Lana piled into her car, headed toward Eighth Street and parked in front of the jail. Thankfully, the sidewalks were free of snow as she made her way inside. She’d met with Anna numerous times, but she wanted to make sure her testimony didn’t contradict itself when it came time to take the stand, or should she say if she took the stand. Since Lana had another week left of vacation, she had time to stop by now that skiing had been crossed off the agenda. After the usual wait, she was ushered in to a secure room. Her heart sickened every time she met with Anna. Abuse was insidious.
A guard escorted the prisoner in. While the cuts and bruising were no longer evident, her spirit seemed to sink lower each time they met. “Have a seat, Anna.”
“Is there anything new in the case?” Her face was gaunt and her hair dirty and stringy.
“No. I just wanted to go over your testimony one more time.”
“Oh.” As Anna discussed the years of abuse, the same question kept forming. Why hadn’t she left him? “If you do get to testify, the prosecutor might ask why you didn’t go to a shelter when you had the chance.”
“I left once, but Ross found me within two days. The beating he gave me that time nearly killed me. Look it up. I was in the hospital for four days after that. He had all the money, and I had nothing. During the time I was gone, I realized I couldn’t leave the kids.”
“Did he ever treat them poorly?” Her husband was an upstanding citizen in Spirit.
“No. Ross never would have hurt the kids, but I couldn’t live without my babies.”
With their mom in jail and no relatives to speak of, her children were already with Social Services. The kids would have been better off with the dad. “Describe the night you shot him.”
Lana had heard the story so many times, she could almost give the testimony herself, but if Anna could portray a desperate woman, the jury might be more sympathetic. She prayed they’d see that if Anna hadn’t grabbed the gun and shot the bastard that he would have killed her first. If only Anna had had the guts to hide someplace safe and taken her kids with her, she’d be free now.
Once she finished telling her saga, she assured Anna that she’d do her best at the trial. “Keep your hopes up.”
Every time she finished speaking with one of her clients, whether it was a sad case like this one, or one in which the person deserved to spend the rest of his miserable life in jail, she got a little angrier that someone in society had let her client down. Why couldn’t parents just love their kids, no strings attached?
* * * *
Jake had come home late last night and only now told Cal about Lana’s accident. He subtly grabbed his brother’s arm. Cal didn’t want any of the customers in their store to think he and Jake were having a fight. “So how is she?” He kept his voice down.
Even though Lana was a year ahead of him in school, he’d watched his brother flirt with her all through their senior year. He couldn’t blame Jake. Sure, Lana had cut her waist-length blonde hair so that now it kissed her shoulders, but she still had the same long legs and perfect breasts that he wanted to dive into. Her head came to his shoulders, which to him was the perfect-height woman to kiss and make love to.
Too bad she never gave Cal the time of day. He couldn’t blame her, though. She was beautiful, sweet, and super smart, and he was the same guy from school, only now he owned a store. So what if thirteen years had passed. He still wanted her. She was responsible, passionate, and, as God was his witness, the hottest woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Lana Dupree was who he went to bed dreaming about.
“She’s fine. The concussion worried me, which was one of the reasons I went over there last night. She’ll be on crutches for a few days, that’s all.”
A kid who looked to be about ten and his mom came over to them. “Are you the one to show my son how to rock climb?”
As the owner of Martin’s Sporting Goods, he got that question a lot. He nodded to Jake. “That would be my brother. He’ll take good care of you.” Darn. He wanted to talk more about Lana.
Jake patted the kid on the shoulder. “How are you doing, buddy? Have you ever climbed a rock before?”
“Yes.”
“Well, great. Let’s go see what you can do.”
The trio left. If Jake would agree to wear the damned polo with the store name emblazoned on the shirt, the customers would have an easier time identifying him.
As Cal reorganized and straightened the jackets on the rack, he studied Jake. His brother had an affinity for working with kids. There was no doubt in his mind that the man missed his calling. If he’d gotten his act together and gone to college, he would have made a great teacher.
“Excuse me.”
Cal inwardly groaned. While he loved the business, he hadn’t had time to do any of the books today. He faced the customer and smiled. “How many I help you?”
A petite woman with light blue eyes and long dark hair looked around. “I’m new in town. In fact, I’m from Florida, and as you can imagine I need everything.”
“Can you narrow down everything?” Cal tried to keep a straight face.
“I need a coat, boots, gloves, and a scarf. Like I said, everything.”
“Come right over here.” New in town implied she was moving here. “What brings you to Spirit?”
“I inherited my aunt’s store.” Her cheeks colored. “It’s Miss Melanie’s Spirit Emporium.”
He had to school his features. He wondered what a cute thing like her would be doing owning a sex store, but then he remembered that Melanie had recently passed away. “My name is Cal Martin. It’s always nice to meet another entrepreneur.”
She held out her hand. “Casey Charles.”
As he escorted Casey to the women’s section, he kept his eye on his brother. The kid at the indoor climbing wall seemed to be doing well. That didn’t surprise him. One thing Jake was excellent at was instilling confidence in children of all types. That was probably because Jake had confidence to spare. Or maybe it was because Jake was just a big kid himself.
