*** *** ***
A couple weeks later, Casey stood outside the building where he knew Alexa Ranger worked. He had accused Seth of being dumb about Jenna, when Casey was being just as dumb about his attraction to her mother. When a woman was on a man’s mind as much as Alexa was on his, it was time to do something about it. Or at least, it was time to explore it and see if it was worth doing something about or not.
The doorman of the building opened the door and nodded respectfully as Casey walked into the lobby. Casey could literally feel the man’s curiosity and concern about the limp.
“Morning, sir,” the doorman said with a smile, holding the door for Casey. “Let me get the door for you.”
“Thanks,” Casey said, noting the man’s concerned gaze dropping to the cane.
“I’m good—just a military injury,” Casey said with a shrug, before smiling and walking on. “Cane beats a chair any day.”
“Indeed it does, sir,” the doorman answered with a respectful nod. “Thank you for your service to our country.”
“You’re welcome,” Casey replied, nodding respectfully in return.
At the elevator, he scanned the building key looking for Alexa’s business. Casey called the elevator and moments later was standing in the middle of the most chaos he had ever seen. A giant sliding door off the lobby was opened, revealing what looked like it should have been an impressive art gallery, but was instead filled with several nearly naked women standing around in nothing but underwear.
After almost two years with no woman in his life, the sight of so many scantily clad ones had Casey momentarily frozen where he stood. A multitude of pleasing female faces looked up at him briefly. One or two smiled and finger waved, causing Casey to grin, but eventually all of them went back to their tasks, which seem to include all of them talking at once.
Casey shook his head. There was a time not too long ago when his presence would have earned more than just a brief glance. One of them might have broken away to come speak to him, at least until Susan chased her away. Maybe the cane was slowing him down a bit. Until recently, he hadn’t given much thought to what women might think about it, or him. He wondered how Alexa would react to it.
“Can I help you?” a distinctly masculine voice asked from behind him.
Casey turned a little too quickly and stumbled sideways into the tall, incredibly handsome man belonging to the voice.
“Damn,” Casey said stumbling a little. “Sorry about that.”
“Easy,” the man said, righting Casey and making sure he was stable before letting go. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Let’s not add to your military injury.”
Casey looked surprised at the guess, but the man just merely smiled. “Military? Did the doorman call you or is it tattooed on me somewhere? I thought they removed the label before I left,” he said.
“It’s the haircut—direct give-a-way, and you carry yourself like a solider. Judging by the haircut,” the man said, his gaze inspecting Casey’s head with a serious perusal. “I would guess you were in the Marines.”
“Good guess,” Casey said, surprised again.
The man just smiled and shrugged. “I’ve dated a few.”
Dated a few. Of course, Casey thought, instantly grinning. It made sense to Casey that only a gay guy could work sanely around all those scantily clad women every day.
“Forgive me, I’m being rude,” the man said, reaching his hand out to Casey, “Sydney Banes—Alexa Ranger’s assistant. What can I do for you today?”
“Casey Carter,” he said in return, shaking automatically. “I’m here to see Alexa, hopefully.”
Casey paused. He hadn’t practiced well enough what to say, so he simply decided to lie. “Actually, she’s not expecting me. I was in the neighborhood and thought I might surprise her with a visit.”
Sydney narrowed his eyes as he noticed the slight flush accompanying the smooth lie. Granted, it had been a couple of years since a man had been a problem around the office, but Sydney still recognized the signs of interest. The hopeful expression and the dreamy look was unmistakable.
Though he’d never known Alexa to date a military man, Casey Carter was at least younger than her usual stuffed-shirt yuppies. Sydney guessed Carter’s age to be somewhere between thirty-five and forty. Maybe Alexa was taking his advice after all.
Whatever the case, his gut instinct was to let Carter in see her. Sydney rarely went against his instincts.
