The floors/trampolines were soft and yielding. I was wishing that everyone would disappear so Casey and I could have something that would be more like Jump Sexy. But just being with her—I could feel the tension in my back and neck just melt away.
We were there for over an hour, mostly laughing together. It wasn’t easy to kiss while jumping up and down, but we managed a few kisses anyway. There were kids around, too—not exactly a make-out spot. What I really wanted was to get her home.
But that was another problem. I was posing as your average-joe lawyer. But I lived in the penthouse of a building of luxury condos. The person I was pretending to be couldn’t afford to live there. So I couldn’t take Casey home with me. I was sure she’d be able to tell that the place was way out of the price range of the guy she thought I was.
I had to bring this deception to an end. Not just for practical things like taking Casey to my place. The closer I got to her, the more like a shitheel I felt for posing as this heroic environmentalist warrior. It was like I’d created a character deliberately to be admired. When she looked at me, I could almost see the stars in her eyes. She saw me as a knight from a fairy tale, slaying toxic polluters instead of dragons. But that guy wasn’t me—would she admire the real me? The longer I kept this up, the worse it would be when she finally found out. I had to tell her soon. But--not yet. I wanted to see the stars in her eyes just a little longer.
CHAPTER SIX
Casey
Too soon, Jump City closed and the date had to come to an end. Every time I was with Mick, I was afraid it would be the last time. Afraid I would slip up, talk about the past or mention Mom and Tony, Mick’s dad. And that then suddenly Mick would realize our true relationship. Or that he’d recognize me finally. And I could just picture the horror on his face. I remembered the morning after that New Year’s Eve party, when I found out he’d run away from me. He must have woken up and been horrified at what we’d done. Disgusted by the memory of almost sexing up his little sister.
But I just put all that out of my head and tried to focus on the moment. I was with him right now. How many women could say that they were with their ideal man right this very minute? Not many.
As we drove towards my place, that song that had been playing at Jump City kept playing in my mind. “Kiss me! You sexy thing!” What a hot song. My mom told me that they were all totally scandalized by it at her high school dances, thought it was the dirtiest thing they’d ever heard. I have to admit, it put ideas in my head. Naughty ones. But I knew I couldn’t go there.
Mick put his hand on my knee and squeezed, giving me a sexy look as he did it. God, he was perfect. Those brown eyes made my stomach flip-flop with wanting him.
When we pulled up outside, Mick said, “Wow, what a transformation!”
They’ve been doing a lot of work on my building. Apparently we have a new owner.
We got out, and Mick marveled at everything. “New front walk, good; new porch steps.” When I unlocked the front door, he actually tested the strength of the door frame. “Good, metal doors are the safest, nice locks, too.” It was so funny. It was like he had a mental checklist of all the things that had been wrong with my building and now he was ticking things off the list. I wasn’t even going to ask him to come in because I knew it would be trouble. It just seemed so natural, though, like we were coming home together to our own place. It didn’t even occur to me until later that I wasn’t planning to invite him in.
He nodded approvingly as we walked down the hall, and tested my new apartment door too. It was so sweet of him, in a way, to care about my safety. A little weird, but sweet.
He had gotten us a bottle of wine and stashed it in his car. I guess he remembered how little I know about wine. He opened it for me and let me pour into my juice glasses. It tasted good, that’s about all I can tell you. It was wine. Mick took a sip and then took a breath with the wine still in his mouth.
“Ah, the wine connoisseur in action,” I teased.
He laughed, and then said, “Seriously, you can taste it better if you do that. Try it!”
So I tried it. It was true, you could taste more. The taste changed from beginning to end. But still, it was just wine to me. “I’m sorry, Mick. Good wine is wasted on me. I’m happy to drink it, though.”
He set his glass down on my tiny counter, and took mine and put it down next to his. Then he put his arms around me.
My body is a traitor. I melted in his arms, molded myself to fit against his contours. In my head, this little voice was shouting, “No, you idiot, stop! Step away from the hot dude!” but it was like I couldn’t listen. Mm, god he felt so good. A big hunk of muscle. He always made me feel tiny in his arms, delicate as a porcelain doll. And like he could protect me from any danger. He leaned down to kiss me, and the little voice said, “Nooo! What are you DOING? He’s your brother!” “Step,” I said silently to the voice, but it was too late. Those words were like ice water in my face. So I bent my knees and dropped my arms and walked away from his embrace.
He didn’t say anything, and I avoided looking at his face as I walked to the futon and sat down. He wandered over to my big windows and looked at the French doors with their new locks. Then he came and sat next to me.
“They’re really fixing up your building, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, I guess the building was sold and the new owner is doing all this. Lots of new locks, repairs, that kind of stuff.”
“That must make you feel good.”
“Well, yeah, but I guess I’m going to have to start looking for a new place soon. I’m sure they’ll raise the rent now.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said quickly.
“Really? Why would they do all this work if they’re not going to make any money off of it?”
He shrugged. “Don’t you have a year lease?”
“No. Just month-to-month.”
