by Amber Lynn
“All I got from the conversation was that she can’t tell you no, which I suppose is to my benefit. I could tell she wanted to.” Dylan met Holcomb’s eyes as he spoke and tried to figure out why he wanted to set Casey up on a date. The man across from him revealed absolutely nothing.
“I rarely ask her for anything, so I was fairly certain she’d go along with my plan. Waiting until the last minute, and knowing she didn’t have time to argue was figured into my calculations.”
“As you can imagine, I have a few questions about your plan myself. The most important one is why in the world you picked me.”
Dylan hadn’t dreamed that the woman screaming at him during games had been a part of the club, let alone the big boss’ daughter. That changed things a little bit, but he wasn’t sure it diminished any of the attraction.
“Why not? You were easily accessible and you two have a bit of history. I figure you have pretty thick skin to sit through her taunts every night, so you won’t come whining to me when she makes you feel like crying. I can promise you a lesser man would be in tears by the end of the night.”
“So my ability to let insults roll off me finally comes in handy. I’m sure there’s a few other guys on the team who would’ve qualified, but thank you for thinking of me. I know this isn’t a real date, and according to her I won’t be thought of again other than as someone to antagonize behind a cloud of anonymity.”
“I get the feeling you wouldn’t mind it if things evolved into something more. I can’t promise Casey will let someone in her life that way, but she could really use a friend. Her mother has been gone for over two decades, and for some reason she’s spent her entire life trying to prove something to me. Or maybe she’s proving something to herself. Either way, she doesn’t take very many opportunities to sit back and relax. I’m hoping amid all the chaos that may happen, you’ll be able to help her enjoy the night.”
That was putting a lot on Dylan’s shoulders. He’d known the event was honoring Holcomb’s wife, but he’d never heard there was a daughter also involved. He wanted to search the Internet for more information about Casey. Knowing what he found about himself there every day, he knew he couldn’t trust anything people said, but maybe it would give him a little insight.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try to make sure she has a good time. I can honestly say I’ve never asked a father for his daughter’s number, but she did say you could give it to me.”
“She only carries a work phone, so technically anyone can find it on the team’s website. Sorry this took a little longer than the few minutes I promised. I always forget to work Casey’s stubbornness into my calculations. Even when she was a baby, things took her longer than expected because she had to make sure everything was logical.”
Holcomb slid a business card across the desk. Dylan hadn’t had a chance to really look around the office, since his eyes had been on Casey most of the time he was in the room. The desk was as big and expensive as Dylan had imagined, made of some dark wood.
Other than the desk, nothing screamed “President of a successful sports team.” The chairs in the room were nice, but they weren’t fancy leather or modernly ergonomic. There were no windows in the room, but the artificial light somehow seemed natural.
“I’ve finally gotten a chance to meet my biggest fan. I was hoping I could ask where she got some of her material,” Dylan said, trying to get back into the conversation after taking a few seconds to look around. He wanted to walk around to the other side of the desk to see if pictures of Casey were in the few picture frames he saw, but that was probably going over the top.
Holcomb got a kick out of the statement and slammed his hand on the desk as he chuckled. If the desk wasn’t made of sturdy wood, it wouldn’t have been able to take many hits from the man.
“I’m afraid some of it comes from being raised by me. She’s had a few too many uncles who served with me and there’s a lot of bad habits that bunch has taught her.”
“I guess for the sake of the kids in the crowd, it’s good you weren’t in the Navy. I can just imagine her cursing like a sailor.”
After Holcomb had mentioned Casey wanting to prove something, Dylan was a little surprised that she hadn’t ended up in a branch of the military. He was curious to hear more about what exactly she thought she needed to prove.
“Bite your tongue. My little girl wouldn’t show her face in my house if she was a squid.”
“A squid?” Dylan wasn’t sure how much he’d offended Holcomb, but it was clear there was a little offense when he suggested serving in the Navy.
“You’ll need to brush up on the military world if you plan to spend much time in my daughter’s life. She may not have joined herself, but she’ll laugh her ass off if you don’t know what a squid is. Why don’t you head out and get your shopping done. I liked your idea of a visual indication that she’s with you tonight. Keep her close to you, if you can, and try to keep her in a group.”
The phone ringing on Holcomb’s desk kept Dylan from asking what his last statement meant. Holcomb didn’t seem to waste his words, and there was an underlying meaning Dylan wanted to discuss, which he couldn’t do as he was shooed by a wave of Holcomb’s hand.
Letting Casey out of his sight hadn’t been in his plans, so he supposed it was something he could ask about later. He tucked the scraps of paper he’d collected during the meeting into an inside pocket of his jacket and left Holcomb to his business.
He was happy he couldn’t see himself as he made his way down to the parking garage. There had to be a little extra skip in his step, which would’ve needed an explanation if anyone else had been around the arena to witness it.
The look he got from Nelson was enough to tell him he was grinning like a fool. His buddy was leaning up against his dark blue SUV. Dylan saw the use for the tank, especially for hauling gear and teammates, but he preferred to drive his sedan. Three other guys could fit in easily, and when he hauled gear, he usually didn’t travel with others.
