Free Legal Heat by Sarah Castille Page A

down her spine.
    “Go. Now.” She stomped across the room and slammed the bedroom door closed, clenching her teeth to stop from saying anything she might regret at a custody hearing.
    Minutes later his Volvo disappeared down the road and she collapsed on the bed. Although she hated to admit it, he was right. She no longer had the body for a dress like this or the confidence to wear it. With a sigh, she undid the laces and laid it gently back in the box.
     
     
    “Katy! Nice to see you back.” Trixie greeted Katy at the door with a quick hug and then stepped away and frowned. “Sorry, babe. No suits allowed.”
    Katy pulled her eyes away from Trixie’s strategically sequined, red spandex dress. Maybe it was actually a tube top, which would explain why it only just reached the top of her thighs. And where did Trixie go to buy four-inch, fire-red stilettos with sparkly heels? Definitely not the department store where Katy usually shopped.
    “I’m not staying,” she said. “I just need to see Valerie for a minute.”
    Trixie shook her head. “Tony would kill me if I let you in dressed like that. We have a dress code. He made an exception for you last time, but he won’t do it again.”
    Katy sighed. “Could you take a quick look around for me and ask her to come out if you see her?”
    “Sure thing.” Trixie disappeared through the red door and returned five minutes later. “She hasn’t shown up for work. Tony has been trying to get in touch with her. He said you can go in and wait, but you’ll need to change. Do you have anything else to wear?”
    Katy swallowed. “I have a dress in the car, but I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s not really appropriate. I was going to return it tomorrow.”
    “Go.” Trixie spun her around and nudged her toward the door. “Bring it in and let me decide. I promise to be totally honest.”
    Fifteen minutes later, Katy stood in the club change room, wincing under Trixie’s intense scrutiny of her new dress.
    “Corset virgin,” Trixie muttered. “I see it all the time.”
    “What’s wrong?” Katy’s voice rose as her anxiety level climbed. “I shouldn’t be wearing it, should I? It’s not really… I’m too…my thighs.” She stammered over all the reasons a mom of two shouldn’t be seen in public in a corset dress.
    “Are you kidding me?” Trixie grabbed Katy by the shoulders and pretended to shake her. “Have you looked at yourself in a mirror recently? What I wouldn’t give to have a body like yours.”
    “But you look amazing. Really, I shouldn’t be wearing it while I’m here on business.” She turned away and her shoulders slumped. “I’ll change and wait for her outside.”
    “You will not.” Trixie patted her arm. “Let me fix you up and see what you think.”
    After ten minutes of being subjected to Trixie’s tugging and pulling, Katy’s respect for her great, great grandmother had increased tenfold.
    “Trixie, I can’t breathe. It’s way too tight.” Her breasts seemed to have doubled in size and now threatened to explode from the top of the corset. She stared in amazement at the cleavage she had only ever dreamed of having.
    “Just pant. Short, quick breaths. Panting is good. Men love it. Makes them think you’re desperate for them. And, wow, babe, if your waist gets any smaller you might topple over.”
    “If you tie it any tighter, I might pass out.”
    “Men love that too. The old swooning at their feet routine. Gets them every time. Brings out the protective instinct and they go crazy.”
    Katy laughed. “Sounds like you have a lot of experience.”
    Trixie winked at her in the mirror and tied the ends of the corset ribbons into a bow. “I can modestly say I have sampled a moderate selection of the opposite sex.”
    She ushered Katy out of the change room and then led her through the red door and into the club.
    “Do you have a boyfriend?” Katy gasped after each word as she struggled to walk, talk and breathe at