OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE Read online

  He settled into the empty chair and slung a beefy arm over the back of hers. “I beg to differ. Boring women don’t venture into strip clubs.”

  Unless they didn’t know what the place was until they were already inside. She thought the restaurant’s name, A Little Spice, referred to the food it served there, not the women.

  “I’ll bet you’re a real wildcat in bed,” her date surmised with what she could only assume was suppose to be a sexy wriggle of his uni-brow.

  She wasn’t even going to go there. If it weren’t for her determination to finish her dating survival guide and her love for her mother, she would have stopped going on these disaster dates her mother and Nanci were constantly setting her up on. This had to be her mother’s worse matchmaking attempt yet. And there had been a lot of really bad ones to compare it to.

  “Excuse me,” she said, preparing for her escape.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I, uh, need to freshen up.” Or puke. This guy was giving her the creeps. She took the closest route of escape – the stairs.

  “Hurry back, Red,” he called after her.

  “You can count on it,” she said with a forced smile.

  Turning, she raced up the stairs, relieved to find she had the ladies room all to herself. Not that she should be surprised. The only women in the place, other than herself, were those employed by the lounge. And they were all busy downstairs working their tables. Or the stage.

  If anyone she knew had seen her come into this place, she was going to die of embarrassment. It had looked so normal and restaurant-like on the outside. The dilemma now was how to get out of there without being seen. Jack was just sleazy enough to be the kind of guy who would follow her home in hopes of getting ‘lucky’ with a redhead.

  No way was she taking that chance. Maybe she could just stay in the ladies room until the club was ready to close. Then again, her date was just sleazy enough to come into the restroom to find her. Scratch that idea.

  “Come on, Kelsie, think,” she muttered anxiously.

  A gentle breeze drifted in through the open window beside her, spurring an idea. She stepped over to it, smiling when she saw the sprawling oak branches nestled against the backside of the building. This was it. The perfect escape.

  No need to try and slip past her date downstairs. No worry about being seen by any passersby while leaving what had turned out to be a flesh palace. She could just climb down the tree outside and go have that bottle of wine Nanci had promised to save for her.

  She hurried to remove the window screen, setting it against the wall below the sash. Then she slipped off her heels and dropped them out the window, watching as they landed safely on the grass below. Climbing down would be much easier to do barefoot. Not to mention faster.

  She secured her purse over her shoulder before climbing up onto the window ledge. Thankfully, she had chosen to wear her good jeans to dinner that night. Descending a tree in a skirt wouldn’t have been an easy feat. But considering what awaited her downstairs, she would have made the climb anyway.

  Choosing the sturdier of the two limbs by the window, she backed out onto it, hugging it tight as she began her descent. Legs locked securely around the branch, Kelsie smiled as she scooted backwards. This truly was the perfect date escape.

  Or maybe not. Halfway across the limb, her plan hit a snag.

  Literally.

  *

  Not even five minutes after she’d called Nanci from her cell phone to plead for help, her friend was there. Thank goodness she’d been able to reach her. She’d hate to have had to call her mother for help instead.

  “That was fast,” Kelsie told her as she looked down from the branch she was clinging to.

  Nanci stood staring up at her from the base of the tree, arms crossed in a not-so-happy fashion, Kelsie’s discarded heels dangling from her extended fingertips. “Lucky for you I live so close and, more importantly, that I wasn’t on a date.”

  “Believe me, I’ve already told myself that.”

  “What I can’t believe is that you’re really stuck in a tree. I’m telling you, Kelsie, you’re going to get yourself killed writing that damn book of yours.”

  She was in no position to argue at that moment. Not that Nanci was about to let her get a word in edgewise anyway.

  “Climbing out of a second story window onto a tree,” her best friend continued to rant below her. “What in the hell were you thinking?”

  “I told you why I did this when I called you for help. I know it was a crazy thing to do, but I had no choice,” she replied in her own defense.

