The picture looked like a selfie, one Casey had taken of himself with his arm around a young blonde woman, He had a big grin on his face, and the caption read, Always happy to be back in Ottawa with my best girl.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Char stared at the phone display, not wanting to believe the image she was seeing in front of her. If there was a way to unsee it, she wanted to find it. That wasn’t possible, though. It was there, plain as day, Casey and the beautiful blonde. The young, beautiful blonde. She couldn’t forget the young part.

  Her chest tightened. So this was Casey’s best girl, huh? What about her? Or all of the dozens of others before her? Was this one special, like Char believed she might be, or was she being played for a fool, too?

  It was hard to know what to feel toward the woman in the picture. Jealousy? Anger? Char hadn’t wasted energy on those emotions for Graham’s mistress, and then been married three years when she found out. No, her only anger was reserved for her unfaithful husband, and didn’t even last long, instead being replaced by emptiness. An emptiness which, if Char was honest with herself, hadn’t disappeared until recently. Until Casey. And now...

  As tears welled in her eyes, Char tried to blink them away. She passed the phone back to her assistant. “You can go now, Leah, and take this with you.”

  Leah took the phone from her. “I’m sorry. I just thought..”

  “Yes, I get it. You thought I should know,” Char said. “And you were probably right. I don’t blame you. I would, however, like you to leave now.” The words came out harsher than she intended. Char didn’t want to shoot the messenger. She just wanted to be left alone before she broke down.

  “Yes. Of course. I’ll go,” her assistant said, but stopped and turned when she got to the door. “I really am sorry,” she added, before showing herself out.

  Yeah. That makes two of us.

  Alone, Char sank down in her chair. She should be embarrassed. Check that. She was embarrassed. She’d confused a few nights of great sex with something more, and then, because it all felt do damn good, she forgot about caution and discretion and whatever else, and she put herself out there. She’d worn his freaking jersey to the game, knowing it made a statement. Then she’d taken it a step further, letting him come to her office to pick her up. Heck, she even accompanied Casey to dinner at Mr. Johnson’s house. They might’ve skipped Facebook official, but who needed that when Char was showing up at the boss’s house on Casey’s arm?

  All for him to play her for the fool?

  No. There had to be some explanation, right?

  Char tapped at her mouse to wake up her computer, then navigated her web browser to Instagram. She didn’t have an account, and didn’t plan on getting one anytime soon. It didn’t matter, though. She didn’t need one to view Casey’s account. She’d seen the user name on Leah’s phone. cdenualt19sa.

  There it was.

  And there she was. Casey’s new ‘best girl.’

  Char scrolled through the pictures posted to the account, searching for more clues. There were no pictures of her with Casey. Had they ever taken any? She couldn’t recall any. Not even at the amusement park, when they were on the roller coaster. At the time, she’d chalked it up to adrenaline, or wanting to respect her privacy, or... something.

  Who was she fooling? Nobody, really.

  As she scrolled through the rest of the pictures on Casey’s page, Char found a lot of them were hockey related, like the one of him wearing the toy holster, after earning player of the game honors. There were pictures of some of the other guys. Further back, there was one of Casey with an older couple, whom Char figured might be his parents. And right before that, there was another of the blonde girl. Great. She’d been around for a while.

  Char’s phone beeped, and she glanced at the screen. It was a text from Casey.

  Just landed. Ready to collect that kiss. Where are u?

  She’d almost forgotten about the flirtatious text she sent the night before, but now it all came back to her. Was Casey’s plan just to step right back into what they had going before the holiday? What about his so-called ‘best girl?’

  At work, Char replied. Where else did he think she’d be?

  I’ll come by.

  Char thought for a minute. She didn’t want him coming to the office. Not now, since Leah and who knew who else had seen the Instagram photo. No. I’ll meet you somewhere. The burger place down the street?

  Great. See you soon, babe. I have a kiss for you, too. ;)

  Char set her phone down. She couldn’t muster a suggestive or flirtatious reply. Not now. She’d meet him, though, and get it over with. Who knows. Maybe he’d even have a good explanation. Somehow, she doubted it, but she’d listen. Char felt as if she owed Casey that much.

  ***

  Even when the team’s mood was upbeat after a victory, Casey found the charter flights back home to be long and boring, and this one was no exception. Nothing seemed to make the time pass any faster.

