Party Girl (West Coast Girlz: Book Three) (4 page)

“Hey look...” Casey reached for her purse and pushed herself to the edge of the booth. “I appreciate that you’ve gone to all this trouble to figure out who did it and all, but I’ve got to get going.”

He grabbed her wrist as she rose. “Why the rush? You came here to have lunch.”

“Not with you, I didn’t.” She flashed him a fake smile.

“Please...” He released her hand and gestured to the empty seat across from him. “Join me.”

His smile softened his eyes and had an unexpected, albeit strange, way of melting Casey’s reserve. She sucked in a breath and blew it out, as if exasperated. “Well...” She sat back down. “I suppose having lunch with you is the best revenge I could bestow upon Ray Hudson.” Yeah, that would definitely get his goat.

“That’s a good argument for us to have dinner, too.” Chase looked up at Casey, presumably to see if she was biting. At least that’s the way it seemed to her.

“We’ll see how lunch goes,” she said, and reached for a menu.

“Fair enough.” He picked up his menu and perched it in the air between them.

Casey wanted to believe this was real. That he really wanted to go out with her. And this wasn’t some kind of demented joke. But would a judge be a party to something like that?

She didn’t think so and for her own sake, Casey hoped not.

The waitress came, Casey ordered the tilapia and Chase ordered a burger and fries. Then she brought them refills for their iced teas and chips and salsa to munch on while they waited for their food.

“So...” He reached for a tortilla chip. “Am I stepping over the line by asking you to have dinner with me?”

“Stepping over the line?” Casey shook her head. “I’m not following.”

“Well I know you’re not married. Rosanna said.” He grinned. “But when I asked if you had a boyfriend, she was a little vague.”

Casey giggled. “No one special.”

“So we can date then?”

“Date?” She laughed. “The one time someone tried to fix us up you acted like you didn’t even know who I was. Now you want to date me?”

“I’ll have you know that
we
are well acquainted.” Chase grinned, seeming undaunted. “We danced for hours. Granted, I didn’t know it was you and you didn’t know it was me, but you can’t call it unfamiliar.”

“It wasn’t
hours
.” Casey felt the blush heating her cheeks.

“You know what I think?” he asked, and waited for her to respond.

After a measure of silence, Casey finally asked, “What?”

“I think we should send Mr. Hudson a thank you note for setting us up on a blind date.”

God, that was a brilliant idea. “I like the way you think.”

“Does that mean you’re going to have dinner with me?”

“You don’t even know me.”

“On the contrary, I know you very well from all those appearances you’ve made in my courtroom. It’s just that it would’ve been unprofessional for me to deliver my ruling then ask you out.”

“But you acted like you didn’t even know who I was at Mario’s.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see you there. I was momentarily thrown off my game.”

“And I suppose you’ve reacquired your mojo?”

“Not just that. I’m also determined.”

“All right.” She nodded. “When?”

“Tonight. Tomorrow night. And every night thereafter.”

“This could get complicated.”

“We’ll work it out.” He reached for her hands. His touch sent chills rolling up her arms. “So...what do you say?”

She lifted her gaze to meet his, knowing that when their eyes met, their gazes would carry far more intimacy than before. “I’m game if you are.”

Damn straight she was game. Casey had had nearly two years of pent up desires floating around in her head from all the fantasies she’d concocted after leaving Chase’s courtroom. Finally, she was going to get the chance to act out a few of them.

She could hardly wait!

*Thank you for reading
Party Girl
. If you enjoyed the
West Coast Girlz
trilogy, I hope you'll consider leaving a review at your favorite online retailer.*

Books by Sandra Edwards

Crazy For You

Incredible Dreams

Secondary Targets

Broken Wings (Soul Searchers: Book 1)

Vegas, Baby (Soul Searchers: Book 2)

Soul Searchers Omnibus

Staked (Time Brokers: Book 1)

Saving Katya

The Memory Bouquet

Trading Up

The Marriage Bargain

California Girl (West Coast Girlz: Book 1)

Glamour Girl (West Coast Girlz: Book 2)

West Coast Girlz Omnibus (Books 1, 2 & 3)

Coming Soon

Hot Commodity (Time Brokers: Book 2)

Desert Heat (Soul Searchers: Book 3)

The Lonely Hearts Club

Forever For You (Sequel to Crazy For You)

About Sandra Edwards

Sandra is an award-winning author of romance. She has eclectic tastes, penning tales in a variety of genres such as paranormal (mostly time travel and reincarnation), contemporary and suspense. Sandra’s books often push the envelope and step outside the boundaries of conventional romance. She lives in the U.S. (west coast) with her husband, two kids, four dogs and one very temperamental feline. For more info on Sandra's books, check out her website at
www.SandraWrites.com
, her blog:
http://sandywritesromance.com/
, or visit her fan page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/SandraEdwards.Author
.