A Fighting Man (5 page)

“Do what?”

“Get people to open up to you. I just met you.”

“Runs in the family. We’re from Louisiana. My momma says we got some voodoo in our blood. Besides, we’re in the same job; we should stick together.”

“True,” I nodded. “You should come out with me and the boys sometime.”

“Are they all gay?”

“Pretty much.”

“I love it!”

The elevator dinged and the two of us straightened. Wanda handed me her card and winked.

Voices floated down the hall and I heard Slater’s distinct baritone. He appeared and I swear there was theme music playing. Probably something like Yello’s “Oh Yeah.” All I saw was Slater walking toward me in slow motion. Okay, so I was channeling my tween-girl tendencies. He smiled at me and my knees went weak.

When had this weak-at-the-knees development happened?

“Good morning, Casper.” Slater leaned in and read Wanda’s nametag. “Wanda.”

Wanda flushed pink as Slater kissed her hand.

I rolled my eyes just as an office door opened to my right.

“Good to see you, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Cassidy. Why don’t we go into my office?” Pritchard motioned to the door.

“Do you need me, sir?” Wanda asked.

“Nope, you put your feet up, dear.” Pritchard winked.

I handed Wanda my card as I walked past her. She pinched my ass and I yelped in surprise. Pritchard turned to look at me.

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes, I just stubbed my toe.” I narrowed my eyes at Wanda with a grin as I walked through the door.

Slater

Why had I agreed to do this? I don’t model; I don’t know how to model. I don’t have that pout. The ‘please feed me before I die’ pout.

I stared at the picture my mom had taken of me the night before. She was dabbling in photography now that she was retired, and had me posing until almost one in the morning. Then I had to shower all the oil off before I killed myself slipping on something. I was so glad the guys couldn’t see me now. I rolled my eyes. But they would eventually. I’m sure they’d all be drinking Rush just to fuck with me.

I looked over at Casper. He looked sick, green even. I couldn’t back out, not now. Casper and Blaine had worked way too hard to get and keep this account.

“So, I’m ready to sign,” I said with a smile.

“Are you sure about this, Slater?” Casper asked quietly.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Wonderful! Juan-Carlos will be here over the weekend and you two can get acquainted.” Pritchard clapped his hands together.

I scribbled my name on the dotted line and exhaled, sliding the paper back over to Pritchard. Warmth encased my hand and I realized Casper was holding it under the table. He gave it a soft squeeze.

“Well, how about dinner tonight?” Pritchard proposed.

I opened my mouth, only to hear Casper’s voice instead.

“Oh, I’m so sorry but Slater and I made plans for this evening.”

“Is that right?” Pritchard’s eyes gleamed as he leaned back in his chair.

“Yes, but thank you,” I agreed, nudging Casper in the side.

“Well then! You two enjoy the rest of the day. I’ll see you on Saturday, Slater.”

“That you will.” I stood and offered Pritchard my hand. He shook it firmly and winked at us as he left the room. I sat back down and blew out a breath.

“Are you okay?” Casper asked.

“Yes. Just glad that’s over.” I stood up and looked down at Casper. “We don’t have to go out to dinner. I wasn’t going to go through with the blackmail, Casper. I want you to go out with me because you want to.”

“Well, I need to shower again and you can pick me up at six.”

“Seriously?” I raised a brow.

“Yep, I’m sure you know where I live,” he snorted.

“I do. How did you like the song?”

Casper buttoned his jacket and smiled at me.

“I don’t think you’d let me forget you, Slater.”

Damn straight.

* * * *

I paced in front of my parents. I was pretty sure I’d carved out a path in the carpet by now.

Why was I so nervous?

Because it was Casper. Cute, adorable, smart, sexy Casper.

The man had finally said yes to me. Now, in the past, I’d pursued men and women, but if I got ‘no’ more than once I gave up the chase. I’d gotten ‘no’ more than four times with Casper, and yet I’d still pursued him. My mother coughed lightly and I stopped pacing.

“Where do I take him? Somewhere fancy? Not fancy? Dressy or not? What do I say? What do I do?”

“Whoa there, son.” My father stood up and took me by my shoulders. “You’ve got to calm down before you give yourself a stroke.”

“Honey, this is not your first date,” my mother pointed out.

