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The live music radiatingfrom Old Crow pounded against their ears as they joined the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd on the ground floor.Holy shit, it’s packed in here tonight!Casey tugged Austin behind her, leading him up the side staircase until they reached the rooftop beneath the light of the spring moon and neon bar signs. A small corner of a picnic table caught her eye, and she zigzagged through the maze toward it with Austin in tow.
“I like it here.” He looked around, his gaze falling on the nightlife and illuminated skyscrapers. His head bumped against a low-hanging twinkle light above their table as he lowered himself to the wooden seat.
“What’ll it be, you guys?” A blonde waitress rounded on their table faster than Casey could unzip her jacket.
“A pitcher of Old Style, please.”
The waitress nodded and darted away.
“Old Style?” Austin raised a brow.
“If you want the full Chicago experience, you have to try it. Plus, it’s dirt cheap.” She giggled and pushed a sticky menu away. “Payday isn’t until Friday.”
“Tonight is on me, Casey.” Austin’s eyes widened as he heaved out a sigh. “You did me a huge favor. I really didn’t want to sit there with them all night.” His gaze dropped to his lap as a sad smile crept along his lips.
He’s really hurting.
A surge of anger swelled in her gut, a bout of irate fury directed at the choices Mavis made and the consequences of her actions sitting before her. Casey huffed out a breath and exhaled the heartbreak.
Why do I feel so connected to you? I just met you!
“Thanks for taking me out tonight. This place is really cool.” His gaze circled the space again as he pointed over her shoulder. “Wrigley Field?”
She grinned. “In all its glory.”
The waitress returned with a foaming pitcher of golden liquid and two plastic cups. “You guys need anything else?”
“Just keep ’em comin’.” Austin winked as she stepped away and pulled the plastic cups apart. He poured, tilting the cup like an expert. “Reminds me of college,” he said with a stilted laugh.
“Where’d you go to school?” she asked, accepting the beer he held out.
“Harvard.”
Playfully, she tapped her head in jest. “Oh, duh. Lawyer.”
He flashed a smile.And that’s probably the first real one I’ve seen all night. Her heart fluttered, skipping a beat.You sure are something, Austin Templeton. Handsome. Successful. Charming. And hopelessly in love with another woman.
Sipping his beer, he scrunched his nose as the cup left his lips. “This isn’t bad.”
Aren’t lawyers supposed to be better at lying?
A belly laugh burst from her gut. “Old Style is terrible!” She giggled, shifting her butt on the wooden bench beneath her. “It’s just what everyone drinks here. It’s like a pastime!”
Austin snorted, a smirk growing on his lips as he downed the rest of the beer. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he grimaced. “It tastes like shit!”
“Chicago’s finest.” Casey tilted her head, eyeing his hands as he refilled his plastic cup.
“You gonna keep up?” He nodded in her direction.
Oh! Challenge accepted!
Bringing the cup back to her lips, she gulped down the beer in full. Grinning, she handed the empty cup back to a wide-eyed Austin.
Oh, my God. I just grossed him out.Casey wiped her mouth with her sleeve.Shit. Quick, change the subject!
“So... umm, what kind of lawyer are you?”
