“At least you know what it feels like to succeed. To be a winner.”
“I guess. Except it makes everything a job, a test. I know I’ve got a rep for carousing and all, but the truth is I feel like everything I do is to prove something or to impress somebody. Makes life a bore.”
His frank honesty startled her. This was the last thing she would’ve expected Drew Byrne to say. “But if you feel this way, why pull your son out my ballet class when it’s something he loves to do?”
With a soft laugh, Drew said, “Maybe it’s because Trevor isn’t the only asshole in town.” He stared out into the night, a mystified expression on his face. “I’ve never talked about this to anyone before. Must be some kind of crazy effect you have on me.”
“I’m flattered,” Casey said, touched that he would open up to her like that.
Without warning, Drew reached out, pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. His mouth was burning hot, yet so sweet and soft and full. Casey responded with a craving she couldn’t deny, one hand on his muscled chest, the other reaching around his neck.
Drew tightened his grip, pressing his steel body against hers. She let out a slight whimper. That seemed to send him into warp drive. He deepened his kiss, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, running his strong hands over her back, cupping her bottom and pulling her against his hard shaft.
But just as she was thinking that Drew really knew how to use his mouth and hands, Casey stopped herself. Had she forgotten what a fast and slick player he was? As good as this felt, she knew she’d be sorry tomorrow. Or in the next week or month after she fell for him and he dumped her.
She stepped back. “I can’t do this.”
His arms held her shoulders, his voice husky. “Feels great to me.”
“Me, too,” she admitted in a whisper. “But as you said, you have a reputation, and frankly, I’m not anything like Riley or the women you—”
“I know that.”
“Then you should know this would end badly.” And the last thing Casey needed was another calamity to add to the mountainous pile she’d already stacked up.
Drew’s teal blue eyes bored into hers, his eyebrows knitting together. The question in his face reached a part of Casey that wanted him to argue with her, to convince her this would not end badly, that this special feeling she’d had for him since they’d first met was something he felt, too.
But he said only, “All right, Casey. Goodnight.” He slid his hands down her bare arms, creating a chill on her skin that remained after he let go.
“Night,” she said, scolding herself for the corny fantasies that plagued her. She unlocked her door, listening to his shoes on the gravel as he walked away.
She ran up the stairs to her three cats and empty bed. Closed the door and leaned against it. Fighting the urge to race back to Drew and dive head first into what she knew would be a burning hot delicious romance.
But one that would leave her in ashes.
Chapter 9
“Right, Dad, right. I’m already on it.” Drew stepped past the black amoeba-like grease stains on the rough cement floor of the trucking garage. He recalled the way Josh had once made a game of naming them for their shapes. Something he never would’ve thought to do when he was a kid. No, Drew had been too busy hanging onto every word of his godlike father, desperate to please him, fearful of doing some stupid childish thing that would bring on his wrath.
Stuffing his mobile into his jeans pocket, Drew walked out to the back lot where he found Keith resting on a bench in the sun, his artificial leg outstretched. Styrofoam cup of coffee in one hand, cigarette in the other.
“When are you going to quit that nasty habit?” Drew said.
Keith squinted up at him. “Just which nasty habit are you referring to, Prince Charming? Since I figure I’d clock in with maybe thirty or so. Not enough to keep up with you.”
Drew sat next to him. “Yeah, well, I must be losing my touch. Got turned down by the ballerina I told you about.”
“Well, plenty of fish, and all that.”
“Not like her.”
“Ha! Do I detect a crack in the prince’s armor?”
“What in hell’s that supposed to mean?”
Keith swigged the last of his coffee and overhanded the cup at a waste barrel. “Sooner or later a guy runs into a woman who’s different from the rest. I call her the Mystery Woman. Because there’s something about her that will spin your head around and send your heart to Planet Nine and back.”
“Gee, I can hardly wait.”
“Sounds like you won’t have to.”
Drew’s cell rang. He pulled it out, checked it, frowned and shoved it back in his pocket. “I think it’s mostly because of where I’m at in my life right now. I’m beginning to assess things. So along comes this sexy oddball chick, and she inadvertently gives me a nudge that opens the floodgates. Kick-starts a change in me that’s been brewing for years around my dad.”
“You mean like you’re finally getting pissed about working your ass off to put this business on the map and having Andrew Sr. act like it was all his doing?”
“Hey, that’s never going to change. What bugs me more is the way I never questioned it. Dad loomed so large in my life that I never realized what a slave I am to making sure everything I do will be a feather in his cap. Something he can use to impress his friends. It’s all for him. I don’t even know if I really wanted that Ferretti I bought.”
“I’ll take it.”
Drew looked at this man he cared so much for and realized he’d never even invited him to his home in Southampton. Andrew Sr. wouldn’t like it.
The rambling estate he and his dad bought when things took off had enough room for each of them to have private wings bigger than most people’s houses. He used to joke that they lived like two bachelor buddies. But, no. All the rules were dictated by his father.
As if reading his thoughts, Keith said, “Maybe it’s time you started branching off. Investing your time and money in something that’s got nothing to do with your dad or this company.”
