“I’ll poop out with you, Bastian,” she said, wrapping her arm around him as they walked toward the limo waiting for them outside.
“Oh, don’t you dare.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
She rolled her eyes as they pushed through the double doors. “I can’t keep going there.”
“Why not, hon? He’s so incredibly yummy. Do you not deserve a little candy once in a while?”
They stopped in front of the limo where their friends were piling in. She glanced around to make sure nobody was listening in, and then leaned in. “I just feel like an idiot. A cougar cliché.”
“Oh yes, because all our friends are so judgmental.” He gave her a sarcastic lift of the eyebrows.
“Okay then, to myself. What’s the goal here? Spend a few nights going nuts and then settle back into my old, tired life?”
“Why does it have to just be a few nights?”
“Oh, come on now, friend. I’m not that naïve. I’m a novelty to that man, a gimmick. When he’s done, he’ll move on. And I’ll be honest, I’m starting to realize he’s more than a good-looking face. I don’t want to get sucked into whatever it is he puts out there that makes women nuts. I’ve got to keep my wits.”
“Come on, slow pokes,” yelled Marigold from inside the limo.
Sebastian held up a finger. “Hold your penis balloons. We’ll be right there.” He turned back to Cassidy. “I hear you on this. I promise I do. But people like you and I aren’t single at our ages because we let people in easily. When’s the last time you let yourself fall into a relationship that made absolutely no sense?”
Cassidy huffed a laugh. “I’ve never done that.”
“Just try it out. Give in to whatever will of yours that’s holding you back from enjoying some time with this man. You may find this thing taking you somewhere unexpected.”
She took his hand and squeezed it. “Have I told you lately how much you mean to me?”
He waved her off. “Get a tattoo so you can quit saying it. Get in, Gisele.”
* * *
When they arrived at the hotel, they all headed straight for the nightclub, but Cassidy held back with Sebastian. “You’re headed upstairs?”
He eyed the nightclub, booming with music. “I’ll walk you down there, make sure everyone’s behaving. But don’t tattle on me if I slip out unnoticed.”
“Never,” Cassidy said, and they headed down that way. She wasn’t sure what her plan was. But she had put on makeup and done something with her hair for the night, so she might as well show up.
They went to the bar and ordered two bottled waters, then found a table to stand at. Getting her bearings in the loud nightclub, she spotted Jesse on the dancefloor twirling the lovely Hannah who fell clumsily into his arms, stumbling a bit from either too much drink or the appearance of it.
Rather than getting uptight about Jesse dancing with another woman, Cassidy just felt silly. What had she been thinking, anyway? Cassidy was shined up for the night with hair and makeup and a pretty kick-ass outfit, she didn’t mind admitting, but she was no match for the young Hannah. “Well, that does it for me,” she said, turning toward the door.
“Just, hang on,” Sebastian said. “I know this looks bad, but watch his body language. He’s putting her off. Look, right there.” Hannah plunged into him again and looked up at him with kiss me eyes like Cassidy had never seen. She had to hand it to the young woman. She knew how to flirt. Jesse stood up tall and glanced around the room, landing his gaze on the door. Sebastian backhanded Cassidy. “Oh my God, look. He’s watching the door for you.”
“Oh, please,” Cassidy said, hoping it was true.
“He is, look at him.”
Hannah whispered something in his ear with a grin on her face. Cassidy tried to control the wave of unease going through her stomach, but there was no hope. Jesse scratched his forehead, sort of squinting with one eye, saying something to her with a little shake of his head.
Sebastian covered his heart. “Oh Christ this is painful to watch. He totally just rejected her.”
He reached down and hugged her as her grin morphed into humiliation. Sebastian put his fingers to his temple. “I’ve got to look away. This is brutal.”
“He looks like he’s being kind,” Cassidy said, ashamed of how relieved she felt.
“That’s what’s so brutal. How horrible to be rejected by a guy who’s being nice to you. If he was being a jerk she could hate him.” As the two broke apart, Hannah glanced around the room looking a little lost, and then finally went to a table where she pulled a phone out of her purse and flipped through it. Cassidy imagined how she would feel if this same thing happened to her niece Seanna, and her heart went out to the girl.
“Oh, look. He’s spotted you.”
Cassidy drew her attention from Hannah and found Jesse, who was walking off the dance floor. He held up a hand in a wave, and she smiled at him.
“Okay, I believe my work here is done.” Sebastian patted her twice on the shoulder. “Good night, Cinderella.”
Jesse approached, all cleaned up and shaved wearing a black V-neck T-shirt with a silver chain around his neck, a pair of jeans that were designed for his body, and some black boots that made Cassidy’s heart twist. She blew out a calming breath, wishing she wouldn’t give this man the power to make her feel this way.
“Wow,” he said. “You look really good.”
She cocked her head to one side, taking in the view. “I’m not the only one.”
His smile widened. “Did you have fun at the bachelorette thing?”
“Oh, yes. Marigold made sure Shayla was treated like a bachelorette princess.”
“Nice…I think.”
Cassidy shrugged.
“Did you guys get her a stripper?”
“No. Why? Did Chase have one?”
