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“They heard what happened with Jordan, so they were keeping an eye on how things were going for me all around. Then you add to the mix the shit that my client pulled, I guess you could say it spooked them. They were worried they were going to wind up losing money with what they assume is going to turn into bad publicity.”
“Are you serious?” Cassie rolled her eyes as she spoke. “And there are times I think I’m dealing with babies in my own business.”
“Technically, you are,” I told her with a wink that caused her to blush.
“I mean when I have to argue with the parents about stupid shit,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. Did you tell them not to worry about it?”
“I basically told them to either suck it up and deal with the fact I have a personal life, or to sell out. Two of them did go with the sellout, though I had to say, I basically forced one of those two to do it,” I laughed.
“I probably would have told them all where to shove it if I were you,” she said.
“I wanted to, but the contract aspect of things makes it difficult. I had to play by the rules at some level. But anyway, I made it clear to them where my priorities are, and that’s with my girls. Not the money.”
Cassie gave me a warm smile, flushing once again. I loved that even though she and I had just had our first fight, that hadn’t changed the fact she still flushed an almost crimson color when I made little gestures toward her. It reassured me that we were going to be just fine, even if we did have our rough patches.
“Well, I’m glad you set them straight on that,” she said. “I can’t tell you how much Lucy missed you while you were gone. She’s going to be thrilled when she gets up and you’re here.”
“Did just Lucy miss me?” I asked.
“Obviously, I missed you too,” Cassie said with a giggle. “But I was pretty sure you weren’t talking to me because you were pissed off at me for what happened when you were leaving, so I basically left you alone. I didn’t want to say anything to make the situation worse before we had the chance to cool off and really sit down and talk about things.”
“I was busy,” I told her. “That’s honest to God, the truth. It had nothing to do with how we had a spat. If I wasn’t trying to wrangle the men I was dealing with, I would have been on the phone a lot more. But you and Lucy were the two on my mind. Even when I did manage to get myself hit on at the bar.”
“Oh?” she asked, a little too quickly.
I laughed. “Uh-oh, now are you going to get jealous?”
“Depends,” she said. “Is there a reason for me to be?”
“No,” I assured her. “I told the girl I had a girlfriend almost immediately. It took me a minute to realize she was flirting; you have to understand, at my age, I can be a little slow at times, but when she tried to leave with me, I told her straight up I wasn’t interested.”
“Wait, she tried to leave with you?” Cassie asked. “I have to hear how this went down.”
I told her the story of going to the bar and how the young woman had come over to me.
“I really didn’t want to leave her there drunk and alone. She was certainly inebriated, and even now, I worry about leaving anyone in that state. But she was laying it on thick enough; I was reaching the point I figured if she was that comfortable with behaving that way, then she must know her way around the place.”
“Sounds like it,” Cassie said with wide eyes. “Did you tell her to take a hike?”
“I told her I had a girlfriend, and she basically made it clear she didn’t care about that little tidbit of information. She triedto kiss me, and that’s when I had had enough. I wasn’t going to let her walk all over me in the bar because I was worried about where things were going for her. But the entire incident made me realize just how much I missed you both, and I decided to get on the plane and come back.”
“Did you get everything there handled?” Cassie asked. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re back, but I would hate for you to have to now pay for it on this end.”
“I can deal with it,” I assured her. “I might have to go back to Colorado in the next day or two, but it’s not going to be the same as it was this time. All I knew was that anything I had to fix later would be waiting for me to either fix it from here or for me to come back. I was just done with being hit on when I wanted to have my baby in my arms.”
“Well, shit. What are we going to do about all these women out here wanting my man?” Cassie asked. “Makes me feel like I’m going to have to follow you around with a giant sign that says you're taken.”
“Or we could do a much smaller sign,” I said with a smirk. “You know, get married and wear rings.”
Her jaw dropped, and she quickly shook her head.
“Don’t you dare bring that up when I’m looking like this!” she said. “I’m not going to let you propose to me while I’m wearing your shirt and basketball shorts and haven’t even washed my face from yesterday’s makeup. I look like shit, and this isn’t happening. We’re not having this conversation right now.”
I laughed. “Settle down. I wouldn’t propose to you without a ring in hand anyway; I’m just saying it’s an option.”
I winked at her, relishing the way she blushed.
I wasn’t even sure why I had brought up the idea of getting married. While it had been a thought to cross my mind, I hadn’t considered it to be a serious enough thought to say anything about it to Cassie. Not yet, anyway.
