Page 49 of Free to Dream
I tuck his words close to my heart as he leans down and brushes his nose against mine. “I’d kiss you, but those sounds you make when you do are for me alone to hear, Cassidy,” he murmurs. At my sharp intake of breath, he smiles. I can feel his breath against my mouth and I lean in a little. “Uh-uh. Not here, sweet Pixie. Later.”
Smiling, he grabs my hand and starts to weave through the bar area. A few moments later, we stop by the booths lining the dance floor. No sign of his friend Keene, only Ryan and Jared who are making all kinds of comments about where we’ve been for the last hour and a half.
Dismissing his brother by giving him the finger, Caleb manages to snag the waitress as she passes. Looking at me, he asks what I want to drink.
“Jameson, neat,” I tell the harried woman. I’m certain she never expected her beloved Irish bar to turn into a country honky-tonk.
She turns to Caleb. “Bowmore.” Ryan lifts an amber colored, half-filled tumbler to his lips with a twitch of amusement.
Of course. Men and their beloved whisky.
The harried waitress scurries away.
“So,” Ryan starts. Jared shakes his head.
“Shut it,” Caleb replies mildly. His arm goes around the back of the booth, his fingers quickly becoming tangled in my hair. Between our coats to my right, I’m pressed up tight next to Caleb’s hard body. I can’t complain about our proximity to one another.
I look up and find his eyes on me already. I subconsciously lick my lips and his eyes dart down to them. He smiles, I smile back, and I hear Ry and Jared thank the waitress for delivering our drinks in the background.
“Well, well, well,” a dark voice booms, interrupting our moment.
“Keene,” Caleb says on a sigh. Turning to face his best friend, he reaches for my hand under the lip of the table. I easily let him have it. When I look around Caleb, imagine my shock when I recognize the face.
“Going to introduce me, buddy?”
“Do I have to?” Caleb mutters under his breath. I squeeze his hand to let him know it’s okay, and now it is. Caleb has no idea, but now I have an ace when it comes to dealing with his friend.
I slip on my business mask and reach for my drink. Jared catches my eye and nods approvingly, while Ryan winks surreptitiously. Reaching around Caleb, I introduce myself. “Cassidy Freeman.” I hold out my hand.
“Keene Marshall. I work with Caleb at Hudson Investigative Services.” He searches my face for some kind of reaction as he pumps my hand once, twice before allowing it to drop. Is that the name of Caleb’s company? Interesting. I’ll have to ask him about it later. Keene’s dark green eyes are searching mine.
I hear, literally hear, Caleb’s teeth click together as he clenches them against Keene’s monochromatic thinking.
“That sounds like an interesting line of work, Keene. I imagine y’all have quite an interesting job.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” I reach for my drink, take a sip of the Jameson's from the crystal tumbler and set it back on the table, my eyes never leaving Keene’s.
I wonder if Keene remembers me too when he asks, “Have we met before? There’s something so familiar about you.” As he leans his body against the back of the booth where Ryan and Jared are seated, he faces Caleb and I like we’re his adversaries in a courtroom.
I merely raise a brow. It’s not good to give away too much too soon.
“So, did Caleb mention he had our company run a search on yours before he asked you out?”
While Ryan and Jared gasp in shock and outrage, I keep my expression in check and shrug, my shirt shifting silkily on my shoulder. While Caleb didn’t specifically mention it, I’m not terribly surprised. Many of our higher end clients do. “No, he didn’t. Was he supposed to? Did he have a to-do list from his work husband he had to mark off by telling me, Keene?” I hear Ryan choke on his drink.
He leans forward on the table, a complete power maneuver. “You don’t think it’s a morally ethical line you crossed, Ms. Freeman? Agreeing to go on a date with someone you’re working for? Someone whose company investigated you?” His eyes are daring me to argue with him.
Ryan jumps in at this point. “Jesus, Keene. It was a business check. Cassidy has the right to make her own personal choices. Lay the fuck off.”
Caleb is coiled like a snake right beside me, ready to strike at any second. Time to dispatch of the supercilious man before me in a way that’s less bloody than what I think Caleb intends.
I reach for my drink. “Now that you bring up moral ethics, Keene, I can appreciate your point of view.”
Keene starts to smile, while Caleb, Ryan and Jared’s heads all turn toward me so fast, I think they may suffer from whiplash. I continue to look Keene directly in the eyes and lean forward over Caleb’s legs. His hand automatically drops from my hair to my waist. My hand pats his leg, telling him I’ve got this.
“At least Caleb hasn’t fucked someone he did a business background investigation on, has he?” Take that and choke on it, you sanctimonious shit.
