Cash on Fire

By LR Potter

When Cash Devlin is promoted to the DEA office in New York City, he expects the only thrill he will find will be the bumper to bumper traffic. But when he reconnects with blonde bombshell Dr. Ensley Ingram, he finds her curves more dangerous than found on any road.

Dr. Ensley Ingram had always led a very safe and controlled life. The death of a young patient rattles her, and she realizes that safe and orderly was not living; it was only existing. While she had always been attracted to Cash, he was a playboy, without a serious bone in his body; which made him perfect for the shake-up she needed in her life.

When her life is placed in danger, she is forced to rely on Cash to keep her safe. She discovers a different side to the man she assumed she knew. She finds herself falling for him, as he leads her down a passageway of love and sexual awareness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LR Potter
• Release date: Nov 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463707746

LR Potter

LR Potter, a central Florida native, currently resides close to the sandy beaches of Perdido Key in the northern part of Florida. Potter loves losing herself in the magic of a good book while listening to the sounds of the surf and hopes whoever reads her books finds the same escape. Being a lover of all literature, she writes over several genres. Check out my newest releases, Flawed Beauty and The Rush Series: Rush of Innocence (Book 1); Rush of Redemption (Book 2); Master of the Game (Rush series #3); Mastering the Devil Rush series #4) contemporary romances. Upcoming Works: Blood Havoc Sideswiped Cash on Fire Feel free to email me @ [e-mail] ~ I love to hear from my fans!

Book preview

Cash

on

Fire

By LR Potter

Published by LR Potter on Smashwords

Copyright 2018 LR Potter

ISBN: 9780463707746

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Prologue

Family, friends, and loved ones, we are gathered here today, not only to mourn a life taken too soon, but also to celebrate that life… A solitary figure stood by the gravesite, hearing the words of the minister, but not really listening. It was too horrific to absorb. The loss too great. How much loss could a person endure before it became too much? Before it destroyed them?

The figure stared at the casket positioned just above the gaping hole that appeared ready to swallow the precious cargo suspended above. Unable to endure the pain of it, he lifted his eyes to stare instead at the brilliant blue sky. He watched a billowy white cloud float gently across.

As the minister’s soothing voice continued, blessed numbness encompassed him as ice encircled his heart. While he knew it would not last, for now, it was a relief. No more pain, no more sorrow… he heard the minister say, and he hoped so. He hoped there was peace at the end, at least for those that were good and innocence in this life.

Guilt and remorse settled like a cloak over him, and the weight seemed to be more than he could bear, and it forced him to his knees as the numbness faded and pain like a white-hot poker stabbed him. He ignored the hands of those that rushed to offer comfort, but instead drew only more into himself. This journey was not ever made as a group, pain was individual, as was the fight to endure it… or not.

Chapter One

The blaring of the alarm had Cash Devlin scrambling around on the bedside table seeking his cell phone; finally stopping the horrendous noise. Normally, he was up before it sounded; but not on this particular morning.

"Gawd! That thing is annoying as hell," the naked woman beside him, grumbled, in her sugary southern drawl.

Cash fell back on the bed and raised a forearm to cover his eyes. It’s all your fault. You shouldn’t have kept me up so late, he muttered, with a hidden grin.

Honey, I didn’t hear any complaints last night. In fact, I think it was more like cheering, she said, with a laugh.

Cash smothered a smile. Rising up on one elbow, he focused in on the naked woman lying beside him. Dorie Lancaster was the perfect woman: she was beautiful; had a hot little body; was smart; and extremely confident. But her biggest asset was that she was independent to a fault and made it clear she was not looking for anything long term. Which suited him just fine.

Cash traced her collarbone gently with his fingertips. "You’re right, there was a lot to cheer for. How about I return the favor? I’ll be quick," he promised, hoping to elicit a positive response.

Quick? Then what’s the point, Sugar? she replied, in mock irritation.

Great answer, he replied with a grin, as he slid the sheet from her lush body. Her tanned breast taunted him, so he decided to start there.

He had literally run over Dorie while moving boxes into the apartment directly across from hers. The last couple of weeks had proven that meeting to be most… satisfying. What was not to like? She did not require wine, flowers, or sweet talk, and she was conveniently located. As a flight attendant, she was frequently away; so again, win-win. Between his promotion and Dorie, New York was shaping up very nicely for him.