“I apologize for the chaos, Mr. Carter. We’re prepping for a buyer show this weekend. Alexa is hiding in her office. Let’s walk back and see if she has a few minutes,” Sydney said, motioning to a long hallway with his hand.
*** *** ***
Alexa stood at the biggest window in her office, staring out into the street while counting her many blessings. She had a business she loved, some really great friends, and a wonderful—if odd—family. If only Jenna could find a way to be happy, her life would pretty much be complete.
But what about you, a voice inside her asked? What about sex? Love? You deserve those too.
Sure, she did, but then so did everyone. Life didn’t always work the way you wanted. She was content, which was more than many people could say at her age, she thought, scolding her inner voice for stirring up trouble where there was none.
Sydney called her name as he knocked and opened the door. “Alexa? I brought someone by to see you. He said he wanted it to be a surprise.”
Alexa saw Casey Carter come through the door behind Sydney. She saw the cane and how good he looked at the same time.
“Casey?” Alexa was almost shocked speechless. “This is a surprise.”
Casey walked into her office slowly. “Sorry to barge in on a business day. I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to talk to you about something if you have the time.”
Alexa motioned with her hand to one of two brightly patterned chairs in front of her desk.
“Sure. I can take a few minutes. Sit—please. Sydney, will you tell Angela I’ll be a little late? She can start the meeting without me.”
Sydney nodded and closed the door with a decisive click as he left.
Casey sat, relieved to rest his leg and hip. He would have to take a taxi back. Walking six blocks had not been a good idea today. In his determination to come see Alexa, he had all but forgotten some days were a lot better than others.
“I don’t mean to keep you from work,” he told Alexa sincerely. “I just didn’t know how else to get in touch with you.”
Alexa waved his apology away and walked from the window to sit at her desk.
“I love a surprise now and again.” Turning in Casey’s direction, Alexa locked her gaze with his and smiled fully. “What can I do for you?”
Casey’s mind easily drew a picture, even when he could do nothing more than stare. Alexa Ranger was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman he’d ever met.
She also seemed to want to pretend she hadn’t felt the instant lust between them last month. Her smile held nothing remotely hinting of the shared moment.
“I like your office,” he said, stalling. “The doorman is very nice.”
“Eric? Yes, Eric has been here a long time,” she replied.
Alexa watched Casey caressing the end of his cane while he searched for what he wanted to say next. She liked his hands. They were big and looked strong.
They are strong. You remember—stop pretending you’re not interested.
Giving in to the voice at last, Alexa let herself imagine how wonderful they might feel on other parts of her. A harmless fantasy, she assured herself, refusing to feel more guilty. She’d felt guilty enough about her reaction to shaking his hand.
“So do you lease your space?” Casey asked.
“Actually, my company owns the building. We lease out the first and fourth floors. I was already settled on the second floor when the sale went through. I was too lazy to reorganize,” Alexa said with a laugh.
Casey mentally searched for another s
afe topic of conversation while he pondered the wisdom of telling Alexa why he’d really stopped by her office. Despite his attraction to her, she was a lot more intimidating in her office than she had been in Seth’s condo. Her rock steady composure made him wonder if he’d imagined her response to him.
“How’s Jenna doing since the break-up?” Casey asked. “I think Seth’s hoping she’ll eventually forgive him. Of course, he still needs to learn how to appreciate a sexy, intelligent woman who’s crazy about him,” Casey said.
“True enough. Maybe you could give him lessons,” Alexa teased, the provocative statement sliding off her tongue like it had been waiting years to be said to this man.
Alexa held Casey’s gaze, pleased with the interest in his eyes, not so pleased with the confused expression on his face.
Bad girl, Alexa, she told herself. Don’t make things worse by flirting with him.
“Lessons? What kind of lessons?” Casey asked frowning and wondering if daily exposure to Alexa would grant him immunity to her smile and the sexy dare in her gaze.
When he noticed the corners of her mouth tilted in a smirk, Casey decided he’d like nothing better than to kiss the amusement right off her beautiful face. Maybe then he’d stop being so intimidated. It also might make her think twice about teasing him.
