On the Rocks (Last Call #1)(5)
“Ready for the big day?” she asks as she loops her arm through mine, and we walk through the front door of the restaurant.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I tell her, immediately spotting Casey at our regular table as soon as we enter.
I slide into the booth next to Casey. We fist bump, and then wiggle our fingers at each other. It’s our thing… ever since we were six years old. Alyssa sits opposite of us and pours herself a cup of coffee from the waiting carafe and empty mug sitting before her. Our waitress, Babs McAlvee, a permanent fixture here since we were kids, shoots us a wave and yells, “I’ll have your grub up in a flash.”
Yes, we come here so much… that the order was pretty much put in for us as soon as we arrived, no questions needed to be asked as to what we wanted.
I pause to rake my gaze over Casey.
“You look different today,” I muse. “What could it be?”
Alyssa shoots me a grin, and I return it. Casey rolls her eyes at us and takes a sip of coffee.
“Oh, I know,” I continue with a look of keen understanding. “You look like a newly employed woman.”
Casey lifts her chin, shooting a haughty look down her nose at me. “I am indeed employed. First day on the job at Dunes Realty.”
Alyssa holds up her coffee cup, and we all clink our mugs together. “Here’s to Casey… the best damn realtor that coastal North Carolina will ever see.”
“Here, here,” I agree, and we all start giggling.
Casey has drifted from job to job since dropping out of college. She was the first, lasting barely a year before she flunked out, too intent on partying and not intent enough on studying. She’ll tell you until she’s blue in the face that she was just homesick, or that she just didn’t like college, but the truth of the matter is… Casey has just been so lost since Brody got sent to prison five years ago.
It was only on the prospect of him getting paroled that she decided to buckle down and try to stick with something. That something ended up being a career in real estate… although, I didn’t bother to tell her that the market sucked. I was just happy she was excited about something.
Today was her first day on the job, and she looked beautiful in a navy blue suit that may have shown a bit too much leg and more than enough cleavage, but she looked professional and sophisticated. Casey Markham has to be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. She would put a Victoria’s Secret model to shame, and there’s not a man that gets within her vicinity that doesn’t have his tongue hanging out of his mouth.
She’s classic… long, blonde hair hanging in loose waves to mid-back, cornflower blue eyes, and the face of an angel. She also has a slammin’ body that is usually encased in a bikini in the warmer months, causing perpetual hard-ons up and down the east coast.
“I’ve actually got an appointment this afternoon with some English dude that wants to buy oceanfront. He sounded incredibly pompous on the phone, but hey… his money’s just as good as the next.”
“That’s awesome, Casey,” I tell her, and Alyssa nods in agreement.
“Thanks,” she gushes, and it warms me to see her so excited about something. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Casey care about something other than getting a buzz or an orgasm. “Then I’m meeting Brody for lunch. We’re going to drive up to Duck.”
The mood turns somber around the table, because while it is indeed a happy occasion that Brody is home now, none of us quite knows how to act. He’s been incarcerated up in Raleigh for the past five years, and while his family has been incredibly supportive of him and have been dying for him to get back home… we can’t all help but wonder how he’ll have changed.
I only remember a carefree and perpetually happy man of twenty-two that made a terrible, terrible mistake. I wonder what type of man will come out from behind those prison bars.
“How is he doing?” Alyssa asks, her tone worried and sympathetic.
Casey gives a small smile. “He’s fine. I mean… he’s quiet… introspective. But I’m sure he’ll be fine. Hunter offered him a job at Last Call and I think once he gets into a normal routine, he’ll open up a bit.”
Brody has only been home a week, and Casey was just over at my house the night before last, crying that the brother she knew and loved was gone. She said he was distant and moody, and she just didn’t know how to talk to him. My heart broke for her, and it broke for Brody as well.
Reaching beside me, I grab onto her hand. “Give him time, Casey. And love. That’s all you can do.”
Putting on a brave face, she gives a tremulous smile and changes the subject. “Enough of that… So, let’s hear your pitch. Today is the day my girl is going big time.”
Just the thought of making my pitch causes my nerves to fire into overdrive, and my heart starts beating erratically.
Because yes… today is the day I’m putting in a bid to do a huge construction project and, if it gets accepted, it will help to change the course of my future. I need this job to solidify my resume and show that I can work in the big leagues. I need someone desperately to take a chance on me… to give me a shot so I can prove that I can compete with all the men in this industry.
And the thing that really has me freaked is that it’s none other than Hunter Markham that I’m going to submit my bid to. The man who I once thought I loved and now still loathe with most of my being.