Playing with Fire (13 page)

Trent tossed his hat on his desk and
sat down with a sigh. It was a long day, with two car accidents and
a domestic dispute. For some reason, when he looked at the woman in
that case, he thought of Noelle. For years he had pictured his
mother and the kid in him pretended he was chasing away the bad
guy.

But adulthood had taught him there
were plenty of real-life bad guys to chase and real-life danger to
protect people from. Being part of the process of bringing justice
to an unjust situation gave him a sense of purpose. He loved being
a cop.

He turned on the computer monitor and
paused. The screen was his main desktop, not the bulletin about
Noelle he’d been looking at the night before.

“Hey, Fitzer, did you get on my
computer.”

His partner was staring at the
paperwork in front of him. “Yeah, mine was acting up so I logged-in
quick on yours. I just closed out whatever you had up.”

Trent eyed him and knew Fitzer had
read the bulletin – he was averting his eyes and fidgeting with his
paperwork. Fitzer looked as guilty as a teenage boy hiding his
first Playboy from his mother.

Trent wasn’t about to be sly, he
wanted answers and he wanted them now. “Did you call in on the
bulletin?”

It took everything in him to not jump
across the desk when Fitzer gave him a dumb look.

“What bulletin?”

Trent clinched his teeth and tried to
cool his temper. He was at an impasse. If he straight out accused
him of lying and was wrong, would Fitzer go and look up the
bulletin on his own? Or did he just leave it alone and hope Fitzer
got distracted by something else and didn’t have time to look it
up?

Trent had told Noelle he would let the
final decision be hers, but if Fitzer took that control out of her
hands, Trent didn’t know what he’d do. Whatever it was, the one
thing he was sure of is it wouldn’t be pleasant for
Fitzer.

“Let’s get this paperwork finished.
Noelle and I have plans tonight.”

“What kind of plans?”

Trent paused from filling out the
report in front of him and glared at his partner. “The kind that’s
none of your business.”

Fitzer shrugged. “Chill out, Torres. I
don’t know what you see in her.”

Trent couldn’t see anything but red at
the statement. “It’s none of your damn business, Fitzer. Now if you
want to live through your second month on the job, I suggest you
shut up and get back to work.”

Fitzer saluted him and muttered under
his breath. Man, Trent hated rookies. The only good thing was that
since he’d drawn the short stick this time, he wouldn’t have to
draw again until next year. Thank God for that little
blessing.

Noelle looked out the window as a
steady rain fell outside. Trent’s headlights swept the parking lot
when he pulled in and came to a stop near the steps. She grabbed
her jacket and made a run for the car.

Trent flung the door open as she got
there and she dove in with a laugh. “Holy Hell, that rain is
cold!”

Trent winked at her and she followed
his gaze to her chest, or more specifically – her perky nipples
pressing against the white cotton of her shirt. She playfully
batted at his arm and leaned over to kiss him.

“You are terrible.”

He shrugged, “Yeah, but you like me so
I must not be that bad.”

“Eh, you’re alright.”

He drew her in for another kiss and
Noelle was surprised the windows weren’t steamed up when they
pulled away. Her voice was throaty and low when she finally spoke,
“Okay, you’re better than alright.”

Trent laughed and those dimples
appeared again. “That’s what I thought. Are you ready to go meet my
friends?”

Noelle made a nervous face. “I think
so.”

He picked up her hand and kissed it.
“Don’t worry, you’ll do great. Besides, this is the woman you met
on the beach. She already likes you.”

“How do you know that?”

Trent grinned, “She said you were a
kindred spirit. She moved out here from Michigan only a few months
ago. When she got here she stopped at the same spot you
did.”

“Did she come here to be with her
husband?”

Trent reversed the car and head north.
“Nope, they met a few weeks before and it didn’t go so well, but
she decided to relocate and they ran into each other and that time
it worked. They were married within two months of getting
together.”

“Wow, that’s fast!”

He shrugged. “Sometimes when you know,
you know. My buddy, Damien, had a rough couple of years, but things
really clicked more for him when Avery came along. They are great
together.”

Noelle was surprised by the thought
that she and Trent seemed pretty great together too. She looked out
the window and smiled to her faint reflection in the wet
glass.

“What are you grinning about over
there?”

She looked over and winked at him.
“Oh, nuthin’. Nuthin’ at all.”

She turned back to the window and
couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Her eyes, her mouth, she
knew it was all beaming. Because it wasn’t just nothing, that smile
was for was something. It was for everything. It was the potential
of finding real love, having a best friend and lover all in one,
and being able to trust in herself and her heart for the first
time.

CHAPTER TEN

Noelle felt at ease moments after
meeting Avery and Damien Focelli. Damien was tall, dark, and
handsome, but not nearly as much as Trent. Avery was friendly and
welcoming. Something about her really did feel like a kindred
spirit.

When Avery spoke about their
honeymoon, she made sure to include Noelle in the conversation.
“Have you ever been to Hawaii, Noelle?”

Noelle shook her head. “No. Two weeks
ago I had never been out of the state of Arkansas. I hear it’s
really pretty though.”

Avery nodded. “Oh it is! Even the long
flight wasn’t so bad. Then again we slept most of the time since it
was the day after the wedding and having all that family around
wiped us out.”

Noelle smiled sadly, knowing if she
ever got married there wouldn’t be any family to see her, no dad to
give her away, or momma to shed tears. Suddenly she felt even more
alone. Avery must have seen the expression on her face and changed
topics.

“I think I want some iced tea, would
you like a glass, Noelle?”

Noelle nodded. “That sounds
good.”