After leaving a very satisfied Dorie in her apartment, Cash knew he would have to rush to make it to work on time. Once he was showered, shaved, and dressed, he hastened to the door to leave. He grinned when he opened the door and found a basket with two banana-nut muffins and an insulated coffee cup, which he knew would be filled with strong black coffee.

Dorie was a goddess, he thought. He snatched up the basket, pulled the coffee out, and sipped it as he made his way to his SUV. As late as he was, he appreciated her efforts with the breakfast-to-go. Grinning to himself, he guessed she must have appreciated his earlier efforts.

Dr. Ensley Ingram yawned behind her hand as discreetly as she could. Wearily, she pushed the heavy mane of her blonde hair away from her face. Why she agreed to this, had her doubting her own sanity. She had just come off a twenty-two-hour shift, and she was exhausted. She glanced once more at her stylish watch and tried not to get irritated at Wilson’s tardiness. She picked up her coffee cup, but after having drank coffee all night long, the aroma turned her stomach.

Wilson Bennett was one in a long line of men that her mother had encouraged her to date since coming back from her last stint with Doctors Without Borders in Mexico. Getting her married off seemed to now have become her mother’s latest obsession. Apparently, Wilson came with some sort of parental seal of approval. He was one of the better ones deemed appropriate by her mother, so she could not complain too much. In the short time they had been dating, he had been attentive, sent flowers regularly, and treated her well. He was tall and had stylish Italian good looks.

She found his company pleasant, and usually entertaining. He made her laugh, and they moved in some of the same social circles. While on paper she and Wilson made the perfect couple, she just was not that into him. He had made many attempts to deepen their relationship physically, but she just was not ready to go down that road with him. Surprisingly, he had taken her rebuffs graciously. She doubted there was an actual future for them; but for now, she was willing to go along, if only to keep her mother at bay.

Wilson had called her earlier in the week and asked her to breakfast. He said he did not want a whole week to go by without seeing her. As he worked as a stock-broker, she was a bit surprised he had asked her to join him during his regular work hours.

She tapped her short nails against the tabletop. She closed her crystal blue eyes to ease their irritation. For the hundredth time, she picked up her cell phone to see if she had missed a message from him; but there was nothing. Finally, in exasperation, she sent him a text. Are we still meeting this morning?

After fifteen minutes with no reply and no other contact from him, Ensley put money down for the coffee she had not touched, and rose jerkily, irritation smothering her with its density. She was going to give him a piece of her mind the next time she saw him. As she stomped down the street, anger built up in the same degree as her tiredness.

It was when her anger reached its peak that she decided not to wait to talk to him. As she continued to walk through the city toward her penthouse apartment, she pulled her cell phone from her purse, and scrolled her contacts until she reached Wilson’s number. She pressed the call button and pressed the phone to her ear.

She paused mid-stride at a crosswalk until the light changed, then she moved forward with the crowd. In her ear, she heard the phone ring and ring, and she assumed she would be put forward to voicemail. But on the last ring, he clicked on.

Hello, he answered smoothly, but more business-like, and not in the more intimate tone he normally reserved for her.

Where are you? she asked, shrilly.

She paused in the center of the block in front of a new, but trendy restaurant, she pressed her fingers against her ear, to abate the simmering noise the city always carried.

What do you mean? he asked.

We were supposed to meet for breakfast. The tone of her voice annoyed her. She was not some insipid, young schoolgirl. She was a grown woman, who had traveled the world. She was a doctor, for goodness sake. She attributed her extreme emotions to being so bone-wearingly tired.

Somewhat cagily, he replied, Oh right. I’m sorry, but I forgot our meeting.

Again, his tone was hedgy. She thought maybe he was at work, but normally, when he was there, she could hear a lot of background noise. Blowing out a breath, she tried to force down her irritation. Straightening, she lifted her eyes, and sitting there, unbelievably, was Wilson Bennett, inside the very restaurant she had stopped in front of.

He was seated at a table with a woman with long red hair. She had her well-manicured hand draped over his on the table. Their manner was intimate and seemed natural; as if they had been together for a while. She guessed this woman was the reason he had taken her sexual rebuffs so well.

Where are you? she asked again, but this time calmer.

She watched him through the glass, like a voyeur, as he sat back in his chair and talked quietly into the phone.

I’m at work.

In your office? she asked evenly.

Of course, he replied smoothly.

With a shake of head, and without another word, she snapped her phone closed and walked away. Once the initial hit to her pride washed away, she found she was okay with his loss. And by the time she reached her apartment, she found she was glad it was over. Glad she had dodged that particular bullet. What did that say about the relationship? What did that say about her? Maybe she was incapable of being involved, truly involved, in any relationship.

