A Safe Place To Fall (The Fall Book 1) (8 page)

Lana whimpered in her sleep. A frown
marred her flawless face. There was no doubt in Drew’s mind
the monster haunted her sleep.

Holding her closer he yearned to be able
to wipe her memory of the creep.

***********************************

Her cell phone buzzing woke Lana from a
deep sleep. She had to look past a sleeping Drew to see the clock
glowing 3:15 A.M. on the night stand.

At that time of night it could only be
Ricky. He was probably giving her hell for not coming home.

One look at the screen revealed that it
definitely was not Ricky.

Unknown caller:
‘Ready
or not, here I come’

Lana yelped and dropped her phone back
on the nightstand on her side of the bed.

NO. NO. NO! Shawn couldn't possibly know
where she was. Nobody, aside from her parents, knew where she'd
decided to go to college.

Rolling over, she buried her face into
Drew’s chest. Strong arms wrapped around her pulling her in
closer. The ocean filled her senses calming her frantic heart.

“Let me guess,” sleep filled
his voice. “That wasn’t Ricky?”

Lana shook her head.

“Maybe, I should call my dad. He's
a cop,” he said.

“No,” she objected. “I’ll
just change my number.”

Drew sighed. “I wish you'd let me
help.”

She dropped a chaste kiss on his bare
chest. “You already are helping.” More than he knew.

“If it continues much longer I
will do something about it,” he warned her. “I’m
really feeling like a road trip to Charleston right now.”

His protectiveness warmed her heart.
Still she could not let him do something that would get him into
trouble.

“You’re not going anywhere,”
she told him. “Let’s just go back to sleep.”

Even as she said the words she knew it
was easier said than done. Shawn’s words were taunting both of
them. Part of her wanted to run and hide. The other half was tired
of being the victim. For the first time in a long time she finally
had a reason to want to live a real life. This time Shawn wouldn't
take that away from her.

Chapter
6

“Ricky told me you hooked up with
Drew last night,” Tracie said, refilling the sugar container.

“We didn't hook up,” Lana
denied.

“Too bad.”

Too
bad indeed
Lana thought to
herself.

Sleeping in his arms all night had left
a lasting impression on her body. It was crazy that she felt safe
with him. They had only known each other for a couple short weeks.

“You want to hit the mall after
work?” Tracie asked, moving on to the cookie display case.

“Can’t,” Lana told
her, as she filled the coffee stirrer holder. “I have about
one hundred definitions that I have to get done before my next
class.”

Tracie pouted. “Damn, girl, I
need retail therapy bad. Can’t you come out for a little
while?”

It was tempting to skip the gym to go
but she didn't want to make it a habit. “Maybe tomorrow?”

“I’m keeping you to that,”
Tracie warned her. “Don’t you dare blow me off.”

The bell on the door chimed as Drew
walked in. Speaking of the devil. He looked good today. Well, OK,
she thought he looked good on a daily basis.

Automatically Lana poured a cup of black
coffee. His favorite. Two cookies also joined the coffee. The man
had a sweet tooth. He also made it a point of coming by every day.

The rational part of her brain knew he
had been a regular even before she started working here, but secretly
she got a thrill out of the idea of him coming here to see her every
day. Yeah, she had become one of those girls.

“How is your day going?”
Drew asked her, as she handed him his order.

That was a loaded question. What he
actually wanted to know was if she had gotten any more messages.

Luckily, the day had been a text free
day.

She rung him up on the cash register.
“Just peachy.” Hopefully he would know what that meant.

His features seemed to relax. “I
have to write a paper before this weekend; so, I’m not going to
the gym tonight. But Chris will be there in case you need anything.”

Lana ignored the rush of panic that
wanted to take over her body at the idea of being on her own. At one
point in time she would have loved the idea of having an evening to
herself, but with all of the texts from Shawn, it no longer sounded
appealing.

“Actually, Tracie and I were
planning on going to the mall.” She ignored the look that her
co-worker gave her.

Drew leaned over the counter and kissed
her forehead. “Have a good time.” Then he was gone.

Later that evening Tracie held up a
piece of lingerie that barely covered anything. “You need to
buy this.”

Lana rolled her eyes. “I have no
need for that.”

“Are you insane, girl?;”
Tracie asked, walking away with the outfit. “You have every
reason to own this. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m
not letting you out of here until you buy it.”

“I don’t have the money to
waste on something like that,” Lana tried to reason with her
friend.

“It’s on sale.”

It was easier to just give in when it
came to Tracie. Lana knew this. Besides it was better to allow her
friend to believe she was capable of having a normal sex life. No
way in hell was she going to let Tracie know her darkest secret.

“How awesome are these?”
Tracie was holding up a pair of handcuffs.

A flash of Shawn holding her hands above
her head not allowing her to move ran through her mind. A hand
squeezed her heart and concrete landed on her lungs. It took all she
had to remind herself that she was not in danger now. She was with
Tracie and not back in that basement.

“That’s where I draw the
line.”

Tracie sighed. “No fun.”

Lana needed to get her friend out of
this store. “Can we just go get something to eat? Then I want
to go get some new workout clothes.”

They paid for their purchases. Tracie
had a few more items than Lana.