“But it’s my first date with Casper. If I don’t play this just right, it could be my last,” I huffed and slumped down into the couch.

“Honey, why don’t you take him somewhere nice but not dressy? You can sit in a back booth and get to know each other better.”

“I can do that, I think.” I nodded slowly.

“Oh, honey. You really do like Casper, don’t you?” My mother smiled.

“Okay, on that note, I’m going to go before you cry.” I stood up and kissed my mom’s cheek.

“Take the car, son,” my father called after me.

I grabbed the keys and hoped I didn’t crash before I even got over the bridge.

Here I go.

I took the stairs to Casper’s unit. After driving around for five minutes looking for a parking space, I ended up two blocks down. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Footsteps sounded and then the door was opened. Casper stood there looking…oh wow.

“Hi,” I blurted.

“You look nice.” Casper smiled.

“You look, wow, I mean…yeah.”

“Thank you. Are you ready?”

I nodded.

“Are you okay?” Casper asked.

I nodded again. I got a raised brow from Casper and then a genuine grin. God he was so damn hot when he grinned. He was wearing form-fitting slacks and a short-sleeved button-up shirt. The first two buttons were undone showing a smooth chest. I almost choked on my own spit. I put my hand out and Casper took it. Electricity shot up my arm and a shiver raced up my spine.

Well, that was new.

“Do you plan on talking at all tonight?” Casper chuckled.

“You actually want me to?”

“Although you do say some of the most outrageous stuff, I’m not bored in your company.”

“Points for me.”

We exited the building and I walked close to Casper on the sidewalk. He wasn’t in a rough neighborhood, but he wasn’t in the best either. We finally got to the car and Casper chuckled. I eyed him as I opened the door for him.

“What?”

“Well, I won’t need to go to the gym tomorrow.”

“Ha, ha.”

I shut the door and ran around to the driver’s side. Pulling out onto the street, Casper reclined in his seat snapping the seatbelt into place.

“So, where are you taking me?” he asked.

“Hendrik’s. Have you ever been?”

“Nope.”

“Well, neither have I. My mother recommended it.”

I turned the radio on just in case I wanted to say something inappropriate. It blasted hip-hop and I stared at the radio in disbelief.

“I didn’t figure you for a hip-hop guy,” Casper laughed.

“I’m not; this is Dad’s car.” I glanced over at Casper with my most horrified look. Casper broke into a fit of laughter and I couldn’t help it, I laughed with him.

“Yo dad be bangin’ hoes?” Casper laughed his ass off.

“Word!” I howled in laughter.

We were still laughing as we got to the restaurant. They seated us in a booth in a cozy corner. We both asked for water and looked over the menu. God, I craved a big slab of steak.

“What are you going to have?” I asked.

“Um, God, the New York strip sounds good.”

“That’s just what I was thinking.”

“Speaking of stripping,” Casper set his menu down and glared at me.

“So, you liked Officer Hung?” I smiled.

“Ugh,” Casper looked back down at his menu. “You know, the calamari sounds good.”

“I know. So do the lamb meatballs. Maybe we should get both?”

Casper nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“What? You’re not going to ask if I can afford it?” I raised my brows.

“After the deal you just signed, I should make you buy me a car!”

“Do you need one?”

“No. This is New York City.” Casper eyed me. “How long are you on leave?”

“Thirty days.”

Casper’s eyes widened. “Thirty?”

“Yeah. I didn’t use a lot of it when I was here last time. I did back to back tours pretty much, so I fall in the special circumstances column.” I sat forward. “You were the best part of that vacation.”

“You were annoying.”

“Am I still?”

“Yes, but on a lesser level.”

“Hmm.” I sipped my water eyeing Casper. “Very interesting.”

“What?”

“I think you may be coming around to appreciating my charms after all.”

“You’re holding one of the biggest accounts we have in the palm of your hand, Slater.”

“Is that why you agreed to go out with me?” I frowned and my stomach dropped.

Casper straightened. “No. Don’t ever think that. I was kidding. Yes, this account means a lot, but I wouldn’t prostitute myself for it.”

“Wow, thanks,” I drawled.

“You know what I mean, Slater. If I didn’t want to go out with you, I wouldn’t.”

“Why did you agree?”

