Keep It Simple (MMG Series Book 4) (3 page)

“You two go ahead.” I held up my beer. “I’m going to finish this, order another round for us, and I’ll be right over.” I had no intention of going over with them.

Amanda and Becki slid out of the booth and danced their way across the floor to the table of guys. I sipped the rest of my beer and shook my head at them trying to capture the table’s attention. When one of the guys leaned over and kissed the guy sitting next to him on the lips, I almost choked on my swallow. Once I got it down, I burst into a fit of hysterical giggles.

“What’s so funny?” A deep voice beside me asked.

I whipped my head around to see who had invaded my personal space and was surprised to find the dark haired stranger from across the bar sitting there. From his jet black hair and ice blue eyes, down to the tips of his fingers, which were currently wrapped around a beer bottle, was one hundred percent masculine glory. His eyebrow shot up in question and it took me a minute to mentally put my tongue back in my mouth and catch up with the moment.

“See the two nitwits dancing in front of the table of guys over there?” I nodded my head towards Amanda and Becki, who were shamelessly shaking their asses in attempt to get noticed.

“I do,” he answered.

“Ignore the girls and watch the guys for a minute,” I told him. Sure enough, not even twenty seconds passed and the same two guys as before started making out. A deep, rich laugh erupted from his throat as he watched my friends making complete and total fools of themselves, and I couldn’t help but giggle along with him.

“What I want to know is why you aren’t over there with them?” he asked.

“Not really my thing,” I shrugged.

“What, dancing?”

“Calling unwanted attention to myself,” I clarified.

Our eyes met and his sparkled with mischief and something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. “We definitely have that in common,” he muttered.

“Fear of dancing?” I quipped.

“Not wanting to be
seen
dancing,” he corrected, and we both laughed.

“Hi, I’m Cas.” He held out his hand in introduction.

I took it and tried not to shiver when he wrapped his long fingers around mine. “I’m Sarah,” I managed to get out without stuttering.

“Are you from Charlotte, Sarah?” I thought about how to answer him and decided to go with the shortest answer.

“Yes, however, at the moment, I am living in Europe.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. How about you? Do you live in Charlotte?”

“I just moved here from the coast,” he answered.

I nearly choked on my drink. “You left the beach…to live here? Are you crazy?” His smile slightly faltered. I’d obviously hit a nerve. He took a sip of his beer and collected himself. When he recovered, he explained it to me.

“I moved here for job purposes.”

Pretending not to notice his evident inner turmoil, I asked, “What is it you do?”

“I’m in the security business.”

I waited for him to give me a detailed explanation of his existence and was pleasantly surprised when he failed to show signs of extreme narcissism. Instead, he glanced over at the bar and took a drink of his beer. My eyes were riveted on his lips as they enveloped the mouth of the bottle. As he swallowed it down, he shifted his gaze back to me and I quickly glanced away.

“So, are you here for a visit or something more permanent?” he asked.

“I’m here for the week.” He gave me a questioning look and I elaborated, “My brother is getting married next weekend. I’m in the wedding. I leave to go back the day after.” Max would flip his lid if he knew I was sitting here telling a complete stranger my business.

Cas opened his mouth to respond when a hulk of a guy stepped up to the table. I recognized him as the guy who was sitting next to Cas at the bar earlier. He had short brown hair and strong facial features. His appearance screamed body guard.

“Work called. We have to go,” he said.

“Damn,” Cas muttered under his breath. Then he introduced us. “Sarah, this is my co-worker, Bobby. Bobby, meet Sarah.”

Bobby gave me a friendly, but guarded smile. “Nice to meet you, Sarah.” He turned back to Cas and said, “I’ll give you a few.”

“Be there in five,” Cas responded. His deep blue eyes focused back on me and my stomach fluttered. “Sorry to run out on you, Sarah.”

“Oh, but I was so hoping for a dance,” I teased. The sound of his laughter did funny things to my insides.

“Can I get a raincheck?”

“That’s okay,” I said through my laughter. “It was nice meeting you, Cas. Thanks for sharing a laugh with me.”

A strange look appeared on his face and I wondered if I had offended him in some way. He opened his mouth, as if to say something and I held my breath and waited. When he closed it and shook his head, I knew the moment was lost. Disappointment pierced like a knife to the gut. I watched him scoot to the edge of the bench and almost swallowed my tongue when he stood up. In a fitted grey Henley and ass hugging dark jeans, the man was a freaking Adonis.

“It was nice meeting you, too, Sarah.” He tapped his fingers on the table and turned to walk away. Five steps later he stopped. My heart galloped inside my chest when he turned back. As he reached the table, he dipped his head so we were eye to eye, and said, “Meet me here tomorrow night at nine.”

Without thinking, I nodded my head yes and breathily replied, “Okay.” Staring deep into his eyes I smiled. He returned the smile before turning and walking away.

“Who in the hell was that?” Amanda asked, sliding in beside me.

With a smile still on my face, I answered, “That was Cas.”

“He is seriously hot. By the way, you could have warned us those guys were gay.”

I patronizingly patted her hand. “And miss out on the entertainment you two provided the entire bar? Hell no.” she snorted, and I laughed.

Cas

‡

“W
hat in the
hell was I was thinking last night?”

“You weren’t the one thinking. He was.” Bobby gave my dick a head nod. I paused long enough to scowl at him. “What?” he asked, “I don’t blame you. The girl was gorgeous.” I watched him dive into his breakfast burrito, before turning back to my camera.

We were parked outside a hole in the wall motel room and waiting to bust Mrs. Pickerson’s husband with a prostitute. I did not have a jealous bone in my body, but for some reason Bobby’s words bothered me.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

Bobby’s brows shot to the roof of the car. “All I said was she was gorgeous.” When I didn’t respond, he laughed and loudly slurped down his drink.

