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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Novels by Elaina John
States Trilogy
State of Restraint
State of Assertion
State of Finality
Short Stories
Salvage
Salvage 2
SALVAGE 2
Denise awoke to the wet tongue of a border collie gliding over her face. Most people had an alarm clock. She had an overly affectionate dog to force her into wakefulness.
“Okay. I get it, Barkley. I’m up.”
Denise rubbed her eyes. The black and white dog stared at her from the floor with an expression on his face that willed her to let him out the house to relieve himself. With a quiet groan, she swung her legs out of the bed and winced when her feet hit the cold hardwood.
Denise padded down the stairs and let Barkley out into the backyard. While he handled his business, she poured food into his bowl and set it on the floor.
As she glanced around the pristine kitchen with its granite countertops and chestnut cabinets, she couldn’t believe the house belonged to her.
Only a month had gone by since she moved in with the love of her life, R.J. McHansen. She thought by now the elation would have worn off. It only seemed to grow stronger as she envisioned the memories that would be created here, the lives that would cultivate here.
Barkley scratched at the backdoor. After she let him in, he went directly to his bowl. Though the dog technically wasn’t hers, Denise loved him all the same and wondered how she’d gone so long without ever owning a pet.
With the dog taken care of, Denise jumped into the shower. She had another day of work ahead of her. As a government agent, there was no telling what could happen. That’s what made her job fun.
She wrapped a towel around her body and walked back into the bedroom. A smile blossomed on her face as she watched R.J. sleep. Spread eagle on his stomach, his mouth was slightly open as he snored softly. His dark brown hair was a mess atop his head.
Though he might not win any beauty contests with his morning look, Denise still thought him to be the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on. And to think at one point in time she almost let him pass her by because she was stuck on another man.
She eased down on the bed and shook him gently on the shoulder. “R.J., sweetie, you have to get up.”
He grunted, eyes closed. “Tired.”
“You went to sleep before I did. You don’t want to be late for work, do you?”
He grunted again. Denise chuckled. Nine months ago R.J. passed the bar exam. With her help, of course. Two months after that, he got a job working for a law firm downtown. Denise couldn’t have been prouder.
Getting him up for work was always a laboring task. His body still functioned on the hours of his previous occupation as a bartender. She didn’t think he’d ever become an early morning riser.
“Come on. You have to get up.” She leaned down and kissed his slack mouth then both corners.
She cried out in surprise as he suddenly grasped her, rolling her over in the bed until she lay beneath him. He rose over her, a lazy smile on his lips.
“I thought you were tired.”
He wagged his brows. “You know better than to wake me up like that. It gives me ideas.”
“What kind of ideas?”
“What kind of ideas, she asks,” he muttered to the air before turning his magnificent sea blue eyes on her. “I’ll show you.”
He ripped her towel off and proceeded to demonstrate just what his mind conjured up. For a tired man, he was very alert.
Afterward, R.J. released a contented exhale as he flopped down in the bed. “I’m up now.”
“I’ll say.” Denise pulled the sheet up to her neck to hide her nakedness despite R.J. being the only other person in the house. But what was modesty after what she just engaged in?
“We’re both going to be late for work now,” she told him. Yet she couldn’t muscle up the strength to get up either.
“Well, if we get fired at least we’ll know what to do with our free time.” She reached over and slapped his arm. “What? What’s the use of having a fiancée if you can’t enjoy her?”
Their wedding was only a month away. Denise and R.J. were supposed to be practicing abstinence until that time. It wasn’t going so well.
After only six months of dating, R.J. proposed. Denise accepted without an ounce of trepidation. When you found the person you cared most about in the world, the person who complemented you completely, why wait longer for the inevitable? In the year since they’d been together, he never once gave her a reason to second guess a lifetime together.
Denise turned slightly and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder. “You’ll be my fiancée for a very long time if we don’t have any money to pay for our wedding.” Costs were certainly adding up. If she had known a wedding would cost an arm and a leg, Denise would have opted to elope.
“You worry too much.”
“With good reason, McHansen. One of us has to be responsible.”
He gave her a mock wounded look. “I am responsible. Sometimes.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “You like me the way I am.”
“Says who?” When he narrowed his eyes, she laughed. “I like you most of the time. Like when you get up and start getting ready for work.”
He sighed dramatically. “I’m up.” He slid out of the bed, displaying a trim, masculine body she loved to stare at. “Don’t look at me like that or you won’t be making it to work at all today.”