“Just as gorgeous as ever,” Troy said, then grunted. “But not nearly as gorgeous as Shayla, of course.”
“She remembers you from college,” Shayla said.
“I would hope so,” Troy said. “They were going to get married.”
“It wasn’t an official engagement,” Shayla said.
Reid cleared his throat. “No, not official, but I’d be surprised if she forgot,” he said, trying to sound offhand. He was anything but. “Shannon always had a good memory.”
He was assailed by memories, of her touch, of her kiss, of her perfume—of the conviction that she was everything he’d ever thought he’d wanted, of the astonishment that she was with him. Reid had thought Shannon was beautiful, perfect, representative of everything in life that he’d never known. He’d worshipped her.
That she’d agreed to marry him had blown his mind. He would have done anything for her—even do no more than kiss until after the wedding.
But she’d married someone else, walked away, broken his heart, and taught him that his luck always held true no matter how he thought it was going to change.
Shannon.
“I’m not sure I should come for dinner,” Reid said, frightened at the power of all that old yearning. He knew better. He’d learned his lesson. He’d just stay home.
Did that ever sound chicken-shit.
“It’ll be a great,” Shayla said. “Trust me.”
“But don’t tell Shannon any of your theories,” Troy advised.
“I like having theories.”
“There’s no such thing as true love,” Troy said, quoting Reid.
“I have objectives not dreams,” Shayla said, her opinion of that theory clear.
“Everything is a negotiation,” Troy said and sighed. “I think that’s the worst one.”
“We could debate that,” Shayla said, and Reid knew they would. “How can anyone dispute the power of dreams coming true? Or of true love conquering all?”
“Reid does,” Troy noted. “What about the glass being half full instead of half empty?”
“I kind of like that one,” Shayla said. “A lot of people overlook the good things in their lives, but not Reid.”
“That’s true. It’s good to value what you have,” Troy agreed and there was the sound of another smooch.
“Hello. I’m still here,” Reid said, stopping their debate before it really got started. “I’ll think about Saturday. Thanks for the invite.”
“You’ll think about it?” Shayla said. “Where exactly are you going to get a better offer?”
“The blonde,” Troy whispered.
“He can fit in her three hours between now and then. The dinner party’s more than a week away.”
“And if she doesn’t call him by then, she’s not going to,” Troy agreed.
“I could argue that if she hasn’t called him by now, she’s never going to,” Shayla said.
“Thanks for the confidence boost,” Reid said. “I think I’ll go before I’m overwhelmed.”
Troy laughed. “The last thing you need is a confidence boost.”
“Come to Chicago,” Shayla said. “Come and meet Shannon again. She really wants to see you.”
Reid’s heart clenched.
Maybe seeing her again would prove he was over her.
That would be good.
“All right,” he ceded, knowing that giving Shayla what she wanted was the best way to keep everyone happy. “I’ll be there. Send me the details.”
“Yay!” Shayla shouted and Reid lifted the phone away from his ear.
“She only wants to help,” Troy said, and Reid knew she’d moved away. “She likes you.”
“Go figure,” Reid teased.
“Yeah, I can’t understand it,” Troy teased back. “It’ll be good to see you. Come Friday and I’ll get the guys together for a night out.”
“Sounds good.”
Reid smiled as he put down the receiver. Even though he hated being fixed up, he was already looking forward to the trip. He liked Chicago and he liked seeing his buddies from college even better. Unless he missed his guess, Troy would take them to a bar with an awesome jazz band. He could stand a bit of that. And how hard could it be to spend a meal talking to Shannon?
He was over her. He’d prove it to himself.
Even if the sound of her name still gave him the jitters.
It would be a lot better to be spending an evening with Cassie Wilson, though. He checked his cell phone again, plugged it in to charge, then went to finish his shower. He’d stop down at the grocery and get himself something to make for dinner, because it looked like he’d be spending the evening alone.
As much as it galled him, apparently Devin Crawford had won this round.
Could Shayla be right? Had his own honesty condemned his chances with Cassie?
Three
It was a painful meal, although the awkwardness wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Tori had meant well by inviting Devin. Devin was apparently interested in Cassie’s life in New York, although he commented several times that he couldn’t understand the appeal of big cities. It made Cassie uncomfortable that he kept looking at her as if she was both amazing and far beyond his reach. It wasn’t her fault that they were so different. She felt on edge herself, knowing that she couldn’t avoid a family confrontation before the end of the evening.
She’d have to go down to the house and face the proverbial music.
Emily had been fussy, as if affected by the awkwardness at the table, and Tori had finally taken her into the nursery. Conversation stumbled until finally Cassie asked Devin about his car. He and Nick had then discussed the Jeep’s maintenance and repairs in excruciating detail, latching onto a familiar subject with relief.
Cassie took the opportunity to think about Reid’s comments about dreams and objectives. She had to admit that she probably was waiting for something that might not happen. After all, she was thirty-three with no man in her life, no true love filling her heart.
