All I Want Is Forever
Page 33
“Alright. Geez, you’re pushy all of a sudden,” Talia grumbled.
“Call my office when you’re ready to leave,” Jasmine said in a firm tone.
“Okay. I—” Talia broke off abruptly and blinked hard.
Derrick seemed to have appeared out of thin air in the open doorway. Dressed in an indigo blue pullover sweater and matching denim slacks, a dark tan all-weather coat was draped over one arm. His warm nut-brown skin looked smooth and sleek against the dark colors. He towered over them when he walked in. Talia felt a rush of heat at the way his body moved. Trying to sleep for the last four weeks had been almost impossible. She’d hungered for him, burned to feel his touch.
“Hi, Talia.” He smiled at Jasmine. “Hello.”
Jasmine gaped at him. “Wow! I mean, hi.”
“Hello, and I’m stunned.” Talia stared at him.
“I was just leaving.” Jasmine sprang to her feet. She pumped his hand. “Real nice seeing you again! Ahem, perfect timing,” she added in a stage whisper and gave him the thumbs-up sign. She winked at Talia, then left.
“I see you know.” Derrick tilted his head to indicate the headlines.
“How did Earl’s body get to Wilkinson County, Mississippi?” Talia shook her head.
“You were right, Monette had help. The press doesn’t know it yet, but Jerome Hines is talking. In fact, we can’t get him to shut up.” Derrick sat down.
“We?”
Derrick tossed his coat over the chair next to him. “I’m working as a contract investigator for the U.S. Attorney in Lafayette.”
“All very secret since the reporters don’t seem to have missed much.”
“After those attacks on him and Monette, you better believe it’s being kept quiet. Barron is sweating it out, too. He doesn’t know a thing, but he suspects he’s about to go down and—”
“Wait a minute.” Talia got up and closed her door. She sat in the chair next to him facing her desk. “Don’t tell me Monette is in even worse trouble.”
“It’s complicated.” Derrick crossed one long leg over the other.
“Well, we are talking about Monette.” Talia heaved a sigh. “Let me have it.”
“On a hunch I checked on the land where they found the body. It’s a stretch of woods owned by Hines’s family. With that connection and a little bit of pressure he decided to cooperate. He claims Earl overdosed.” Derrick shrugged. “I was sure he’d point the finger at Monette. He shocked us all, especially Barron.”
“His conscience was bothering him,” Talia said.
“Hines? I don’t believe it.” Derrick waved a hand.
“No, it’s true. I talked to him at the parole board hearing. He felt bad about Monette being set up.”
“Not bad enough to tell the truth fifteen years ago,” Derrick said with a dubious frown. “Finding out about that property was just the first step. I found more that linked him to Earl. He started talking to save his butt.”
“I didn’t say he was perfect.” Talia wore a wry smile.
“Anyway, he confirmed that Monette had an affair with Barron. Hines has told us just how Barron set her up when she broke up with him. A special parole board hearing is scheduled. There’s not much doubt Monette will be released. Once this hits she might even get a full pardon.”
“And Barron? He shouldn’t get away with what he’s done,” Talia said with bitterness.
“He’s taken a leave of absence from his office. Health reasons. The truth is he’s huddling with a team of top criminal defense attorneys.” Derrick wore a hard smile. “I expect he’ll be on the other side of the justice system soon, as a defendant.”
“So things will get even messier.” Talia squeezed her eyes shut.
“Yeah. He and Hines are scrambling to dump on each other.”
“One thing about it, Monette keeps life interesting. I’ll bet she signs a fat book and movie deal before the year is out.” Talia opened her eyes again.
“She’s got an agent already. Jim’s law students have received national attention. They might all end up in a movie of the week.”
Talia laughed and shook her head slowly. “I knew she’d end up in show business one day. And they all lived happily ever after.”
Derrick’s smile melted. “Not quite.” He stood and picked up his coat. “Anyway, I was in the neighborhood and decided to tell you before it came out in the news.”
“You sure took the long way home from work.” Talia rose and searched his face.
“Yeah, well.” He avoided her gaze and started to put on his coat.
“Wait a minute.” Talia stood. “Maybe I’ll just happen to be in your neighborhood soon.”
“Not a good idea.” He didn’t move.
“Since I let the dogs out, might as well face ’em. Did you really come all this way just to tell me about Hines? I thought you’d just as soon never see me again.”
“Looking out for you is a hard habit to break. I might have mentioned that a few times.” Derrick gazed at her. “You have a way of driving me crazy,” he said softly.
“You kept digging. Barron and those crooks might have come after you, Derrick.”
“I’ll never learn, huh? Way too much drama with me.” Derrick looked around the smart style of her corner office and smiled at her. “Good-bye, Talia.”
Talia’s heart ached when he walked to the door. “Derrick, wait.” He turned and faced her. “I thought I needed to wipe the slate clean, leave everything from my past behind. I was wrong, so wrong.”
Derrick’s impassive expression shook her. They stared at each other in silence for several minutes. Talia walked back to her desk. She turned her back to him and stared out the window, unable to stand the sight of Derrick walking out of her life for good.
“Anyway, thanks for coming,” she said over her shoulder. His muscular arms wrapped around her from behind.
“If you want me to stay, then say so, baby girl,” he said. His lips caressed her earlobe.
Talia leaned against his solid chest and closed her eyes. “Please stay with me.”
“The answer is yes.” He rubbed his face against her cheek.
“What about your career? And how will we work a long-distance relationship? I can’t expect you—”
“I really like D.C. A sexy lady once told me about all the opportunities around here for a guy with my expertise.” Derrick pulled her tight against his body. “I think she was trying to entice me.”
“I think you’re right. Did it work?” Talia squirmed against him, eager to feel the warmth of his desire.
“Oh, yeah.”
Talia turned in his arms and pressed her lips to his. “Very good,” she murmured, her voice muffled by their kiss.
About the Author
LYNN EMERY is a native resident of Louisiana. A licensed clinical social worker, she has been an expert consultant for articles on relationships and single women for the popular magazine Today’s Black Woman.
Her first novel was recognized by Romantic Times Magazine for Excellence in Romance Fiction for 1995. In 2000 she was nominated by Romantic Times Magazine for the Lifetime Achievement Award in Multicultural Romance Fiction. All I Want Is Forever is her third HarperTorch title.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Also by Lynn Emery
GOTTA GET NEXT TO YOU
TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALL I WANT IS FOREVER. Copyright © 2002 by Lynn Emery. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-scre
en. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition December 2006 ISBN 9780061739927
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com