And then I come to. What an egotistical idiot I’m being. I mean, I was just about to ask her to leave. So what if she left first? I’m being a chauvinistic ass right now. Still, I have to admit—it stings a little. She doesn’t want to stay. Is this how I made all those women feel over the years? Shit, I didn’t really think about that. Before I have time to psychoanalyze myself anymore—how the hell did this thing get so complicated?—I stand up, heading to the hall in my boxers, feeling like a bit of a weirdo. She emerges from the bathroom a few minutes later, dressed, with her bag on her shoulder.
“So, can I call you or something?” I ask, not filtering my words before they just burst out. This is not routine. I never ask for a girl’s number. Again, it’s just not in my rules. But seeing her leaving, thinking this could be the last time I see Sage, it doesn’t sit right. At all. I don’t want this to be goodbye. After sex like that, after chemistry, how can we just say goodbye? Wasn’t it at least good enough to do this—whatever this thing is—again?
“Um, no. Sorry, but that’s not really my thing,” she says, shrugging. “It’s not you, it’s me. Really. It was fun. Really fun, Cash. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime. Thanks,” she says, as if I just delivered her a pizza or handed her grocery bags at the supermarket. With that, she marches right out the condo door. Killer doesn’t even get up and bark at her, passed out on the couch. The door to my condo clicks shut, and I stand like a moron in the doorway to my bedroom for a long moment in my boxers.
And just like that, Sage is gone, and I’m left behind asking: what the hell just happened?
Seven
Cash
“Oh, he’s here. Thank God. Cash Creed, you better be dishing about how your night with Sage Everling was. Did she show you any of her upcoming designs?”
I stare at Reed like he’s speaking a foreign language as I take a seat at a corner booth. Jodie and Levi, who are at Midsummer Nights for breakfast, rush over to join me. Lysander also crowds over.
“Don’t you all have a business to run or something? Or a couple of businesses?”
“Oh please, the morning rush hasn’t started. And hearing all about your night is way more important,” Reed replies. “Now spill. Details?”
“How do you know her last name?” I ask, the thought striking me. I’m not quite a morning person, and I’m dying for some coffee. But I’m guessing I might as well get all this out of the way first or I’m never going to get that coffee.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Reed asks, looking at Lysander and shaking his head like I’ve just committed a felony. I shrug.
“Oh my God, I swear. Do you people live in a bomb shelter or something down in Texas? Sage Everling, you know, founder and CEO of Evermore?”
I look to Levi, still shrugging. He does the same.
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” I ask again.
“Oh, man. You’re lucky you’re out of hitting range,” Lysander chimes in. “Evermore is only Reed’s favorite design line.”
“Those new bags they released last month are gorgeous, and the clothing line is edgy with sophistication. They’re supposed to be releasing a men’s line in a few months, and I’m dying to get my hands on some pieces. When I saw you with that woman last night, I was fanboying, but Lysander wouldn’t let me come and interrupt.”
“Because I know how you get. And I figured Cash deserved some fun.”
“You didn’t stop Levi and Jodie from wandering over,” Reed argues.
“They don’t fanboy over designers like you do.”
“Wait, can everyone just slow down,” I argue. “So you’re telling me the woman I slept with last night is Sage Everling, the self-made millionaire I’ve heard so many women rave about? Like, she makes those fancy handbags and all that? Are you serious?”
I had no idea. I mean, now that I think about it, Sage has the confidence you need to be a self-made millionaire. She clearly goes after what she wants without mercy. But still, I didn’t realize I was with basically royalty.
“So you slept with her! I knew it. You owe me ten bucks,” Reed says now, looking at Lysander. “That woman had her eye on you from the second you walked in.”
“You’re just hoping there’s a wedding so you can get free groomsmen gifts from her,” Jodie adds now, rolling her eyes.