“You’d still get thirty days’ notice.” He picked up a throw pillow and examined the seam, then smiled at me. “Don’t worry, Casey.”
“Okay. I won’t worry because you told me not to.” I teased. Funny how serious he got when I mentioned moving! I leaned over and kissed his shoulder, and noticed his wine glass was empty. “Would you like a refill?”
“Sure,” he said.
When I returned with our wine, I sat with my back against the arm of the futon so I could face him. “Mick…. you said that first night that you go on a lot of blind dates. So.... I can’t figure out why you’re still single.”
He laughed. “What, am I so irresistible that you think women are banging on my door in the middle of the night?” He switched to falsetto, “Mick, sex me up, pleeease, Mick! I need your hot body, Mick!”
We both laughed, and then I said, “No really. You’re a good-looking guy with a great job. Do you have some secret flaw that I don’t know about yet? You turn into a giant lizard when there’s a full moon?”
He didn’t laugh. He pressed his lips together, and then started to speak, but stopped. He started again, but stopped again. He put his hand on my knee and looked into my eyes. “Casey,” he said. Then he sighed and looked away. “I don’t know,” he said. “I met so many girls on dating sites, and I’m beginning to think that was a bad idea. They just, I don’t know, it was like they had a list of things they wanted and they checked them off.... It was so superficial. Nobody seemed real. Does that make sense?” He picked up my hand from my lap and held it.
“Yeah, I guess so. I did a dating site when I was in college, but I didn’t meet anybody I liked either. Seemed like the guys were always looking for the next girl.”
“So, what about you,” he said. “Why are you still single?”
“I don’t know. I have friends who make meeting somebody a priority in their lives, and they date a lot. That doesn’t seem very romantic to me. We’re not living in a very romantic time, are we?”
“Oh, I don’t know. This evening seems like a pretty romantic time to me.” He lifted my
hand and kissed it. “Turn around.”
“What?”
“Turn around so your back is to me. I want to give you a back rub.”
“Oh, do you think we—”
“Come on. I took a massage class in college—it counted for Phys. Ed.”
I laughed. I can’t even tell you how much I wanted his hands on me. “Oh, okay,” I said. “I wouldn’t want your massage skills to get rusty, after all. But that’s the only reason I’m doing this, just to help you out.” I turned around to face the wooden arm of the futon, and took a sip of wine.
Mick laid his big hands on my shoulders. I felt their warmth seep into my skin. He started to knead the muscles on my neck and shoulders, and I could feel myself loosening up. Then he did something, I think with his thumbs, walking them down my back right near my spine. God, it felt good. I was relaxing under his hands when that little voice spoke up again. “Stop! This is terrible!” “Shut up,” I said back to it.
“What?” Mick said.
“Oh! Nothing! I guess I just groaned.”
“Okay,” he said, and got back to work. I seriously cannot tell you all the things he did with his hands, but I wanted to send the teacher of his massage class a thank-you note. It was so good. There was a rhythm to what he was doing. He pushed me forward and then decreased the pressure so I leaned back, only to push me forward again. Over and over he did this. It was hypnotic. And all the time, my imagination is running wild, telling me to scream out places for him to put his hands. Which I did not do. Of course.
After a while he pulled me back so I was leaning against his chest, and he kneaded my shoulders in this position. Then ran his hands down my arms, loosening every muscle as he went. When he got to my hands, he stroked my palms for a minute before lacing our hands together. Then he wrapped his arms around me, bringing my arms along too. He stayed that way for a minute, and it gave me a chance to realize that I was breathing fast, and that my panties were probably soaked.
It also gave that voice a chance to speak up. “You are living a lie,” it said. “If he knew, he wouldn’t be here.” Suddenly I wanted to cry. This whole thing was an illusion I’d created out of a lie.
Just then, Mick kissed my neck.
I gasped, wanting him so badly.
He unlaced his fingers from mine, and moved his hands to cover my breasts. Pleasure zinged from my nipples right to the center of me, and I knew I had to stop now or the whole thing would come crashing down.
I jumped up, straight off of the futon and halfway across the room in a second.
He looked at me, completely shocked.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I just... It’s not...”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I thought....”
“I know! I’m sorry!”
He let out a big sigh. “Casey I didn’t mean to rush you. I know it’s only been a couple of weeks. It’s just...call me crazy, but.... I feel like I know you. I feel like you know me right down to my bones.”
“You do?”
“I know that sounds like a line, something a guy would say to get laid, but it’s true. I can’t explain it. You can’t know someone that fast. It’s ridiculous.”
“I don’t think it’s ridiculous. Sometimes I feel the same way.”
“Really?” He looked so happy that it gave me courage.
I took a deep breath. “Mick, when you look at me.... Do you....”
“I see a beautiful woman. A hot, gorgeous woman.”
“Well. Thank you. I mean....”
“What?”
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t tell him. The way he was looking at me, the way he touched me...I couldn’t give it up. I knew that the longer I waited the worse it was, but I couldn’t do it.