“I’m guessing he didn’t tell you this was your last season playing for his team.” Nelson pushed himself away from his vehicle and walked over to the front of Dylan’s.
“You’re stuck with me for at least a little while. Tonight could change all of that, because I found her.”
Nelson looked at him a bit odd. “I’m a little afraid to hear who you found. I hope you didn’t find a reason to chicken out of coming to the ball. While I’ve been waiting for you, Steph has been sending me pictures of dresses and asking my opinion.”
Dylan’s grin slipped a little. Steph couldn’t totally kill his good mood, but there were going to be hurt feelings on her side when she saw Dylan had a date.
“I’m afraid to say I will most definitely be there, but I have a date, so maybe you should talk Steph out of coming.”
“You found a date?”
It was slightly annoying that Nelson’s words sounded like he’d been discussing Dylan finding the Fountain of Youth or some buried treasure. In Dylan’s opinion, he had, but Nelson didn’t have to sound shocked.
“I just said I found her, didn’t I? Luckily she’s agreed to spend some time with me, so I can get to know her better.”
“You’re talking her, her? How in the world did you find her between the locker room, Holcomb’s office and here? You took longer than I thought you would, but it wasn’t enough time to convince a woman who absolutely hates you to go on a date.”
“That’s the weird part of how my life just turned upside down within the last thirty minutes. She’s Holcomb’s daughter and the reason he wanted to talk to me was because he wanted us to go to the ball together. She may like to taunt me endlessly, but she can’t say no to her dad.”
“I think you have a ton of explaining to do. Do you want to stand around here and fill me in, or should we head over to your place?”
Dylan fished his keys out of his pocket and hit the button to unlock his door. He hit it a second time to unlock the rest
of the doors.
“Hop in. I have to run a quick errand, and then we can head to my place.”
“How long is the errand going to last? I’d kind of like to have my car, because eventually I’m going to have to head home to deal with the crazy female dressing saga that I’m sure is going to start within the next hour.”
Saga could’ve easily been replaced with nightmare, as far as Dylan was concerned. Nelson hadn’t said anything about telling Steph it wasn’t a good idea to go to the ball, so he assumed that wasn’t an option.
When he thought about Casey, her spending hours picking out a dress and getting ready didn’t sound plausible. From what Dylan had seen, without studying her like a love-struck fool, Casey wore minimal makeup and her hair seemed to naturally flow down to her shoulders. As busy as she was, he doubted she spent hours ironing out curls or putting product in her hair. It had been difficult not to reach out and touch it to see if the reddish strands were as soft as they looked.
“It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. If you come with me, we could probably answer all your questions by the time I get what I need, and then I can bring you back here so you can go deal with Steph.”
Nelson shook his head, but he walked over to the passenger’s side of the car. “You’re really screwing me by finding a date for tonight. I’m not sure if I should tell her before we go or wait for her to see the two of you together.”
“I suppose the good news is that you can explain that Holcomb made me go as her date. Since he’ll be there, more than likely watching my every move, it’s not like I’m going to be seducing Casey. I’m hoping she decides it’s fun to hang out with me, so there will be a second, not forced date, but based on her words, that’s a long shot.”
Dylan got in the car and headed towards the store Casey had written down. She provided the name and intersection, making it so Dylan didn’t have to break out his phone and search. He could’ve tried plugging it into his GPS, but he didn’t feel like wasting that time either.
The sun was directly in their eyes as the door lifted to let them out of the garage. Dylan grabbed his sunglasses from the visor above his head and put them on. They weren’t fancy, just cheap gas station glasses that blocked some of the glare.
“Okay, so explain to me exactly what happened. Holcomb called you up to his office to tell you he wanted you to be his daughter’s date for the ball, and somehow she turns out to be your fantasy girl, or did you meet her on the way?”
“She’s his daughter, which I never saw coming. Evidently she’s the head of marketing or something.”
“And she’s cool with being your date? I kind of got the impression she hates your guts.”
“Like I said, she can’t tell Holcomb no. I didn’t see her doing a lot of balking, so I figure under all the gruff exterior, she doesn’t totally hate me.”
It was difficult to really gauge a person he’d just met, but Holcomb had pointed out that she would’ve stabbed one of them if she was dead set against the idea. That could’ve been a warning that she carried a knife of some sort, which Dylan could see as a real possibility.
“My brain is hearing your words, but I can’t believe you actually found her. What does her relationship with Holcomb have to do with your plans to marry her?”
“That’s a little unclear. Holcomb seemed all for it, and told me he wasn’t sure how she’d react to a relationship, but she apparently needs a friend.” Dylan didn’t mention that marriage was probably a long way down the road.
“Really? Her dad wants you to be her friend. We are talking about the scary bastard who could crush skulls with his bare hands, right?”
“Apparently he doesn’t read the tabloids. Right now, I’m not questioning his motives.”
Dylan pulled in front of the shop that supposedly would have the tie he was looking for. It looked like a posh boutique, which surprised him a little. He didn’t expect Casey to shop at a military surplus store, but the frilly outfits in the display window didn’t seem her style.
