Free Kismet (Beyond the Bedroom Series) by Raynesha Pittman, Brandie Randolph Page B

could handle it on our own. Once the van was loaded, I turned the keys into the front desk.
     
    “Ms. James,” the Hispanic pool man, who has never spoken to me before, said when he stopped me as I walked out the office.
     
    I turned and addressed him, “Yes?” He reached in his top shirt pocket and handed me a note.
     
    “Some guy told me to give you this; he was in the pool house with me while the police were searching your place.”
     
    I took the note from him and thanked him. Dre had slipped right under the cops noses; he was better at hiding than I thought! I sat on the bench outside the office and read the letter, which read:
     
     
     
    Hey baby,
     
    I’m sorry about your apartment; I’m watching them search through it now. I know you have a life somewhere else but I want you to stay in touch with me. My full name is Andre Burns and my birth date is 09/02/83. Just call the sheriff’s department and they will give you my booking information. I’m turning myself in Sunday night after I put my son to bed. Please don’t be mad at me for all of this. I love you and fell in love with you after our first night together. It’s something about you, I’ve never experienced this feeling before and I ain’t ready for it to stop yet.
     
     
     
    Dre-
     
     
     
    I don’t know what happened but, after reading his letter, I felt sick to my stomach and ran to the office bathroom to vomit. With my face in the toilet, I kept seeing the words I love you in Dre’s writing in my head. He didn’t love me; he just needed someone to write over the next few years.
     
    My mouth tasted like all the alcohol I had drank the night before. I hate hangovers. Next, my head will be pounding. As a precaution, I took two Tylenol, extra strength, and then headed back outside to Stephanie.
     
    “Girl, what did he say?” I handed Stephanie the letter, scared that I would throw up again if I read it. “So, what are you going to do? He said it’s love.” After all this time, she still didn’t know me! I didn’t give a damn what he called it.
     
    I would never be a drug dealer’s wife. Yes, I did feel something for him, but not love. Especially not in a week’s time.
     
    “I’m going to take this letter to Detective Thomas and be done with him and Tennessee.” We went to the police department; I did as I said I would, dropped my stuff off at the storage center, and then headed back to Stephanie’s house to have a repeat of last night.
     
    I got so drunk that I wasn’t surprised when I woke up throwing up, especially after I saw Stephanie face down in her bath tub.
     
    “We can’t hang,” she said, trying to smile though it was visible she was sick to her stomach. We ate Tylenol for breakfast and Pepto Bismol for lunch. We didn’t regain our appetite until around five o’clock when we decided to get something light, like a sandwich and soup, from the sub shop up the road.
     
    “With everything going on with you this weekend, I forgot to tell you the good news, Savannah.” I stopped building my sandwich with the sandwich artist and looked Stephanie in the eyes.
     
    “Don’t you fix your mouth to tell me we got the deal?” She smiled and shook her head yes.
     
    We started screaming and jumping up and down. I even turned to the guy behind me in line and gave him a high-five.
     
    “They are giving us full control over all accounting in their west coast markets; he said he was very impressed and I sent him to Mr. Williams for the final contracting.”
     
    The news she gave me made everything I went through worth it. I would be promoted and there may even be talks of me making partner. Stephanie will get a pay increase until she completes school and passes her exams. Then I’ll hire her on as an accountant for our larger client base since she had proved to be able to handle the job.
     
    I was so excited about the news. When we got back to her place, I got my things ready for work, showered, and then hit