  Some of the guys played a card game. Others napped, or played games on their phones or tablets. Noah read a comic book, even lent one to Casey. Casey tried to read it, but couldn’t concentrate. All he could think about was how badly he wanted to see Char. Needed to see her. Five days was way too long, especially after the message she’d sent last night.

  He sent her a text as soon as they landed, intending to go to her office. Instead, she replied and suggested meeting at a burger place. That was fine. It was lunch time. As long as they had privacy to talk, because Casey had a lot on his mind.

  Casey arrived before she did, and got a table, where he sipped a soda while he waited, running through what he wanted to say in his head. When Char finally did walk in, the sight of her nearly took his breath away. God, how he’d missed her.

  “You’re sure a sight for sore eyes,” Casey said, jumping up to kiss her. He took her in his arms, not caring that they were in a public place. The only thing he cared about was that he wanted to kiss her, touch her, taste her, much like he had that night at the club. Her birthday. The night they’d started this thing that he now couldn’t imagine ever wanting to stop.

  Char responded to the kiss, but for only a second before pulling away, and when she did, her expression was cold. “I let my guard down for a minute, and you got your kiss. Don’t bet on getting any more, though.”

  What the hell? The words were so unexpected, they sent Casey’s mind reeling. “What are you talking about? Is something wrong?” Who was he kidding? Something was very wrong. He just couldn’t figure out what.

  “Actually, yes. I’m little upset right now.” Char pulled out a chair and sat down, then took her phone out of her purse. She tapped at the screen for a second, then passed it to him. “It’s this. I’m hoping you can explain this to me. See, I thought we had a pretty good thing going on here, but it looks like I’m wrong. It seems this girl is your new ‘best girl’ and I don’t see any way I can compete with that, right? I mean, she’s younger and prettier, and—” Char stopped as her voice cracked, then blinked hard, as if trying to keep from crying. “Tell me I’m wrong, Casey. Can you do that?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Casey’s brain struggled to catch up, and make some sense out of this. Sometime between yesterday afternoon, when he last talked to Char, or heck, last night, when they exchanged a couple of fun, flirtatious, text messages, and today, something changed, and not for the better. Now she was crying. Okay, maybe not outright tears, but she was at least on the verge of tears. And worst of all, she accused him of cheating on her. What the hell?

  “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but whatever you think it is—Yes, you’re wrong.” Casey could promise that much. He never cheated on her, and sure as hell as didn’t plan to. He grabbed the phone from Char’ hand, since it seemed to be the source of the problem. One look at the screen, and he knew why.

  Son of a bitch! How could he have been so careless, so incredibly stupid? His manager, his family, heck even some of his teammates had warned him to be smarter about what he posted on social media, because it could come back to haunt him. Casey knew that, but still didn’t expect this.

  “Well?” Char demanded. “Do you have an explanation?”

  “Yes. I’m an idiot,” Casey said. He saw no point in trying to sugar coat it.

  “I’m inclined to agree with that,” Char said. “I thought you were smarter, but I don’t have a lot of room to talk, because clearly, I’m an idiot, too. I am curious what you think your mistake was? Cheating, or getting caught?” Her tone was ice, leaving no doubt in Casey’s mind that if he ever did, in fact, cheat on her, she’d make damn sure he paid for it, and dearly. At least in this case, he was completely innocent, albeit stupid.

  “Neither,” he said, “Because it’s not what you think. I know I’m not the first guy to ever say that to a woman, but in this case, it’s true. I admit it looks bad, though, and I can see how someone might get the wrong impression.” Especially since he had a terrible reputation. That sure didn’t do him any favors. Yeah, he’d earned this one. First, by being a self-avowed playboy, and then, even as he tried to move away from that lifestyle, by being careless with what he posted on social media.

  “It’s not what I think? Okay, then, what is it?” At least she was sat down, calmly, and wasn’t ranting. Or worse, storming out of the restaurant without giving him the chance to explain. No, even when she was hurting—and Casey could see that she was—Char had too much class to cause a scene.

  All the more reason to love her.

  “My so-called ‘best girl,’ the one in the picture, is my sister, Cassandra,” he explained. “Cassie for short. She’s older than me, by all of ten months.” He let out a laugh. “I guess our parents were in a hurry to get back in the saddle after she was born. Anyway, our birthdays even worked out so that we were in the same grade in school, and most people always assumed we were twins,” he said. “The similar names probably added to that misconception.”