  “Now that I see how high up you are in person, I think I would have chosen to be stalked by Gold Boy instead.”

  “Not if you’d spent two seconds with him. Besides, I climbed a lot of trees growing up. This one isn’t any different.”

  “Except for the fact that you’re not climbing up or down it,” Nanci was quick to point out. “You’re stuck!”

  “For your information Operation: Date Escape is going to help a lot of women.”

  “Help them do what? Break their necks?”

  “I’ll admit this escape has some flaws that still need worked out, but I’d really prefer to work on them down there.” She pointed to the ground.

  Her friend clicked her tongue. “I should leave you up there just to teach you a lesson.”

  “Nanci,” she pleaded with a nervous glance up at the strip club’s open window.

  “Help is on the way. Just hang on.”

  As if she had a choice. Not when a spiny branch held the lacy back of her new blouse hostage. So far, any attempt to free herself had resulted in the sound of tearing, not to mention the strain it put on the buttons at the front of the delicate emerald green blouse she’d worn. One had already popped free, exposing more of her Victoria’s Secret assisted cleavage than she cared to share with the world. Dialing her cell phone had been hard enough. Attempting to rebutton her top was out of the question.

  “This is so embarrassing,” she groaned.

  Her friend’s frown gave way to a smile. “I suppose there is a good side to this.”

  “And that would be?”

  “The fact that it’s dusk.”

  “What’s so great about that?”

  “It means you’re less noticeable up there. Another positive is that you chose a tree behind the strip club to climb down instead of one on the main street.”

  “I wouldn’t be that stupid.” Then again, she was dangling from a tree just outside of A Little Spice’s second floor ladies restroom. It didn’t get much worse than that.

  “I’m biting my tongue down here. You do realize that, don’t you?”

  “Smart girl,” she said, shifting slightly to get a better view of her friend through the finger-like branches. “Now which guy from your little black book is coming to our rescue?”

  “Your rescue,” her friend corrected as she peered up at her. “And the answer to your question would be none.”

  “What do you mean?” Kelsie’s hands ached from holding on so tight, as did her inner thighs, which were locked in a death grip around the branch beneath her. “You just said help is on the way.”

  “It is. I called 911.”

  Nanci’s announcement nearly had her toppling off the branch she was straddling. “You didn’t.”

  Silence.

  “Nanci, please tell me you didn’t.”

  “I did. Hmm…I wonder if Stud Muffin’s on duty.”

  Kelsie spewed out threats of murder, but they were drowned out by the whining of sirens as two fire trucks, a red car with a flashing light on its roof and an ambulance flew single file up the narrow alleyway, coming to a stop at the edge of the porno restaurant’s backyard.

  “Oh, hell.” Kelsie hung her head, resting her brow on the limb she was draped over. Please, God, don’t let Cole Maxwell be working today.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “More exciting than a cat I suppose,” Joe muttered to Cole as
they pulled up behind A Little Spice.

  “I can’t believe we had to cut dinner short again to rescue some woman who got herself stuck in a tree.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  He looked toward the building. “What’s she doing up in that tree anyway?”

  Joe shrugged. “I’ve seen stranger.”

  True.

  Cole glanced out the ladder truck’s freshly washed window and caught sight of a tall, slender woman standing in the shadows cast by a large oak tree.

  “Maybe it’s a publicity stunt for the new strip club,” Stubby said over the headset from the back seat of the vehicle.

  “Strip club?” Joe repeated.

  “Not that I’ve been in it,” Stubby said in his own defense. “I’ve just heard rumors that’s what this place is now.”

  “If so, a publicity stunt to draw in business wouldn’t surprise me a bit,” Cole replied. “Only one way to find out.” He reached for the passenger door handle.

  The three of them exited the Ladder truck, while the rest of their unit did the same, all making their way over to the woman waiting in the shadows.

  “Hurry,” she called out, waving them over. “My friend’s over here.”