She tried to remember the last time she had actually been attracted to a man. Really attracted… throw caution to the wind, throw your clothes off, kind of attraction. One image crossed her mind, and she shook her head at it. Cash Devlin was the ultimate bad boy, a player. He was sexy as hell, but could also be crass, and full of himself. He was dangerous, and she did not do dangerous. She lived her life very carefully, and every step was made only after careful consideration.

Casting Cash from her thoughts, she could not help but worry that maybe some how she was permanently broken. That maybe she was incapable of having a meaningful relationship with anyone. She placed some of the blame on her parents for ensuring that she had become just as rigid as they were. She also blamed herself for allowing it to happen. And she had already found her soulmate, and even though she had lost him, what more could she ask for? Greg had been taken from her far too quickly, even so, she would always treasure their time together.

With those thoughts chasing around in her head, she showered quickly and changed into an oversized tee-shirt and climbed into bed. While she plugged in her cell phone to charge, she turned it to silent, not wanting to be disturbed; especially by the likes of Wilson Bennett.

She slept for a solid nine hours. She woke stiff, and stretched gingerly, feeling every muscle. A glance at the clock told her she would not have time for her usual workout at the gym. It only added more fuel to her utter distaste for Wilson Bennett. She found she like thinking of him by his full name as it seemed to add distance between them. Not that it took much effort to toss him from her mind.

Leaning over she picked up her cell phone and saw she had several missed calls and texts from Nelson. She deleted all the texts without reading them; and deleted all the voicemails without listening to them. What could he possibly say that would make a difference? But more importantly than that, she just cared too little for it to matter anyway. When had she gotten so cold? So unfeeling? But she knew, she came by it honestly. She’d had the best teachers of being cold and calculating, her parents.

Speaking of which, she saw she there was a missed a call from her mother, but she had not left a message. She decided to disregard and not return that call either. She was not in the mood to divulge the latest disaster to her mother; specifically, not in the mood to listen to her mother’s ‘disappointment’ speech. She had heard it so many times, she already knew it verbatim.

She also saw a text from her best friend, Saxon. That one she decided to respond to. Saxon was the only one who truly understood her plight in life, as they shared similar backgrounds.

Sorry I missed your text, I was sleeping, she texted.

Almost immediately, Saxon responded, No worries. In desperate need of a girl’s night out. How about this Friday?

Ensley scrunched her nose up a bit. While she loved Saxon, they had very different ideas of a night out. Saxon like to party with a capitol P!

Not giving her a chance to respond, Saxon texted, Don’t you dare say no!

Feeling trapped, Ensley replied, Sounds great. I’ll get back with you about the details. I have to get ready for work, so we’ll talk later. See you later.

Don’t forget, came Saxon’s reply.

Ensley smiled and shook her head. Saxon had been like the sister she never had. She could not remember a time or instant in her life of any importance that did not include her in it. They had shared the secrets of young schoolgirls, boy crushes, smoking, trying out new cuss words, school activities, proms, graduations, and everything that made up a life. They had shared every good time, and of course, every bad one. And there had been sooo many bad ones.

An image of Saxon in her black suit standing next to her at Greg’s funeral crossed her mind. It was the most sedate she had ever seen her friend. His death had crushed them both. While he had been her love, he had been like a brother to Saxon. The three musketeers, they had called themselves. They had been inseparable. Any one Saxon dated had known the score; it was all or none.

Ensley missed those simple days. Days filled with happiness and plans for a future. Days filled with love and devotion. Days which later led to be filled with loss and regret.

Sighing, Ensley crawled out of bed, wishing she could sleep for a month instead. As she showered, she thought about the hours ahead of her and all she had to accomplish and the patients she had to see. Such was the life of a doctor, she supposed.

Chapter Two

Cash spent a long day dealing with audits, meetings, and sitting behind his desk, all of which he hated in his new job as the Special Agent in Charge of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) division of the D.E.A. He heaved a sigh of relief he was finally able to slip his key into his apartment door lock. All the glee he’d had upon waking up next to Dorie had been beaten out of him by the sheer mundane activities of his day. He missed his old job filled with danger and excitement.

Cash changed his clothes then went down to utilize the apartment’s gym. He worked out every muscle he could, then hit the treadmill. He usually ran five miles, but on this night, he added another two, hoping to ward off the frustration he felt. Everything in his life had changed. He felt like a fish out of water. He missed his old job, his old partner, Devon Montanez, and well, his old life. A life that belonged to him. In his new job as a supervisor, he felt he had less control than when he was in the field.

