Playing with Fire (4 page)

The officer grinned. “Wouldn’t dream
of it.”

He led her to a chair and turned to
his partner. “Happy now?”

The other officer lowered his gun and
put it back in the holster. He took out a notepad and walked over
to the drunk to get a statement.

Noelle scoffed. “Why don’t you ask me
what happened first? He’s not gonna remember a damn thing in the
mornin’.”

The other officer glared at her. “He
is the one that called in the B & E.”

She huffed. “I didn’t break in! I got
the wrong room number. Go look in my duffle bag, there’s a master
room key. I just got a job working here and the owner is letting me
stay here too. I thought this was my room, number 6.”

Officer Torres looked at her and then
went to the door and opened it. He tapped the metal number on the
door and it swung back and forth on the single screw. He shrugged
and looked at his partner. “Makes sense to me. What do you think
Fitzer?”

Officer Fitzer stared at Officer
Torres, then Noelle, then the drunk, then back around again. He
looked at the man sitting on the bed, “Can you look and see if any
of your things have been tampered with?”

The man got up and opened the dresser
drawers and riffled through his clothing. “Everything is fine
here.”

He walked into the bathroom and came
out with the semi-damp bathrobe. “She wore my robe.”

Officer Fitzer turned to her. “Is that
true Ma’am?”

Noelle nodded. “Well yeah. I thought
it was something the hotel offered. It was an honest to goodness
mistake.”

Just then, Delphine appeared in the
open doorway. “What the hell is going on in here?”

Noelle’s face turned red and she
lowered her head. She’d had a job for a few hours and already she
was gonna lose it. She took a deep breath and looked at her boss.
“I’m sorry Delphine. I got mixed up and went to the wrong room. I
swear I wasn’t tryin’ to cause any trouble.”

Delphine put her hands on her hips and
eyed everyone. Finally she nodded. “I’ll have to fix the door
number in the morning, I forgot that needed tightened. Just don’t
go into another room again unless I tell you.”

Noelle kept the relief inside and
nodded. “Thank you.”

Delphine waved her off and pointed to
the drunk. “Ol’ Charlie here needs to pack his crap and get out of
my motel. Drunk bastard is a pain in my ass.”

“Now Delphine, what the hell have I
done to you?”, the drunk asked through slurred words.

Delphine rolled her eyes and looked at
the officers. “Did you see how he parked out there? Yesterday he
sideswiped my car when he came roaring in at three in the morning.
I called it in but your donut buddies never followed
up.”

Noelle’s eyes got wide and she tried
not to crack a smile. That only lasted until Officer Torres let out
a chuckle and nodded. “Fitzer, go check and see what’s in the
system.”

Officer Torres walked over to Charlie
and made him turn around to be handcuffed.

Charlie began to swear. Noelle caught
snippets of “Last damn time I give my money to that bitch … flea
bag hole in the wall … should be condemned.”

Delphine calmly walked over to the
dresser and got an armload of his stuff. She turned around and
walked out the door, before heaving everything over the balcony
railing and onto the hood of his Cadillac below.

“What the hell was that
for?”

Delphine smiled sweetly at Charlie and
batted her eyes. “Well I wouldn’t want you getting your crap all
flea infested now would I?”

Noelle really did laugh then. Working
with Delphine was going to be quite an adventure. Delphine nodded
to her, winked, and called out as she walked away, “See you in the
morning. Go get some sleep.”

Noelle stood and turned around so
Officer Torres could remove the handcuffs. Once he did, she rubbed
her wrists and reached for her bag.

His gentle hand blocked her from
picking the bag up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

She turned to look at him. He was
grinning again and she noticed how straight and white his teeth
were. He really did have a nice smile. His eyes were warm brown
eyes and the corners crinkled when he laughed.

She steeled herself before her
fantasizing could take a steamy turn. The last thing she needed was
to get all gooey over a guy, especially a cop!

“I didn’t give my name.”

Officer Torres continued to watch her,
expectantly waiting. Noelle wouldn’t budge, though. She grabbed her
bag and stood up. “If you’re all done with me I’d like to go to my
real room now.”

Officer Fitzer came in and confirmed
the hit and run Delphine had reported the day before. He read
Charlie his rights as Noelle headed for the door.

Officer Torres followed her out. “Were
you at the beach earlier?”

Noelle swung around and nearly knocked
into him. “What the hell, are you following me for a
reason?”

Officer Torres looked out to the
parking lot and pointed to the U-Haul. “That was you, wasn’t
it?”

Noelle wanted to tell him to get lost,
but something told her he’d just continue to badger her. “Yeah,
what about it?”

He shrugged. “Nothing at all. My
friend’s wife was the bride you were talking too.”

Noelle felt her guard go down a bit.
“She was really nice.”

He smiled. “Yeah, Avery’s a
sweetheart.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Trent.”

She stared at him and debated telling
him her name. No way would she give her last name, but didn’t see
the harm in telling him her first. “Noelle.”

“Noelle?” He gave her a prodding look
like he wanted more info.

She shook her head. “Just …
Noelle.”

Trent nodded, “Well, ok Just Noelle.
Nice to meet you. From the accent and the U-haul is it safe to say
you are new in town?”

She rolled her eyes and turned to
continue walking to her room. “What gave your that clue,
Sherlock?”

He laughed behind her and she liked
the sound, the corner of her mouth twitched up just a
bit.

“Ay, Dios mio! Are you always so
feisty?”

