Top Shelf (Five for Fighting #4)

by Amber Lynn

  Chapter Three

  John wasn’t done with his conversation with Casey, but in the few minutes he’d been outside, Dylan had scooped his wife up and had her twirling around the dancefloor. Dylan was a smart man, because even though John wouldn’t make a scene at the event, he needed to make sure Casey understood her meddling wasn’t welcome.

  “I’ve found ignoring her is the way to go.” Doug was at John’s side before he had a chance to pinpoint where the rest of his group had dispersed. It was surprising to find him without his wife attached at his hip.

  “How’s that working out for you?” John looked skeptically over at his friend.

  It was impossible to ignore Casey. Dylan hadn’t been able to when she yelled at him during games, and look where that got him. He was married to the love of his life and enjoying every minute of it. Other people usually weren’t that lucky when it came to Casey’s plans for them. Things usually turned out okay in the end, but Casey’s ideas were known to make that road bumpy.

  “Sometimes it’s easier than others. I haven’t had to deal with her blind date setups for a while now, but she’s trying to be helpful when it comes to giving me advice on being a new dad. Like I haven’t had plenty of experience with Ben.”

  “You have to admit it’s going to be a little different with a girl who isn’t already potty trained. Ben could talk when you met him.” It was only basic words, but Doug hadn’t had to deal with sleepless nights and diaper changes.

  “Lizzie assures me I won't have to change a single diaper. How long do you think that’s actually going to last?”

  John laughed as Doug elbowed him. As Doug worked through healing his body and starting his life with his family, the pair didn’t get out for guys’ time as much as they used to. John missed spending time with his best friend, and that more than anything else got him thinking maybe having a family of his own wouldn’t be too bad.

  Not that he saw that happening with the lovely woman he’d been bought by. She was a beautiful distraction, but there was no future. Even if there was an inkling something could happen, making it last wouldn’t work. It was hard to miss the fact Jasmine wanted to be the dominate force in a relationship, and John wasn’t any different. The two of them wouldn’t last in a real relationship for more than a week.

  “I’d start practicing. She should’ve given me a heads up.”

  John’s eyes hadn’t left the woman he continued to have a beef with. Her emerald green ball gown floated around her as she smiled up at Dylan. If the dress was white, they totally would’ve looked like the top of a wedding cake. John needed to stop thinking like that, so he tried to look around the room for anyone not hopelessly in love with the person they were with.

  The various eyes that met his told him he wasn’t as alone as he felt. He was too far away to pick up exact colors, but he didn’t get the feeling any of them matched the chocolate-colored ones he was interested in learning a little more about. It didn’t really matter that there wasn’t a future. The simple taste of her lips was merely an appetizer to something more he decided needed to follow. Jasmine had paid a lot of money to get his attention, and John wanted to make sure she got her money’s worth.

  “You’ll get over it. So, does she want you to pop out of a cake? And if that’s the case, please tell me someone is going to be taking video.”

  John groaned. He didn’t want to think about what grandma’s special night would entail. He needed more wine to even continue the conversation if it was heading in that direction.

  “I’m surprised she didn’t want to talk about what I was going to wear and give me a second-by-second breakdown of how the four hours would go. How many of her movies have you seen?”

  “Come on. A subject change? You’re not even going to tell me what happened when you tucked her into her car? You were gone almost ten minutes, so I’m sure something interesting was said.”

  Yup, wine was definitely needed. John pushed away from the wall he’d settled against to observe the room and headed towards their table. The dining area had cleared out as everyone moved to dance or mingle. There were a few people, including Lizzie, but it was more secluded than their previous spot.

  Lizzie, the angel that she was, held out a glass full of a deep red liquid. “I don’t see any handprints welting on your face, so I assume you were a gentleman.”

  “I think I questioned whether I’d need to bring along my own protection for the date she had planned, so you can imagine how well that went over.” After taking the drink from Lizzie’s hand, John sat down next to her and took a sip, which ended up lasting until the glass was empty.

  “And if I heard right, the date is with her grandmother. She should’ve taken one of those lethal-looking shoes and stabbed you with it. I can’t imagine how much those have to hurt after wearing them a while. I wonder if she has some special bath she soaks her feet in at night.” Lizzie leaned over after speaking to give her husband a quick kiss as he sat on the other side of her.

  John had no clue about the pain, nor did he really care to find out. “I was gauging how lethal she could be. It wasn’t hard to figure out she likes to be the one in charge, and I thought knowing how far she’d go to prove that was a good idea. Just in case you’re wondering, she didn’t hit me for kissing her either.”

  Lizzie sighed and shook her head. John’s eyes were focused on the smile that spread across Doug’s face. It didn’t come across as one of those cheering on a friend for a job well done.

  “She intrigues you.” Doug’s statement seemed simple, but paired with the smile, any response had to be handled with care.

  John didn’t doubt that anyone attracted to women would be intrigued by Jasmine, especially when she dressed like she wanted to be noticed. He didn’t know enough about her to really know how far the interest went, but he wouldn’t hide the fact he planned to see her again.