Casey stopped at the coat rack. “I like this one. Is it warm?”
If she came from Florida, she’d want a down jacket. “I think this will serve you better.”
“Okay. I’ll just look around if you don’t mind.”
“When you’re ready to try on the boots, let me know.”
These last few weeks had been so hectic that he needed Jake to come in earlier more than ever. While his brother was great with the climbing wall and the skiing simulator, he rarely ever rang up a customer and never paid attention to store hours.
As soon as his brother finished with the kid, Cal planned to extract more information on Lana. Twisting a knee could put her out of commission for a while. Knowing her, she’d be totally freaking out. She was the type who was always on the go. Perhaps she’d like a friendly face to stop on by and keep her company. His energy boosted thinking about seeing her again.
The pretty brunette waved, and he trotted over. “Decide what you want?”
“These boots. I’m a size five.”
“Coming right up.”
In the back, he located that pair along with a few others in her size she might like. He waited while she tried them on. Only then did he notice Sin and Evan Parker. His two good friends were staring at Casey. From the way they were leaning into each other and chatting, they found her attractive.
“I’ll take these.” Casey waved the boots.
“I’ll ring you up in front.” He was curious what the Parker brothers intended to do. Hell, if he wasn’t so hung up on Lana, he might ask Casey out himself.
She handed him her credit card and he rang up the charge. After he bagged her purchases, she glanced at the brothers, and with her head held high, she breezed right on by. No sooner had she stepped foot on High Country Boulevard when the brothers charged up to him.
“Details, man. We want details.” Evan crossed his arms over his chest.
Cal laughed and put away some receipts. “I gues
s you’re interested, huh? According to her credit card, her name is Casey Charles. I helped her pick out a coat, boots, gloves, and scarf. She arrived in Spirit this morning from Florida. She’s Miss Melanie’s niece. Came to take over the sex shop.”
“Casey.” Evan said it with awe in his voice.
Sin gave him a twisted smile. “Poor thing was cold, huh?” He nudged his brother. “We should offer to keep her warm, Ev. Seems like the neighborly thing to do.”
Evan laughed. “We are definitely going to cuddle with that girl. Watch out, Casey. You’ll never be cold again.”
Cal nodded to Sin. “We need to schedule a time to go skeet shooting again.” It wasn’t fair that Jake got to go off whenever he wanted. The two of them did own the store fifty-fifty.
“Absolutely. I’ll check my calendar and get back with you.”
“You do that.”
Cal laughed as his two friends exited the store. Poor girl had no idea how her life was about to change.
He busied himself with some other customers, and as soon as Jake finished with one kid on the climbing wall, another one appeared. At least the second kid bought some climbing shoes.
By the time 5:00 p.m. rolled around, he was ready to shut the doors. Once the last customer left, Jake hopped up on the counter.
“That was a long day.”
His brother had come in at 1:00 p.m. How did four hours constitute a long day? “You should take cash register duty sometime.”
Jake laughed. “I got the hard job, bro. I can’t relax for a second when the kids are on the wall. Belaying takes concentration.”
He didn’t doubt it. “What are you doing tonight?” He thought perhaps they could stop by Lana’s.
“I’m meeting someone.”
“Lana?” He held his breath, wondering if they’d hooked up already. His cock got hard thinking about delving into her sweet pussy.
His gaze shot to the side for a second. “No.” Jake hopped down. “Later.”
His brother scooted out the door and left him to close up. He didn’t know why his brother was acting so weird lately. For once Jake’s disappearing act was in his favor. He’d go see Lana by himself.
It took him close to an hour to make sure the receipts matched the cash in the drawer. He locked up and headed to The Happy Buck restaurant. He’d called ahead and ordered a large vegan meal. Lana used to be a vegetarian in high school, and since he had no idea if she still was, to be safe, he went the full vegan route.
He picked up the meal and drove to her house. When she’d stopped in his store a few months ago, she’d filled out a form for a magazine, so her address was on file. He was pleased she only lived about six blocks away.
Cal pulled in front of her house and cut the engine, happy that Jake hadn’t lied to him and had stopped over here himself. Her lights were blazing inside. Good. He could only hope she hadn’t eaten. He wiped his hands down his pants and got out of the car. The air had a decided chill to it, almost as if a storm was brewing.
Go.
The worst that could happen would be that she’d already eaten or that she had company. If that were the case, he’d hand her the meal and tell her to heat it up the next day. Cal inhaled and trotted up to the steps and rang the bell. His goal was to take it slow. A dinner tonight, a date when she got better, and then bang, he’d tell her how he really felt.
Chapter Three
Again? Lana’s doorbell hadn’t been pressed this much since she moved in six years ago. She removed the ice pack from her knee and picked up the crutches off the floor. “Be right there.”
A series of names raced through her brain from Selena to Jake to any number of her coworkers. She hobbled to the side window and peeked through the curtain. Cal? Whoa. Nice. He’d not been on her list, but she couldn’t be more thrilled. His broad shoulders and serious demeanor struck all the right chords with her. She’d hinted once that they go out, but he never took her up on her offer.
