Playing with Fire (6 page)

She had to wonder how often he gave
women his number under the guise of it being part of his job. She
slipped the card into the back pocket of her cut off shorts. “I
think I’ll manage just fine, but thanks anyway. Have a nice
day.”

Without waiting for a response, she
walked around the back of the car and across the store parking lot.
The sound of tires screeching filled the air and the siren on the
car screamed as it sped past her.

For some reason, the slip of paper in
her pocket felt like a lead weight. Noelle told herself he wasn’t
really hitting on her; guys didn’t usually see her that
way.

After a few moments of thinking about
it, she realized that for so long she’d been ‘Lenny’s woman’ and
therefore any man who valued not getting his ass kicked had stayed
away. In all the years she’d been with Lenny, only twice had
someone dared to check her out and walk away with less than a
broken nose and stitches.

Noelle had stopped having any kind of
social life after that, not that she really had much of one to
begin with. But cutting outside influences out of the equation had
helped sooth Lenny’s temper, even if only temporarily.

Noelle smiled sadly at a young mom and
her three children as they walked down the sidewalk past her. She’d
given up so much because of Lenny – her few friends, her momma, and
any hope of having a happily-ever-after family.

But, she told herself, that was
before. This was today and for the first time in years she’d not
only managed to genuinely laugh with Delphine, she’d also received
the interested attention of a man and not feared for his
safety.

Noelle walked down to the sandy beach
and found a spot to lay out her towel. As she lathered up with SPF
50, she wondered if someone like Officer Torres was truly sincere.
Or rather, if the interest for her was real or just a
game.

Even if all he saw her as was a
conquest, it made for some interesting daydreams as she enjoyed the
day and imagined hot kisses substituting the warming sun across her
skin. She wasn’t surprised to find she was more than a little burnt
by time the fantasies ended.

CHAPTER FOUR

By the time Friday night rolled
around, Trent had lost count of the amount of times he’d gone out
of his way to drive by the motel. And so Noelle or Delphine
wouldn’t think he was a stalker, he’d managed not to actually stop
in more than once a day.

He absently played with the corner on
his beer label and wondered what Noelle was doing for the night.
Mitch nudged him in the arm and stopped the steamy scenario running
through his head.

“What is going on with you
lately?”

Trent looked at him and shrugged.
“Just some stuff on my mind.”

Mitch laughed. “Ha, I know that look.
Who is she?”

Trent kept a straight face and shook
his head. “It’s not like that.”

He took a drink of his beer. The look
Mitch gave him clearly showed he didn’t believe what Trent was
saying.

“Whatever. You’ve been extra moody
this week. Is everything okay with your family?”

Trent grinned. “Yeah, they‘re good. My
grandmother called me the other day about coming for a visit
tomorrow. Do you want to come along?”

Mitch shook his head. “I would love
to, but I have an early tee time with some clients and then a
wedding for the boss’s daughter. I’ve gotta go and make an
appearance since I’m vying for partner.”

Trent nodded. “That’s okay. You know
you’re welcome at her house any time. I think she’s up to something
though. I won’t be surprised if she has some random woman over to
meet me.”

Mitch laughed again. “Your grandma is
something else. Feisty for sure. But you know she loves you and
wants you happy.”

Trent tore at the bottle label some
more. “I know, but she has a very specific type of woman she wants
me with and it’s not what I want.”

Mitch propped his feet up on the deck
railing on Trent’s patio and asked, “What type of woman does she
want you with?”

Trent shrugged. “A Hispanic woman. One
who will clean for me, cook for me, and have me a football team of
kids. “

“And you don’t want that?”

Trent let out a loud sigh. “Hell, I
don’t know. I mean before I didn’t.”

“But now?”

Trent stared off to the east, toward
the motel. “Now I don’t know. I see Damien and Avery and something
in me wants that.”

Trent didn’t even care if he’d just
admitted he was ready to settle down. It was the truth.

Mitch nodded. “I know what you mean.
I’m thinking me and Heathcliff need some feminine attention. Though
I like to think I can hear his thoughts, I know he’s just a dog and
all he wants is for me to shut up and rub his belly.”

Trent laughed and slapped Mitch on the
back. “You really need to get out more.”

Mitch laughed too. “Yeah I know. But
since I’m not into the bar scene like you, and Damien is with Avery
all the time, going out alone seems boring.”

Trent nodded. “It is. I mean it’s nice
to have the freedom to socialize with a lot of different women and
not worry that your buddies want to leave. But I find myself
spending more time talking with the bartender than anything
anymore.”

“Maybe we need to make more of an
effort to find good women, like Avery said.”

Trent took a drink. “Yeah, well, I’m
working on it.”

Mitch arched a brow. “I thought as
much. Like I asked earlier, who is she?”

Trent shrugged. “I really don’t know
much about her except that she just moved here from Arkansas and
she doesn’t seem to like me much.”

Mitch laughed. “So you’ve made it your
mission to change that?”

“I’ve tried, but she doesn’t seem too
receptive. Every time I ask her any questions she turns into Fort
Knox.”

“Do you think she just doesn’t like
cops, or you specifically?”

Trent hadn’t thought about that. Once
she rejected him his ego had kicked in and he assumed it was
personal. “I don’t know, really. When I asked Delphine about her
she shut up like a clam too. Maybe it is the cop thing.”

Trent finished his beer and set the
empty bottle on the patio table. He lounged back in his deck chair
and wondered if Noelle was hiding something.

Almost to himself he said, “You know,
every time I’ve seen her it has been in uniform. Maybe tomorrow on
the way to Abuelita’s I’ll stop in to say hi in my street
clothes.”