Drew nodded, but his thoughts had shifted from what Casey had said about how she loved teaching dance to the memory of her petite dancer’s body in his arms. He’d barely slept at all last night, tormented by the sweet softness of her mouth and the velvet feel of her skin. And the fire that ignited in him when he kissed her. It had been so hard to stop. And he was sure she’d felt the same. “I think she’s attracted to me. But wary of who I am.”
“Oh, we’re back on the ballerina now?”
“I’ve got to find a way to get her to go out with me. Maybe I’ll ask Madame Lumina. She was pretty good last time.” Drew shook his head. “Can’t believe I actually called a psychic reader, but you were right.”
Keith lifted an eyebrow. “I always am.”
“Okay, Yoda.” Drew tapped him on the arm. “How about you and your lady coming out to my place in Southampton before the summer’s done?”
***
Casey sat in Natalie’s office at the Coffee Cove, having demanded a much-needed powwow with her BFF. Casey had just begun to tell her about what happened last night at Trevor’s birthday party when Natalie gave her a soft pat on the hand.
“You poor baby. I heard all about it.”
Casey pretzled her lips. “Figures.” Those years in Manhattan made her sometimes forget about the pitfalls of a small town where everybody knows everybody else’s business. “Let me guess. Dr. Jill Grinski told you.”
“Well, she comes here every morning on the way to her office. I was going to call you, but decided to wait until you were ready to talk.” She pushed a plate of apple turnovers toward Casey. Natalie’s remedy for all wounds. “I feel so bad. Bet you’d like to wring his neck.”
“Worse. I don’t even care anymore.”
“So you’re breaking up with him. Good for you. I mean, you go out of your way to arrange his birthday dinner and he ends up in the restroom doing it with Riley Ward?”
<
br /> Casey shrugged. “Aside from my slightly battered ego, it worked out for the best. Now I’m free of guilt about ending it.”
“Jill said the guy who brought Riley was that super hot trucking mogul, Drew Byrne. And that you two left the Captain’s Quest together.” A sly smile.
Casey nearly choked on her coffee. Why did she feel so reluctant to tell her best friend about the little game she and Drew had going? Maybe because it wouldn’t be going anywhere, since Casey wasn’t about to let herself join that long list of conquered females Drew Byrne checked off on his scorecard. “Um, well, yeah, actually we’ve met before. Remember when I mentioned my attraction to the divorced father of a boy in my dance academy?”
“His son is your student?”
“For two years now. Great kid. His mother and her current husband live in Cutchogue.”
Natalie lowered her voice, her tone confidential. “There’s something you should know. I realized Drew Byrne is the name of the person who won the raffle for the Madame Lumina readings. So if he calls—”
“He already did. And even though he gave me a fake name I realized who it was when he started talking about Josh.”
“OMG! Do you think he has any idea you’re Madame Lumina?”
“No. And we can’t ever let him find out.”
A mischievous glint lit up her friend’s eye. “Did he open up on any juicy stuff in the phone session?”
“Natalie! That’s confidential. As it is I feel horribly guilty about deceiving him.” As she debated how much to tell Natalie, her friend picked up her vibe.
“Deceiving? That’s an awfully strong word, Casey. Something happened between you two, didn’t it?”
“Well, he did ask me out.” Casey tried to sound casual, but she blushed so darn easily that her face always gave her away.
Natalie sat forward, gleaming. “You’re crushing on him. I can see it. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it’s just a little flirtation thing that won’t ever go anywhere.”
“You don’t know that. Give it a chance.”
“Come on, he dates women like Riley Ward. All I am to a hot shot like him is a one-nighter, and you of all people know how badly I’ve been burned by his kind.” Casey sank her teeth into a turnover, trying not to think of Drew’s heart-stopping kiss. And that exquisitely helpless feeling she got when his insistent mouth and strong arms made it clear how much he wanted her.
“They aren’t all the same,” Natalie said.
She changed the subject. “So what do you think, Nat? Should I just try to be friends with Trevor so we can manage to get through the Family Fitness program?”
Natalie shook a hand at her. “Are you serious? You’re too forgiving. You’ll end up letting Trevor talk his way into your good graces when he doesn’t deserve you. He never did. You can’t teach that class anymore.”
As angry as she was with Trevor, it was Drew that Casey truly dreaded facing in the Family Fitness class tonight. “I’m not exactly looking forward to it. But I made a commitment. And I need the money right now.” Especially if she lost her school. No. She would think of some way to stop that from happening. She had to.
“Work for me if you’re short on money, but you’re not going back. I won’t let you play nice with that creep.”
Casey sipped her coffee, thinking. “I beat out Jessica Spitzer for the job. Maybe she’s still available. But I’d have to give a legit excuse to the community board.”
“You tore a cartilage. Come on, you athletic types are always tearing cartilage.”
“But I’ll still be teaching at my school.”
“Your doctor wants you to limit how much time you’re on your feet.”
“You should’ve been a lawyer.”
By noon Casey had reached Ellen Haverly of the Community Board, and within an hour it was settled. Jessica had the job, and Casey was free.
