Innocent Read online

  “I will for you, but it won’t be anywhere near as good as the ones you give me.”

  Damn, I’m getting all worked up just thinking about it. “I have to shower now,” I say, slowly lowering my arms. I’m crazy about you, and I’d love to stay in this bed all day, but there’s work to be done.”

  “So there is,” she agrees. “That’s one of the things I love about you.” She taps my butt lightly and says, “Get yourself into the shower.”

  “It’ll be another cold one,” I say jumping off the bed. “I think it’s my new thing.”

  When I’m done, she showers while I make us a quick breakfast. While we’re eating I tell Lindsay that she can stay here all day, but she shakes her head.

  “I’m going to have another try at job-hunting,” she says. “I can’t give up without applying everywhere.

  I admire her spirit. I’m concerned that she’s going to have a hard time, but I know that she can deal with it, so I don’t try to stop her.

  “I’m not going to tell you what to do, except that you’ll be sleeping here again tonight,” I say. “I’ll give you my spare key, and you can consider this your home now if that suits you.”

  “It does. There’s nothing I want more.”

  I go to work hoping that I’ll soon hear from my friend. I’m anxiously awaiting his call, and at first I’m disappointed when the phone rings and it’s Damien instead, but then he gives me the kind of news I love to hear.

  “You won’t believe what happened,” he says over the phone. “They gave me a promotion last night. Starting next week, I’ll be a crew lead. That kind of stuff never happens to me. When they called me into the office, I thought they were going to tell me I did something wrong, but instead they said I’ve been doing a really good job.”

  “That’s great news,” I congratulate him.

  “It’s a lot more money, and they said I have a good shot at more promotions down the road. I won’t need to work three jobs anymore, and I’ll still be able to help my mom. And that’s not all. It’s like everything turned around for me last night. I mentioned that I’m looking for a place to live, and one of my co-workers told me he had a room over his garage available right away. I’ve just seen it and it’s perfect. There’s even a bed, so I’m going to crash right now since I didn’t get much sleep yesterday. Then I’ll be awake in time for you to drop my stuff off if you’re sure that’s okay. I don’t mind coming to get it myself if you’re really busy.”

  “Only about as busy as ever.” I laugh. “I can fit it in no problem, and I look forward to seeing your new place. In fact, I’m supposed to check it out, but it sounds like I’ll approve.”

  He gives me the address and I note that it is in a decent part of town. Not like his last place

  I’m in a good mood when I hang up. Moments like this are the pearls of my job. If all goes well, and I think it will, I can see Damien with a solid career and a home of his own in a few more years.

  Ten minutes later, I get the call I’ve waiting for.

  “You should get your butt down here,” my friend says. “I think you’ll find this very interesting.”

  I go on my lunch break, grabbing a protein bar to keep me going. When I get there, he plays the surveillance footage for me. I recognize Lindsay at once. The movements of her body are already familiar to me. She’s with her friend, who’s the same height and with hair the same length, so a little similar in appearance from behind, but I can see the difference easily.

  She hands her bag to her friend to look at some stuff. I watch closely and see that Brooklyn hands back the other bag. Now she’s holding Lindsay’s. For the next ten minutes or so her movements are suspicious, but none of the cameras show anything incriminating. She does everything with practiced motions, which suggest that she had a lot of experience. But near the end she slips up and there’s a clear shot of her putting something into the bag. That must’ve been what the security officer saw. But he was clueless about which of them it was.

  They each buy something and that’s when I see Lindsay take her wallet out of her pocket. Brooklyn must’ve known that she didn’t keep it in her bag, which made it easy to take advantage of her friend. She pulls another swap at the till while Lindsay’s paying, and they leave each holding their own bag again. I guess that she’s got the routine down pat. Outside the store, she’s probably an expert at finding some way to distract her patsy again and transfer the stuff to her own bag or the store bag. It’s a hell of a way to use your friends.

  I wonder why the security officer didn’t ask both of them to go with him if he couldn’t see the difference well enough to get the right person. He only stops Lindsay, and Brooklyn just keeps walking. Not that it would have made much difference since Lindsay was the one with the stolen goods.

  I showed my friend which of them is Lindsay, and she faces the camera often enough to be identified clearly. He agrees that the evidence is sufficient to clear her, and we have a conversation with his captain, who promises to get the ball rolling. It’ll take some time to go through the process, but they’re both confident that the DA’s office will be cooperative. I can’t wait to get home tonight and tell her.

  Chapter 15

  Lindsay

  Riley gave me a kiss before he left, and I waved as he drove away. It was an awesome feeling. I look forward to doing it many more times. I made him leave the breakfast dishes for me to deal with, since our morning sex session put him behind. As I’m clearing up, I start humming to myself. I used to do that a lot, but not once since this ordeal started. Everything is looking up at last.

  I hope everything works out as Riley believes it will. If he can’t clear my name, then I’m going to tell him that we shouldn’t be together until my probation period is over. It will be hard to keep ourselves apart, but it’s the right thing to do. I know that he’ll agree with me, and it won’t be for very long. If it’s necessary, I’ll get a place of my own, but I’ll be back here in my true home the second he stops being my probation officer. I hope it’s not necessary, but it’s good to plan for possibilities. With that in mind, it’s important that I find a job, so after the kitchen is tidy, I go out to resume my job search.