Well, not true. She’d been sure that Tyler was her true love, even that she’d be able to convince him to really look at her when he was apparently indifferent. His marriage to Amy had compelled her to abandon that plan, but had she really let it go? Or was she just waiting for Tyler to realize his mistake?
Was she looking for another guy who was just like Tyler? Cassie had to admit that she did play compare-and-contrast, and that Tyler usually won.
Why wouldn’t he? He was damn near perfect.
She wasn’t even sure what his imperfections were, except for his being married to Amy.
And yes, she saw her proverbial glass as half-empty as a result.
Did that mean she was doomed to be alone for the duration?
It just might.
Cassie knew that she didn’t really want to spend her life alone. She didn’t care much about having kids or not, but she did want to have a partner, a companion, a confidante, a lover who stayed instead of leaving.
What could she do differently? If she thought of that as an objective instead of a dream and made active choices to encourage it, what would she do first?
She needed to move past her admiration for Tyler, to stop comparing every guy to him. She needed to see the other possibilities.
She watched Devin, listened to him, and reaffirmed that he wasn’t a good option.
What about Reid?
Reid didn’t have any expectations of repeat encounters, let alone permanence, but he’d already shaken up her assumptions and made her reconsider her choices. Maybe he was good for her. She was sure that sex with him would be awesome. Maybe every relationship didn’t have to have the potential to last forever. Maybe something else could be contributed or learned.
Cassie had already learned plenty from Reid.
She thought about that as she cleaned the table and said goodnight to Devin, as she washed the dishes and put them away. She stood in the kitchen, staring at the darkened yard, listened to Tori and Nick bathe
the baby.
Then she pulled out her phone.
It was time to make the most of the moment.
Reid was debating the merits of two jars of spaghetti sauce, in near-darkness, in the Shop ’n Save when his phone rang. The only light was from the security lights at the back of the store and what came through the front windows from the street light. He assumed the caller wasn’t Cassie and answered without looking. “Reid.”
“If everything is a negotiation, then I owe you,” Cassie said calmly, and he nearly dropped the phone.
“Do you?” he asked, putting down the sauce and straightening up.
“You offered to let me drive your car in exchange for a kiss,” she continued and Reid found himself smiling at just the sound of her voice.
“And it was a very satisfactory exchange,” he said, in case she needed encouragement. “Great kiss.”
“One for the record books,” Cassie agreed with a blissful sigh. “But you gave me an orgasm, quite unexpectedly.”
Reid grinned. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It was a very good thing.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“If one-sided.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I enjoyed it, too.” There had been something magical about Cassie coming while she was virtually in his lap, wearing those boots, her hair wrapped around his one hand. He recalled the feel of the lace on her underwear and took a steadying breath.
“Probably not as much as I did,” she said, her voice husky.
“Maybe not,” he conceded, hoping this conversation was going where he thought it was going.
“Plus you warned me about Devin.”
“That was just for old times’ sake.”
“But we never had any old times.”
“True.”
Cassie’s voice dropped and Reid could almost hear her thinking. He really hoped she didn’t forget why she’d called in the first place. “Why didn’t we have any old times? I mean, I had to have been the only girl in high school you never looked at.”
Reid was content to let her work it out, because he knew she would. “Pretty much. Any speculation on why that might be?”
“You didn’t think I was interesting?”
He snorted at the suggestion. “Wrong.”
“But...” Cassie caught her breath. “Hold on. You worked for my Uncle Marty.”
“And he had one condition for my employment.”
“He didn’t! I barely knew him. He was the family hermit...”
“Actually, he had more than one condition,” Reid continued before she could get too worked up about Marty’s rules. “I had to show up on time. I had to do what I was told with no attitude. I had to refrain from stealing anything from the store and, last but not least, I had to stay away from you.”
Cassie was silent for a minute. “Why would he stipulate that?”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Reid wasn’t going to list all of his apparent flaws, according to the rumor mill of their high school days.
“But my mom stopped talking to him years before he died, and he was her brother.”
“Families,” Reid said lightly, not thinking it was his business to illuminate Cassie’s understanding of her own.
Cassie, to his regret, was thinking. “Did he give you the store or sell it to you?”
Reid found himself bristling, as if there was an implication that he’d done something dishonest. “Is that what you called to ask?”
Cassie sighed. “No, but I know I have to go down to the house tonight and my mom is going to ask me questions about you because she saw us together and I’m thinking that might be one of them, especially since she didn’t talk to Marty. So, I’m trying to be prepared.”
“Once a Girl Scout...”
“Exactly. Except I can’t ever be prepared for the usual argument.”
“Which is?”
“Oh, the usual mom pressure to get married and have kids, give her grandchildren while she can enjoy them, and all that.” There was a smile in her voice, which was an improvement, but then she paused. “Although we have our own special twist on that,” she added, sounding bitter.
Then she didn’t say any more.