Jesse chuckled. “No, these guys don’t strike me as the stripper sort. And isn’t Bo the bride’s brother?”
“Oh yes. That wouldn’t have gone over well, I suppose. Have you guys been here all night?”
“We just got here about half an hour ago. We went to dinner down the street at an Asian restaurant. It was good. I don’t really eat out like that much. I’m always at the bar on Friday and Saturday nights.”
“I don’t either, believe me. If it weren’t for frozen dinners I’d starve to death.” They both glanced around, Cassidy’s gaze landing on their group across the way. Megan and Hannah sat at a table with Blake and Bo. “I hope I didn’t interrupt your evening,” Cassidy said.
Jesse furrowed his brow at her and then dropped his posture in realization. “You saw me dancing with Hannah.”
Cassidy held up both hands. “She’s lovely. Very kind young woman.”
“I told her I was into someone else and I didn’t want to mess that up.”
Cassidy let out a sigh, shaking her head. “You didn’t need to do that.”
“I didn’t need to, but I wanted to.”
She met his gaze. “I just don’t get that, Jesse. Hannah’s a beautiful girl. Seanna says she’s a really hard-worker. Very sharp. She’s gracious and polite. She’s everything I would think a guy like you would look for. Why wouldn’t you want to give her a chance?”
“Man, I’ve been rejected before but never with that kind of sales pitch.”
She smiled, shaking her head. “I’m not rejecting you. I’m just trying to understand you.”
He pinched her hip. “Well stop.”
She glanced over to the spot where their whole group was sitting and took a step away from Jesse, being led by pure instinct.
“Wow,” he said. “You are embarrassed of me.”
“I’m not,” she said, hoping it wasn’t a lie, but cringing as Blake caught sight of her and Jesse with a curious look on his face.
“I think I’m just gonna go to bed,” she said.
He glanced at the time on his phone. “At ten-thirty?”
She tossed up both hands. “What can I say? I’m old
.”
“You can keep trying to convince me of that, but I’ll never buy it.”
She ran her hand across her forehead, heat flowing up through her chest. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” he said, and she willed her feet to walk away from him.
She headed upstairs and opened the door to her room, the emptiness of it swallowing her whole. She brushed her teeth, scrubbed off her makeup, changed into her favorite tank and cotton shorts, and got into bed. Flipping channels on the television couldn’t have been a more futile exercise.
After catching up on emails and shared articles she’d been banking in her phone, she laid back and stared at the ceiling. Why could she not get Jesse off her mind? All she was picturing was him downstairs in that bar hooked back up with Hannah or a cast of new characters she hadn’t even dreamed up yet. This wasn’t her life. In her life pre-Jesse, she spent her nights with a glass of wine and whatever was on A&E. She didn’t even have to see a series or even an episode from the beginning because she didn’t really care. It was just a tool to numb her mind for the moment. But all she could picture in her brain was Jesse’s gorgeous face.
She stilled as she heard a door from the hallway open and shut. She was almost positive that was him. Silence for a bit, then water running. A single squeak of the bed, and then more silence. The idea of him sharing the wall with her filled her with a fluttering anxiety. She was almost powerless against his draw, and he wasn’t even doing anything to pull her in at the moment.
She inhaled a deep breath and then sat on the side of her bed. Surely she wasn’t really thinking of knocking on that door. That would bring him into her room, and into her bed. God, the idea of his delicious mouth on hers fed her soul like sunlight.
She was out of her mind. Temporarily insane, that’s what she’d claim. All she needed to do was tuck back into bed and give herself a quick orgasm, and then she’d be fine. That was the plan. Now, she just needed to stick to it.
12
Jesse lay on his bed with nothing on but his boxers thinking about who was lying right behind him. What was it going to take to make this woman interested in him? He could knock on her door. She definitely seemed attracted to his body. But that wasn’t what he wanted her to be interested in. He wanted her to connect with him. He wanted to talk about what she read and what made her get up in the morning other than the sheer need to make a living. He wanted to know what she’d done with the past couple of decades. What had her life been like? Where did she want it to lead? Was she planning on staying in Seaside and baking muffins, or was she banking money for something bigger one day? Was Jamaica her ultimate goal? What was holding her back? He had more questions than he could even formulate in his brain.
All he had to do was knock on that door, see if she’d let him in when nobody was around to see them. He understood that she was embarrassed of him. He wasn’t even sure he could argue that point. He was a twenty-nine-year-old bartender. She was a sophisticated woman used to dating guys her age or older. His ego was bruised, of course, but he couldn’t wallow in that shit. He wanted her. He just needed to figure out how to make her proud to be on his arm.
He stood and found a T-shirt to put on. He started digging through his suitcase for a pair of shorts, but froze when a knock sounded at his door…the connecting one. He stood and glanced around like he was caught. She was coming for him. This was a pleasant turn of events. For all she knew he was in bed, so he wasn’t going to put on a pair of shorts. He considered taking off his T-shirt and just answering the door in his boxers, but that was cheating. He wanted her to want to be with him without his bare chest as a dangling carrot.