  That didn’t mean he was going to jump right into a conversation about the thoughts floating around in his head, especially where people he didn’t know could hear. John took a quick look around the dining tables and noticed a few more of the fairer sex seemed to be standing around than had been in the room when he walked in. He didn’t miss that they were trying to hide the fact they were staring in his direction.

  Any other night, he would’ve at least been cordial enough to dance, but he barely had the attention span to smile at everyone trying to catch his eye. It was a wonder that he wasn’t exhausted after all the years responding. For him to actually admit that said a lot about his state of mind.

  “She paid a ton of money to make her grandma happy. How could I not be a little intrigued by that?” John’s attention returned to the table in front of him, but instead of looking at his companions, he focused on the empty wine glass in front of him. He needed something a little stronger to drink, and he didn’t think he was going to find it at the charity event.

  “That’s part of it, but there’s something else.” Doug leaned in to whisper to Lizzie.

  The various whispers he’d had to endure over the night were getting the best of him. Maybe he really didn’t want to settle down. It apparently caused you to continually make your single friends feel left out, not that John had many single friends left. Chances were that was his problem. Instead of trying to change to match his closest friends, maybe trying to find new single friends was a better idea.

  A pair of fingers snapping in his face caused a growl to rumble from his chest. If he wasn’t aware enough to notice they were female hands, he would’ve smacked them away.

  “I happen to know your growl is worse than your bite, so growl away,” Casey said as she sat down next to him. “I figured you’d want to do a little ranting before you called it a night, so I’m here to appease you.”

  John had to snort at the claim. “I’m pretty sure that’s not the reason you came over. You’re probably just trying to cover up the fact that you’re tired out after chasing Katie all day and don’t have the stamina to shut the p
lace down with you and Dylan still out on the dancefloor.”

  “Wow, when did you become a mind reader?” Dylan whistled for half a second before he groaned from his wife’s elbow jabbing into his side.

  “You better watch it. I’d say it’s about time for Lizzie’s baby shower, and you’re going to be stuck taking care of at least a handful of toddlers. You tell me how tired you are after running around chasing them all day.” Casey’s comment was directed at Dylan, but that didn’t mean the other men at the table missed hearing the unspoken words that they would be helping out.

  John didn’t do much babysitting, but he was around the kids enough that he didn’t doubt he could get by taking care of one or two without direct supervision. There was a big chance they’d tie him to a chair and destroy the house around them, which was probably why no one asked him to babysit.

  “Do you really think I need a shower? Doug’s already bought a full nursery and enough clothes for her to wear until she’s a teenager.”

  Watching how different couples interacted was becoming an amusement for John. Casey didn’t have much cuddle or softness to her personality, which made that couple almost like a ticking time bomb, and you didn’t want to be in the room when they exploded, because clothes were more than likely going to fly. Doug and Lizzie on the other were so sickeningly sweet, all snuggled together as Lizzie blushed about Doug showering her with presents. He felt like he needed to brush his teeth to get rid of some of the sappiness that clouded the air around them.

  He tried to keep his mind from thinking it, but John knew if he and Jasmine spent any real amount of time together, they’d be like Casey and Dylan. That was why he needed to find new friends. He didn’t need his thoughts filled with what a relationship would be like.

  “Yes, you need to have at least a few hours with people more masculine than your husband for once. Maybe we should make it that bridal shower we never got a chance to throw you.” Casey’s fingers drummed on the table as she thought about the idea. “I’m pretty sure I can find a few ‘delivery men’ to make things interesting.”

  “You’re not getting my wife strippers, Casey. And don’t think I’m going to take that dig to my masculinity sitting down.” Since Doug didn’t move to stand, he didn’t do a very good job of backing his statement up.

  “As interesting as this conversation is, I think I’m going to head home. You guys have talked the ranting out of me and since there’s practice in the morning, I think I should get while the getting is good.” John moved to stand, but Casey’s arm drifting to his left forearm kept him from getting too far.

  “Wait just a second.” Out of nowhere Casey’s cell phone appeared on the table in front of them, and John had to wonder where in the world she hid it in her tight dress.

  John had seen her out on the dancefloor, so he knew the base of her dress could twirl, but the rest of it was glued to her body. If she hid a phone somewhere in it, especially one that was as long as a dollar and roughly the width of one, it should’ve shown.

  “You’ve been carrying your phone on you?” John felt stupid asking, because obviously she had.

  “I have a kid at home with a babysitter. Of course I have my phone on me.” The look she gave him made it clear she wasn’t thinking highly of his brain capacity. “Anyway, if I didn’t have it on me, I wouldn’t have seen a text meant for you.”

  Casey picked up the phone and started swiping and tapping. Why she’d tossed it on the table was a bit of a mystery, since she could’ve easily just gone right to relaying whatever message she thought he needed to know about.