“I don’t know,” I finally said.
“Okay. You’re sending me some pretty mixed signals here, Casey. Is something wrong?”
“No,” I lied. “Nothing’s wrong at all.”
***
I didn’t see Mick for a few days after that. Both of us were crazy-busy with work. It gave me time to think. When he said he felt like he knew me--every time I thought of it, my heart squeezed in my chest. You do know me, Mick, I wanted to say. Why didn’t he see it? I must not have meant anything to him at all, seven years ago, or he would have remembered my face. I knew I looked different, but did I really change that much? I had seen his face in my mind so many times--I’d have recognized him anywhere, anytime, no matter how many years had gone by.
Still, when a wonderful thing happened at work, the first person I wanted to tell about it was Mick. I called him at his office right away. I had to talk my way past two secretaries to get to him, but I finally did.
“Hey Casey! I’ve been meaning to call you all day. How are you?”
“I’m fantastic! You’ll never believe what happened!”
“What?”
“We got a grant! My non-profit got this huge grant! I am going to be able to hire people; I am going to be able to help so many kids and families with so many good programs! I want to scream from happiness!”
“Wow! How big is the grant?”
“Oh Mick. You won’t believe it. It’s for an obscene amount of money.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“Ten million dollars.” I whispered the amount--it just didn’t seem real!
“Are you kidding? Ten million dollars?” Mick had no problem shouting out the amount.
“Yes! Isn’t it insane?”
“It’s pretty amazing. Of course, the companies I sue have huge cash reserves, so maybe it doesn’t seem as insane to me as it does to you. Who’s the donor?”
“Well, that’s another strange thing. The donor is a foundation, but I can’t find out anything about it. It looks like it was just formed the same day as the grant. It’s just the River Foundation.”
“Huh.
“Isn’t that weird, though?”
“Mm, I don’t know. Foundations give donations to environmental groups all the time, and they come and go pretty quickly sometimes. I wouldn’t worry about it too much if I were you.”
“Another weird thing is, I didn’t even apply for this grant. It’s a brand new grant, and we’re the only recipients. And there are no strings on the money, no pet program we have to use. I don’t get it.”
“Huh.” He was silent for a few seconds and then said, “Let’s celebrate! I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. How about Paris?”
I got a good laugh out of that one. “Very funny, Mick. I can’t spend this money on stuff like trips to Paris! This money is for the kids!”
“I know, Case. Just kidding. Still, I’d love to see you, even if it isn’t in Paris. Where do you want to go?”
“Oh gosh, I don’t know. Are we talking dinner?”
“Sure! Or wait. Shit. I have a deposition that might run late and then some errands I can’t get out of. Let’s meet for a drink later. And then this weekend, we’ll paint the town. Sound good?”
“Yes! I have some stuff to do too, so it works out perfectly.”
“Eight o’clock okay?”
“That’s good.”
“And Case....” He paused for a long time and my heart stood on tiptoe, waiting to hear what he had to say. He lowered his voice like someone was listening and said, “I love hearing your voice at work. Call me anytime you want. Goodbye.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Mick
“Woohoo!” I said to Jim, who had walked in while I was on the phone with Casey. “Thanks a million for setting me up with that girl. Thank Shannon for me too.”
“Sounds like it’s going great! What’s she like?”
“Ah, what’s she like…. She’s sweet. She’s unbelievably hot. She’s smart. She’s a really good person. She makes me want to be a really good person.”
“Damn, she sounds like a miracle worker,” Jim said.
“Very funny.”
“So, I take it she’s cool with the whole billionaire thing? What did she say whe
n you told her?”
“Uh. I haven’t told her yet.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? It’s been like a month, I know you’ve seen her a bunch of times. You haven’t told her?”
“No I have not. It’s...complicated.”
“What’s so complicated about it? ‘Hey, you know how I said I was an environmental lawyer? I’m really in product liability. Isn’t this wine great?’”
“No, it’s like.... She’s really into the environmental thing. She has this image of me...I can’t explain it.”
“So what are you going to do, just keep pretending?” He laughed. “Or, I know, just switch to environmental law!”
“Ha, ha. No, I can’t keep pretending. It’s starting to be a problem.”
“You don’t like the Prius?” Jim was certainly getting a lot of entertainment out of this.
“No, as a matter of fact I do not. But that’s not the point. I want to take her to Paris. I want to buy her a Monet. I want to wine her and dine her and pamper her in every way possible. But I can’t. At least not so she knows it.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“Well, she was living in this shithole in Addison Hill. Still is living there. But I bought it through a straw man and I’ve had renovations done so the place can be locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. What’s wrong with that?”
“You don’t get what’s wrong with that?”
“No, because there’s nothing wrong with it. Also, the poor girl is working her fingers to the bone because she can’t hire enough staff, and her job is basically to be Mother Teresa to a bunch of foster kids. So I gave an anonymous grant to the non-profit to help her out.”
“Holy shit, Mick. How much?”
“Ten mil.”
“Ten fucking million dollars? What the actual fuck?”
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