His Old Lady - Debra Kayn Page 0,79

Especially her.

There was no reason to single her out. He never gave Angela, Stephanie, or Jenna problems the way he had her.

At first, she'd thought he was flirting. She'd made it clear that she wasn't interested. Not because he was her boss, but because she belonged to Curley.

Besides, Cal was not attractive to her. In personality or looks.

She eyed the stop sign up ahead. Her heart raced, prepared to jump out. It wasn't in an area where there were other people, but she'd been stuck in the car long enough. She wanted to go home. Curley was probably worried when he found her gone.

A hundred yards before the sign, Cal turned right. The tires on the vehicle squealed in protest as he took the corner too fast. The moment unseated her, and her shoulder hit Cal's arm.

"Whoa, there." Cal chuckled, straightening the car. "Don't thank me until you see what I've done."

"You haven't done anything, Cal." She perched on the edge of the seat, holding on to the dash. "As soon as you stop, I'm leaving. You could get in a lot of trouble for lying and not letting me go. You need help before the police throw you in prison for what you've done."

Infuriated, she turned her back to him. Waiting for a new spot to make her escape, she realized he'd taken her on the back road through town. There were no stop signs, and the speed stayed at forty-five miles per hour until a block before the lounge.

Cal never stayed the speed limit. He pulled in behind the lounge and slammed the car into Park. She pulled the handle and pushed, ready to run, but the door wouldn't open.

"Let me out." She jerked on the handle. "You can't do this to me."

He got out of the car. Her panic accelerated, and she frantically grabbed the window lever and cranked it around in a circle, over and over. Hope surged as the glass went down.

Cal grabbed her arm and dragged her across the middle console and out the driver's side door of the car. Hitting his bulky middle, she slapped out with her free hand.

He laughed harshly, wrapping his arms around her and pinning her to his front. "Baby, don't fight me. You like surprises. I know you do. Remember when I brought you roses?"

Lifted off the ground, she kicked out, but her soft sneakers caused no damage to his shins. "Put me down."

"Relax, you're going to enjoy this." He breathed over the back of her head as his overweight body struggled to carry her.

Contorting her body, she slammed her head backward, hoping to knock him in the mouth hard enough he'd let her go, but all her attempts hit him in the neck or missed.

Cal opened the back door and set her on her feet. She rushed to go around him to escape. He blocked her way, turning the lock and grabbing her upper arm.

"Don't get yourself all worked up, baby." He led her through the kitchen and out to the lounge. "As you can see, I closed the business today because you're more important to me than making money. It's not every day that it's our anniversary."

Bile rose in her throat. Anniversary?

She clamped her teeth together and said, "You make me sick."

He led her over to the closest booth and forcing her down, made her sit. Stretching her legs, she wondered if there was enough room, she could slide under the table and crawl away from him.

"I brought you something." He pointed in front of her. A sack she hadn't noticed until then sat on the table. It could've come from any grocery store. A brown paper sack, the kind she received while shopping.

"Go ahead. See what I brought you." He scooted the sack closer.

Playing his stupid game, so he'd let her go, and she could call Curley to come to get her, she dragged the sack toward her and reached inside. It was a blue dress.

"What's this?"

"It's yours. Don't you remember?" Cal licked his lips. "You sure looked pretty that day."

"I've never seen this dress before. It's not mine." She flung it across the table.

Call grabbed the dress and pressed it against Faye's chest. "Don't play shy. Try it on."

"I'm not putting on someone else's clothes." She folded her arms, getting more frightened by the second.

Cal had become entirely unhinged. She pushed against the table, sliding out of the booth.

"I'm leaving."

He grabbed her upper arms, squeezing hard enough to elicit a scream of pain. "I