After tiring himself out, Cash went back to his apartment, ate a bowl of cereal, took a shower, and headed to bed. He fell asleep quickly; however, it did not last long. After only an hour of sleep, he flinched. The nightmare he dreaded, returned once again.

In the nightmare he stood in front of the door to his parent’s cabin, his hand trembling, his breathing labored. In his mind, he already knew what horror he would find behind that door, but still he found he could not stop his hand from reaching out and turning the knob. There was a creak when he eased the door open inch by inch. He flinched at the sound.

With his heart pounding, he stepped through the doorway. The cabin was dark compared to the bright sun outside. He had to squeeze his eyes shut for an instant to get them to adjust. Once he opened his eyes, he wished he had not cleared his vision. There was blood, so much blood, and in the middle of it was his beautiful Luciana. But then the image wavered and shifted. In her place lay Devon Montanez, his previous partner with the International Drug Enforcement Agency.

Cash jerked awake, just as he always did at that moment. He wiped a hand over his sweat-streaked face and sat up on the edge of his bed. He grabbed the bottle of water he had left on the bedside table and took a long drink. He shook his head at the memory. The image of the blood… her blood, still made his heart catch. Luci had been the only person he ever truly cared about, and the thought that she could be… just gone, was too unbelievable.

Hearing sirens from the city below, he rose from his bed and padded to the window. He looked out over the hectic city and sighed. New York was a drastic change from his upbringing along the Louisiana coast, and especially from his life and work in Mexico.

He thought about his last mission in Mexico which involved Devon and her now finance’, Alex Masters. It made him feel ashamed for thinking he missed that kind of excitement. He thought back to that day on the boat.

He could see every detail so clearly. The sun was bright, the water a crystal blue with fresh, crisp white caps, and the hum of the fishing boat soothing. He had been around boats all his life, and that boat had been a total disgrace, but necessary under the circumstances.

It seemed a perfect day; a perfect setting. No matter how many times he thought about that day, he could never wrap his mind around how such a perfect day… such a beautiful sunny day, could end so badly. It had been so hot that day. The sun seemed to sear his skin, already burned badly from an explosion at Devon’s house.

And while the hum of the boat was soothing, the jarring was nearly his undoing. But he refused to acknowledge the pain, knowing it would only further complicate an already complicated situation. And to acknowledge the pain would also be to acknowledge the vulnerability that went with it.

There were five people on that small boat that day, and so the quarters were tight. In front of him had been, Ensley Ingram, a beautiful blonde doctor, who was helping them escape from their current danger. She was quite something and he admired her greatly. She was strong and immensely caring; perfect characteristics for a doctor.

He quite liking flirting with her as she always gave back as good as she got. He might have pursued her had things been different. But they were from two very different worlds, no matter how many times she liked to dip her toes into his world with her work with Doctors Without Borders. She smelled of money, even though she downplayed it. She was also very self-controlled. Cash knew from past experience where that came from… from a controlling family. He’d had his fill of that kind of drama long before.

There was the driver of the boat, whose name Cash never knew. There was Tipton, a guy that Alex Masters had sent with them as protection. And lastly, next to him sat Devon who continually patted his hand or his knee in comfort. He found a part of him liked her concern; liked her comfort.

But the other part found it frustrating as it further pointed to his weakness. He was there to protect her, not the other way around. While it would have behooved him to stay longer in the hospital, he would do anything to keep Devon safe. He was responsible for her. He had watched over her the entirety of her career with the IDEA, and he was not about to stop now.

Devon was a rare woman, and he loved her, not in a romantic way; he doubted he could love anyone like that again. And she loved him too, in her own way. Again, not in a romantic way, she had always been hung up on Alex, from the moment he had met her. And she had never once looked at anyone else. And while Cash could appreciate that kind of devotion, he also knew the foolishness of it.

Everything happened so fast that day on the boat, and he blamed himself for not seeing the signs that had been so obvious. But his mind had been filled with too many other things, and his injuries further distracted him. In one moment, they were going along exactly as planned; and in the next everything changed. He had leaned forward to say something flirty to the pretty doctor, when the discharge of a weapon had him snatching his head around.

Cash’s brain had seemed to misfire as he struggled to understand what had just happened in front of his eyes. Alex’s man, Tipton, had shot the boat