Meant To Be (Heaven Hill Series) (12 page)

“Hang on,” he placed his hand on her shoulder, exerting slight pressure.

“What now?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips and tapping her foot.

“Take my truck,” he handed her a set of keys.

“Where is it?”

“Main garage, it’s the gunmetal gray, Harley Davidson Edition.”

“Of course.”

Placing the keys in her hand, he continued to hold on to them until her eyes met his. “Keep safe, and whatever you do, don’t scratch it. If you do that I’ll expect you to fix it.” A shit-eating grin tilted the corners of his mouth and he raised his eyebrows in suggestion. “But you could pay me back using carnal means.”

Her breathing picked up slightly. No man, ever, had blatantly flirted with her before. It was as much arousing as it was exciting. She wracked her brain for an appropriate comeback.

“You wish,” she threw back at him before leaving the house quickly. That was a good comeback right? She tried to convince herself that it was as she made her way to his truck.

“How do women do this?” Denise mumbled as she stared blankly at racks and racks of clothes. There were a multitude of styles and colors, but nothing that she thought would look good on her. She didn’t even know where to start. The measly amount of clothing she’d bought in her lifetime had never prepared her for this. Not even her ‘shopping spree’ from the other day.

She needed help. Pulling out her cell phone, she dialed Roni’s number and waited impatiently for her to pick up. “Roni? Hey, I need clothing help.”

In minutes she’d explained the situation and was waiting for her friend to show up and guide her. Roni had guaranteed that she had a friend who would know exactly what to get.

“Denise.” She spun around, watching as Roni and her friend made their way into the store. The woman at her side was tall, curvy, and built in the fashion that men called stacked. Looking at this other woman made Denise want to run home in despair.

“Hey,” Roni greeted. “I called Liam to see what he had you doing. That way Sparkles would know what to get for you.”

“Sparkles?” Denise laughed. “What is she a stripper?”

“Sure am, honey. I work down at Wet Wanda’s.”

Feeling embarrassed, Denise started to apologize. “I’m so sorry, I was just kidding. I didn’t mean to offend you. Sometimes my mouth gets the better of me.”

“Oh, you didn’t. I’ve been a stripper for a long time. I make a good livin’ stripping at the club. They give good tips, you should come on down sometime. I guarantee you, once I’m done you could set the place on fire.”

Denise blushed. No one had ever spoken to her like this. There was no way this woman could convince anyone that she had a stripper’s body. She and Roni looked at one another, not sure what to say.

Breaking the silence, Sparkles smiled. “Okay ladies, let’s get Denise into some sexy office wear. I promise you, by the time I’m done, Liam Walker will be drooling at your feet and he’ll never ask you to work for the club again.” She clapped her hands together and called over a sales girl.

Two hours later, Denise looked like she belonged in a courthouse, and her head was spinning. She could even admit that she did look a little bit like she was ready to star in a porno. The skirt was just short enough, the button down shirt just tight enough. Sparkles was a force to be reckoned with. Without realizing it, she had new clothes, new makeup, and a new hairdo.

“I don’t really think this was what Liam meant when he told me to look like I work in a courthouse. I don’t think he meant new hair and new makeup.”

Sparkles grinned. “I’m sure he’ll like what we’ve done with you.”

The way Sparkles talked about Liam, it made her wonder if they had been an item before. Denise wanted to ask, but she knew without a doubt that she would be jealous and she couldn’t deal with that right now.

The three of them left the mall and headed to their vehicles. As Denise went to get into the truck, Roni whistled and Sparkles eyes bugged.

“He let you drive his truck?”

“No he didn’t
let
me. He
told
me to drive it. I was kind of against the whole thing.”

“You are in way over your head with my brother, Denise Cunningham.”

“I had that feeling myself,” Denise sighed. “I don’t want to be this far over my head.”

“With him,” Roni said placing a hand on her friend’s back, “you don’t realize you’re that deep until you’re neck deep with no place to go. Enjoy it while it lasts.”

And that was the bitch of the situation. Denise knew that it wouldn’t last. The only thing she could do was take control of it with both hands and dare him to make her let go.

Denise pulled up outside of the Barren County Courthouse and put the truck in park before shutting it off. Roni had provided her with a badge that claimed she was an assistant to the County Property Assessor. It would give her access to the property records that she needed. Before walking in, she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She had to look like she belonged, she had to own this.

