Rescue Me by Farrah Rochon Page B

Agency had become a part of the landscape of post Katrina New Orleans.
    He climbed the steps of the house, noting the superior workmanship. He tried the doorknob, but it wouldn’tbudge. He walked along the wraparound porch to the side door, taking in the warped wooden boards under his feet. If these bloated floorboards were any indication of what he’d find inside the house, Alex figured they were looking at total demolition and rebuild. Sometimes, it was easier to just bring in a wrecking ball and start out with a clean slate.
    Alex jiggled the handle to the side door, but it, too, was locked. He walked back around to the front of the house. The car Renee had gotten into earlier that week when he’d accompanied her to the parking lot at St. Katherine’s was parked next to the FEMA trailer.
    Alex walked over to the trailer and up the three wooden steps. He knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again.
    He tried the handle on the trailer and was surprised and a little confused when it turned. Did she say the trailer would be open and not the house? Maybe he’d misheard her instructions.
    Alex pushed the door open and felt his stomach drop as a glisteningly naked Renee screamed at him to get out.
    For several interminable moments, Alex was rooted where he stood, incapable of doing anything but stare at the amazing body that was quickly being wrapped into a towel. In that millisecond he noticed high, firm breasts, a small waist, curvy hips, and deliciously smooth, toned thighs.
    “Get. Out!” she screamed.
    Alex snapped to attention, his brain registering where he was and what he was doing. He shut the door and clumsily made his way down the steps. Leaning against the outside of the trailer, Alex took several deep breaths. This was bad. Really bad. Should he go back and apologize? Should he just leave?
    He’d embarrassed the hell out of himself, and would be lucky if Renee didn’t come running out of the trailer wielding a butcher knife.
    He should definitely leave.
    Yet what he really wanted to do was break the door off that trailer and get another eyeful of the heavenly, dripping wet creature standing just on the other side of it. She could not have been as perfect as she had appeared. But it was his shoulder that was banged up; not a damn thing was wrong with his eyes.
    The door to the trailer opened, and Renee stepped out wrapped in a yellow bathrobe. Alex had a feeling he was more the cause of the red tinge to her cheeks than the shower she had apparently taken minutes before he barged in on her. He could
not
believe he’d just done that.
    “I’m sorry,” Alex said. Because, really, what else did you say after walking in on a woman when she was naked?
    Renee held up her hand. “Let’s put the awkwardness behind us right now. We’ll just pretend you didn’t see anything, even though I know you did.”
    “Yeah, I did,” Alex admitted. He was sure he would see her in his dreams every night for at least the next year, if not forever.
    “Okay, stop staring at my chest,” she said, and pulled the collar of the robe tighter.
    Alex knew he was staring. He knew it was rude. He knew it only added to both their embarrassment.
    But he could
not
stop.
    “Alex!” she said, her voice hitting a new level of agitation.
    “What?” Alex looked up into a face that was seriously pissed off. “I’m sorry,” he said again. He needed to pull his head together and stop thinking about what was underneath that robe.
    “I’m assuming you needed something,” Renee said. She clenched the bathrobe so tight at her throat her knuckles were white.
    “Uh, yeah,” Alex answered. “I need to get into the house.”
    “The door should be open.”
    “That’s what I thought you’d said, but it’s not. I tried both the front and side doors; they’re locked.”
    She blew out an aggravated breath. “Aunt Lorna was supposed to unlock the house. I’m sorry.”
    “No, I’m sorry,” Alex said, for what, the third time?
    It