With Casey.
And I hope she looks forward to it somewhat.
Speaking of the woman who captured my heart, I see her as soon as I push through the glass door that leads out onto the deck. She’s sitting at one of the tables closest to the ocean, her back to me as she stares out at the water that is turning pink from the sun setting behind us in the west. Her long hair hangs over the back of her chair, and she has her flip-flopped feet propped up on one of the companion chairs.
I walk over to her, come up right behind her, and lean my head over until she sees me. She tilts her head way back and gives me a beautiful, upside-down smile. I, in turn, give her a fast, upside-down kiss.
“Hey beautiful,” I tell her when I pull my lips free.
Casey pushes to her feet as I step back from her chair. She walks around and stands beside me so I can put my arm around her waist as Nix and Emily walk up. Leaning over to kiss her on the side of her head, I say, “Goldie… this is my buddy, Nix, and his fiancée, Emily.”
Casey leans forward to shake each of their hands. “I’m so glad to meet you both.”
With greetings out of the way, we go ahead and take seats around the circular table with Casey to my left and Emily to my right, putting Nix in between both women as well. A waitress comes over, takes our drink orders, and gives us some menus.
We engage in plenty of chitchat while we decide what we want to eat, and take a moment to enjoy the colored water as the sun fades behind us while we sip at frosty beers.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Emily murmurs as she gives Casey a smile. “You are so lucky to live in a place like this.”
“Don’t I know it,” Casey says with such fondness in her voice, it makes my heart clench. “It’s a great community, and all my friends and family are close by.”
I decide now is as good a time as any to break the news to her. And much to my dismay, my body immediately braces in anticipation that Casey may not be very excited about my tidings.
“Speaking of friends and family being close by, I need you to get your realtor ass working and find me a place to live,” I say nonchalantly before taking a large swig of my beer.
Casey’s head snaps toward me and her jaw drops slightly. But her eyes… fuck, can’t read a damn thing in them.
“So, does that mean—?” she starts to ask neutrally.
“That I’m going to be staying?” I ask for her. “Because yeah… Nix and I decided to buy that garage and set up here in Nags Head.”
Those beautiful blue eyes stare at me blankly for a moment, and I start to internally cringe. But then I’m shocked as shit as Casey comes flying out of her chair and launches herself at me. She crawls onto my lap, oblivious of Nix and Emily or the other thirty people on the deck. She wraps her arms around my neck and plasters her mouth to mine in a kiss so deep and hot I have no choice but to bring my arms around her waist and press her in tighter to me.
When she finally lifts her face away from me, I’m stunned to see absolute joy and happiness radiating from her eyes. “You’re really moving here?” she asks, her voice quavering with excitement.
I just nod dumbly at her, not trusting my own fucking voice.
And then she kisses me again… just as deep, just as hot, and much longer this time. But fuck it… this is awesome, so I kiss her back and it’s not until Nix starts coughing that we both break apart.
“You excited, Goldie?” I ask in wonder.
She nods at me enthusiastically. “And I’m happy. Really, really happy.”
God… I fucking love this woman.
Chapter 21
Casey
It’s that time again.
Monday.
Breakfast date with my girlies.
And this time, it feels completely different. This time… and for the first time… I now have something in common with every other woman sitting at this table with me. Gabby, Alyssa, Savannah, and Andrea. Like dominos, they all fell for a man… and in exactly that order.
I was the last woman standing. The one, who every Monday that we met for breakfast, would regale my girls with my sexual exploits and conquests, while they would regale me with tales of love and babies and commitment. Usually, when they did that, I would only hear blah, blah, blah, blah. Now, I wonder, is that what they heard from me when I would tell them about the newest, rich dude I was banging to get another notch in my bedpost of vindication?
It’s hilarious to me, that at right this very moment, four pairs of eyes look at me expectantly as I doctor up my coffee. Four women know me so well that they know I’m a different person as I sit here before them.
“So spill it,” Gabby says with impatience while her eyes dart back and forth from my face to the sugar I’m stirring into my cup.
“I should make you suffer and wait,” I say with a degree of superiority, “but I am internally and quite quietly squealing on the inside I’m so excited, so I won’t make you wait.”
All four women put their elbows on the table and lean in closer to me with watchful eyes and excited smiles. I look briefly to each of them, so freakin’ pumped that I can truly join their little circle.
With a huge gust of air through my lips because I’m getting ready to impart something absolutely monumental to my girls, I say, “Okay, here goes… I really like Tenn.”
Four sets of eyes blink at me. Four smiles slide away and four women look at me blankly.
My head roves back and forth, looking at each woman, waiting for them to start squealing for me.
More blank stares.
“For Pete’s sake, Casey,” Gabby says impatiently. “We know that much.”
“You do?” I ask, and now I’m the one blinking at her dumbly.
“Well duh,” Alyssa says with knowing eyes.
“How?” I ask, again… more dumb blinking.
“You invited him to my birthday party,” Andrea supplies.
“And you were really cozy with him,” Savannah, the romantic, says with a dreamy sigh.
“And I have it from Hunter, who heard from Kent, that you were all over him this past weekend at The Last Call. The intel I received said that you climbed on his lap and kissed and dry humped him in public, while looking deliriously happy doing so,” Gabby says with a confirming nod.
“I did not dry hump him,” I say with offense.
Not much, anyway.
“The point is,” Andrea says as she reaches over and pats my hand. “It’s pretty obvious you like him. So we need more details than that.”
My first reaction is to clam up… keep the warm and fuzzies close to my chest because I’m not sure I still trust them fully. While I have very tender feelings for Tenn, and while I know without a doubt there will never be a man like him again in my life, I’m still leery of admitting my feelings have turned deep. It might be the last barrier between me and my former self that’s left, and as weird as it is, it’s comforting to me.
But then I look at these women. All of them so strong and independent, and yet not one of them lost that when they fell in love. Not one of them gave up themselves. If anything, their lives were greatly enhanced.
Every single one of these women have stood by me, Gabby more so than the others since we practically learned how to walk together. Every one of them have watched me burn through men without a judgmental look or a reprimanding word. They let me be the Casey I needed to be, and not one of them even had a clue what was driving me. That was how supportive they were of me.
“I went on a dinner date with Jeff Parkhurst,” I blurt out.