He settled on boxers with the T-shirt and opened the door to find her standing there in a tank top with no bra and the sexiest little sleep shorts he’d ever seen. He gripped the side of the door, flexing his arm muscles. He had to cheat a little because she damn sure had. “What’s up?” he said, his voice low after being quiet for a while and the long day and night getting to him.
“I’m just having a really hard time sleeping, so I thought I’d invite some company over.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Me?” He peered into her hotel room. “Do you think anyone will see me in here?”
She grabbed his hand. “Just get in here.” Once she got him into her room, she just stood there biting her thumbnail.
He lifted an eyebrow. “Did you not think this far?”
She let out an exhausted sigh, but her face was so red he could probably melt an ice cube on it. The idea of an ice cube melting on her skin made him twitch down below.
She offered an arm toward her king-sized bed. “Would you like to sit with me here and watch a movie?”
“Sure,” he said. “I think there’s popcorn in our gift baskets. Did you go through yours yet?”
“Oh my gosh. How did I forget about that thing?” She went over to the desk where it was sitting and pulled the string on it.
“You haven’t even gone through it yet? You’ve got willpower.”
“I just wasn’t thinking about it.” She brought it over to the bed and dumped it out. “Oh, wow. Movie boxes of candy. This is awesome.”
“Give me those M&M’s,” he said.
She held the box to her chest. “Over my dead body.”
He grabbed another box. “Fine. I’ll just have to eat your cherries.”
Her eyes got wide and then she looked down at the box in his hand. “Are those sour cherries?”
“I should have known you’d like these. Sour beer. Sour cherries. Makes sense.”
She pulled out the bottle of wine. “Oh, I love this brand. And the best part is it’s a twist off.”
“Fire it up.” He hopped off the bed and found a couple of plastic cups. “I will say though that we have a habit of opening up bottles of wine and then not drinking them.”
She gave him a look. “One time does not a habit make. Give me those cups.”
She opened the bottle and then poured wine into the two cups he was holding out for her. She set the bottle down and he handed her the cup. “Cheers.”
“To what?”
“To Chase wanting to spend his every last dime on us this weekend.”
She touched her cup to his. “Here, here.” After taking a sip, she said, “Although, I’m sure he’s got a little to spare.”
He swallowed the wine which was not at all shabby. “I’m sure he does.” He held out his hand. “Give me some of your cherries.”
She poured some into his hand. “You haven’t had your fill of those yet?” she asked, trying to hold back her smile.
“Of your cherries? Are you kidding me? I live for your cherries.”
She smiled, shaking her head at him. He loved it when she did that. It meant he’d stumped her, and each time she didn’t take the opportunity to blow him off told him he was another step closer to landing her.
She read his T-shirt. “Who’s that? A band?”
“Yeah, they played in the bar one night. I got into them for a while.”
“What kind of music do you listen to?”
“I like indie rock. Mainstream alt rock is fun sometimes as long as it doesn’t go too pop. It’s been trying to do that lately. What about you?”
She exhaled, thinking. “I guess I’m a cliché of my generation. I listen some to stuff like Elle King and Young the Giant, The Revivalists, but I always find my way back to my old standards.”
“What are those?” he asked.
She lay back against the many pillows this resort provided per bed, balancing her wine cup on her thigh. “Tori Amos, 10,000 Maniacs, Aimee Mann, oh, and my heart belongs to Liz Phair.”
“I’m not sure if I can compete with her. She’s damn hot.”
She looked at him curiously. “You know Liz Phair?”
“I can remember a CD cover of hers from when I was a teenager. She had her legs spread out in front of her and she was holding this guitar between them. God, I must have whacked off to
that a thousand times.”
“Whose CD was it?”
“My sister’s probably. I stole it though as soon as I laid eyes on it.”
“Did you ever listen to it?”
“Didn’t need to. It was serving its purpose. I was seventeen.”
She hid her eyes. “God. I was at least your age now when that came out, probably older. How old’s your sister?”
“She’s six years older. She was back home from college during that time period.”
“What’s she like?”
“Nothing like me, that’s for sure. She doesn’t approve of my lifestyle.”
She narrowed her gaze. “What kind of lifestyle is that?”
“Bar life. I live above my shop. She lives in the suburbs.”
“Does she have a family?”
He nodded. “Three kids and a husband.”
“Do you like her husband?”
He shrugged. “He’s fine. Buttoned-up. We talk about sports when I’m there, which is a stretch because I’m not into sports.”
“So how do you talk about them then?”
He set his wine cup down and poured some M&M’s into his hand. “I watch SportsCenter for a week before I go up there for Christmas.”
She smiled. “Do they live in Louisville?”
“Yep, a suburb of it called Indian Hills.”
She nodded. “Is she a stay-at-home mom?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Why do you say it like that?”
“Because she treats me like her fourth kid. Why the hell do you think I moved away?”
“Are you close with her kids?”
Jesse’s heart panged a little. “I guess I should be. It’s tough though because I only see them at Christmastime. You know what it’s like owning your own business where we do. We’re only slow in the winter. It’s not like I can leave and go on vacation in the summer.”
Grayton Beach Dreams Page 9