  That voice. There was something very familiar about it. Too familiar.

  Cole stepped around Joe and groaned. Sure enough, it was Nanci with an ‘i’, Kelsie’s friend from the bar and grill. He didn’t even have to look up to know who the woman was in the tree above him.

  “Cole,” Nanci chirped, sounding a lot less frantic than she had when she’d been flagging them over. “I’m so glad you’re on duty.”

  “Must be your lucky night,” he replied.

  “Not hers,” she said. Looking up into the tree, Nanci cupped her hands to her mouth and called out. “Kelsie, your knight in shining armor’s here.”

  There was a muffled groan above him.

  His gaze moved slowly upward and stopped. Sure enough, even in the settling darkness, there was no missing the flame-colored hair catching in the evening breeze. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

  “Kelsie?”

  After a very long pause, she finally replied in a defeated sigh, “Yeah.”

  She didn’t appear to be injured. Despite knowing that, he couldn’t keep the concern from his voice. “Are you alright?”

  “Just perfect.”

  The sarcasm in her tone calmed him enough to have him fighting a grin. “Great. Let’s see what we can do about getting you down.”

  Joe craned his neck to look up. “So that’s your Little Cupcake, huh?”

  Nanci brought a hand to her mouth, muffling her laughter, clearly amused by Cole’s soon-to-be ex-best friend.

  Snickers and snorts erupted from the rest of his crew. Thanks to that big mouth from Station 24, they all knew this was the woman he’d been kissing in the emergency room.

  Cole turned to them, one lone dark brow raised in warning. “Not one word. In case you’ve all forgotten, we’ve got a job to do.” Hell, someone had to maintain a level of professionalism at this call.

  The Lieutenant clasped a firm hand on Cole’s shoulder and said with a grin, “She’s all yours, oh, knight in shining armor.”

  And to think he’d given up Joe’s chili, hot off the stove, for this. He stepped closer to the tree and called out to Kelsie again.

  “Yeah?”

  “Just hold on.”

  “You can count on it.”

  Sort of like how he could count on her being in some sort of predicament every time they crossed paths. People began to gather around to see what all the excitement was about.

  To make matters worse, a news truck pulled up behind the parked emergency vehicles.

  Damn.

  “Clear the area,” he instructed his unit, then turned his attention back to Kelsie. “Can you climb down?” he asked, experience prompting the question.

  Some people had a tendency to panic at the thought of being brought down by someone else and ended up coming down on their own.

  The leaves on the branch Kelsie clung to shuddered as she shifted to peer down at him from over the branch. The look she gave him was nothing short of glaring. “If I could, would I be hanging here in complete humiliation?”

  “Boy, someone’s a little cranky this evening,” Joe muttered.

  Cole gave him a firm jab in the ribs with his elbow.

  “Oh, don’t mind her,” Nanci said, flashing Joe the same flirtatious smile she’d used on Cole that night at Casey’s. Joe had better watch out. “She gets that way once in a while. It’s the red hair.”

  “Can we leave my hair out of this and get me down from here?” Kelsie demanded impatiently, obviously having grown tired of her perch.

  “Hang on,” he calmly instructed. “We’ll have you down before you know it.”

  Joe nodded. “I’ll get the truck, but you’re going up after her. I think she bites.”

  “I heard that!” Kelsie exclaimed, but Joe was already on his way across the yard to get the ladder truck, laughing as he went.

  Cole’s gaze shifted back to the China doll dangling above him. It was hard to remain professional and keep the grin from his face. Rescuing Kelsie from sticky situations seemed to be becoming a habit with him.

  His friend eased the ladder truck up to the rear of the building until it was close enough to the sprawling tree for the bucket to access the branch Kelsie had somehow gotten herself stranded on.

  He signaled for Joe to stop and then climbed up onto the truck, making his way into the bucket at the end off the ladder. Reaching for the control panel, he called out to Kelsie, “I’m on my way. Don’t let go until I tell you to.”

