Page 3 of Trial By Fire (Hope Runs Deep #11)

CHAPTER

THREE

T rish stood in front of the floor-length mirror staring at herself with the outfit that Lola had picked out for her.

The dark jeans molded to her ass as if they were painted on.

The shirt was a dark blue halter top with a strap that went around her neck yet pushed the girls up and allowed the cleavage to look like she had more than she really did.

Lola then paired the outfit with a leather jacket and matching dark blue high heels that she’d forgotten she’d had.

Despite her already having done her make-up, Lola fine-tuned it to match her outfit and worked on her hair.

She was petrified the woman would have her looking like a street hooker.

But, looking at the final results in the mirror, she could finally let out a sigh of relief.

Her makeup was light. Dark blue eyeshadow on her lids and under the eye along with black mascara and black eyeliner made her eyes pop in a way she never seen them before.

Lola had used a curling iron on her newly colored dark hair, curling it all the way around.

Then once she was done, she put it in a loose ponytail that had hair loose on the side giving it a wild but serene look.

She had to honestly admit to herself for once in her life, she looked fucking hot. Screw the fucker who broke her heart.

God how she wished she could screw him one more time.

She’d had at least two other guys that she’s fucked since Jackson Anderson broke her heart two years ago.

Neither one could make her come the way he did.

Hell, the two losers couldn’t even make her come.

She had to fake it and then when she got home, she had to be a pathetic loser who used her toy and imagine him as she pleasured herself.

She hated herself for that sometimes. He broke her heart, yet she couldn’t get over him.

Seeing him the few times that she had, she usually went the other way before he could notice her.

Trish knew he had seen her once and had started her way.

She high tailed it out of the area as fast as she could have when she saw he was heading her way.

The fucker changed gyms because he couldn’t stand the sight of her.

Why should she give him the time of the day to prove he was over her.

She knew she wasn’t a looker, or the most desirable female in the area.

He could have manned up and admitted he didn’t want anything but a fuck now and then types of relationship.

They had dated for several months before he broke her heart with a text message.

Yeah, she had to cancel a few dates, but damn it, so did he with his job, too.

She just wished she knew what she had done wrong to make him change his mind about where things were going.

She thought things were going great. That was until the last night they were together.

Looking back, Trish sat on the bed, staring out her window as she thought back to that night. They had a last-minute call out for a case that resulted in a shooting. When she showed up, she had a few bruises where she’d gone hand to hand with one of the perps they had surprised in their mini raid.

She had arrived at Jackson’s roughly two hours later than planned and could tell a difference when he saw her.

He took care of her, checked her bruises and cuts, had his roommate Brad stitch one of the cuts up for her since she didn’t go to the hospital and then when Brad left for his date, they had theirs at his place instead of going out.

When they had cuddled after an intense bout of sex, which wasn’t unusual for them, they small talked.

Jackson had made a comment about wishing she wasn’t in such a dangerous profession because he worried about her constantly and she told him that she wasn’t quitting her job.

She loved what she did, and she was needed.

The next day, he sent her a text that he would be shipping out for a while and that it was best if they took a break and saw other people.

That was the last time she heard from him.

She had tried to reach out via email and text several times but never got a response back, so she gave up.

When she saw him about town, she looked the other way. She gave him what he wanted.

He broke her heart. She saw him at the bar with one of the nurses from the local hospital a while back, shortly after they broke up. She’d heard from one of the guys on the force they were dating now, so she guessed he found a nice, safe chick.

“Earth to Trish. You ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s go have a few drinks. I need to get out of my head after this last case. I have a full weekend to recover.”