Back at her dance academy Casey worked on planning a sissone variation for her four o’clock ballet class. During the school year she held Sculpt & Stretch classes for women on weekday mornings, but in the summer when their children were home she didn’t have enough enrollment. So when she heard the front door buzzer echo through the empty studio, Casey feared it would be that awful Mr. Rozella again.
When she opened the door, Trevor stood there. With a bouquet of pink roses. Drew was right.
“Casey, darling, I understand completely how you must feel. How hurt you must be, but I—”
SLAM!! She shut the door, surprised at the depth of her fury after all those unruffled breakup speeches she’d rehearsed.
Trevor knocked frantically on the door. “Casey. Sweetie. Please just give me two minutes. I’m begging you.”
Casey opened it a crack. He tried passing her the flowers, but she pushed them away, saying, “Send them to Riley Ward’s agent. He can forward them to her. Not that she’ll remember your name.”
“Look. I don’t blame you for being angry after what I did. But at least hear me out.”
She leaned back against the door jam and crossed her arms. “All right. Two minutes.”
He rushed his words. “I’m really sorry about last night. Had way too much to drink. In walks this supermodel. Before I know it she’s all over me. That bathroom thing was all her idea.”
Casey rolled her eyes. “Poor little lamb.”
“It’s the truth! You know how women come on to me. Like the time Maribeth seduced me at Natalie’s Christmas party. I was even—”
“You boinked Maribeth at Natalie’s Christmas party?”
Trevor went pale.
“And I’d been so worried that night,” Casey said with a dry laugh, “thinking you must be bored while I danced and reminisced with my old friends.”
“I promise it’ll never happen again.”
“You’re right about that.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” he said, a slight quake in his voice. “What I did was wrong, but if you view it in the grand scheme of things it’s not enough reason for you to call it quits.”
“I agree.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You do?”
“Yep. But when you add it up with the fact that we have nothing meaningful to share, and that you have no clue what I’m even talking about most of the time, and that after almost a year together I still don’t know who the hell you are, then I’d say we have more than enough reason to break up.”
She closed the door.
***
Drew gripped the smooth steering wheel of his Porsche, his hands sweaty, his thoughts muddled. A woman shouldn’t be able to do this to him. He prided himself on bedding his picks and moving on. It wasn’t that she’d turned him down, although that rarely happened to him. And it wasn’t her looks. He’d had women that would make most men sell their right arm just to get near them.
So what was it about Casey Richardson that made him go hard just thinking her name? He didn’t like the hold she had on him. And he wasn’t so sure Keith was right about this Mystery Woman crap. Yeah, something about her made him look in the mirror, but so what? Drew bet if he could just get her in bed once or twice he’d be able to forget about her.
He glanced down at the passenger seat where his son polished off an ice cream cone. Drew refrained from complaining about the gooey melted ice cream that had dripped onto the leather seat. “So, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is your favorite, huh? That’ll give you some energy for your workout.”
“Yeah, but Miss Casey says you shouldn’t eat an hour before class.” Josh licked his fingers.
Miss Casey. Seemed like his kid was as hooked on her as he was. “Well, I’ve been working out for years. I know as much as Miss Casey does. Gotta admit, your dad’s in great shape. And I always have a sugar and carbo boost beforehand.”
Josh tilted his head. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course. Anything.”
“On Monday when Miss Casey was helping you with the lunges? Did you fall on purpose? It kind of loo
ked that way.”
Drew grimaced. “It did? You think she knew?”
“I’m not sure.”
“We’ll keep it our secret, okay?”
“Do you like her?”
Drew swallowed. He wasn’t about to share his X-rated thoughts with his nine-year-old. “Sure.”
“I think it would be nice if you married her.”
“Whoa, Josh. I’m not really the kind of guy who gets married.”
“You married my mom.”
“That was a big mistake.” When Drew saw the impact of his careless words on Josh, he quickly added, “Except for you.” He glanced at his son. The boy’s elfish chin and wide blue eyes melted him to the core. “I really mean that, Josh. I love being your father, but I’m just not cut out to be a husband.”
Josh clammed up again. His talkative moments were so few that Drew had asked Heather about it. But she’d said the boy was just shy and reluctant to talk around certain people. Like Drew.
He parked in the high school lot and ambled toward the gym. Drew tried getting Josh talking again by asking him which of the Family Fitness boot camp exercises he liked or hated. Their conversation didn’t go very far, but it took some of the edge off the anticipation in Drew’s gut around seeing Casey.
Would she avoid him tonight? Or would she face him with a stilted and phony cheerfulness? And worse yet, would she be wearing those skintight bicycle shorts that drove him nuts?
Josh pivoted about, scanning the room. “Where’s Miss Casey?” He sounded dismayed, but Drew was relieved. At least that was what he told himself, despite the twinge of disappointment nagging him.
“I’m sure she’ll be here,” he said. But when he thought of how hurt and embarrassed Casey must have been last night after Trevor’s move, only to have Drew, her supposed rescuer, push himself on her, he could understand how the poor woman wouldn’t want to go near either of them. He owed her an apology.
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