“You slept with her? Jesus, Cash, you’ve only been in town a few days, and you’re sleeping with the area’s wealthiest, most influential woman? Good thing Mama already went home because I’m sure people will be talking about this one… and if she finds out her precious, do-no-wrong angel is wrapped in the sheets with Sage Everling, wow is she going to be pissed.”
“It kind of disturbs me that your family still pretends you two are so righteous,” Jodie says now, wrapping an arm around Levi.
“They’re both charismatic smooth talkers. Which is how this one snagged Sage Everling. So did you go to her place? Tell me what the décor was like. I bet it was to die for,” Reed continues, practically squealing.
“We went to my place,” I say. “Now, can I get some coffee, please, since you’re all interrogating me? Jesus, you’d think a grown man could have an ounce of privacy about his sex life.”
“Apparently you don’t know how this group of friends works,” Jodie answers. “Nothing is sacred or private, especially not sex lives.”
I shake my head as Levi and Jodie talk about Reed and Lysander’s meddling in their relationship before it was a relationship, but I only half hear them. I’m thinking about the woman from last night.
She’s freaking gorgeous, confident, and successful. She’s the real deal. Then again, this complicates things. Maybe this explains her whole leaving game from last night. A woman like that has to be careful because I’m sure so many guys are just after one thing—her money. Which I could care less about. I mean, let’s be real, I’m not a lawyer for free. I earn decent paychecks, and I can appreciate the finer things in life. But for me, my “relationships” are about lust and that’s it. I don’t expect anything out of them other than a night of fun.
So why then is this woman still plaguing my mind? Why did I wake up this morning in a funk over the fact she left without a single care? Why did hearing her name, her full name, send a jolt right through me?
“So really, what was she like, bro? She seemed a little forward if you ask me,” Levi says, snapping me back to it as Reed slides a coffee to me. I warm my hands on the mug, thinking about it, coming to the realization I didn’t want to come to.
“Well, I think I may have met my match,” I say.
Reed claps, wedding bells probably ringing in his ears. I look at him. “Not that kind of match. I mean, I met my match in the game.”
“Wait, you mean the player met a formidable opponent?” Levi asks, chuckling as Jodie squints at me questioningly.
“I mean,” I say, shaking my head as I think about her walking out last night, “the ultimate player may have just gotten played.”
“Wow,” Levi says. “You’re losing your touch.”
I sigh, staring out the nearby window at the boardwalk, thinking that maybe I deserve this a little bit. You can’t play forever and not get burned. Still, as I watch a couple stroll down the boardwalk, hand in hand on this cloudy Tuesday, I think about how it isn’t the whole getting played aspect that bothers me. No, if I’m being honest, the part that truly bothers me is the fact that for some reason, it seems like she’s different. I can’t get those damn eyes, that sensuous voice out of my head.
And I don’t like it one bit.
“Little brother, I think you may be in trouble in so many more ways than one,” Levi says as Lysander walks over with the newspaper.
I look at the headline in shock, staring at a dusky photograph from the Marooned Pirate. In it, Sage is grinding on me.
Players Gotta Play: Sage Everling’s Newest Score.
“Oh shit,” I say, feeling like a complete moron.
Yep, it’s true. I’ve finally met m
y match.
I try to shove the Sage Everling dilemma out of my mind as Levi takes me to the apartment complex to scope out the situation. It’s been a hectic week with the absence of Grandpa really settling in. Besides the emotional grief, there’s also the practical side of things. Luckily, Levi learned the ropes about the rental business. Still, he’s so busy with Wild Hearts, and I don’t have much experience as a landlord. Running the condos plus the apartments plus dealing with the other rental properties is going to be a lot to handle.
“Dear God, is that really a pink flamingo on the front lawn?” I ask as we pull up to the apartment complex Levi and Jodie used to call home. Phoebe, Jodie’s mom, apparently lives in the double apartment downstairs although I haven’t seen much of her. Maybe it’ll be a good thing, though, having some friendly ears and eyes in the complex.