  “Does this mean you’re my secretary now? Because I’ve always thought I could use one, but I’ve never gone about seeing how much one would cost.” John knew Casey would love the secretary comment, and the glare in his direction didn’t disappoint. He did his best not to laugh in her face, but it wasn’t easy.

  “I’ve always wondered why someone with your looks was constantly single, but I think you just cleared up any lingering confusion in my head.” Casey held up her phone so John could see the message.

  Since I’ve already established I can’t get in touch with him through my channels, could you pass my number on? I realized I forgot to give a few instructions.

  There was a number with the text that John quickly worked to memorize. He didn’t have the greatest memory, but he didn’t want to appear too eager by whipping out his phone and typing the number in.

  “I knew she forgot to tell me what I should wear,” John said as he casually pulled his phone out.

  Scrolling to his contacts, he typed the number in with her name before anyone at the table had a chance to comment on the fact she was already reaching out to him. She very well could only want to try her hand at bossing him around, but the testosterone brewing inside of John wanted him to believe there was another reason she reached out.

  “Maybe I should text her back and make some suggestions. Are we talking about your date with her grandma or some kinky thing you guys discussed outside?”

  Whenever John found someone to try a relationship with, keeping her away from Casey was a high priority. It was a miracle none of the other hockey wives seemed to have been corrupted by her.

  “How about you delete her contact information now and we call it good. Why didn’t you just text her back with my number. I know she said to pass it on, but it’d make more sense for her to issue instructions without having to wait for me to decide to send her a message.” John could be a jerk if he wanted and pretend he didn’t get the message.

  “Well, you know I have to look out for one of the team’s biggest assets, so I couldn’t just text her back without talking to you. I may have gotten her here to check you out and part with some of her money for charity, but she could’ve turned out to be a psycho.”

  Casey was a piece of work, big time. John sighed and decided not to engage her further. The ranting that had passed was bound to bubble back up if he sat around too long, so he successfully got up from his seat without interruption and started making his rounds to say goodbye. Along the way, a few of the unattached players assumed he was heading out to a bar, but as great as the idea sounded, John decided spending the rest of the night alone in his apartment was a better idea.

  It took almost ten minutes to get out of the place. He ran into Anne and she insisted he take his basket filled with strawberries and sugar home with him, since he hadn’t given it to Jasmine. By the time he got to his jet black sports car, he was exhausted.

  The single women appeared to realize he was calling the night short and a handful of them had tried to change his plans for a party of one. For once in his life, he wasn’t even tempted. He wasn’t about to attribute that to the black-haired beauty who his mind seemed to keep floating back to, but as he drove through moderate traffic, she was on his mind.

  More than anything, he wondered what she was doing right then. She’d kept saying she had somewhere to be, and by the way she was dressed, it was going to be a heck of a party. With her just a call away, it would’ve been easy to find out and maybe pick things up where they’d left them.

  John gripped the wheel a little tighter to keep from doing anything stupid. He wasn’t some lovesick puppy who chased after a woman, and no matter how beautiful she was, he wasn’t about to start. He let out a sigh and pressed down on the accelerator, hoping he hadn’t finished off the bottle of bourbon he wanted to use to help him shut his brain off for the rest of the night. The wine hadn’t worked to remove the taste of her lips, but thirty-year-old bourbon would dissolve the lingering taste of orange. At least that was the hope.

  Chapter Four

  As the driver edged closer to the club Jasmine instructed him to head to, the idea of hanging out with the usual crowd didn’t sound as appealing as it had while she waited for the auction to get over. She found herself staring at her phone, waiting for any response that her text to Casey had made it to its destination. Jasmine was lucky that Casey had given her a cell number, j
ust in case she couldn’t make it to the auction and wanted to place a bid. Otherwise, getting her number passed along would’ve had to wait until morning.

  It had been twenty minutes since she tried her hardest not to make a fool of herself by admitting she wanted to contact John. She’d done her best to hide her interest, but he was bound to take the message another way. He seemed like a cocky jerk, who couldn’t help but think the world revolved around him. Since Jasmine was the female version of that, she knew firsthand how one acted.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” Jasmine said as she hit a button to open up the intercom. “Let’s head over to Forest Hills.”

  “You sure?”

  Jasmine couldn’t see the questioning look on the driver’s face, but her imagination was developed enough she could picture it. She didn’t usually roll around the city in a limo, so the driver wasn’t someone who knew her, like the man who drove her most days. Sadly, he’d been busy and preferred driving sedans.

  That left Jasmine with a guy who thought he knew everything about her, at least that was the impression she got from the minimum interactions they’d shared. In reality, anyone who questioned her instructions knew nothing about her.

  “Yes, I’m sure. And once you drop me off, you can leave for the night.” Jasmine hadn’t given him an exact address, but she figured she could guide him once they got closer.

  “So you’re not returning home tonight?”

  Jasmine ignored the question and thought about the message she’d deliver to his boss. Carrying a conversation didn’t bother her, in fact it often made drive times move along a little quicker, but questioning her judgement wasn’t something she’d stand for. He was lucky she didn’t feel the gumption to make the call that second.