Page 21 of Just Curious

“It’s true,” Willa confirmed. “He told me that a few weeks ago actually. And I think the idea is pretty exciting that we could try this relationship with all of us together.”

“Wow.” Casey looked from one to the other of them. “How can we do this? You guys practically live together being next-door neighbors. How do I even fit into that?” He looked at Willa and asked, “Um… how often do you want to get together?”

“I guess a lot of that depends on you, Casey. I assume you date women. How do you want to handle that? Jackson told me that you don’t have a girlfriend right now, so I guess that helps. How long has it been since you were involved with someone?”

“Oh, um… I guess it’s been quite a while since Tamara and I broke up. I’ve been on a few dates over the last year or so, but nothing more than that. As Jackson said, I’ve been in and out of the country—not exactly conducive to developing a relationship even if I’d wanted one.”

“How did you manage to get all of that wonderful work done on Jackson’s house if you were gone so much?” she asked.

“I had it all planned out ahead of time and hired a contractor to do the remodeling. Then as the pieces came in, my assistant took care of things when I couldn’t be there myself. Part of why I was gone was to shop for things for his house at the same time I was working with a guy who builds superyachts and mega-yachts. The seaside theme worked well for both projects.”

“Wow, it sounds like you have a fun job. How did you get into designing like this?” Willa asked.

He smiled and answered, “When Jax took off to learn how to become a successful nerd at Berkeley, I headed to Pasadena to study at the Art Center College of Design. I’d thought about studying architecture, but really wanted to make sure the final product was beautiful and inviting more than I cared whether the structure had the right kind of beams and girders holding it up. So, I became a designer. I’m not a particularly talented artist, but I love art and surrounding myself with beautiful things, so it was perfect for me.” With a chuckle he added, “I also love to shop for treasures.”

Nodding slightly, Willa asked, “What happened with Tamara?”

“Ooh, going in for the heavy questions, I see.”

Jackson interjected, “She has a habit of that.” He smiled contentedly at Willa. “It’s probably the author in her.”

“So?” she prompted, looking interested.

“We dated for a little over a year, and I was beginning to think she might be ‘the one’ until I discovered that she was a lying, cheating, manipulative bitch. And that was that.”

“Do you mind if I ask what happened to turn you so against her?”

Casey let out a long sigh and explained, “It was the biggest cliché of all time. I came home early from a buying expedition and I found Tamara skinny dipping in my pool—not this one, the one at my last house—with some random surfer she’d picked up at the beach. And when I say ‘dipping,’ I mean he was sticking his dipstick in her. I tossed her out and threatened to call the police on her when I saw how young the guy was. He swore he was eighteen, but I had my doubts. The whole thing made me sick, and then I heard from common acquaintances that she had a reputation for doing that kind of crap.”

“You haven’t seen her since?”

With flat eyes, he said, “Nope. I heard she moved to New York. They can have her. I sure as shit got myself tested after that little fiasco, though.” He made a face. “At least the test results were all fine.”

Willa raised her eyebrows and said, “Okaaay then. Moving on.”

“Are you going to be in town next weekend?” asked Jackson.

“Yes. I have to go up to Santa Barbara for a few days, but I’ll be back sometime on Friday.”

“Why don’t you plan to spend it with us in La Jolla then? Sound good?”

Willa grinned and wiggled a little in her chair. “It sounds fantastic to me. Casey?” She looked imploringly at him.

“I’ll be there.”

“Excellent,” both Willa and Jackson said happily.

“I’m curious about your business, Casey,” she asked. “How did you get to be so successful so quickly? Do you have some secret for how to find clients?”

Casey burst into laughter. “I do have a secret weapon. It’s called ‘rich grandfather left millions to his grandkids in his will.’ And it’s also called ‘lots and lots of connections to richer-than-sin family friends.’ I can’t deny that all of that didn’t help me get going. The only thing I had to do was maintain the trust of everyone who took a chance on me when I was just out of school. One success led to another, and I was able to build this house a year ago. I love it here, but I also look at the house as an investment. It’s kind of a lot of home for just me. One day I might decide to sell it. We’ll see.”

Willa got quiet and seemed introspective after what Casey said, so the two guys started talking about football and their predictions for the next season. She tuned them out and got up to walk around the garden surrounding the pool.

Once she was out of earshot, Casey exclaimed softly to Jackson, “She’s incredible, isn’t she? I can’t believe you were lucky enough to meet her. Beautiful, smart, and sexier than anyone has a right to be, but I get the feeling none of that has gone to her head. She’s so real, you know?”

“Oh, I do know. She’s been through some terrible heartache. She lost her parents the day she graduated from Stanford. They died in a car accident—because of coastal fog, I might add.” Casey winced and nodded with understanding, remembering her reaction the night before, and Jackson continued, “She also had a book plagiarized that was recently made into a movie and won an Academy Award for the story. That’s driving her nuts—for good reason.”

“Wow. That’s harsh.”

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