The food court was busy tonight. Lana
was tempted to forgo food until she got home. If she did that,
Tracie would ask questions. So, she put her big girl panties on and
made her way through the crowd to order her tacos. OK, maybe Drew
was rubbing off on her a little bit.

As they made their way to an empty
table, Lana could have sworn she saw Shawn walking around the corner
to the men’s restroom.

Don’t be stupid. He’s in Charleston. You’re in
Morgantown. You’re safe.

Needing to feel safe Lana sent a quick
text to Drew.

Time for ice cream tonight?

The reply was almost immediate.

I have all the time in the world
for you.

Lana tried to hide instant grin at his
words.

I’ll pick some up on my way
home.

“See, I told you,” Tracie
announced around a bite of her Thai chicken. “You have it
bad.”

“I do not,” Lana argued.
“We’re friends. Friends can eat ice cream together.”

“Sure they can,” her friend
agreed. “I just happen to know you've not gone a day without
seeing him since you met him.”

“He lives down the hall from me,”
Lana pointed out.

“Piss poor excuse is better than
none.”

Giving into childish behavior Lana stuck
her tongue out in response and then rolled her napkin in a ball and
threw it at her. “Just mind your own business, for once.”

Tracie held her hands up in surrender
laughing. “OK, OK. So why did you suddenly decide to come
here with me tonight instead of going to the gym?”

Because
suddenly I don’t enjoy my workouts if Drew isn't with me
,
would just give Tracie more ammunition to use against her Lana lied.
“I decided that I needed a girl’s night after all.”

Let Tracie find a way to argue with
that.

Tracie abandoned her half-empty plate,
sat back, and rubbed her non-existent stomach. “We so needed a
girl’s night. However, the next time I decide to eat this
much, please just shoot me.”

Lana took one last drink of her soft
drink. “Only if you promise to do the same for me.”

Tracie extended her hand out to shake
hands with Lana. “It’s a deal, sister.”

Lana stood up and gathered her bags and
her tray. “I need to grab my workout clothes and we need to
get out of here.”

“I know, you have a hot ice cream
date with Mr. Hottie,” Tracie stated with a grin as she
followed her to the trash can.

“Not a date,” Lana corrected
her.

“Yeah, keep saying that.”
Tracie laughed, as they headed to the sporting goods store.

************************************

Drew was stretched out on the couch
watching an Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt movie. More like pretending
to watch it so Chris wouldn't give him shit for just sitting around
and waiting for Lana to show up.

It sucked being stuck at home working on
a paper instead of being with her.

He had been putting his paper on the
back burner for the past couple of weeks while he had been running to
the gym. At any point he could have chosen to stay home, but he had
noticed a change in her. Even Chris had mentioned the fact that she
didn't seem to be as spooked.

However once he typed the last word of
his paper, Lana took complete control of his brain. Several times he
had picked up his phone to text her and put it back down. The last
thing he needed was to come across as a clingy guy.

To say that he was relieved when she
texted wanting to bring ice cream over once she got home, was an
understatement.

They had yet to define their
relationship. He feared that if he tried to put a label on it she
might decide to run. Taking things slow with her would probably be
the death of him. Or, be torture to a certain part of his body that
stood at attention whenever she was around. If the girl knew how she
affected him she would keep her distance. And that was the very last
thing on earth he wanted her to do.

It was around ten o’clock when Lana
knocked softly on the apartment door. It took all he had in him to
not groan when he opened his door.

Was the girl trying to kill him? Seeing
her standing there in a pink tank top that was just tight enough to
show off her very womanly curves with the matching shorts had his
male parts on full alert.

Lana squeezed past his body which had
forgotten to move out of her way. His eyes were drawn to her ass as
he watched her walk to the kitchen.

For the first time since she sent her
text, he was thankful Chris was home.

If they had been fully alone in the
apartment he couldn't guarantee all of his good intentions wouldn't
go out the window. It would be too tempting to pull her close and
show her exactly how much he desired her. Make her forget every
touch of the douche bag.

“
Where’s your bowls?”
she asked, poking her head around the door way.

“
The ones in the dishwasher are
clean.” Drew joined her in the kitchen being sure to keep his
distance.

“
I hope cookie dough is okay.”
She was already in the process of filling three bowls.

Including Chris in their ice cream binge
had not been part of his plan. These moments were the closest to
dates he had been able to get with her, not that he was complaining.
He would go to a paleontology seminar if it meant he could spend time
with her.

“
I love cookie dough.”
Technically he tolerated cookie dough ice cream; however, he wasn't
about to tell her that. He would eat cricket ice cream if she bought
it for him. Yeah, he had it that bad for this girl.

“
Grab the DVD out of my bag,”
she demanded, as she managed to carry three bowls to the living room.

Drew laughed when he pulled the movie out
of her Victoria Secrets shoulder bag. Something told him that Chris
wouldn't be a problem after all. She had brought a chick flick.

Watching a movie based on a Nicholas
Sparks novel would never be his first choice. Of course, he could
totally get into a movie about a bull rider and art lover if it meant
he could hold her in his arms. Yeah, he could definitely learn to
like that guy.

Lana had settled herself on the couch
with the WVU throw he had started keeping on the back of the couch
just for her.

Drew had to force himself to breath as he
watched her lick the ice cream off of her spoon.

Damn
.

She was so innocent; she had no idea
what images she had running through his head.