“Brings back memories just walking in this place,” Levi says, grinning as he opens the office door and leads us inside.
“Still hard to believe he’s gone,” I say, thinking about Grandpa as I see his nameplate on his simple desk in the office.
“I miss him like crazy. Life’s so short, huh?”
“Yeah. It is. But I guess that’s why you’ve got to get your kicks in now.”
Levi smiles. “Grandpa would agree with that.”
I take a seat on the wheelie desk chair, leaning back as Levi sorts through some paperwork on the desk. I stare up at the ceiling, sighing.
“What is it?” Levi asks. “Don’t tell me you’re still freaking about your ‘tarnished’ reputation in the paper. I mean, you’d have to have a reputation, a good one, to tarnish it.”
I scowl at my big brother before shaking my head. “It actually isn’t that, but thanks for reminding me that I was played and everyone knows it.”
“Kind of karma and all that, you know?” he says, flipping through some paperwork.
I stand, walking over to the window that looks out over the ocean, thinking about how nice it would be to just go fall asleep on the beach instead of dealing with all of this—Grandpa, the business, Sage. But that’s so like me, shutting down when the emotional baggage gets hard.
“I just feel bad, you know?” I say, confessing it aloud for the first time. Levi stops rustling the papers and ambles over beside me, looking out the window as well. “I wish I’d have visited him before he died. I just got so wrapped up in my life back home, I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t think about him. I mean, we were so close when we were young and then—”
“Hey, Cash, don’t beat yourself up. It’s not like he lived a block away, you know? And you might not have been here for Grandpa, but you were there for Mama and Daddy when I wasn’t. We’ve both made sacrifices, and we’ve both paid our family dues in our own way.” He pats me on the back. “Now stop stalling. You’ve got a lot to learn. If you ever want to get back to that club and have fun again, you’ve got to get all of this mastered.”
“No worries. I’m a fast learner.”
Levi walks me through some of the basic paperwork and must-knows before taking me on a tour of the apartment complex. I’m listening to advice I’m never going to remember about water heaters, electric, and all kinds of things I didn’t really think would fall under my realm of duties as he walks me out to the front of the building. Standing on the lawn, taking in the sight of the somewhat sad-looking apartment complex, I notice a door opens on the far right.
Out pops a scantily clad woman, tan and dark haired. She’s got her long, wavy locks tossed loosely in a bun, her huge aviator sunglasses shielding her eyes. Still, her body’s tight in all the right places, those shorts she’s wearing barely covering enough to be legal. Her tank top hugs her as I study her. She notices, giving me a smile and a little wave. I nod and wave back.
Levi kicks me. “You’ve got work to do. Don’t get distracted.”
“Since when did you turn into a killjoy? Let a man have his fun, you know?” I reply as I ignore Levi and walk over toward the gorgeous woman.
“Hey,” I offer casually, hands in pockets so I don’t look too desperate.
“Hi. Are you the new landlord?” she asks, shoving the aviators back on her head to reveal green eyes that sparkle in the sunlight.
“I sure am. Cash Creed,” I announce, extending my hand to shake hers, mostly just because I want to see what it feels like to have her hand in mine. It feels damn good, her perfectly manicured hands lightly grasping mine.
“Nice to meet you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around.”
“I’m from Texas. I moved up after my grandad died.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ve only been here a few months, but he was such a nice man. Well, listen, I know what it’s like to be new in town, so if you need someone to show you the ropes, just let me know. I’ll give you my card.” She hands me a pink business card that says Layla Goodman, Personal Stylist. Her number is at the bottom.
“I’ll definitely take you up on this,” I say, holding the card up as she winks and then walks away, heading toward the beach.
“You know, I don’t think running this place will be so bad,” I say, smiling as I watch her leave.
“Haven’t you learned your lesson after yesterday’s debacle?” Levi asks. I hold up the card.
“I have. Go for the woman who isn’t afraid to tell you her name. And if you get played, the best thing you can do is just get back on the horse and all that.”