  I’m trying a different area today, walking about looking for places with help wanted signs. There aren’t very many, and the one place I’ve been to so far, they only took my application and stuck it on a pile. Not much use to me. Then I come across a coffee shop I’ve never seen before. This isn’t a part of town I used to shop in.

  I look past the card through a shiny clean window and like what I see. The place has a cheerful atmosphere and the staff behind the counter look happy. I’m kind of envious. It looks like a nice place to work, but what are my chances?

  I draw a deep breath and go inside. At the counter an older lady greets me.

  “I’d like to fill out an application for the job,” I say, trying really hard to hide how nervous I am.

  “Forget about the application,” she says.

  “Um, okay.” I’m turning around to leave, but she says, “What I mean is that I’m free right now, so let’s just sit down and talk instead. Applications are so meaningless.”

  I turn back and she’s smiling. “Have a seat over there,” she says pointing to a table. “I’m just going to get myself a coffee. What can I get for you?”

  “Coffee would be great,” I say. “One cream, no sugar, please.”

  I sit down, and she joins me in a moment with two cups of coffee. It’s a good blend. She introduces herself as Donna and tells me that she owns the business. We talk for a while. I give her the details of my previous experience, and she asks some questions. She wants to know if I enjoyed my last job, and that’s an easy question. I really did. I liked serving the public and seeing so many people every shift.

  We talk about the best ways to handle a busy crowd, and I feel like we’re getting along well. I guess she feels the same way because then she offers me the job. I can’t believe my good luck, but I don
’t feel it’s right to mislead her.

  “Don’t you need me to fill out an application or anything like that,” I ask.

  “Just the employee forms,” she says. “I’ve already decided I want to hire you.”

  “There is something you don’t know. I have a criminal record. I’m looking for a job because I just got out of prison.”

  She raises her eyebrows slightly and asks, “What did you do?”

  “I was convicted of shoplifting.”

  She looks surprised. “I find that hard to believe. You just don’t seem the type. I’m assuming that it’s not something you ever intend to do again.”

  “I’d never do it,” I say fiercely.

  Now she looks keenly at me. “I really don’t think you would. I trust my own instincts, and I don’t think I’m wrong about you. I still want you to work here. Your criminal record isn’t an issue, and I appreciate your honesty with me. I think you’ll do a good job.”

  “Thank you,” I say. “I think I’ll love working here.”

  I fill out the employment forms with all my information, except that I don’t have an address or phone number to fill in. I explain to her that I’m going to find somewhere as soon as I have the money, and she says we can add that information later. I’m supposed to put down the phone number for a contact person as well. I don’t really have one, so I put down Riley. Even if I have to live somewhere else for a while, he’s the person who’ll be looking out for me from now on.

  We arrange for me to start training tomorrow, I thank Donna wholeheartedly, and she gives me a uniform. It’s actually nice looking, not like one of the hideous uniforms you see in so many places. I can’t wait to show it to Riley.

  I’m home before him. It still sounds strange to call this place home, but it makes me really happy. I’m where I want to be and with the greatest guy. I picked up some groceries, and I’m going to make him dinner. I don’t know when he’ll be back, so I’m making a casserole that will be easy to keep hot. I get that started and then I busy myself with some cleaning. It doesn’t take much effort. It looks like Riley is a good housekeeper, but I want to start making a contribution, so I tidy and dust a few things and put some towels in the laundry.

  He comes home just as dinner is ready. I go to the door to meet him, and he gives me a big hug which lifts me off the ground.

  “Something smells good,” he says. “A guy could get used to coming home to a good meal. I usually make do with something quick and easy. This is going to be a treat.”

  The table is already set and we sit down to eat right away. “I have something to tell you,” we both say at the same time, and then we laugh.

  “You go first,” I say. “Mine’s kind of a showing thing as well. It can wait until after dinner.”

  He draws in a sharp breath, and I see the signs that he’s aroused.

  “Later, I say,” with a laugh. “Enjoy your dinner first.”

  He takes another bite and then tells me about his trip to the police station and the video footage that proves my innocence. I nearly cry with relief and happiness, but I blink back tears and thank him from the bottom of my heart for helping me.

  “Helping both of us,” he corrects me. “There’s something else. I saw your dad today.”

  My head jerks up in surprise.

  “He finally went to visit you in prison, only to find out that you had been released. He got my name and came to find out if I knew where you were. I didn’t tell him about us, but I promised to get a message to you when I saw you next. I gave him the impression that it wouldn’t be soon, so you can take your time to think about what you want to do before contacting him.”

  “I want to see him,” I say. “But I’ll wait a week or two before I call. I’m not quite ready to forgive him.”

  “I have to confess that I laid into him pretty strongly for letting you down. I was tough on him at first, but after we talked some more, I started to feel sorry for him. It was your stepmother who gave him a hard time about going there, but he’s been miserable about it. He was genuinely regretful. It was wrong of him to put it off for so long, but he’s been suffering torment for it. He didn’t kick you out either. He wasn’t happy when I told him about you being locked out. He thought the lock had been changed because of a broken key.”

