Just 4 Play

“How’s Lana?”

“Lana?” He looked up, startled. “Uh…she’s okay. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. I just haven’t heard you say much about her lately. I wondered if you were still seeing each other.”

“We’re still seeing each other.” More or less.

“I’ve heard more enthusiasm for the daily special at the student union. Has some of the bloom worn off the romance?”

“Why would you say that?” He stabbed at a piece of tortilla. “Just because I’m not raving about her every minute doesn’t mean I don’t want to continue dating her. A relationship doesn’t have to have fireworks all the time.” He scowled at her. “There’s more to life than sex, you know.”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down there.” She put up her hands. “Who said anything about sex?”

He opened his mouth to protest, but she shook her head. “No, if you and Lana are having problems in the bedroom, I don’t want to know.” She dunked a chip in hot sauce. “But you might want to think about seeing other people for a while. I mean, I’ll admit I’m prejudiced, but I think you’ve got a lot to offer a woman, and I’m not sure Lana really appreciates you.”

He was trying to come up with a suitable retort when his phone rang. Still frowning at his sister, he jerked the phone from his pocket and flipped it open. “Hello?”

“Hi, uh, Mitch? This is Sid.” The manager’s voice sounded strained. “Uh, sorry to bother you, but you need to get back to the store, right away.”

“What is it? Is something wrong?” Mitch’s stomach clenched. Had they been robbed? Was some fundamentalist group staging a protest?

“I’m not sure. Uh…there’s this woman here. And uh…she keeps asking for you.” He lowered his voice. “She’s kind of upset.”

“Oh, hell.”

“What is it?” Meg leaned toward him, her eyes questioning. “Is everything all right?”

He covered the phone with his hand. “It’s the manager at Uncle Grif’s store. There’s a woman there demanding to see me.” He put the phone to his ear again. “What does she want?”

“I don’t know. Uh…she says her name is Lana. Lana Montgomery.”

MEG HAD HEARD OF PEOPLE turning green, but she’d never actually seen it before—until now. Actually, Mitch’s face went through an alarming array of colors, from ashy-white to fiery-red, before settling on this green-tinted phase. He snapped the phone shut and shoved up from the table so hard his chair almost fell over behind him. He grabbed the chair, saving it from crashing to the floor and signaled the waiter for their check. “I have to go,” he croaked.

Meg tossed aside her napkin and stood also. “I’ll go with you.”

He shook his head. “No. You stay here and finish eating.” He tossed a twenty on the table and headed toward the door.

She followed. He stopped at the exit and glared at her. “Meg, you can’t come with me.”

She ignored him and headed for his car. He hurried after her. “What do you think you’re doing?”

The minute he unlocked the car, she opened the door and slid into the passenger seat. “Something’s going on and I intend to find out what it is,” she said.

He fit the key into the ignition and scowled at her. “Get out of this car.”

She fastened her seat belt and returned the scowl. “Make me.”

He growled and started the car. “All right. But you’re staying in the car.”

She turned to look out of the window so he wouldn’t see her smile. Men were so predictable. Even her brother.

Mitch negotiated Boulder traffic with reckless speed, and screeched to a halt in a No Parking zone in front of a pink brick building. Meg looked up at the marquee over the building’s door. Just 4 Play. Her smile broadened. She’d heard of this place. In fact, one of her girlfriends had recommended it. When Mitch jumped out of the car and went inside, she laughed out loud. So this was his secret inheritance. Oh, that was rich. Her straight-arrow brother had been saddled with a sex shop. This she had to see.

When she walked through the door, Mitch was leaning over the counter, deep in conversation with a petite blonde. The blonde pointed toward the back and he took off.

Meg walked over to the counter and picked up a penis-shaped key chain. Now there was a conversation starter. “May I help you?” the blonde asked.

She laid aside the key chain. “I’m Meg Landry. Mitch’s sister. We were having lunch when you called.”

“Oh, I didn’t call. The manager, Sid, did.” She held out her hand. “I’m Jill Sheldon.”

They shook hands. Meg looked around, at the candy-colored condoms, the blowup dolls, massage oils, how-to books and what looked like a belly dancer costume. Her grin widened. Oh brother, what are you into now? She turned to Jill. “So what’s going on? Why did Mitch rush over here in the middle of lunch?”

Jill made a face. “A woman came in here this afternoon, took one look around and started hollering for Mitch.”

“A woman? Who?”

“One of those society types. You know, fancy suit, fancy hair, fancy attitude.” Jill’s expression said Miss Fancy had left her singularly unimpressed. “She said her name was Lana Montgomery.”

Meg shaped her mouth into a perfect O. “I take it Mitch hadn’t gotten around to telling her about this place.”

Jill leaned across the counter, ready to dish dirt. “Who is she?”

“Mitch’s girlfriend. Or maybe ex-girlfriend now.” She picked up a jar of body paint and studied the list of suggested uses. “Something tells me Lana’s not the type to approve of a place like this.”

Jill straightened. “I suppose she thinks there’s something wrong with healthy sexuality. With helping people to improve their relationships and learn about their bodies—”

“Hey, I didn’t say I didn’t approve.” Meg set aside the body paint. “To tell the truth, Lana’s always struck me as somebody laced up a little too tight.”

Jill glanced toward the closed office door. “Like Mitch.”

“Well, yeah, big brother can be a little…intense. But he’s really a great guy.”

Jill raised one eyebrow. “You wouldn’t be a little biased, would you?”

She grinned. “Not at all.” She nodded toward the office. “So what happened before I got here?”

“Sid took this Lana chick back to the office. I think he was going to fix her some tea. If we’re lucky, he slipped a tranquilizer into it.”

“That would probably help.” She walked over to a vibrator display and picked up a bright green model. No sense letting this shopping opportunity go to waste. “I’ve been thinking about getting one of these. What would you recommend?”

“We have some really nice models.” Jill emerged from behind the counter and joined her at the display. “We have every color, size and shape you can think of.” She began opening drawers and taking out boxes. “Somewhere in here is your perfect BOB.”

Meg picked up a bright purple model. “Bob?”

“Your battery operated boyfriend.” She glanced toward the office door. “Let me tell you, sometimes they’re a lot less trouble than the real thing.”

MITCH DIDN’T HAVE TIME to worry about Meg right now. He had to deal with Lana. What the hell was she doing here? How had she found out about the place? And what was he supposed to do with her now?