AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Promise me, Casey. Please? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Yeah. Promise. I’ll keep my eyes open, all right?”
“Okay. I love you.”
“Love you too. Bye.” With shaking fingers, Casey ended the call and accepted Austin’s. “Hello?”
“Did I wake you?”
“Oh. No. I was just on the phone with... umm, the restaurant.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You didn’t, no worries. What’s up?”
“Can you meet me? I need your opinion on something.”
Mavis’s words lingered in her mind, her blunt warning slicing into her brain.Screw it. Screw her. I’m getting really tired of her warnings.
“Sure! Text me the address.”
“Thanks, Cinderella.”
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.
––––––––
Within thirty minutes, Casey stood in front of a glass-walled skyscraper on Michigan Avenue. She peeked at her phone, double-checking the silver-plated numbers on the door with the address Austin texted her.Yep, this is it.She pushed her way through the revolving doors and stepped onto the shiny tile floor, its extravagant pattern looping and swirling her brain into a dizzy haze.
“Good morning, ma’am. Can I help you?” The receptionist shuffled a stack of papers, securing the corner with a paperclip.
“Umm, yeah, hi... I’m looking for suite 1260A.”
The woman nodded. “Twelfth floor and hang a right.” She pointed behind her to a pair of twin elevator doors.
“Thanks,” muttered Casey as she headed around the desk. Her index finger stretched outward, tapping the call button. She grinned.
And how many germs were on that button, Austin?
The door to her right opened, and Casey hopped inside, tapping the number twelve on the panel.Or that one?With a click, the doors closed, just the faint notes of jazz music left to offer company. She surveyed the enclosure as the color gold screamed back. Everything from the plate around the buttons, to the excessively ornate walls, to the glittery gold streaks zigzagging through the carpet, shouted expensive—and wealth.
She staggered as the car lifted, each button lighting up as she rose higher and higher.One... two... three...Her stomach dipped.Four... five... six...Mavis’s words rang in her ears.Seven... eight... nine....Her palms tingled as a sheen of sweat coated her brow.Ten... eleven... twelve....Casey huffed out a breath as the doors opened and a streak of the mid-morning sun blinded her.
Forcing her feet to move, she shielded her eyes and turned right, aiming for the slightly ajar door at the end of the hallway, the number 1260A stamped on the exterior. She exhaled, breathing out the nerves settling in her belly.
Why are you so nervous right now, Casey McDaniels?
“Just breathe,” she whispered and pushed the door open, hurling Mavis’s warning to the curb. A vacant office space with a floor-to-ceiling glass window wall met her gaze, flooded with sunshine throughout every inch of the room. Lake Michigan sparkled in the distance, the sun’s rays reflecting off the water with beauty.
She stepped forward.That view is fucking incredible!As she navigated through the space, her gaze landed on Austin. Dressed in a navy-blue sport coat and silver tie, his left arm rested against the glass. The sun caught in his blond hair and illuminated the smirk on his lips.But that view is even better.
Distracted, her toe snagged the leg of a chair. It wobbled, threatening to crash as it bumped into an empty desk.
Austin’s head snapped up. He grinned and dropped his arm from the window. “You always know how to make an entrance, don’t you, Casey girl?” Winding his way in her direction through the maze of unused office furniture, he snorted.
Casey shoved the chair away. “If there’s something to trip on, I’ll find it.” She giggled. “But Austin, that view...” She smiled and lifted her hand to point at the East window. “I mean, that’s fucking incredible!”
“I know, right?” Austin stopped short before her. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, melting her heart into a gooey puddle of mush deep within her chest. “I think this place is it, Case.” A laugh tumbled from his lips as he lifted his gaze to return to the window.