Alexa gave Casey points for not swearing or yelling at her yet because he looked capable of both. She laughed softly when he just kept frowning.
“You heard me, Carter,” Alexa demanded in her most commanding business tone, trying not to laugh loudly and failing miserably. “I want to know—do you know how to treat a sexy, intelligent woman right or not?”
Her outright laughter broke whatever spell her smile was casting over Casey’s brain. Once free of it, he glared at Alexa, embarrassed and turned-on at the same time. Casey wished like hell he could pass a little of his personal discomfort back to her. Irritation made his voice rougher than he would have liked as the unvarnished truth just came pouring out.
“I sure as hell wouldn’t have sent a woman in a seduction dress away from my door to take a damn phone call if that’s what you’re asking,” Casey said through gritted teeth.
The next laughter rose from her gut. She was delighted with the genuine disgust in his tone.
“Well, I’m really glad to hear you say that. I would have hated for my instincts about you to have been wrong,” Alexa said sincerely.
Alexa leaned back in her chair and studied Casey’s face. He was about as embarrassed as she had ever seen a man be, but still managing to hold his ground with her. Most men fled from her teasing when offended.
She found she liked Casey’s emotional courage—she liked it a lot actually. So she decided to stop teasing him and just tell him the truth.
“Sorry for teasing you. I get a little wicked sometimes.” Alexa said in apology. “Okay. Let me tell you about my daughter, Casey. I always insisted Jenna keep searching for the one person who would best meet all her needs. Sex. Love. Caring. All of it. Do you know what I mean?”
He nodded yes, of course. Wasn’t that what everyone wanted from a relationship?
“Then along comes Seth into her life. I think Jenna may be a little in love with him, but his rejections have hurt her pride. Right now, I’m forbidden to speak his name around her.”
Alexa turned her head, frowned into the space beyond her desk.
“Jenna told me she broke up with Seth through a text message—I mean, can you believe a text message? She told me it was poetic justice since the man was so obsessed with his phone.”
“I can’t argue with the obsession part,” Casey said quietly, “but Seth does have reasons.”
“Yes, I’m sure he does. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Seth is a bad guy at all. Still, Jenna didn’t come home even for her birthday last week because she doesn’t want to be in the same town as Seth right now. Jenna can be very resistant when she has her mind set against something. She gets that trait from her father.”
Casey studied Alexa. “Everyone is resistant sometimes. I’m sure even you are,” he said, watching her study her manicured nails as if she had never seen them before.
“No, I am very flexible and forgiving about most things,” Alexa said easily. “I roll with the punches life throws and jump back up for more. My experiences have required me to react that way. Jenna is a product of her own life.”
Alexa felt the heat come into her eyes to match the anger she felt in the rest of her.
“I didn’t raise my daughter to be ignored by anyone,” she told Casey. “If I had been Jenna, I would have snatched the phone from his hand and thrown the damn thing across the room.”
“What would you do now?” Casey.
“Now? Same thing probably, but at my age I can’t imagine ever again thinking any man worth that kind of drama. Besides,” Alexa said with a dismissing wave of her hand, “the kind of men I like would toss the phone themselves. I don’t think younger men work that way anymore.”
Casey laughed, appreciating her honesty, and immensely glad she had stopped flirting to really talk with him.
“Seth was just being stupid about priorities. I’m pretty sure he’s learned from the experience,” Casey assured her.
When Alexa smiled at him fully, the corners of her eyes crinkled, causing her laugh lines to take center stage in her amazing face. His body tightened immediately, wiping away any remaining doubts about whether her age bothered him. It for sure didn’t stop him from wanting her. Casey figured his reaction made him exactly her kind of guy whether she knew it or not.
