#SampleSunday: “Eventually, Brennan stopped running.” -Missing Persons
On Sundays, I sample an upcoming WIP. Today we're sampling Missing Persons, a romantic mystery novel.
Happy Sample Sunday, Book pals!
I'm sharing a snippet from my upcoming romantic suspense, Missing Persons, releasing early August. This scene comes from early in the book when the tension between two friends who have been railing against becoming lovers spills over.
Well, one of them has been railing against it. Patience is wearing thin, but a simple dinner delivery turns into something much more honest...
Sunset had painted Young Investigations' windows orange when I pulled into the parking lot. As I knew it would be, Yvette's El Camino was in its usual spot, the glossy black paint reflecting the security lights that had just flickered on. I gathered the aromatic bags from Surin of Thailand and headed to her office suite.
Yvette forgot to eat when she was deep in a case.
I used my key and stepped inside. All the lights burned bright despite the empty desks. Papers and photos littered every surface, a testament to a day spent chasing leads. Bell Biv Devoe's “Poison” pumped from the Bluetooth speakers on top of the file cabinet in Yvette's office.
She still played loud music after hours. She used to say it helped her drown out distractions, that it was a kind of mental white noise. These days, I was sure it drowned out a lot more.
Yvette sat cross-legged at her desk, her boots kicked off, reading glasses perched on her nose. This was my favorite version of her—guard down, comfortable in her own space.
I knocked on the door frame, but she was already aware that I had arrived. The volume on the music lowered to a reasonable decibel. “I hope you remembered crispy spring rolls,” she said without looking up.
“And extra soy sauce.”
I dropped the bags in the kitchen and started pulling out containers. “Young, when's the last time you ate?”
She thought about it too long. “Define...ate.”
“Consumed more than a donut and coffee.” I eyed the pink box sitting on the counter in the kitchen. I flipped it open, shaking my head at the crumbs and tissue paper sitting at the bottom. I tossed the box into the garbage. “What's with all the paper? Is this all Miller Creek stuff?”
“Yup. Deep dive into public records...” She trailed off, obviously not intending to answer my question. Which was fine; attorneys never ask questions when they don't already know the answer. “What did you get?”
“Pad Thai, extra spicy, extra peanuts.”
A smile flickered as she unfolded her legs and climbed out of the chair. She grabbed the nearest container and cracked the lid, huffing steam and the scent of well-prepared Asian cuisine.
“Reminds me of Thai Bowl…remember? At Fort Campbell?”
“Where you tried to convince the cook to make it spicier every time? Pretty sure he was worried about you.”
“No one believes me when I say you build a tolerance.” I watched her dig into the dish with a plastic fork and rake a mouthful of noodles into her mouth like she hadn't eaten in days. “Lounge?” she suggested, after she swallowed. “There's a Bones marathon on.”
“You still watch that show?”
“Don't judge me,” she said, laughing as she dropped to the couch.
“I just think you can do better than reruns.”
“It's relatable. Woman with trauma, emotionally repressed, way too much brain for her own good." She tipped her head at me. “Grab a couple Cokes from the fridge.”
A TV mounted on the wall played quietly. She curled into one corner of the couch, feet tucked under her. I parked myself on the other end of the sofa. Not too close, but not too far and popped open both Cokes. She flipped through channels until Dr. Brennan appeared on screen, then dropped the remote on the table and picked up a spring roll, dipping it into a chili sauce before taking a bite.
“You don't like NCIS,” she said, chewing. “You don't like Bones. I'm starting to believe there's not a single procedural that meets your high standards.”
“Procedurals are alright,” I argued. “I like Bones. I complain about it for different reasons than I complain about NCIS.”
“Such as?”
“Such as...” I flicked my eyes up to the screen, then blew on a forkful of noodles before putting them in my mouth. I chewed, then continued. “Them two fools dancing around feelings they won't acknowledge. Everybody knows from episode two that they want each other. Even them."
“That's the draw of the show. The B-story is the mutual denial, and the question of the week, every week is will they or won't they?” She licked chili sauce from her thumb. “The only reason procedurals make it past season one is delayed gratification.”
“I know all about that, don't I?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them. And instead of correcting my intent, pretending I didn't mean something I fully meant, I let them hang.
On the TV, Booth and Brennan examined a skeleton, their banter filling the silence I'd created. I watched her eat a few bites, then she said, “You’re saying we’re Booth and Brennan.”
“Aren’t we?” I asked her. “Isn't that why you love this show? It's the TV version of you and me. But Wesley and Yvette have had way more seasons of will they or won't they than Bones ever had.”
She set down her container and turned to face me. “Wesley—”
“I'm just saying what we both know.” I set my container down as well, resting my elbows on my knees. "We've been circling this drain for years. Question is, how long are we gonna keep pretending there isn't this...thing between us? When are we gonna make the move those fictional people made so we can have what they have?"
“We're not characters on a TV show.”
“No, we're not. We're real people who've been pretending for way longer than either of us will admit that we don't feel what we feel. At least one of us is. Eventually, Brennan stopped running.”
“Brennan had good reasons for running. Abandonment issues. Trust problems.”
“Haven't I already proven that I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere? We already act like we're together half the time. I bring you dinner when you forget to eat. You call me when you can't sleep or need to talk over a case. Even when it’s not mine. I have a key to your office. You painted my den.”