I needed a woman in my life like I needed a hole in the head. Women were complicated and I already had way too many complications to deal with. For some reason, though, I couldn’t seem to shake last night from my thoughts.

Sarah.

Bobby and I had just found seats at the bar when she and her friends walked through the door. Talk about a tall drink of water. With long, dark curly hair, a perfect face and a mind fuck of a body, the woman spelled danger. I wasn’t the only one who noticed her. Every man in the bar paused to look when she entered the room. She was simply magnetic. I watched her take a seat with her friends and stared her down until she noticed me. I never once questioned what I was doing. I just did it. Something about her called to me. When her friends stood to dance and she stayed behind, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to meet her. Just a conversation, I kept telling myself.
No harm in that, right?

“Look man, you are almost free and, like you said last night, Sarah lives in another country. Talk about the perfect no-strings-attached situation. It doesn’t get any better than this. I mean seriously, how long has it been for you, a year, two, more? It’s a wonder you haven’t lost your mind by now.”

Bobby Preston and I had been best friends since grade school when we discovered our mothers worked at the same hospital together. Like me, Bobby had a younger sister and a father with unrealistically high expectations of his only son. Bobby was the one who talked me into becoming a PI. He was also the one who convinced Garrett to hire me in Charlotte. I owed Bobby a lot and would do most anything for the guy. What I would not do, is discuss my love life, or lack thereof, with him. We were grown men, not fucking high school girls. I lifted the camera and zoomed in on the motel window.

“There’s movement inside,” I announced.

“Want me to pull closer?”

I zoomed in further and contemplated the angle. “I think we’re good here. Chances are he’ll be shifty when he comes out. I don’t want to risk him making us.”

Five minutes later Mr. Pickerson walked out of the motel room. As I predicted, he nervously searched the parking lot before walking the woman to her car. Once there, he played grab ass for a few minutes before parting ways. I digitally recorded the whole thing. When the coast was clear, Bobby started up the truck and pulled out of the parking lot. Halfway back to the office, he resumed the conversation.

“You want me to be your wing man tonight?”

“I’m not sure I’m going,” I admitted.

“If you don’t, I will.”

“The fuck you will,” I snapped. Bobby smiled and I inwardly cursed myself for giving him a reaction.

“Look man, I’m not telling you to forget what happened. I’m just reminding you the rest of your life is out there waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Dr. Phil.”

He laughed. “I’m much better than Dr. Phil and a hell of a lot cheaper.”

I pulled into the office parking lot and put the truck in park. Then I sighed heavily. I was so damn tired. I had no more fight left in me.

“All I want is for it all to be over, Bob. I want to forget, but I can’t. I want it to have meant something, but it never will. I want him back, but it will never be.”

A hiss of air escaped from Bobby’s mouth. He didn’t have to say what we both already knew. It would never truly be over. If I hadn’t gone that night, I wouldn’t be sitting here now with my heart in my hand, having this fucked up conversation with Bobby. I thought back four years ago to the first time I set eyes on Alexandria Gibson.

Bobby and I had been working at a small protection agency in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was head of security and I was the resident private investigator. Business was booming and with it came some definite perks. One of these perks was client development. Clients would invite us to private parties. Most of the time, I was too busy to go. However, since I had just finished a big case and needed to blow off steam, I accepted. The party was being held by Sterling Gibson, a big swinging dick and ongoing client of ours. Sterling was a pretentious prick, but he paid well and he liked me and Bobby. When we were first hired, our boss, Everett, gave us the low down on all of the existing clients whose asses we needed to kiss. Sterling Gibson was at the top of that list.

My plan that night was to drink Sterling’s top shelf liquor, eat his expensive food and then go home and crash.

We were at the bar getting our second drink when Bobby murmured under his breath, “Don’t look now, but here comes Gibson’s daughter.”

A second later, a woman stepped up to the bar. With heels on, she barely came to my chin. At first glance, I noticed her long, straight blonde hair and striking facial features. She had extremely high cheekbones and big pouty lips. She asked for a white wine. After the bartender handed it over, she zeroed in on the two of us.

“Having a good time?” She had that sexy, Southern, low-country drawl that sucked you in and held you captive.

“This is quite a spread,” Bobby replied.

Her big brown eyes drifted to mine and she smiled. I wouldn’t call her pretty, but she wasn’t ugly either. She was striking. One thing she definitely had going for her was her giant rack. Tonight, she had those babies on display. Daddy must have paid a fortune for them. Bobby’s lips twitched and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

“I’m Alexandria Gibson,” she said, “but people call me Xandria.”

“Bobby Preston,” Bobby responded. Her eyes shifted to me. As she blatantly checked me out, I did the same to her. When her eyes finally reached mine, I gave her my name.

“Cas.”

“Cas with no last name, like Cher or Prince?” she asked.

I could tell by the sway of her body, this was not her first cocktail of the evening and, as intriguing as Alexandria Gibson may appear, I wasn’t willing to go there with a client’s daughter. I had known entitled princesses just like her my whole life. Women like her came with a lot of demands, none of which I was willing to meet.

“Something like that,” I muttered. With a nod to Bobby, I grabbed my drink and veered straight to the buffet table.

A few minutes later, Bobby found me. “Thanks douche. You just left me standing there,” he complained.

“She wants you,” I told him.

“Fuck you,” he chuckled. Once our plates were loaded with food, we headed for one of the empty tables. Ten minutes later, Alexandria and another woman joined us. For a while no one said a word. I could tell the ladies were uncomfortable, but didn’t care enough to do something about it. All I wanted was the booze and the food.