  “Even if I did, this tree has other plans for me,” she told him as he drew near. “My shirt is caught on the branch above me.”

  He raised the bucket, moving in her direction as quickly as he could. There was no telling how long she had been up there and he didn’t want to risk exhaustion causing her to lose her grasp.

  The first thing that greeted him was her shapely, jean-clad backside. Okay, so occasionally the job did have its perks. Grinning, he raised the bucket just a little higher. Sure enough, the lace shirt she wore was pulled taut by several branch tips that had worked their way in through the sheer material.

  “Hooked you good,” he said as he reached out to un-snare her.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Just give me a sec and I’ll have you free.”

  He maneuvered one branch tip at a time out of the lace, ignoring the chorus of ‘Someday my prince will come…’ ringing out below him.

  Kelsie groaned. “Friends of yours?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted with a shake of his head. Freeing the last bit of lace, he straightened. “They appear to be bonding well with your friend.” Nanci had just joined in with the all-male chorus below.

  “Yeah, well, she’s dead when I get down from here.”

  He glanced down at Joe and his Merry Men in blue. “I might very well be sitting in jail with you.” Turning his attention back to Kelsie, he asked with a grin, “You work here?”

  If looks could kill…

  He chuckled. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Let’s get you into the bucket here before the news crew figures out a way to get close enough to snap a picture of you.”

  “News?” she shrieked.

  He nodded. “Just pulled up.”

  “Oh, God. I think I’d rather you just leave me up in this tree.”

  He gave another husky chuckle. “I have no intention of leaving you up here. If you’re worried about the media, you can hide your face in my shirt when I take you down.”

  “Are you always this accommodating?”

  “It depends. Would that make me too perfect?”

  “Sorry to tell you, but you’ve moved beyond perfect in my book,” she replied as he helped her into the bucket.

  “Damn. I was afraid of that.” He kept a firm grip on her arm until she was safely inside.
“Almost there.”

  She nodded shakily.

  The second he released her to stand on her own, her legs gave way beneath her. He caught her, bringing her up against him. “You okay?”

  She clung to him. “My legs are just a little weak from hanging on to that branch for so long. I’ll be fine.”

  Not willing to take any chances, he continued to hold her as he lowered the bucket. “I’m almost afraid to ask what you were doing up there in the first place.”

  Heat rushed to her cheeks. “I was sort of attempting to get out of”

  “A bad date?” he finished for her.

  She nodded.

  “Ever hear of leaving by the front door?”

  “I had my reasons for leaving the way I did.” Research for her book being one of them. Safely ditching her date another. But she wasn’t in the mood for explanations. Needless to say, this escape plan would not be going into her survival guide. That is, unless she added a chapter of date escape not-to-do’s. The only good thing to happen that night was that the floor show that had begun when she’d headed upstairs had kept her date too distracted to notice she hadn’t returned yet.

  “You know,” he said with a lone dimpled grin that made her legs weaker than they already were, “if you’re trying to get me to go out with you, all you have to do is ask.”

  “What?”

  “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble to get my attention.” He wriggled his dark brows playfully. “You’ve already got it.”

  Kelsie pushed him away. “I was not trying to get your attention.”

  “That so?”

  Legs still not cooperating, she was forced to grab for Cole’s shirt to steady herself again. “That’s so!”

  “Then I guess you dressed that way to impress your not-so-perfect date,” he said with grin. “Lucky guy.”

  She followed his gaze downward to discover two more of the buttons on her lace shirt had come undone, revealing more than an eyeful of flesh. With an embarrassed gasp, she pulled the gaping material together and fumbled to work the buttons back through their holes. But her trembling fingers refused to cooperate.

  “Here,” he said, pushing her hands away. He quickly rebuttoned her shirt and then drew her to him as the bucket settled onto the back of the truck. “Camera pointed our way,” he said in a tight whisper.