Waiting For Her, page 6
And this was the part where Eve would carefully extricate herself from this situation. Casey was sure of it. That was probably why she wasn’t saying anything.
Eve was more than likely trying to find a polite way to ask her to leave.
Casey watched Eve’s eyes search her own, and then she was pushing herself off the door.
Yeah. Time to go.
What an idiot.
How had Casey managed to screw up what would have been, without a doubt, another amazing night together?
Casey was about to grab her bag that she’d left on the kitchen counter just a few feet away, ready to make a quick escape before things got too awkward, but Eve’s hand caught her wrist, pulling her back, her other hand snaking into Casey’s hair, Eve’s fingers raking across her scalp as their lips met in a smoldering kiss.
Casey’s hands were on Eve’s hips as she sighed into the kiss, the sweet taste of champagne on Eve’s soft lips.
Casey’s mind struggled to process the turn the night had taken. She’d already been thinking ahead to how she’d explain to Laura how she’d said too much and ruined what would have more than likely been the best sex of her life.
If the first time had been that good, how could their repeat attempt not be even better? And Casey had already been beating herself up mentally for not being able to find out.
How wrong she’d been. Because Eve was definitely not asking her to leave. Instead, she was steering them towards the couch, their lips barely parting as they stumbled, kicking their heels off as they went.
The back of Casey’s leg bumped against the corner of the coffee table, breaking the spell they’d been under when she cursed both her clumsiness and the sharp pain pulsating from her the sensitive spot behind her knee.
Casey threw Eve an apologetic look before she bent to pick up whatever she’d knocked over. Her heart stalled when she registered what was drawn on the open sketchbook she was holding.
It was the warehouse she’d been standing in front of yesterday.
The color sketch of the exterior took up the top half of the page, the bottom half a concept design of the interior, showing the exposed brick on the living room wall behind a cream couch.
Casey looked up to find Eve’s eyes searching her own. Casey probably should have felt embarrassed about being so blatantly caught staring at Eve’s sketchbook, but she was too shocked. Both Jeff and Leo had spoken with so much confidence about securing this deal.
So, why was Eve planning out her own renovations? Was she expecting to get that property?
Eve cleared her throat as she glanced down at the sketchbook. “I’m not the greatest artist.”
“What?” Casey blinked. She left the sketchbook back on the coffee table.
“As an architect, that probably pales in comparison to your drawings.”
Casey shook her head. “I don’t care about that.” She looked down as she tried to gather her thoughts, her eyes moving over the drawing once again. “But it’s actually a nice drawing. The scale is perfect.”
“Thanks,” Eve said with a puzzled expression on her face.
This was the strangest moment. It was like both of them couldn’t express what they were actually thinking. Those kisses fresh on their mind. But also, what did Eve know about that site in Brooklyn? Had she seen who Casey had been talking to earlier?
Casey pursed her lips, her mind darting from one thing to another. And did it really matter who got this project in the end? Because whoever didn’t was going to be extremely disappointed.
They were in direct competition with one another.
Did Eve know?
Eve’s hand found hers, the other reaching up to cup her cheek. “Hey.” She waited for Casey to meet her gaze. “What’s wrong?”
“I should go,” Casey said, blurting out the first thing that came into her head, suddenly feeling overwhelmed, her hand already sliding away from Eve’s.
“What?”
Casey could feel her throat welling up. Why?
Why were things always this complicated?
She sucked in a breath as she turned to go, promising herself that she wouldn’t cry before she was safely back in her hotel room.
Just because this wasn’t ever going to be anything real didn’t mean that Casey hadn’t been looking forward to another night with Eve. To any more nights they might have together in the future, but now? It seemed like all that had been thrown out the window.
“Casey, wait.” Eve’s gentle hands were on her hips from behind, reaching her before Casey could step into her heels.
Casey sighed as she turned to face her. “Do you know where I was yesterday?”
“Where?” Eve’s voice was calm, her hands relaxed at her side now.
“Standing in front of that building.” Casey pointed back towards the sketchbook. “Being told that the project was mine.” She shook her head as she spoke. “I know the auction hasn’t happened yet, but we’re in direct competition. I shouldn’t be here. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Wait, Casey. I know. I saw you with Jeffery Decker and his father. I assumed you were here, in the city, to work with them. Well, after getting over the shock of seeing you in the first place. Sorry about that by the way. The lack of reciprocation when you nodded in my direction. But Leo and Jeffery… They’re always after the best architects in the country. It didn’t surprise me at all to see you standing there with them.”
Casey slowly shook her head. Why wasn’t Eve more upset?
“They’ve been bidding against us more and more these last few years,” Eve continued. “And unfortunately for me, they always win. They are so well funded that we don’t stand a chance. Just as we were starting to take on bigger projects, they started to become interested in the same run-down buildings that they used to skip over. It’s far from ideal, but it’s the situation we’re in. So, yes, that warehouse is yours. Or the site I should say. I assume you’ll knock it down and start over?”
“Yeah,” Casey said, her voice still rough. There was no judgment in Eve’s question. They just had different approaches to developing real estate. “I haven’t drawn anything up yet, but I would start with a fresh slate.”
