AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Thirty-Four
Sage
I’ve never beenthis nervous. Focus, Sage, I tell myself. Get your A-game on.You’re confident and sexy, and you’ve got this in the bag. But even the margarita in my hand and Levi’s help last night isn’t making me very reassured. I’m out of my element. This isn’t my typical game.
But it’s too late to back out because when I look up, he’s walking through the door. Just like last time, the whole crew is with him. Levi’s ushering him in. I notice his face is a little sullen, and he’s not as confident as last time. He looks like he’s been forced to come here. It’s okay, though. I can work with this. He’s here, that’s what’s important. And even if I lose this round, I’ve got to try. I’ve just got to try.
So I do the thing I never imagined I would do. I strut up to the man who I want to claim as mine, who I can see forever with. I walk up to a man with more than a one-night stand in mind. I walk up to him with the hopes of not seducing him, but of winning him back. It’s a risk, but one I have to take.
He’s wearing some nice designer jeans and a button-up shirt, just like last time. But there’s stubble on him, the kind that he wears well. Just like the first time I saw him, his look screams business professional, and there’s still that familiar touch of arrogance I’ve come to appreciate as reserved confidence. He’s scoping the place out, and he glances over at me, staring for a little bit longer than a friendly appraisal. His eyes study mine, and this time there’s no doubting it.
He sees me. He wants me. He’s interested.
I give him a coy smile as I sip my margarita. He’s here to play, and so am I. But it’s a different kind of play this time, one we’re not completely familiar with but will learn to be.
I fluff my hair strategically, tossing my head to the side as I walk over as confidently as possible, my stilettos leading the way. Cash doesn’t take his eyes off me. It feels good.
I amble up to the tall, handsome stranger and say, “Hi, I’m Sage. Can I buy you a drink?” There’s a pause, and I wonder if maybe it’s not going to work out like I thought. But that stoic face turns into a full-on grin.
“Cash Creed. And how about we do things the other way around? What are you drinking?”
I smile confidently up at him, his eyes making my heart flutter in the familiar way I’ve come to love. “Mr. Creed, that’s not how I do things. I don’t need any man to take care of me.”
“Is that so?” he asks.
“I can take care of myself. So how about I buy you a drink, you tell me all about yourself, and then you ask me to dance?”
“Forward much?” he asks, teasing me with his eyes. I get a whiff of his cologne, and it’s the one that drives me crazy.
“Always. Life’s too short for anything else.”
“Jack and Coke, then,” he says, and I smile, brushing past him to flag down the bartender.
I get his drink and we find our way to a table.
“So,” I begin as he says, “Listen.” I shake my head.
We’re really much better at being forward.
“Cash, here’s the thing. When you first walked into this bar, I was a player without a mission. I was determined to keep my walls up and to protect my heart. I didn’t think I needed to let anyone in. And then you came along. Everything changed.”
“I feel the same way,” he murmured, kissing my cheek. “And I’m sorry. I should’ve realized that things have changed. It’s just… it got so complicated so fast. I didn’t plan on falling in love. I didn’t think when I made plans to return to Texas that I was going to meet you, that you were going to change everything. And now I’ve got a career and you, and you’re in two different states.”
I shush him, putting a finger to his lips. “I know. And I have a career and you, too. The thing is, I don’t want you going back to Texas and us having to do long distance. But I also don’t want you giving your career up for me. That won’t do either.”
Cash exhales. “What then?”
I grin. “I’ve always thought I’d look pretty sexy in a cowboy hat, if you want to know the truth. And I could use a change of scenery for some fashion inspiration.”
Cash raises an eyebrow. “What are you saying?”
“My career is great because it lets me go anywhere. I can design for Evermore anywhere, and with technology, I can work with my employees from anywhere, even Texas. But I can’t have hot, nightly sex with you when we’re hundreds of miles apart. I can’t see where this relationship goes or continue feeling so damn happy with you in my bed if we’re miles apart.”
“I was hoping you would say that.”
“Then, Mr. Creed, I have a proposition.”
“I like propositions.”
“I hope you like this one. How about we skip the one-night stand tonight. How about we do a string of one-night stands? The kind that you move in together for?”
Cash leans over and takes my jaw in his hands. He kisses me, warm and hard, a sensuous kiss I’ve been missing.
“I think that sounds perfect.”
“But it is against your rules,” I tease, winking at him.
“Maybe it’s time we reinvented them, then,” he says as he pulls me out of the booth and to the middle of the dance floor, where we dance like the first night we met.
