpse. Her mind conjured up enough images of him as it was, but nothing was as good as the real thing.

  Denise cut the engine when she pulled into her parking space at her apartment. Tonight definitely turned into an ice cream night. Her legs felt like lead as she trudged off the elevator then stopped dead in her tracks.

  “R.J.?”

  He jumped up from where he’d been sitting in front of her door. He was dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and t-shirt. Not work attire.

  “What are you doing here? How did you get in?” She told him where she lived last week, but she didn’t think he would actually come over.

  “I piggybacked off one of your neighbors. I came to see you.” His eyes traveled long and deliberate down her body. He licked his lips. Had she not been so shocked to see him, she would have blushed. “No wonder you weren’t here. You obviously had a date.” He said “date” like it was the scum of the earth.

  Denise swallowed back the warmth pooling in her belly. To give herself something to do, she walked to the door and unlocked it. “I didn’t have a date. Come on in.”

  He followed her in, took a quick look around. ?
??Nice place. If you didn’t have a date then why are you so dressed up?”

  She turned her back, took off her heels and tossed them to the side. She needed to think, but what she wanted to do was throw herself in his arms. “I went to Bolt to see you,” she admitted.

  “Me?” Surprise rang through his voice. “I took off tonight to see you.”

  She turned back around, brows pinched. “Why would you do that?”

  “Why would you?”

  “To apologize for my behavior again and to convince you to let me help you pass the bar.”

  R.J. tugged on his unruly hair and chuckled. “I came over here to tell you that I thought about it and I wanted your help.”

  She laughed with him. “Crazy.”

  He sobered. “Yeah, crazy.” Suddenly, R.J walked away. He went to the window, looked out as if searching for answers. He had something on his mind, but Denise wouldn’t push it. She didn’t want to run him away.

  “Do you want something to eat? Something to drink?”

  “Got any liquid courage?” he mumbled.

  “Excuse me?”

  He spun around, a tiny strip of paper in his hand. His blue eyes bore into her with fear, with desire. Denise took a step back.

  “Do you know what this is?” He waved the paper. She didn’t answer because she figured he’d tell her anyway. “It came from my fortune cookie. I read it after you left that night. It says, ‘Love is the best cure for a broken heart.’”

  Denise shook her head, confused. The content of a fortune cookie was the last thing she thought R.J. would say. “I don’t understand what that has to do with anything.”

  Before she even realized he moved, R.J. was inches away from her face. He grasped her arms and held her still.

  “It’s you,” he whispered.

  “What is me?” She should have been afraid of how he kept her from moving, of the fierceness in his eyes. She wasn’t.

  “This fortune,” responded R.J. “I’m the cure to your broken heart. I want to be the cure. I want you, Denise.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. Then another. His words were exactly what she needed to hear. “I want you too, so much so I feel like a fool. But I don’t want to hurt you, R.J. What if my heart can’t be salvaged?”

  He moved closer, only an inch separating them now. His breath tickled her face. “Let me decide that. My heart yearns for you.”

  “You don’t know me and I don’t know you.”

  “That’s why we’re going to get to know each other the right way,” he answered simply.

  “You don’t love me.”

  “No. Not yet. With time…”

  Her soul was so full it wanted to burst free of her body. She grabbed a fistful of R.J.’s hair and pulled him down to her. Their lips met and she could have sworn she felt electricity zip through her limbs, hit her heart and revive her.

  R.J. shoved her against the wall. His hands explored her body, made her purr like a kitten.

  She pulled back, breathing heavy. “You sure about this?”

  “Never been so sure in my life.”

  “Good. Me either. Do—”

  He silenced her with a mouth-crushing kiss. Denise didn’t know what the future entailed, but as long as R.J. was in it, she had no doubts that she was in good hands.

  Look out for Salvage 2

  ****

  Read more about Denise, Vivi, and Markus in the States Trilogy. Continue on to read an excerpt from State of Restraint, the first novel in the series.

  STATE of RESTRAINT