Levi rolls his eyes. “How do women stand you? Seriously.”
“It’s my Texan charm.”
“That’s my line,” Levi replies.
“Well, last I checked, you don’t need that line anymore because you’ve got yourself a woman.”
“You’ve got that right. Now come on, we’ve got some more people to meet if you’re going to run this place this summer.”
“Isn’t it time for lunch?”
“Jesus, Cash, do you do any work back home? We’ve only been ‘working’ for an hour.”
“Well, brother, if you worked the family business like the rest of us, you’d know there are some perks to it. But all right, kill my fun. It doesn’t matter. I’ve got her card, so I can catch up with her anytime I like.”
“Can you at least maintain some semblance of a professional appearance while acting as landlord? I don’t need you pissing off all the female renters.”
I follow him out of the building as we head for the next stop. I tuck the card in my wallet, thinking about how beautiful Layla Goodman is and how much I’d love for her to show me around town.
This is exactly what I need. A good time, just like at home, without any strings attached to forget all about that Sage Everling and her games.
Eight
Sage
“There’s no hiding your fun from last night,” Harper says as she hands me a cup of coffee and the newspaper. I graciously accept the cup of coffee as I glance at the paper.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whine, staring at a fuzzy picture of myself in that white blazer from last night, Cash right behind me.
“Oh, come on. You know you’re a celeb in this town. No use fighting it. What’s the big deal? It’s not like you’re married or something.”
I toss the paper on my desk, groaning. This is the last thing I needed.
“You know what the big deal is. I don’t need clients and everyone else thinking I’m some joke just because I like to have fun. I like to keep that personal. And up until yesterday, my good times at the Marooned Pirate were just that. How the hell did this happen?”
Harper shrugged. “You’re getting more famous. That’s how. I think it’s a good thing. No publicity is a bad thing and all that,” she says, plopping down on my sofa.
My office area is actually just a desk by the bay window in my living room. I like to feel comfortable in my space, and I like to be able to look out the window at the ocean. The benefits of the view and all that.
“I know, but I don’t want people talking. My personal life and how
I live it really shouldn’t be what the press focuses on.”
I sigh. Last time I made the paper like this a few months ago, the comments on social media were not really about my work. They were more about what some thought of my “loose” love life. I haven’t missed being in the press for that.
“Honey, it comes with the territory. Even if you were married with the two children expected, people would complain. It’s part of the role, you know?”
“I know. But I don’t want it to take away from my work, from our work. We’ve got this men’s collection launching in a couple months. I don’t want some guy I met at a bar to be all anyone talks about when they think of Sage Everling and Evermore.”
I stand from my desk, shoving aside the marketing reports once again, thrown off by this. I know Harper meant well by keeping me in the loop, but sometimes I prefer to stay oblivious.
“So, speaking of this guy at the bar, tell me. How was it? How was he?”
I smile, turning to look at her. “I mean, didn’t I just say we’ve got a new launch coming soon? Shouldn’t my lead designer be, I don’t know, working on some of those final touches?”
Harper waves me off. “Relax, boss. You know I’ve got this.”
“Oh, I do.”
“Then humor me. Take off the boss hat you wear so well and put on the friend hat.”
I grin as Barcelona ambles up, rubbing my leg. I pick him up, plopping on the seat by Harper. It’s true. I hired Harper Renault a few years back because I was impressed by her work. But now, I’m thankful I hired her because of so much more than her fashion sense. She’s become my best friend, my only friend really. She gets my workaholic nature, but she also helps me keep it under control. And she doesn’t judge my love choices too much.
“Okay, well, he was pretty great. We had obvious chemistry. It was a fun time.”
She raises an eyebrow. “A fun time? That was it? That man oozed chemistry, but he also was so much more than that. I don’t know, you two just looked good together, and you seemed to jive.”
Lone Hearts (Lines in the Sand Book 6) Page 4