She unlocked her room and opened the
door. Noelle turned to look at him as he leaned against the door
jam. He was at least six feet tall with strong, muscular arms. His
dark brown hair was damp, and curled slightly at the nape of his
neck. She was willing to guess he’d just started his
day.

Noelle nodded. “My momma always said I
was.”

He smiled again and she really wished
he would stop that. She also wished she would stop having such a
physical response to it. She took a deep breath to slow her racing
heart.

“I’m gonna close the door now, but you
have yourself a good day.”

He winked at her. “It’s looking good
so far. How about I …”

Noelle closed the door before he could
say any more. She leaned against it and swore she could feel
electricity zap through to connect with him on the other
side.

After another moment, she heard his
footsteps retreat. Noelle stepped away from the door and dropped
her bag on the table. She fell onto the bed, but knew there would
be no sleep.

Even if she closed her eyes, there
would be a certain officer waiting to tease her in her
dreams.

Trent gawked at the closed door and
shook his head. Never in his life had a woman slammed a door in his
face. Well, at least never on the initial meeting. Yet here he was
staring at the chipping red paint on the door of Room 6 at Seaside
Escape Motel.

He didn’t like the feeling he was
having at the moment. It felt too close to rejection and left a bad
taste in his mouth. Normally when a woman threw up so many walls he
gladly walked away, but for some reason with this Noelle woman he
wanted to get closer.

Trent rolled his eyes at himself and
walked back to assist his partner, Todd Fitzer. He looked out to
the parking lot and noticed the Arkansas license plate on the front
of the U-Haul. He stopped long enough to write it down in his
notepad.

For the moment he didn’t know what he
would do with that piece of information; it wasn’t as if she’d done
anything to warrant him running the plates through the
system.

There was something more to her. Sure
he could chalk it up to the investigative instincts associated with
his job, but what he wanted to know about her had nothing to do
with upholding the law.

CHAPTER
THREE

Noelle straightened the bedcover and
stood up. Her back was aching. It had been a long time since she’d
done such physical work. For the last few years, her job had been
catering to Lenny, and though it was demanding, it was nothing like
this.

She actually enjoyed this work. The
smell of the floor cleaner, the sound the crisp sheets made as she
unfolded them, there was something beautifully poetic about the
ordinary tasks of cleaning hotel rooms. There was something
comforting in the mundane repetitiveness.

Three days had passed since her run in
with the police. Already she was falling into a routine of working
in the morning, sightseeing in the afternoon, and watching the
sunset at the beach in the evening. Noelle loved her new life, even
if it wasn’t anything extra special … it was hers.

Delphine knocked on the door before
walking into the room. “Looks great. How are things
going?”

Noelle smiled. “They’re good. I made
ten bucks in tips from the old couple who stayed in the honeymoon
suite.”

Delphine nodded. “Yeah, once in a
while you’ll find people are considerate enough to tip you. Most
people don’t think twice about it. Don’t spend it all in one
place.”

Noelle laughed. “No worries there. I
got enough food to get me through until the weekend. For now I’m
saving everything to get my own place.”

After a second she held up her hands.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound like I don’t like it here, I do,
it’s just …”

Delphine waved her off. “It’s just not
a real home. I know, I get it.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. And for the love of
God, stop saying you are sorry.”

Noelle smiled again. “My momma always
told me that.”

Delphine smiled at her, “Your momma is
right.”

“Was.”

Delphine looked at her.
“What?”

Noelle stuffed the dirty
laundry in the bag on her cart and kept her eyes down. “My
momma
was
right.
She died last year.”

Delphine let out a sigh. “I’m sorry to
hear that. What about the rest of your family?”

Noelle looked up at her and debated on
making something up, but she was used to the reality of it. “I
ain’t got any.”

Delphine nodded. “So you don’t have
your mom and my daughter took off. Well ain’t we a
pair?”

Noelle nodded. “I reckon
so.”

Delphine laughed again. “Well how
about I look out for you and you look out for me?”

Noelle smiled. Delphine’s no nonsense
attitude reminded her of her mother. Even when her father left, her
momma had never let on like it bothered her, she just did what she
had to do to get through every day and take care of her
child.

“I like that idea,” Noelle said. “But
I’m pretty sure I won’t be looking out for you so much. I think I’m
gonna learn a thing or two about sticking up for myself from
you.”

Delphine smiled again. Noelle had
noticed that as the days went on, she was doing that more. That,
and smoking less.

“Well I imagine you stick up for
yourself just fine. After all, you left that asshole boyfriend of
yours. Some women can’t do that because they are too
scared.”

Noelle nodded in understanding. “Oh, I
was scared all right. But after awhile I got more worried if I’d
survive to care about what he would do.”

Delphine swore. “I guessed as much.
Your bruises are all gone now. That must make you feel
better.”

Noelle absently touched the corner of
her eye where the skin was back to its normal creamy tone. “You
noticed them?”

Delphine laughed, but there was no
humor there. “Honey, I know the ball cap-and-glasses look better
than some. I have so many damn ex-husbands because I kept running
from them. Sure they seem all sweet, but my radar for a real good
man broke a long time ago.”

Noelle shook her head. “I don’t have
radar, nor do I want any. I think I’m going to enjoy just being
alone for a while.”

Delphine followed her out of the room
and along the sidewalk to the next room. “Are you sure? I saw Trent
eyeing you the other night.”

Noelle could feel the blush creep
across her face. She kept her head down and unlocked the door. “I
don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout.”

Delphine snorted. “What the hell ever.
Those rosy cheeks are a dead giveaway.”