“You seem slightly different.”

“Yes, well, war will do that to you.”

“I could have done without the stripper and the singing telegrams.”

I smiled and leaned forward. “I wanted you to think of me.”

Casper opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the waiter. I wanted to kick him—the waiter, not Casper. We placed our orders and I watched Casper fidget with his silverware.

“Do I make you nervous?” I asked.

Casper’s forest-green eyes met with mine and I swear my breath stopped. Pain was etched in his beautiful features. I wanted to hold him, soothe him and kill whoever had hurt this man, because that was the only thing that could make a man look the way Casper did just then.

“Not nervous. I don’t know what it is,” Casper admitted.

“It’s just dinner, Casper. Nothing more.”

Casper smiled at me and my insides melted. God, I had turned into a teenage girl. I asked Casper all about his family and childhood. Turned out that when he’d come out to his parents, they hadn’t taken it well. As soon as he could, Casper had moved out and come to New York City. I thought of my own parents in comparison. Yeah, they could be a pain, but they loved me and Spencer. I never had to worry whether my mom would still love me when I told her I was bisexual. She had just smiled at me and said, ‘I know.’

“Slater?”

I snapped back to the conversation and smiled. “Yes?”

“I asked about you.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d rather hear all about you. I think we talk about me way too much.”

Casper snorted. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Something to add?”

“Nope.” Casper shook his head with a grin.

The waiter came back with our food. I studied Casper as he squirmed in his chair. I didn’t think he was virgin, or at least I hoped he wasn’t. I’d had my share and it wasn’t something I sought out. I was never one to hide what I was thinking—or what my motives were. Anyone who’d ever been with me knew from the get-go that I wasn’t the long haul type. I was the small hitch. I knew what it felt like to be played, and that was the rule I stuck by in my encounters. I always told the truth. Casper seemed to notice I was staring at him because in the next instant, he was staring back.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing. Maybe I just like looking at you.”

“I hate to repeat myself—”

“But you’re going to?”

“Look, the stripper was cute, but you should know I could have gotten fired for that.”

I shook my head.

“What?” Casper asked.

“Okay, don’t be mad—”

“That means I’m going to get mad,” Casper sighed in irritation.

“First off,” I held up a finger. “I would never do anything that would threaten your job. I was told that you were free the day I showed up at your job. I had no idea you were in a meeting. Second,” I put up a second finger. “I had permission for the stripper.”

“You what?”

“I asked your boss man.”

“Blaine?”

“No, Hawke.”

Casper’s mouth dropped open in surprise and I winked.

“You…you asked Mr. Hawke if you could send me a stripper?”

I nodded. “Yup. He said he wanted a video of it. He was also the one who said you were free the day I walked into the boardroom.”

Casper’s face reddened and I smiled. He set his fork down and eyed me.

“Matthew Hawke sent you to the conference room.”

“Yep,” I nodded. “You can ask him.”

“You are unlike anyone I’ve ever known, Slater Cassidy.”

“Yeah? Like how? My charm? My charisma? My utterly clean-shaven face? Is that a good thing?”

Casper laughed. “Jury’s still out.”

We finished dinner, still talking about my escapades. I knew if I kept at Casper, eventually he would cave. Maybe that was why the four no’s had eventually brought us here, to dinner. I could tell Casper found me attractive and that was half the battle conquered.

He was definitely a type I hadn’t dated before. Quiet, almost shy, but beautiful in a manly kind of way. His black hair complemented his smooth complexion and his eyes. I found myself staring into them on more than one occasion. I’d never seen eyes that color of green before. It really was beautiful.

“Slater?”

I snapped back to the sound of Casper’s voice.

“Yes?”

“Did you want dessert?”

Oh, how I wanted to blurt out some sexual innuendo, but I bit my tongue and nodded instead.

“How about the tiramisu with two glasses of Amaretto Disaronno?” I suggested.

Casper licked his lips and I inwardly groaned.

“That actually sounds good,” he said.

I smiled at the waiter I hadn’t noticed and gave him our dessert order. I really needed to pay better attention.

“Am I boring you?” Casper asked.

And that was why. I’d been so wrapped up in thinking about Casper’s eyes and, well, everything else, I’d probably missed half of what he was saying.