They left the men in the living room
and Noelle took a seat on one of the barstools at the kitchen
counter. “You have a lovely home.”

Avery smiled and looked around. “I’m
still getting used to it. I moved in a few days before our wedding.
We had to remodel some things, but Damien has lived here for a long
time.”

“Did you live close by
before?”

Avery shook her head. “I lived in San
Diego near Balboa Park. Have you been there yet?”

“No, I don’t have a car so I haven’t
been to many places that ain’t within walkin’ distance.”

Avery spoke up so Trent and
Damien could hear from the other room. “Wow, Noelle, I bet it would
be
so
nice if
someone took you to see Balboa Park sometime.”

Trent piped up from the couch, “Hey,
Noelle, how about this weekend we go down to Balboa Park for the
day?”

Avery winked at Noelle and they both
started laughing.

“Oh, Trent, that’s a great idea.”
Noelle took the glass Avery offered and saluted her. “You are
good.”

Avery motioned her head toward the
guys. “I learned really fast that when it comes to Damien and his
friends, they are push-overs. All you have to do is bat your brown
eyes and I bet you could talk Trent into just about
anything.”

Noelle took a drink of her tea and was
surprised to see it was sweetened. “Wow, this is real good, Avery!
Almost as good as my momma used to make.”

Avery laughed, “I may be from
Michigan, but my family was from the south too, I was raised on
sweet tea myself. I’m willing to give up a lot of stuff – pop,
potatoes, even cut back on the ice cream; but sweet tea was one
thing I refused to let go of.”

Noelle lowered her voice, “Damien made
you stop eating all that?”

Avery looked taken aback and arched
her brows in confusion. Finally she shook her head. “No, no. Not
Damien. My first ex tried, but things with us didn’t work. Now I
have Damien and he loves me just as I am. I’m a lucky
woman.”

Noelle was almost jealous of the
obvious glow Avery gave off. “My ex wasn’t a nice man at
all.”

Avery took a seat next to her and
sipped her tea. “Trent kind of mentioned something like
that.”

Noelle froze for a moment, wonder
exactly what Trent had divulged. “Oh.”

Avery put a soothing hand on Noelle’s
arm. “Don’t worry, he didn’t say much and I would never repeat
anything he or you said. I know we just met, but you can trust
me.”

Noelle smiled. “Thank you. I haven’t
had a friend to gossip with in a long time. I mean, I have my boss,
Delphine, but it’s always nice to have more than one
friend.”

Avery nodded. “Yeah, I know. When I
moved out here the only person I knew was my friend Molly, and even
then we had only known each other a few weeks. She’s from Minnesota
so she can understand some of my culture shock.”

Noelle laughed. “Yeah, I’m definitely
experiencing that.”

Avery reassured her by saying, “Don’t
you worry. Between Me and Molly, we can help you settle right in,
if you want to go shopping or to the beach or even just out to
lunch, call us and we are always down for some girl
time.”

Noelle smiled again. That sounded so
normal and wonderful. “Thank you. Time with friends sounds really
nice. And I could definitely use a shopping spree. I’ve never done
that.”

Avery winked at her. “You are in luck
because Damien calls me the thrift store queen.”

Noelle looked around at all the fine
things in the house and then back at Avery. “You got all this from
a thrift store?”

Avery laughed. “Not all of it, but
you’d be amazed at the things you can buy. Compared to the stores
back in Michigan, there are a lot more designer labels out here -
not that I’m into labels. I’m into buying as much as I can for as
little as possible!”

They both laughed.

Avery changed the topic back to Trent.
“If I can give my two cents, I think you’re a good fit for him.
Trent’s a nice guy once you get to know him and get past that Latin
Lothario act he had going for him.”

Noelle nodded. “He tried to schmooze
me the first time we met with that act. But yeah, he is pretty nice
once you get past it.”

Avery nudged her and smiled. “I see
the way he looks at you, I think he’s smitten.”

Noelle laughed at that. “I think I
have his attention for now.”

Avery shook her head and her dark
brown hair swayed around her face. “I think you have his attention
for more than just now. I may not have known him long, but I can
tell you he has never looked at anyone the way he does you. I think
he may finally be listening to me.”

Noelle arched a brow. “What did you
tell him?”

Avery looked over to where the guys
were staring at the ball game on the television. “I told him he
needed to find a good woman and settle down.”

Noelle nearly choked on her drink. “We
just started dating. I’d hardly say he’s thinking of settling
down!”

Avery shrugged. “When I met Damien the
last thing I wanted was to jump into another relationship, but he
made it hard to resist. I have no doubt he learned that skill from
Trent.”

Noelle nodded. “Yeah, Trent’s really
good at making it easy to like him.”

Avery laughed. “You must make him
happy; I’ve never seen him so relaxed.”

They looked over to the guys again.
Their feet were kicked up on the coffee table and they were
munching on a big bowl of popcorn that sat on the couch between
them. Trent caught the women watching and winked at Noelle. She
smiled in reply.

She looked back at Avery and admitted,
“I’m not used to this.”

“Used to what?”

Noelle motioned to the guys and back
to where they sat. “All this, I’m not used to socializing with
friends as part of a couple. When my ex wanted to socialize we
visited his parents. He didn’t have no friends.”

Avery made a face that said it all,
which made Noelle laugh out loud. “Yeah, and it wasn’t any fun,
either!”

Avery refilled their glasses. “Well
then it’s a good thing you got away and showed up here.”

Noelle raised her glass and saluted
Avery, “I’ll drink to that.”

An hour later the couples said
goodbye, after Avery and Noelle made plans for brunch and shopping
over the weekend while the guys went surfing.