She opened the door. “If it isn’t Cal Martin! Come in, come in.” The wonderful aroma reached her before she spotted the Happy Buck bag in his hand. “Don’t tell me you brought dinner.”
She’d been contemplating what she was going to fix when he appeared.
He waved the bag. “I didn’t know if you were still a vegetarian so I decided to play it safe.”
She chuckled at how similar he and his brother were. “You and Jake have awesome memories. For the record, I gave up being a vegetarian a while ago, but I still relish a good meal.”
A bit of red colored his handsome face, though it could have been the cold air. He stepped in and closed the door. His light-brown hair was cut shorter than Jake’s, and while Cal’s soft-blue eyes spoke of romantic dinners and tender caresses, she hadn’t expected her body to react to his presence. Maybe it was the fact his shoulders were as broad as Jake’s that had her juices flowing. Cal’s face held more symmetry than his brother’s, but that might have been because Jake had broken his nose doing one of his stunts senior year.
Cal looked around. “Nice place.”
Now she felt a little bad that she’d never had him over. That was probably because she didn’t want to start something with one and not the other. Besides, both she and Cal were workaholics. They’d never have found the time to date. “Thanks.” Using the damned crutches, she inched her way back to the sofa. “Make yourself at home. I’m just icing my knee.”
Cal was the Martin brother she admired, but after his dad died, he’d almost become a hermit, working on the store and making it a total success.
“Jake told me about your accident. Sorry to hear about it.”
She waved a hand. “It happens.”
“I figured making a meal would be hard, so Jake and I got you another dinner.”
Jake? “Is he coming?” Her stomach flipped and tiny tingles poked her pussy. Damn. She was not attracted to him. Cal was more her style.
“No. He had another appointment, but he sends his best.”
She tried to ignore the disappointment running through her, though why she was even remotely upset when a fabulous replacement had come, she didn’t know. Cal moved into the kitchen, and if the door banging was any indication, he seemed as confident about looking around as Jake had been. There was an air about Cal she found intriguing. When he was in his store, he was always so polite, but something about him told her that outside the store he wasn’t quite the same type of person. He seemed to be someone who had to control his inner beast.
“How’s business going?” She had to raise her voice since he was out of sight.
“Too good.”
She chuckled. “When my boss says that it means there have been too many crimes.”
Cal came out with a tray filled with dishes, silverware, napkins, and glasses. “You want to eat at the coffee table?”
Since she needed to finish icing her knee, that worked best for her. “If you don’t mind.” He laid out the meal, and she had to laugh. “I hope you have a big appetite. What did you do? Expect ten for dinner?”
His grin tumbled her insides. Cal Martin had grown into a hunk of a man. “I thought you’d like leftovers.” He nodded to her knee.
“That’s so thoughtful.”
He helped her fix her plate then handed her the food. Once his plate was full, he leaned back in the chair. In companionable silence, they both gobbled their meal. She could almost imagine doing this every night. Cal or maybe Jake would be sharing a meal with her and they’d talk about their work. After they both cleaned up and had a nice, relaxing glass of wine, they’d tease each other and end up naked in bed.
Hmm. Would Cal be the type to chain her to the bed and fuck her silly? Or would he kiss her slowly and thoroughly without letting her touch his glorious cock until he’d made her come over and over again?
Her damn pussy dampened. Stop it.
“I don’t know when I’ve taken the time to eat this well,” he said.
That wasn’t a good sign. “Your business must
really be taking up all your time.”
“Jake is so busy on the slopes or doing his thing that I sometimes get swamped.”
She didn’t like the pain lacing his tone. “You have help, right?”
“Yes. A new guy, Von North, is awesome, but he often is doing one of the adventure tours. I do the books and run the cash register. It would be nice if Jake could spend more time in the store.” He waved a hand and smiled. “I didn’t come here to bash my brother. I came to find out how you’ve been. It’s been forever since we’ve caught up. How is the Witcolm case coming?”
She cocked a brow. “How did you hear about that?” Had he been following her career? Prickles of delight raced up her spine.
“Ross Witcolm was a regular at my store. When his wife shot him, it was all anyone talked about.”
Damn. And here she thought he was interested in her. “I was afraid of that. I might have to get a change in venue.” While she couldn’t discuss the case with him, she was curious on his take. “What exactly did you hear?”
“Don’t get me started. Anna came into the store with her two kids after one of her beatings. Made my skin crawl. Ross showed up a few days later, wanting to buy a rifle. He said he planned to go hunting, though I was skeptical. When I tried to sell him one of the more popular brands, he kept asking for one with a greater range. What I think he wanted was something closer to a sniper’s rifle.”
Goose bumps covered her arms. “You don’t sell those, do you?”
“No. I questioned him about where he planned to go hunting since hunters don’t usually need something that powerful, but he didn’t have a good answer. I told him I couldn’t help him and that he should try Trapper Bill’s down the street.” Cal slapped his hands against his thighs. “Let’s talk about something more upbeat, shall we?” From the way he was gnawing on his bottom lip, the whole topic of abuse bothered him as much as it did her.
Her Colorado Dreams [Spirit, Colorado 1] Page 3