“That's because—”
“Because we care about each other as more than friends,” I broke in, taking over her sentence. I grabbed her hand and traced her knuckles with my thumb. “It is okay to admit that, Yvette.”
She was quiet for a long moment, studying our joined hands. On the screen, Booth was making some joke that had Brennan rolling her eyes, but neither of us was really watching anymore.
“What if we try and it ruins what we have?”
“We've already seen each other at our worst and still chose to stay in each other's lives. You think a relationship is scarier than investigating war crimes? We've both dealt with life-and-death situations. And what if we don't try and we spend the rest of our lives wondering what we could have had?”
I shifted closer, so close that I could feel the warmth radiating from her skin. “What if we try and it's everything we wanted it to be?”
She didn't pull away. Instead, her free hand came up to rest against my chest, right over my heart. “You make it sound so easy, Payne.”
“And I know it's not. But maybe it doesn't have to be as complicated as we're making it." I brought our joined hands up between us. "I'm not proposing, Vette. I'm just asking you to stop running from me.”
Her eyes flicked to my mouth, then back up. “And if I say…” She bobbed her head side to side. “I might take off my Nikes...what happens next?”
“You let me kiss you. We build from there.”
She laughed, soft and breathless. “You got it all figured out.”
“I've got exactly nothing figured out except that I want you, Yvette. And I want you to want me too.”
She started to laugh at the Marvin Gaye lyric I honestly hadn't meant to drop in there. While she was off guard, I closed the distance between us and dropped my mouth onto hers.
Her lips were soft, warm, and she tasted faintly of chili and lime.
Jesus. Finally.
Years of wanting this, imagining this… nothing had prepared me for the reality of kissing Yvette Young. Every fantasy I'd had paled compared to the sensation of her mouth opening and her tongue slipping against mine. The moan she let slip out when I deepened the kiss imprinted on me so strongly that I knew I'd be replaying it for weeks.
Her body tilted into mine, the kiss spiraling higher and higher. The half surprise, half gasp when I cupped her face in my hands and she fisted my shirt sent a live wire straight to my dick.
I shifted slightly, trying not to make it obvious. The last thing I needed was for her to be uncomfortably aware of how much I wanted to pull her across the couch and cover her body with mine.
Our lips parted, though reluctantly. A surge of exhilaration rushed through me when I realized our chests were rising and falling rapidly in tandem.
Yvette rested her forehead against mine while she caught her breath, a gesture that spoke volumes. “Damn,” she whispered, the word rushing past my ear.
I ran my thumb along her jawline, marveling at how right this felt. “Damn…that was good? Or damn, I didn't mean for that to happen?”
She pulled back, absentmindedly brushing her fingers across her lips. “Damn, that was not...weird, weird. Just... I...”
For the first time since I'd known her, Yvette seemed genuinely at a loss for words. She sat there, lips parted, two fingertips ghosting the path my mouth had taken.
“I promise I didn't come here to do all that.” I shifted again, needing the space. “So it wasn't 'let's never do that again' weird, was it? You liked that?”
“The rumors about you are still true, Payne,” she said, bringing back the patented Yvette Young smirk. “I liked that.”
She gave me a look that said I knew exactly what she was talking about. And I did. Military bases were worse than high schools when it came to gossip.
I was on a road that converged, and the way I wanted to go was not the best route to take. I couldn't just sit there, though, hard as shit, pretending I hadn't just kissed the woman I'd wanted more than anything for as long as I could remember.
“Well, uh…” I stood, running a palm over my head. “I should probably head out. I have court in the—”
“You didn't even finish eating,” she said, catching my wrist. “Don't leave. Not yet.”
The plea in her voice stopped me cold. I looked down at her, hair slightly mussed from where my fingers had been, lips still swollen from the pressure of mine pressed against them.
"I promise, I'm not leaving because I want to," I said. "I'm leaving because if I don't, parts of me are going to be very upset at not experiencing more of you.” I let my eyes drift down her body, past her breasts, to her thighs and shapely calves and back up. “And…sorry to be so direct, but…”
I sighed, contemplating the next few words. Then going for it. “When I finally get to fuck you, it won't be on the couch in your office."
Her eyes widened slightly. “When you…finally get to...”
“Yeah,” I said, leaning in to kiss her again. “Because we both know this isn't me scratching an itch or satisfying a curiosity.”
I'd almost made it to the door when I heard her speak my name.
“Wesley.”
I turned, bracing for her to run again. “Yeah, Vette.”
“Thank you.” She looked down, then back up at me, eyes shining, wringing her hands. “For bringing me dinner. For always taking care of me, even when I push back against you taking care of me. For... not making me choose between holding onto Jason and...”
She gestured vaguely between us.
I gave her a cursory nod, encouraged. “Take all the time you need, Yvette. But please know that this is not casual for me. It could never be with you.”
Driving home, I replayed the evening like a bad bootleg—the conversation I hadn't meant to have, in the way I hadn't meant to have it. I'd gone to see her out of habit, a reflex to check in on the ones you love and instead I'd fumbled us both into fresh territory.
At every red light, I muttered a fervent prayer that we would keep moving in the same direction, because… fuck.
I could not take not having her anymore.
I had reason to celebrate, though. Yvette Young had let me taste those lips.
Missing Persons will be available late summer. If you enjoyed this sample, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
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