“I like to come up with ideas. Even if I know I won’t get the opportunity to work on it.” She shrugged. “It’s practice. It’s what I love. Drew is the salesman. I’m the creative side of things. So, that’s why I have those sketches. In case you were wondering.”
“Okay,” Casey said, her heart rate finally returning to normal.
“So…” Eve’s lips slid into a half-smile. “We’re not really in competition with one another. Not in any way that concerns me. If you still want to go, I’d understand. But this is between Drew, me, and the Deckers. And it’s been like this for a while now.”
Casey inhaled a shaky breath. “I’m sorry I reacted like that. I just was so… Shocked. To see those designs of that warehouse. Here.”
“I get that.” Eve’s hands found Casey’s at her side, her eyes searching Casey’s. “Are we okay?”
“Yeah.” Casey swallowed. “Yes.”
“Why don’t you sit down? I’ll open a bottle of wine.” Eve’s hands fell away from hers as she moved towards the kitchen. “Unless you want to go?”
“No. I’d like to stay.”
Eve gave her a warm smile. “Red or white?”
“White. Anything you have.”
Casey sunk down onto the couch, her hands briefly covering her face as she tried to gather herself while Eve was in the kitchen.
Part of her felt absolutely nuts for having that kind of a reaction, but she’d gone to bed last time dreaming of all the things she could do with that building.
And then there it was. In Eve’s sketchbook. Sitting on her coffee table.
It had been surreal. And she’d panicked.
Casey took a deep breath. This was okay though. She wasn’t betraying Eve. Not that Casey owed her anything, but she couldn’t spend the night here thinking that Eve believed that warehouse was hers too. It just would have felt so wrong.
But it was fine. Eve was fine with this.
Casey just had to forget it had ever happened.
13
Eve topped up Casey’s glass, finishing off the bottle that they’d started almost an hour ago. It was hard for Eve to believe that she’d left this apartment four hours ago to head for Brooklyn because so much had happened since then.
She’d slid into the backseat of their car with Drew waiting for her, having no idea that she’d bump into Casey tonight. Then, she’d somehow gotten over the shock of seeing Casey here, in New York. And things had progressed really nicely from there.
Until Casey had spotted her drawing of the warehouse in Brooklyn.
Eve had needed a second to figure out why Casey was upset, why she’d gone so pale, so quickly, but then Eve had understood. And then she’d even managed to explain to Casey why it didn’t matter. Not to her, anyway.
And now things were back on track. Not that Eve needed tonight to end up in her bedroom. She had been thinking about it since she’d called her driver earlier than she’d expected, standing outside the venue in Brooklyn in the surprisingly warm night air.
Right now, Eve just wanted to make sure that Casey was alright. The conversation had started off tentatively when Eve had opened the bottle of wine, but now things were much more relaxed.
“So, thirty,” Eve said as she got comfortable on the couch again, crossing one leg over the other. “How does it feel?”
“Honestly?” Casey shook her head a little as she smiled. “I’ve kind of been looking forward to it.”
“Really?” Eve slid her hand into her hair as she propped her elbow up on the back of the couch.
Casey laughed softly, the light back in her eyes now. “The biggest struggle I’ve had professionally is getting people to take me seriously. I know it’s not my designs. I’ve won some kind of award almost every year since I graduated. But yet when I met with developers and decision makers, they always seemed a bit taken aback by my age.”
“Or that you were a woman.”
Casey frowned.
Eve elaborated. “With your name, I mean. Casey. They probably assumed it was a guy’s name.”
“Oh. Well, my business card and my website all have me as Cassandra Cauley. But yeah, I would have preferred to use Casey, but after just a few months I could see assumptions being made. Like you said.”
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know what it’s like in L.A. but here? Real estate, at least at the level myself and Drew are playing at, is dominated by men. Overwhelmingly so. Did you notice it in Miami?”
Casey bit her lip for just a second, and Eve struggled to look away. “To be honest, in Miami, I was more than a little distracted.” Casey’s eyes landed on Eve, knowing full-well that she’d caught Eve staring.
“Is that right?” Eve asked with a smile.
“Yes.” Casey was the one to break their eye contact, a smile still on her lips as she looked away, reaching for her wine glass and taking a sip.
“I know you probably want to forget about what happened earlier,” Eve started, briefly wondering if she was going to regret bringing this up again. “But are we okay? I know I said that it’s not a big deal for me, but if you see us as competitors now? That’s okay. I’d obviously respect that, and uh… Call this a friendly business meeting? Nothing more.”
Casey smirked. “Are you trying to find out if we’re ever going to go back to that night in Miami?”
Eve raised her hand in surrender. “I obviously had a great time, and I know we hardly know one another, but I want to make sure we’re on the same page. Nothing has to happen again. I know that’s why I asked you here, but we can forget all that.”
“Can we though?”
Eve searched Casey’s eyes, unable to read her expression. “Well,” Eve said, swallowing down whatever bit of emotion had just bubbled up. “I know I technically won’t be able to, but that’s my problem to deal with. We were only really supposed to have that one night anyway.”
