Shaken, Not Stirred

  Nix's advice?

  Keep reaching out. Keep trying to touch. Make her touchable.

  It was great fucking great advice and I followed it, but I had not had a chance to update him on everything. Dudes don't call each other up to talk about our girls, love, and romance. But with Emily here asking, I get a free pass.

  "Well, let's see... she's gorgeous and sexy. Looks fucking fantastic on the back of my bike. Uncommonly beautiful but completely down to earth. You both are really going to like her. And she's a bit broken... bad history, but she's been working to overcome it."

  "Broken how?" Emily asks with sympathy, her eyes warm and limpid.

  "Let's just say a terrible experience with a man that left her... um... a little jaded."

  "And you've shown her the light?" Emily asks with a romantic sigh.

  "I've shown her something," I say with a mischievous grin. "She's warming up to me, let's just say."

  "Well, she has to know what a great catch you are," Emily says firmly. "Hot dude who is heir to a cattle baron. That's enough to make any girl swoon."

  I internally wince and scratch my head. "Yeah... um... Casey doesn't exactly know the details about the ranch. She thinks I'm just an unemployed mechanic with a bright business idea."

  Nix's jaw drops. "Dude... you can't keep shit like that from her if you're trying to build something here."

  "It's like lying," Emily affirms. "And why would you care if she knows that? It's a good thing, right?"

  "Casey's a little jaded when it comes to rich men," I say bluntly. "The guy that fucked her head up was rich and entitled, and she does not look kindly on men like that now. Kind of lumps them in a category."

  "You're rich dude," Nix confirms with a grave nod. "But you are not entitled. Surely, she sees that."

  I shrug my shoulders helplessly. "I suppose she sees that because all she's seen is Tenn Jennings... a mechanic. And to clarify... I'm not rich. My father is."

  "You have a trust fund," Nix points out in reminder. "It's what you're going to use to front this business."

  "I know," I grumble as I start to head back to the side door that leads back to the office. "I know I have to figure out a way to tell her this shit. It's just... we get so caught up in other things that it never seems to be the right time."

  "I'm thinking you're talking about some really smokin' hot sex, right?" Nix starts to say, but then Emily backhands him in the stomach, causing him to bend over and grunt.

  "Quit asking him about his sex life, you perv," she huffs, and then looks at me as I hold open the door for her to walk through. "Take it from me... a woman... we do not like secrets. You need to out yourself sooner rather than later, Tenn."

  "I'll take that under advisement," I tell Emily with a nod of my head.

  And I will. I just have to figure out whether or not I trust Goldie to accept this about me. Is she in deep enough with me that it won't matter? Or will this cause her to get skittish on me again? Possibly cause her to bolt? Worse... will it diminish the trust she's put in me so far?

  I wish I knew the answer to those questions. The painful and obvious thing to draw from that is the reason I don't know the answers is because I guess I don't trust that Casey is feeling the same things I am. While she has admitted to falling for me, I still have no clue what that really means. For a woman that gave so very little to the men in her life, that could mean something as little as just liking the fantastic sex. Truly... it could not mean much at all in Casey's world.

  Sucks to have doubts, but there you go.

  I am not deterred, however.

  When I told Casey the other night that I wasn't going to let her go, I meant it. I'm sticking around, and I am going to take whatever she chooses to give me. Then I'm going to keep at her, chipping away at her walls until every last fear and reservation has been obliterated. Will it take days? Weeks? Months?

  Fuck... it could take a lifetime, but I'm not going anywhere.

  Nix, Emily, and I walk into The Last Call. My original thought had been to grab Casey and go somewhere for dinner, but then I thought... why not just stay here? They have great food and great beer, plus one fantastic view of the ocean from the back deck. So I texted Casey and suggested it, and she texted back that she'd have Hunter reserve us a prime table outside.

  As we walk through the growing crowd, I can see Casey's already gone from behind the bar, so I head straight out to the deck with Nix and Emily following me. We had a productive afternoon. Grabbed a bite to eat at a local restaurant, introducing my friends to the East Coast treasure of fried seafood that I've become quite addicted to. Then we went back to Casey's house and sat at her kitchen table, ironing out details.

  "So what do you think?" I'd asked him... but cut my gaze over to Emily, as I knew she was part of this as well.

  "We're interested," he said, referencing both he and Emily. "We've been talking about it since you came up to visit, and it could be a great way to supplement my income since my work is all commission based and requests for metal art are few and far between. What would you need from us?"

  "Well, we need to work up a formal business plan," I mused as I got up from the table and foraged around in one of Casey's drawers until I found a small pad of paper and a pen. "The building list price is $220,000, and we'll need to put down twenty percent at least. We'll need some start-up supplies and a budget for advertising, most of which would probably be in a website build. Some money to front shipping costs since you'll do the metal work up in New Jersey and ship the parts down to me. I'm thinking... maybe $75,000 on the low end, $100,000 on the high end. Fifty-fifty partnership."

