Or, you could go and stop this shit in progress, a voice inside me says. Drag her ass out of the restaurant. You’ve done it once before.
Yeah, that is so not happening again. It’s different this time because Casey knows I have feelings for her, and she’s choosing to do this despite the havoc it could cause. She’s ignoring my feelings in this matter.
Just like you’re ignoring her feelings, that little voice says.
“Shut the fuck up,” I yell out to the wind.
Just shut the fuck up, I tell myself, so I can rationally think this thing through.
Okay… Casey admitted she’s falling hard for me. I fucking remembered every bit of our conversation from last night, so I wasn’t as drunk as I thought. She’s truly changed and she’s changed because she wants to try to build something with me.
She’s also a smart woman and most of all, I’ve come to see that she has a heart the size of the ocean. She would never do anything to intentionally hurt me.
I trust her. I really do trust her that she would never let this get physical. I expect her plan for revenge is to work him up good over dinner, maybe even spouting some of the dirty talk I’ve taught her over the last few weeks, and then let him down with the force of a plane plummeting out of the sky. I expect his ego will make a resounding splat when it hits.
Is that really so bad? If she does that?
Will it give her closure and remove any further barrier that might present itself to a potential relationship with me?
Now that is some fucking food for thought.
Letting my heart guide my bike, I go ahead and make a U-turn on the highway and head back into the town of Nags Head. I don’t know what’s going to happen inside that restaurant but best-case scenario, Casey walks out with her head held high and vindication in her eyes. Worst case, that fucker tries to do something to her or causes her pain in some way, and I really, really need to be there if that happens.
I sit sideways with my ass perched on the seat of my bike, legs stretched out in front of me. Same position I was in the first time Casey and I were together when she walked out of The Last Call. Except now, I’m waiting outside of La Papillon where I fortuitously got a spot thirty feet from the front door. I know if Casey’s plan goes down, when she walks out that door, she’s going to need a ride.
Glancing at my watch, I note it’s 8:10 PM and figure that she’ll work the fucker up good over the course of dinner. Because it’s a fancy French restaurant, I’m thinking dinner will last a good two hours at least. I know I’m in for a long wait but in my heart of hearts, I know Casey is worth it.
The door to the restaurant swings open, and I blink my eyes as Casey strides out. My eyes cut down to my watch. 8:11 PM.
Well, damn.
Casey looks left, then right, possibly considering the best place to get a taxi, when her eyes roll right over me. She pauses, and then her gaze snaps back my way.
“Thought you might need a ride,” I call out to her.
She stares at me a moment and I can read nothing on that beautiful face. She looks gorgeous, wearing the same little black dress that she wore the other night when I pulled her out of this very restaurant and fucked her in the alley.
Casey throws her shoulders back and starts my way. My eyes focus in on those long legs, her feet encased in stilettos that give me very dirty thoughts. The thought of that little dress riding up her thighs as she sits on the back of my bike starts to get me hard.
“What are you doing here?” she asks tentatively, crossing her arms over her chest protectively.
I stand up from the bike, and her face tilts to look at me. My fingers reach out and trace the edge of her collarbone a minute, and then I drag my gaze up to her eyes. “Figured you might need a shoulder to cry on, although I was really kind of hoping I’d have the opportunity to kick this dude’s ass for you.”
She smiles as her eyes cut down quickly. Putting my finger under her chin, I nudge her gaze back up. “What happened in there?”
She shrugs her shoulders, and then throws her hands out to the side. “I couldn’t go through with it. I knew it would hurt you, and I couldn’t do it. But why are you here? I thought you made it pretty clear that this was sort of a deal breaker for you.”
My hand drops from her face, and I shove my hands in my pockets. With a shrug, I casually say, “Yeah… well, I sort of worked it out in my head after I got done being pissed. I understand why you needed to do it and I also realized I trusted you not to do anything that would betray me.”
“Oh,” she says softly, looking back down to the pavement and then back up again to me. “So where does that leave us?”
“I think it leaves us exactly where we were the minute before you hatched this idiotic plan,” I tell her simply. “Although… I am still completely willing to go in there and stomp the shit out of him for you.”
Her eyes crinkle up, and she nibbles on her lower lip. “That would be kind of awesome, but I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“I’d gladly take an assault charge for you,” I tell her gallantly, although I’m sure my dad would blow a gasket if I got arrested. “So… what excuse did you give him why you were leaving early?”
She looks up at me coyly and says, “I didn’t. Told him I had to use the restroom and then I jetted.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Oh, Goldie… you’re brilliant. You’re a hot mess, but you’re brilliant.”
Just then, I see the door to the restaurant open over Casey’s shoulder and the douche himself comes out. Just like Casey, he looks left and then right, utter confusion on his face.
“Looks like your date is looking for you,” I tell her, and then give a nod in the direction of the restaurant. “Want me to handle this?”
She huffs out a gust of frustration but shakes her head. “Nope. I got it.”
Turning away from me, she starts toward the restaurant at the same time his eyes land on her. I can see the confusion melt off the guy’s face and sizzling lust replace it as he eyes her up and down. My fists clench and it takes every bit of willpower I have not to leap forward to strangle the fucker.
“Casey… what are you doing out here? Our drinks just arrived,” he says as he takes a few steps to meet her. He loops an arm around her shoulder with the intent of steering her back inside, and I start to take a step forward. Casey shrugs his hand off though, so I halt myself and wait.
“Jeff… I’m going home,” she says matter-of-factly. “The truth is… I never intended to do anything with you tonight, so I figured I’d save you a buck and just go ahead and leave.”
The guy is so self-absorbed that he doesn’t even notice me standing there ten feet away. He doesn’t notice me and the menace that is pouring off my body in waves, otherwise, he wouldn’t attempt to touch her again. His arm comes back to her shoulder and he says, “Come on, baby. Thought we were going to have fun tonight?”
Before I can make a move, Casey steps away from him. She takes a deep breath and says, “Look… I only agreed to come out with you tonight with the intention of getting you worked up until your balls were blue and then leaving your ass.”
The guy is kind of thick because he says, “Work me up, huh? Now that sounds fun and I’m sure we can avoid the blue balls thing, right?”
Casey narrows her eyes at him and places her hands on her hips. “Are you dense or do you just think so much of yourself that you can’t see when someone is plainly not only not interested in you, but is actually completely disgusted by you?”
He blinks at her… large eyes as round and blank as a fucking owl’s. “I don’t understand.”