“Okay. I’ve run out of small talk. I didn’t really stop by to talk about Seth and Jenna. Have dinner with me tonight,” Casey ordered, pleased at the shock Alexa wasn’t able to hide. He smiled wickedly, enjoying her surprise. “I can’t believe you didn’t see the invitation coming. I’ve spent the entire time here trying to ask you out.”
Alexa raised her eyebrows. “Ask me out? Why? Don’t you think I’m a little too old for you? I certainly do.” But as soon as the words were said, Alexa looked away. She couldn’t help herself. The last thing her ego needed was to see confirmation.
“What’s too old?” Casey asked, laughing. “Hell, I’m too old.”
Hello, Casey thought. Who would have guessed Alexa Ranger was insecure about her age?
Casey imagined tracing her smile lines with his tongue, make her laugh just for him, and then he thought of a very pleasurable way of showing her just how sexy she was. He started to tell her, but saw Alexa’s gaze was reluctant to meet his still. It suddenly didn’t bother him that the young lingerie models didn’t find him interesting, because the older one across the desk from him obviously did. It was far more flattering and far more intriguing.
“I’m thirty-eight and you’re fifty. Beautiful women like you are ageless anyway. I’m sure you don’t need my reassurance about how attractive you are,” Casey told her, enjoying the relieved smile she gave him. It was amazing to think his opinion mattered to her.
“Look, it’s taking all my nerve to keep asking out a woman who looks as good as you do,” Casey said honestly. “Can you just put me out of my misery and say yes?”
“Amazing. Who knew you were such a flatterer?” Alexa declared with a laugh, caught off-guard enough to start flirting again. “So what do you want, and when can I give it to you?”
“If you’ve got a little more time this afternoon, I can make you a list,” Casey said with a true smile.
Alexa laughed and searched his gaze, more than a little intrigued by the genuine interest she found there. He probably does want to make me a list, she thought, wanting to giggle at the knowledge. His attention lifted her spirits more than several glasses of champagne.
Casey was certainly fun to flirt with. Was this what she had been missing? Before she could figure it out, her gaze fell from his face to her watch, making her sigh.
“I’m afraid your list will have to wait, unfortunately. Right now, I really need to go
to a meeting. I’m glad you came by, Casey. It was a lot of fun talking with you.”
Alexa stood and started to walk around the desk.
“Wait—stay. You haven’t answered me yet,” Casey ordered, not yet moving from the chair.
“What?” Alexa looked puzzled. Did he just order her to stay? She was torn between laughing and telling him off.
“I’m actually a passable cook,” Casey said smiling. “Come to dinner tonight and see.”
She looked—panicked, Casey decided, his smile widening. His determination to talk her into it grew as she hesitated.
“It’s just dinner, and you have to eat. What could it hurt?” Casey challenged. “Seth will even be there to chaperone.”
Alexa knew she’d been out of the loop for a while, but the gaze holding hers was definitely saying dinner wasn’t all he had in mind. But she wasn’t ready to think of him being interested in her sexually.
Going would be a bad idea, but not going would make more of it than there was. Going might be the easiest way to prove to both of them there was nothing between them worth pursuing other than a friendship.
“Okay, I’ll come, but I doubt we need a chaperone.” Alexa told him. His answering laugh did not reassure her.
Casey stood, stretched his legs, and then walked to her door. Alexa followed behind.
“Great. See you tonight about seven. Do you like pasta?”
Alexa nodded as he smiled.
She walked beside Casey down the hall, his spicy masculine aftershave pleasantly tingling her senses and making her aware of him. When she found herself wondering if Casey’s scent was a reflection of his personality, it was fairly obvious why she’d given in so easily. She wanted to know more about Casey Carter even if she didn’t think there was any future in it.
It was just dinner, she reminded herself. They could visit, talk, and move their attraction into friendship.
You mean friends-with-benefits, her inner voice corrected.
“No. I don’t think so,” Alexa said aloud to the main office door as she closed it behind Casey. “Very bad idea.”
Dating A Cougar Page 4