LITMIR.BIZ

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leaned against the table and he came and stood right in front of her. He was close enough for her to get a nice whiff of his cologne. It was one of those fresh, clean, masculine scents. The kind that made a woman think of getting swept away on an ocean. It could knock a girl off her feet if she wasn’t careful, that was for sure.

      Minerva inhaled and immediately regretted it.

      She didn’t bother saying hello. She moved her eyes from his hard-edged handsome face to the rock-solid wall of muscle that made up his chest.

      “Why’d you walk away, Minnie? Did my appearance throw a wrench in your plans to try and sell your wares to Carla?”

      “Go to hell.”

      “She says she knows you and you’re her girl. But she got awfully quiet when I mentioned your relationship with known drug dealers.”

      She pursed her lips.

      “How long are you planning to stay in Paterson, Minnie?”

      “Why? You planning on throwing me a party, Officer?” She slanted her left eye and licked her lips, leaning over slightly so the little bit of cleavage she had made its presence known.

      She could tell he was gritting his teeth by the pull in his jaw. His lip twitched and his eyes lost their typical suspicious stare. She licked her lips again before rolling her eyes.

      “You need to stop harassing me, Detective Hightower. People might get the wrong idea and think you like me or something.”

      There was a pause before his lips curled into a snarl. “Anyone in their right mind would know you are certainly not my type of woman. I like them taller, shapelier and, most important, crime-free.”

      She felt a pain slice through her heart. No way should she have felt anything akin to hurt because the idiot cop had basically rejected her. She didn’t want him to want her. She wanted him to leave her the hell alone. She gave him a once-over and noticed the considerable bulge in his pants. She might not have a lot of experience with men, but she’d kissed and made out enough times to know when a guy was getting excited. Between his bulge and his gulping for air like a fish out of water when she licked her lips, she thought maybe, just maybe, the detective was protesting a little too much.

      She licked her lips again and watched his Adam’s apple bounce. Looking up, she found his penetrating gaze zeroed in on her lips. And glancing down she found his bulge still prominent.

      “Well, since I’m not your type, maybe you might want to send a memo to the rest of your body, because clearly parts of you haven’t been told the news.” With that she cut her eyes and walked back to the front of the Laundromat.

      She eyed Carla for a moment to ascertain if the cop had poisoned the woman’s mind against her. The older woman smiled and winked at her. So she retook her seat next to Carla and they both watched as Lawrence gave Gerald a pound before leaving. She had a feeling she hadn’t seen the last of him for the day.

      “You’re not really a drug dealer, are you?” Carla asked.

      “No.”

      Carla smiled. “I didn’t think so. An old recovering addict like me can spot a dealer a mile away. And you didn’t give off a dealer vibe.”

      “My father was a heroin addict. He died of a drug overdose, but not before infecting my mother with HIV/AIDS.” Minerva had no idea why she shared that with the older woman. She didn’t go around telling the world. But she felt sort of close to Carla and like she needed to say it, even if it brought home just how truly alone she was in the world at the moment.

      Carla pursed her lips in contemplation. “My goodness, I’m so sorry. Well, Lawrence is right even though he is being a jackass to you. You need to watch the company you keep. A lot of messed-up stuff can happen to a young girl on these streets if she’s not careful. You couldn’t have told me when I was your age that I would end up addicted to crack and letting some lowlife dealer and pimp use and abuse my body. I’m blessed to have made it out. But not everyone is able to say that. Don’t press your luck.”

      Minerva nodded. She could have gone on and on about how she wasn’t going to get caught up. But something about the advice and the way it had been given told her all that wasn’t necessary. She didn’t have to prove herself to Carla. The woman was just being helpful.

      “Whew! I’ve done my good deed for the week! That took a lot out of me. Ha! Hey, Gerald I think the clothes stopped. You need to put them in the dryer. I don’t want to be here all day.”

      Gerald shook his head and went over to remove the clothes from the washer and transfer them to the dryer.

      “You’re off the chain, Carla!”

      Carla winked. “You got to keep these dudes in check. You’ll learn. So, you new to the neighborhood?”

      “Yeah, I’m visiting a couple of childhood friends. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here.”

      “That’s cool.”

      The buzzer sounded and her sheets and blankets stopped spinning.

      “It was nice meeting you.” Minerva smiled at Carla before getting up.

      As she rolled the laundry cart back to the tenement on Governor Street where she was staying with the McKnight twins, she hoped she wouldn’t have the misfortune to run into Hightower again.

      Lawrence watched Minnie Samuels struggle to pull the stuffed laundry cart up the stairs to the apartment building. It was all he could do to make himself watch and not rush over to help her with it.

      Where were the idiots McKnight anyway? Why did it look like she’d been doing laundry for the entire household? And why did he care?

      The hurt expression that flashed across her face when he’d said she wasn’t his type came to his mind and before he knew it he was walking across the street and taking the cart from her hands. He carried it up the front steps and to the door of the McKnights’ second-floor apartment.

      Timmy McKnight opened the door. “Hey, girl, I was just about to go looking for you.” He eyed Lawrence before turning and giving Minerva a puzzled stare.

      Minerva turned to Lawrence and for a minute she looked so sweet and innocent, he just wanted to wrap her up and take her away from there. What was wrong with him? There was something about this woman that sent his emotions spiraling in all different directions.

      He hadn’t expected her to call him on his attraction to her. And he certainly hadn’t expected her to bounce back so quickly when he’d said what he said to throw her off. But she had come back with a smart-ass comment and given him a stare that made sure he knew that she knew he’d been lying.

      For her sake and his, he hoped she wasn’t into anything shady. Because while it might hurt to arrest her, he would do it in a heartbeat if she proved to be a criminal.

      “Thanks for your help, Detective. I appreciate it.” She brushed a strand of the auburn hair from her cheek.

      He couldn’t believe he was finding himself attracted to a woman who had such an outrageous hairstyle.

      No, he couldn’t be. He wouldn’t be.

      No.

      “You’re welcome, Minnie.” He nodded at Timothy. “Keep it clean, people. I’ll be watching.” He walked off just in time to hear Timothy start questioning Minerva.

      “What’s he—”

      The rest of Timothy’s words were lost to him as he left the building. But he could just imagine the conversation that was ensuing between the two of them. Maybe he should have just let her struggle with the heavy cart. But he wasn’t wired that way. No Hightower worth his salt would stand by and watch a petite little thing like Minnie Samuels struggle and not reach out to help her.

      He jumped into his standard-issue, navy-blue Ford Taurus narc-mobile and continued to survey and police the neighborhood.

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