Her heels clicked on the floor as she made her way through the building. It was a bit disconcerting to hear just how loud they were. So much for being inconspicuous. She slowed down as she reached a row of offices and scoped out which one she needed. As she entered, a harried older woman ran up to her.

“Thank God you’re here! The temp agency sent you right?” she asked, eyeing the badge Denise wore. “You’re my new assistant.”

“Yes ma’am. I’m Cindy Thompson,” she introduced herself with the fake name they’d given her. “Just point me in the direction of what you need me to do, and I’ll just go ahead and get to work.”

Within minutes, Denise sat at a computer that had everything she needed at her fingertips. Quickly, she pulled the piece of paper with the address of the building out of her purse and logged into the county records. It was at that moment she realized how thankful she was that they hadn’t used her real name. This was an illegal activity – something she found herself doing a lot for Liam recently.

Locating the property record that she needed, she clicked into it and scrolled down to the property transfers section. Her eyebrows furrowed as she saw that the property had been quit claimed three months before from a Richard Joyce to a PlayMakers LLC. Thinking like she imagined a criminal would think, she did a search for other records under both of those names. There were numerous properties that had been quit claimed exactly the same way. Pulling a USB drive out of her purse, she copied all the information that she figured they would need and placed it in her purse before standing up.

“Excuse me, can you point me in the direction of the ladies room?”

The woman who’d met her when she’d first come in looked at her suspiciously, noting the purse at her side.

“Time of the month,” she whispered loudly, giggling a little to cover up her nervousness.

“Sure thing, it’s down the hall to the left.”

As quick as she could, Denise made it down the hall and out the door. Her heart beat wildly as she all but ran for the truck. Not bothering to look back, she started it up and drove away. Hopefully she had what the club needed.

Chapter Thirteen

“L
iam, you got a call.”

Rolling out from underneath the car he was working on, Liam sat up quickly. His first thought was Denise needed help. Grabbing his cell phone, he saw he hadn’t missed any calls from her, but that didn’t mean that everything was okay. It surprised him that his hands shook as he picked up the shop phone.

“Yeah,” he answered gruffly, fear making him sound more harsh than he had intended to.

“Liam?” the small voice that asked for him sounded thick with tears and heavy with fear.

He wracked his brain trying to figure out who it was. The person knew him well enough to call him at work. “Mandy? Is that you?”

She sniffed, and he could almost see the nod he was sure she gave. “Yeah.”

Being in a motorcycle gang, he’d not had much experience with kids at all, much less teenage girls. He waited a beat for her to tell him what she wanted. But when he realized it wasn’t coming, he tried to soften his voice as he asked, “Honey, what do you need?”

Tears started in earnest, and she blabbed a mouthful of words – none of which he could make out except for the name Drew. He heard shuffling on the other end and then another female voice.

“Sir? My name is Stacey Young, and I’m the secretary at Warren County Middle School. Sorry to bother you.”

“That’s alright,” he answered, confused as to why they had called him.

“We tried to reach Denise, but her phone went straight to voice mail. When they had a change of address here at the school, you were added to their emergency contact information.”

He hadn’t been informed of that, but he could understand why she had added him. He also figured she had turned off her cell phone while she was doing the job for the club. “Okay, and what can I help you with?”

“There’s been an issue with Andrew today. He and another boy got into a fight, and we need someone to come get him. He’s been sent home for the rest of the day and will possibly be expelled,” she explained matter-of-factly.

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what Mandy had to do with this, but he figured he would save time and just ask questions when he got there. “I work a few miles from there. I’ll be there soon.”

Cursing, he slammed the phone down and looked at Tyler, who gazed at him, eyebrows raised. “I gotta go, Drew got into a fight at school.”

Tyler laughed. “Good luck on this one, Daddy.”

Liam felt his breath hitch. That’s exactly what this felt like, he was going to pick his son up at school after getting into a fight. He wondered if he should punish the boy, but he felt so inept that he didn’t know how he was supposed to handle this situation.

“Yeah, thanks. I think I’m just gonna have to wing it. If Denise calls, can you tell her where I am? They called her, but she didn’t answer.”

“Will do. I’ll cover for you with the old man too.”

Tyler was the type of friend that everyone should have. “Thanks man. See ya later.”