Reid cleared his throat, curious but not wanting to push his luck. “When was the last time you saw your parents or Ally?”
“I don’t remember, but it hasn’t been long enough.”
“Regular chats on the phone?”
She laughed. “No.”
Reid had the strange sense that he and Cassie had something in common, although he knew her family couldn’t be anything like his had been. He teased her, wanting her laughter back. “Don’t sound so excited by the prospect of seeing your family.”
“It’s always so painful.”
“But you’ll go anyway.”
“I will.”
“It’s that Girl Scout thing.”
“I think it might be. They should warn us when we sign up that we’ll be indoctrinated for life.”
Reid smiled at the realization that Cassie hadn’t really changed inside, even though she looked so different. “Finding out about the store can’t be the reason you called me.”
“No. Someone gave me some advice today, about making the most of opportunity, and I’m finding that perspective to be persuasive.”
So, maybe Shayla was wrong and honesty hadn’t been such a bad plan.
Reid waited.
Cassie took a deep breath. “I called to even the balance, of course, and maybe negotiate for more.”
Reid found himself straightening that Cassie was so direct. He liked that, a lot. “More?”
She dropped her voice to a whisper which he found very sexy. “I owe you an orgasm by any accounting.”
“So this is phone sex.”
Cassie laughed, just as he’d hoped she would. “No, I’m greedy. I want another one, too.” She whispered again. “I like my sex up close and personal. There should be one for me and two for you.” There was something about that whisper that got Reid right where he lived.
“Now?” Reid asked, having forgotten that he was cruising the aisles for dinner.
“I wish,” Cassie said with a regret he could echo. “I have to go see my family, and I don’t really want to be the new topic of discussion in town.”
“With those boots, you probably already are.”
“For the boots, it’s okay. For more than that, not so much.”
“So this will be a reward?”
She laughed, her voice husky. “I like how you think, Reid Jackson.”
Reid smiled. “I’m going to guess that you have a plan.”
“I’m going to go running in the morning. Very early.”
“Ah. There’s a new trail by the river. You can access it at the end of the block, past your parents’ house. You might like it.”
“That depends on where it goes.”
“Downtown.”
“I don’t plan to even the score in front of the public library or even the convenience store.”
Reid grinned. “You can also get to my place on it.”
“You lived out in the country a bit.”
“Not any more.”
“Really?”
“Really.” He spoke with resolve because he really didn’t want to talk about his family home.
Cassie seemed to realize as much. “Good, because I don’t want to run that far to get what I want from you.”
Her choice of words only fed his need for her. “It’s not that far.” Reid gave her the address.
“I don’t know that street.”
“It’s new, or new since you left.”
“I might get lost,” she said, her flirtatious tone making him shake his head.
“In Montrose River?” he teased. “I always thought you were smart.”
Cassie laughed. “I thought you’d offer to help me.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to get lost and negotiate with someone else.”
“Pe
rish the thought. Meet you on the trail?”
“How about six?”
“Perfect,” she purred, her low voice sending a thrill through him. “I love doing it in the morning.”
“Running?” he asked, even though he knew that wasn’t the answer.
“Oh, that, too,” Cassie agreed.
“Good to know.”
“And now, duty calls. Thanks for being the light at the end of the tunnel, Reid.”
“I kind of like being the carrot.”
“Instead of the stick?”
“Definitely.”
“Me, too. See you in the morning.”
Reid smiled at his phone after Cassie was gone, then chose a jar blindly, grabbed a package of dry pasta, and headed home, a whistle on his lips.
In just a matter of hours, he’d be starting the day off right.
There was no point in delaying the inevitable.
There was also no point in airing whatever dirty linen Cassie and her immediate family possessed at Emily’s christening. She knew she had to go to the house.
She wished she could have gone to Reid’s place instead and jumped his bones, but some jobs couldn’t be avoided. Maybe it was penance that couldn’t be avoided.
Besides, Tori would be shocked if Cassie went out, just to have sex with Reid, and worse, everyone in town would know about it by the morning. Cassie yearned for the big city and its anonymity one more time.
Tomorrow morning, Reid would make the wait worthwhile.
Now, she’d do the dirty job.
Cassie fixed her lipstick and strolled down the street as if there was nowhere else she’d rather be. Who knew how many people were watching? She could have made a guess, but some of the houses had probably changed hands while she’d been gone. Her count might be off by one or two.
The trees were bigger, the cars were newer, and there were more of them; the houses were older and a little bit tired, but otherwise, the street was painfully familiar. Cassie pretended to look at the other homes, noting gardens and additions, but she was thinking of one particular house straight ahead. The house had been her parents’ home for thirty years before they’d sold it, at a discounted price, to Cassie’s younger sister, Ally, and her new husband, Jonathan. They’d then bought an RV, a smaller one than the current extravaganza, and set out to see all fifty states before they died.
Some Guys Have All the Luck Page 5