Mitch snorted and slapped his
forehead. “Oh dear lord. This could get interesting.”

Trent smiled and opened another beer.
He saluted Mitch before taking a swig. “Man, I hope so.”

Noelle closed the door on the supply
closet and headed for the lobby. Delphine had gone out for fast
food and picked her up something. She was starving.

No sooner had she taken the first bite
of her cheeseburger than the chime over the door sounded. Delphine
excused herself to attend to the new arrival. Within a moment she
was back, with someone in tow.

Noelle had to admit, Trent looked even
better in plain clothes. It only made things worse since she was
already gaining a small crush on him. The last thing she need was a
full blown infatuation.

“Hi, Noelle.”

She swallowed the last bit of the food
in her mouth. “Hey.”

Silence fell between them. Noelle
tried to nonchalantly pat down the mop of erratic curls that had
come out of her pony-tail, but stopped when she looked at Trent and
his smile widened. She dropped her hands into her lap and fidgeted
with the frayed edging on her cut-off shorts.

Delphine kept looking between the two
of them until finally she threw her arms in the sky.

“Oh for the love of Pete. Would you
two say something already? This isn’t high school you
know.”

All Noelle could do was stare at
Delphine with her mouth wide open. Trent laughed and put his hands
in the pockets of his khaki shorts.

Delphine excused herself when the bell
chimed again, leaving them alone in the small break
room.

Trent motioned to her food. “Do they
have In-N-Out back in Arkansas?”

Noelle still didn’t want to tell him
anything more than he needed to know, but didn’t see the harm in
idle chit chat. She shook her head. “Not that I know of. I don’t
eat out much.”

He took Delphine’s vacant seat and
propped his elbow on the table. “Do you like it?”

Noelle shrugged. “Considering I’ve
only had one bite, I’d say it’s good.”

“So you like being here so far? I mean
apart from that first night?”

Noelle nodded. “Yeah. It’s nice here.
Are you originally from here?”

Trent smiled again. “Born and raised.
It’s a great place to live, but then again I’m extremely partial
since I’ve never been anywhere else.”

Noelle eyed him. “Really? You don’t
travel much?”

He shook his head. “Nope. When I was
younger I was scared to get too far from my family in case
something bad happened. Now that I’m older I’m just too lazy to go
out of my comfort zone.”

Noelle couldn’t help but
laugh. He didn’t look lazy. Lenny -with his beer belly and
permanent butt-imprinted recliner - now
that
was lazy.

Her stomach growled loudly and she
blushed with embarrassment. Trent held up his hands. “I’m so sorry.
I’ll let you get back to your lunch.”

She shook her head. “No, you’re fine.
Was there something in particular you stopped by for today? I mean,
I know yesterday you thought there was a suspicious car, and the
day before it was a stray dog. But you aren’t in uniform so you’re
either undercover or just nosy.”

He playfully swatted the side of her
knee. “Hey, be nice!”

Noelle tried to hide the flinch but
failed. She wasn’t used to a man physically touching her in a
joking manner.

Trent returned his hand to her knee,
but this time in a caress. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to scare
you.”

Noelle didn’t know which touch was
worse, the playful one or the caress that set her heart racing. She
gently pushed his hand away. “No worries.”

He sat back and cleared his throat.
“I’m really sorry. I should have known better. I don’t know you,
you don’t know me, so we haven’t figured out those boundaries
yet.”

Noelle arched her brow. “Yet? What
makes you think I’m interested in getting to know your
boundaries?”

Trent shrugged. “I really don’t know.
I’ve never had to work to get to know someone so this is kind of
new to me. I’m pretty sure I’m failing miserably.”

Noelle couldn’t help but smile and
admit, “You ain’t that bad. It’s just nice to see a man grovel a
little. I kinda figured you were used to women falling at your
feet. But you won’t get that with me.”

Trent laughed. “You don’t seem like
the swooning type.”

She shook her head in response and had
to stop herself from snorting at the idea.

“So what type are you?”

His words were spoken softly,
provocatively, in a tone that was one part oozing charm and another
pure sin. Noelle tried to control her breathing and hoped he
couldn’t see her heart as it pounded out of her chest.

She reminded herself again that
getting to know him wasn’t what she needed, even though there were
other parts of her that really wanted it. Her brain won
out.

“I’m the ‘not interested’
type.”

Trent leaned back in the chair and
crossed his arms over his chest. He studied her for a moment before
nodding and pointing his finger at her. “I don’t think it’s that. I
think you’re the extremely guarded type. Whatever you want to call
it, it’s the type I think I like best.”

He winked at her and in
that instant her cheeks turned red as her hair. Man o’ man, this
guy had a line for everything. Noelle nearly
did
swoon.

When she found her voice a minute
later she replied, “Try as you might, I’m not interested in getting
to know you. I mean not just you … I mean any guy.”

She could tell her first statement
wounded him. He only nodded and sat still.

He studied her more then asked, “You
aren’t going to make this easy on me are you?”

“You aren’t gonna take ‘no’ for an
answer, are you?”

Trent shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s
something about you that makes me want to get to know you. If you
aren’t interested yet that’s alright. In the meantime I’m pretty
sure there’s gonna be another stray animal or suspicious something
to investigate tomorrow and the next day and the day after
that.”

Noelle couldn’t help but laugh. Even
when she shot him down he was still interested. “You ain’t gonna
stop until I agree to dinner are ya?”

He stood up, put his hands on his lean
hips, and shook his head. “Not a bit. So how about you make this
easy on both of us and let me take you out tomorrow
night?”