  Nix whistled through his teeth. "That's some serious cashola. I don't have fifty grand laying around."

  "I do," I told him bluntly. "I'll front the entire cost and we can work out a way for me to recoup those from first sales over a period of time. Or dude... listen, if you don't want in as a business partner, I'll contract with you exclusively and pay you on commission."

  Nix shook his head. "No, I want in as a partner. It's a great opportunity and if you're willing to help me front the buy in, I'll take it."

  "Nix," Emily said hesitantly. "My dad will give us the money."

  Before the words even finished leaving those lips, Nix was shaking his head. "No way. We're doing this on our own."

  Emily merely smiled in understanding and then turned to me. "I think we should do it. The goal should be for us to iron out the framework for a business plan before we leave on Sunday."

  "Awesome," I said with a bright smile, sticking my hand across the table toward Nix. "Partners."

  "Partners, man," he said gruffly as he shook my hand.

  So yeah... the wheels are in motion. We have so much to do, and I doubt this will get launched at least for a few months, but we have an initial game plan. And I can't wait to tell Casey about it, because today is the day that I made the one-hundred percent commitment to stay here in Nags Head.

  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 fiancee, 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.

  "Huh?" Gabby mumbles. "I'm lost. What the hell are you talking about?"

  "Jeff Parkhurst. The night after Andrea's party," I clarified.

  "But you were seeing Tenn," Savannah says worriedly.

  "I was," I tell her with an embarrassed smile. "And Tenn knew about it."

  "I'm more than just lost," Gabby says, her brow wrinkled in confusion. "What are you trying to tell us, Casey?"

  Taking a deep breath, I look at Gabby with determination. This is for all the girls, but mostly for Gabby. "I dated Jeff for four weeks in high school. He told me he loved me, and I gave him my virginity the night that Brody was taken to prison."

  "I know that," Gabby says in agreement. "I thought you saw him for a shorter period of time though."

  "It was a long time ago," I say sadly, perfectly aware of how much of my life was wasted on these memories. "I overheard him about a week later talking to his buddies about me. I won't get into the gory details but he basically said I was a great fuck but that was all I was good for. That I wasn't good enough for his circle. He pointed out my dad was a fisherman and my brother was a felon."

  "What the fuck?" Gabby explodes and comes halfway out of her chair, causing the cups to rattle hard. "I'll kill that asshole."

  "Pipe down," Alyssa says with a restraining hand on Gabby's shoulder. "Let Casey finish."

  I give Gabby a thankful smile... for having my back. Then I tell her as honestly as I can, "He ruined me, Gabs. That was when I changed."

  A light sparks in Gabby's eyes, and understanding filters in. She knows me well. Now that she knows my motivator, she can easily figure out why I took the c
ourse I took.

  "You only went out with men like Jeff Parkhurst," she says in amazement. "Not just rich men... but men just as conceited and self-important as Jeff. You were gorgeous and fabulous and you made those men beg you for a chance, and then you walked away. You let them know they weren't good enough for you."

  I nod my head in absolute shame, my eyes lowering to my cup. "Some of them didn't deserve it."

  "You never led them on," Gabby says, and she knows this about me because I've always been candid with not only my conquests, but with my friends when it came to how I treated said conquests. I openly shared my boundaries of no love, no commitment, and no hassles with friends and lovers alike.

  "I didn't," I agree. "But regardless of the type of men they were, I guess no one deserved for me to take my wrath out on them."

  "I want to get back to the part about you going on a date with him," Alyssa says.

  "It was so stupid," I say sheepishly. "I saw him at the grocery store and I had every intention of just laying into him, but then I thought... I should do to him what he did to me. So he really knows how it feels."

  "So you were going to do what?" Savannah asks in confusion.

  "She was going to bring him to his knees with lust, and then she was going to walk away," Gabby says confidently. "And yeah... that was a stupid idea, Casey."

  "I know," I say with a grimace. "Tenn flipped out--"

  "As he should have," Gabby butts in and when my eyes flash at her, she says, "Sorry... please continue."

  "I never intended to cross any line with Jeff. It was only meant to be words to get him hot. And trust me, my dirty talk is really hot. I told Tenn that but of course, he was still pissed."

  "As he should have been," Gabby mumbles, and I ignore her.

  "But I couldn't go through with it. I left him in the restaurant," I tell her, and she smiles at me brightly. "And Tenn was right there waiting for me... ready to support me no matter what the outcome was."

  "And what was the outcome?" Andrea asks.

  "Tenn totally roughed Jeff up, made him get on his knees before me to apologize, and then made him pee his pants," I say with a wicked grin.

  All four women break out in loud cackles, Savannah hunches over holding her stomach, Andrea slapping at the table, and Gabby with tears rolling out of her eyes. "Tell me you're making that up," she huffs. "Because that's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life."