  That gives me so much relief. He failed me in some ways, but not nearly as much as I thought. “I think I’ll call him at the beginning of next week.” I say. “I need a few days first, but I won’t put it off too long.”

  After dinner, I tell him to go in the living room and close his eyes for a surprise. When he opens them, I’m twirling around in front of him wearing my new uniform. He congratulates me and asks to hear all the details. I tell him how nice my new boss is and how great the place looks, and he says we should go there for coffee some time once it is okay to be seen together, just in case.

  “We have to keep things low key for a while, but I expect to be officially setting your file aside before too long.” His eyes trail down to my uniform and he says, “It looks good on you, but I’d like to see you take it off.”

  I know what he wants. I unbutton my shirt slowly and run my hands up and down my body before taking it off. I trail a finger over my cleavage, tracing the edge of my bra before taking it off, and then rub my hands over my bare breasts. I pinch and squeeze my nipples next, with my eyes on him as he watches them grow hard. He’s hard too, and the bulge in his jeans is huge. My hands slide down my stomach and I caress it in circles, dipping my fingers into my waistband. I undo the trousers and slide my hand in stretching toward the sensitive bud. He knows when my fingers are on it because I gasp and rock my hips, but he can’t see anything. I smile sweetly and moan with deliberate slowness. Teasing him is making me grow hotter and gush with moisture. My panties are soaking again.

  “I can’t see anything,” he says. “It’s hot, but it’s torture. Pull them all the way off.”

  I give him what he wants and stand right in front of him with my legs spread to give him a good view. I give my pussy some long slow strokes and then I use one hand to pull the lips wider so he can watch my fingers swirling over my clit. As I start coming, I fall onto him. Draped over his lap, I fuck my fingers wildly while his fingers find my nipples and keep me going. With his help, I give myself a long, drawn out orgasm.

  “I thought it wasn’t very good when you do it yourself,” he teases me with a smile when I finally finish. “It looks to me like you know what you’re doing.

  Now I’m blushing again. “You helped,” I point out. “And it’s still nowhere near as good as having you inside me.”

  “Then I’d better rectify that situation,” he says, already pulling his clothes off. I help him strip naked, and leaving our clothes all over the room, we race to our bedroom, where we spend the rest of the night pleasuring each other in bed. Our bed.

  Chapter 16

  Riley

  Lindsay and I are officially a couple now. She was absolutely cleared and her conviction was over turned. I would have liked to see Brooklyn arrested but they can’t do anything about that since she wasn’t caught at the time. Still, I’m sure she’ll get caught eventually.

  The store offered Lindsay a credit to buy whatever she liked, but she refused it. She did ask for two things however. She never got back the item she bought that day, so she made them replace it and the lipstick which belonged to her. “A store credit wouldn’t do me any good,” she said to the manager, “because I won’t ever be shopping here again. You failed to protect innocent customers by hiring somebody who didn’t care to do his job with diligence and by neglecting to look thoroughly at your own surveillance, which would have proven that I was telling the truth if you’d taken the time to bother.”

  I think they were afraid that she would sue them because the next day they offered to settle out of court for a lot more money than just a stupid store credit. “I wasn’t even planning to sue them,” Lindsay said, but I made her take it, pointing out that
she had lost time, wages, and opportunities, and she could use the money to get the last one back.

  We’ve been together for six months now and it only gets better every day. The sex is incredible and we’re a good fit all round. Two people with like minds and similar goals. We both want to help less fortunate people to pull themselves up in the world. I’m glad that one indiscretion didn’t cost me my job.

  Ed and Mrs. Donnelly probably recognized her, but they never said anything. Not even to me. They both adore her and she feels the same way about them. Ed’s doing really well. He sticks to his doctors’ orders and they say he’s going to live a pretty long time if he keeps it up. We see him here at the office every week or two, and Lindsay and I are at his place just as often, if not more. Spring is around the corner, so we’ll be spending some extra time there in the next few months, helping out in the garden, and probably staying for dinner. His wife is a great cook.

  I’m getting to be quite the chef myself these days. Lindsay and I like to cook together and we’ve been experimenting with new recipes and styles of food, sometimes inviting our friends to join us. I’ve even gotten Jack to come over a few times, and both of the new guys are starting to hang out with us a lot. A little while after Ed’s replacement started, somebody decided that our office needed an extra person. That means the workload isn’t so bad now, which is great since I like having my time off for spending with Lindsay and our growing circle of friends, which includes my co-workers and some of hers.

  I took her home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My parents love her and welcomed her like family. She’s met most of my aunts, uncles and cousins by now, and gets along great with all of them. Things are pretty good all round.

  I’m thinking about that this morning while waiting for somebody who’s ten minutes late. Not the best way to start off, but I’m trying not to judge before hearing her reason. It could have been a transportation issue or some problem beyond her control. Hey, she might have even witnessed an accident and stopped to help. I’ll give her brownie points if she did, and the benefit of the doubt until I know more.