“Do I want to know why you stopped here?” Nelson hesitated getting out of the car, but eventually followed Dylan’s lead.
“I’m getting a tie to match Casey’s dress, and apparently this is where she bought it.”
“You’re joking. She’s already got you running shopping errands?”
The fact that his best friend was appalled by the fact that he was clothes shopping spoke volumes about how often Dylan did that sort of thing. He was surprised his forehead wasn’t being checked for a fever.
“I thought it’d be a good idea for us to match. She seemed a little blasé about it, but said if I was going to do it, it had to be the correct color.”
“I knew you were crazy about her, but I had no idea you were that far gone.”
A warm blast of air greeted them as they entered an airy shop. There were very few clothing racks on the fake wooden floor. Five or six mannequins stood in ball gowns next to the few racks. Dylan didn’t see evidence of mass production of any of the dresses, they all seemed to be different.
Towards the back of the room there were men’s suits, so Dylan headed in that direction. On his way, he was careful to not run into any of the mannequins – a few of them had wide skirts that flowed into his path.
“Can I help you with something?” a woman’s sultry voice asked.
Dylan had noticed the petite woman making a beeline for them after they confirmed they weren’t going to run out of the shop screaming.
“I’m looking for a tie, and evidently your shop is the only one that can quickly match the color.”
“I’m hoping that means that you know someone who bought something here and not that you think we operate like the paint counter at a hardware store.”
The flirtation evaporated as she got down to business. It was a little jarring to hear her voice go straight to one that said she was bored. Dylan didn’t bother analyzing the change.
“I don’t know when she bought it, but I’m told Casey Holcomb bought a purple dress and I’d like to get a tie to match.”
“We’ve sold a lot of purple dresses. I’ll have to go look at our records, because I don’t recognize the name.”
She glanced at Nelson and walked away. Dylan wasn’t sure if they were supposed to follow behind or wait, so he picked the latter.
“It’s funny how when they think there’s a woman involved they instantly become standoffish. I’m not sure why she didn’t try to throw herself at me, but she didn’t even consider you were trying to match your sister’s dress.”
“Darn. I must have lost my touch. It’s either that, or she figured out who I was and decided I didn’t match her level of wholesomeness.”
Dylan didn’t care either way. He wanted his tie, so he could get home to start getting ready. Casey’s meeting probably wouldn’t last longer than an hour, so she’d be at the banquet hall around five or so by his calculations. To try to spend as much time with her as he could, he was hoping to beat her there.
Picking up his suit and taking it with him sounded like a way to ensure that. He was fairly certain Casey wasn’t going to be dressed as she ran around finishing the final touches, so there had to be a place he could change.
“I think you’re just giving off too much of a man in love vibe. You might want to try to put it in check if you don’t want to scare away your date tonight.” Nelson’s advice was sound, but Dylan wasn’t sure he could adjust his mood.
The woman helping them was on her way back to them, with a scrap of fabric in her hands. There was a chance she was a little bipolar, because she had a warm smile on her face.
“Most of our customers are teenage girls buying something for prom, and I’ve had more than one guy come in here that I thought was a little too old to be taking a teenager to prom.”
“Casey isn’t a teenager.”
“Thank god. I know teenagers think they can wear anything, but there are some of our dresses that I think are a little inappropriate for that age,
and I remember your Casey now that I’ve looked up what dress she bought. Cute redhead who I had to convince she wasn’t showing too much skin. I wish I had her body and could cram myself into that dress.”
“Come on. Don’t tell him stuff like that. He hasn’t seen the dress, and it’s going to be impossible for his mind to be on anything else.”
Nelson’s words weren’t a lie. Dylan instantly conjured up an image of Casey wrapped in purple plastic wrap.
“I would’ve thought she’d run right home to show it off. Good luck keeping other men’s eyes off her whenever she decides to wear it in public. The tie is going to run you fifty bucks with tax. If you follow me to the register, we can get you taken care of.”
Dylan pulled out his wallet and fished out a fifty dollar bill, handing it to the woman and taking the tie from her hands.
“We good? I evidently need to make sure my date also bought bubble wrap, so no one else can see what she’s wearing.”
The woman smiled and nodded. They were only three miles from the arena, and there was a brief second when Dylan considered telling Nelson to walk back, but he got his friend back to his vehicle before he took off towards his house to grab his things.
Chapter Six
Sitting in a cold doctor’s exam room was a lot different than the meeting Casey’s calendar indicated she was supposed to be in. A boring meeting would have been much more enjoyable than the conversation she prepared to have with her doctor. Most of the conversation had already happened, but there were follow-up details to go over.
It had been a week since she’d been told the news she’d been waiting to hear her whole life. Knowing it would eventually come didn’t make it any easier to hear. Since her mother, and her mother’s mother, had died because of breast cancer, she knew eventually she’d find a lump.
She’d thought about just chopping both of her breasts off many times before, to hopefully prevent the eventual diagnosis, but something had always stopped her. She thought being her father’s daughter would somehow prevent it from happening. The stubbornness she’d inherited from him had to be good for something.