Why did it sound like she was trying to talk Casey out of spending the night? Because that was not her intention. But the last thing she wanted was for Casey to feel in anyway uncomfortable with either their professional relationship or whatever this was that was going on between them.
Because Eve had never spent so much time thinking about one night. Especially considering how little she knew about Casey. How few words had been spoken. The entire lack of even a possibility of something serious developing between them.
“For the record,” Casey said, taking Eve away from her thoughts, “I wouldn’t be able to forget about it either.”
“And our professional… overlap?” Eve asked, struggling to find the right word.
Casey pursed her lips as she leaned forward to leave her wine glass on the coffee table. “I’m okay with it.”
“Good.” Eve took a sip of wine. “Hm, one more question.”
“Yeah?”
“How long are you in New York for?”
“Well,” Casey said as she drew a sharp breath. “All going well, Jeff wants us to come in Wednesday to sign everything. We actually haven’t booked our flights back. We didn’t know how this coming week would go so, we cleared our schedules as best we could so we could stay an extra day or two if needed.”
“So, until Wednesday anyway?”
“Yeah. And sorry. About all that. Before.”
Eve waved her off. “Like I said, we’re used to the Deckers by now.”
Casey nodded, running her hands over the navy fabric of her dress as she stood up. “I think I will go though.”
Eve stood, leaving her glass beside Casey’s on the coffee table. “Can I see you again? Before you go back.”
A lopsided smile tugged at Casey’s lips. “You still want to? Even after tonight?”
Eve tilted her head, making sure she caught Casey’s gaze before she reached up to brush a lock of her silky blond hair away from her eye, tucking it behind her ear. “You have my number. Whatever suits you.”
“Are you free tomorrow night?” Casey asked, her voice soft.
“Yeah.”
“How about dinner?”
“Sure.”
A hint of a smile came to Casey’s lips. “Okay. I’ll text you later so you have my number, and you can pick the time and place?”
“Yeah. Sounds perfect.” Eve swallowed, very aware of how close they still were. She could have kissed her, but she thought better of it.
The moment was gone, and Casey padded across the wood floors to slide her feet into her heels and get her bag.
Eve walked her to the door. “So tomorrow…”
“Yeah.” Casey’s eyes searched her own.
“Can I kiss you goodnight?” Eve heard herself asking, and Casey answered by stepping into her space, her hand on Eve’s cheek, bringing their lips together in a slow kiss.
Eve’s eyes fluttered closed, her hands moving to Casey’s hips as she kissed her, holding back, not wanting to escalate things. She’d only asked for a goodnight kiss, and she knew Casey wanted to go.
But Casey was the one who deepened the kiss, her hand lost in Eve’s hair now as her tongue met Eve’s, sending a shiver through her entire body.
Before Eve knew what was happening, she had Casey backed up against the door, their bodies pressed together, and flashes of that night in Miami came back to her.
What was it about this woman?
Never had Eve experienced this much chemistry with someone. She’d thought she had it with Wynn, but in reality, that was just a familiarity that came with years spent together. Eve had thought that those nights were enough for her, some sort of a connection with someone, but after Casey, she knew that what she’d had with Wynn could never be enough.
This was real.
It was new. It wouldn’t last.
But fuck, was it real.
14
Casey stepped onto the grass to let a jogger go by, grabbing a hold of Laura’s sleeve so that she could do the same. The leaves on the trees above them were starting to fade into yellows and oranges, and there was a coolness to the air that suggested that summer was quickly turning into fall.
“Thanks,” Laura said, finally sliding her phone into the pocket of her jeans. It was Sunday morning, and they were supposed to be having a relaxing morning off, exploring Central Park, but Laura had been glued to her phone since she left the hotel.
Casey had assumed it was business, but maybe it wasn’t. “Texting that guy you were chatting to last night?”
“No,” Laura said with a sigh. “I didn’t ask for his number. I was too starstruck really. I mean, not when we were talking, but after the fact, when someone else had come over to talk to him, and we were more or less saying goodbye, I just couldn’t ask him.”
“Wait, what?” Casey stopped walking. “I’m talking about the guy you went over to right when I was going to talk to Eve.”
“Yeah.” Laura stared at her like she was losing her mind.
“Yeah, and that’s Eve’s business partner. Drew.”
Laura’s eyebrows lifted. “What? Drew Ford is Eve’s business partner?”
“Yes. So, I’m guessing you weren’t talking business then. Wait, why were you starstruck?”
“You don’t know who he is? One of the best point guards that ever played for New York? I’ve been following him since we were in college together. Not that I knew him, but he was the star of the basketball team from the start.”
“What?” Casey ran a hand through her hair as they started walking again, the morning sun coming through the trees now. “I had no idea. I talked to him briefly in Miami. But…”
“You’re probably too young to remember. He quit about twenty years ago. Blew out his knee. Again. Hate to see guys like that go down. He would’ve had such an amazing career.”
“I really had no idea.”
“Eve’s business partner, huh?”
“Yeah.” Casey swallowed, ignoring the way her heart seemed to beat a little faster at the mention of her name.