  “Cassie and Casey. Cute.” Char didn’t sound like she meant it, and Casey wondered if she wasn’t quite believing him. If he was on the other side, would he believe him?

  “We’ve always been close,” he said. “I jokingly call her my best girl, because I’ve always said no one else will ever hold the same place in my heart as my sister. Up until a couple of weeks ago, that was the truth. So many women, but none of them ever meant anything to me. Then you came along, and completely gobsmacked me.”

  “Gobsmacked? I didn’t even know anyone ever used that word.” She laughed, so maybe that was a good sign.

  “They must, because I just did,” Casey said.

  “Your sister, huh? She’s the one in the picture?”

  Casey nodded. “Yeah, we took it after the game last night. We were out celebrating the win,” he said. “You believe me, right?”

  “I’m working on it. I want to.” Still, she sounded dubious.

  “Here, I’ll prove it. I’ll get her on the phone.” Casey pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapping at the screen.

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  Casey held up a hand. “Yes. I do. I want this settled.”

  Fortunately, Cassie answered right away, and her face appeared in the Facetime display. “Hey, little brother. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. What’s up?”

  “Not much,” he said. “I just got back to Texas. Anyway, there’s someone here who wants to say hi to you.”

  “Is it the girl? The one you didn’t stop talking about the whole time you were home?” The amusement was evident in Cassie’s voice. “Put her on.”

  “Just a sec,” Casey said, then passed the phone to Char. Surely she’d see Cassie’s face on the display, and everything would be fine. It had to be.

  “So you’re the famous Cassie,” Casey heard Char say when she took the phone from him.

  “Yep. And we’re not even twins, believe it or not.”

  “That’s what he said. Anyway, I’m Char and this is really strange, but whatever. Is it true that he talked about me all weekend?”

  “Yep, he sure did.” Cassie’s voice sounded muffled, but Casey could hear enough. Enough to know he was being embarrassed, but also enough to know that Char would have to believe him now. And that was the only thing that mattered. “So when are you coming to Ottawa so we can all meet you? Because the whole family is anxious to meet the woman who’s finally succeeded in taming my brother.”

  ***

  The woman’s face on the phone display matched the one on the Instagram post, and it would be pretty hard to fake something like this. Besides, now that Char had the chance to look at Casey’s face across the table from her, and Cassie’s on Facetime, the family resemblance was evident. Char hated that she’d jumped to conclusions and not trusted him.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I’ll get there sometime. I’d like to meet you, too.” Was that where this was headed? They chatted for another minute, then Char said goodbye to Cassie and passed the phone back to Casey.

  He took it from her, then walked a few steps away from the table to finish the conversation, then returned. “Well?” he asked. “Do I get to live another day?”

  “Yes,” Char said. “I’m sorry. I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I saw you, with your arm around some other woman—”

  “Yeah, and I called her my best girl.” Casey raked a hand through his hair. “People are always telling me to be smarter about social media, and this proves that I have to be. That was dumb. Careless. Reckless. Maybe it was cute when we were teenagers, but not now. Not when I’m in the public eye. And especially not when I’m dating an incredible woman like you.”

  “Uh huh.” Char managed a smile. “How about you rethink who you call your ‘best girl’ from now on, okay? Or better yet, call me your only girl.”

  “I like that better, because you are the only one.” Casey exhaled audibly. “Does that mean you believe me?”

  “Yes, I do.” Char didn’t even hesitate before answering. The family resemblance, and the earnestness in Casey’s voice and expression. couldn’t be faked. He might have the reputation as a playboy, but in many ways, he was still a kid. Immature at times, but adorably sweet, too. “I never wanted to think the worst of you, Casey,” she said. “My assistant showed me the picture. I’m not even on Instagram.” And now, she was less sure she wanted to be.

  “Ah, the assistant, trying to stir up shit,” Casey said, making Char laugh.

  “It’s okay. Leah means well. My staff is very protective of me,” Char said. “They know I don’t date a lot, and then you came into the picture...”

  “I get it. They think they have to protect you from wolves like me.”

  Char cocked her to the side. “Well, don’t they?” She might be teasing, but the question was serious at the same time. Would Casey brush it off, or would he give her a serious response? It would tell her a lot about where things stood, and where they were going.

  “A few weeks ago, they would’ve been wise to warn you about me,” he said. “I was the guy every woman should’ve been warned about. I’ve been a jerk. Sure, I treat women right when I’m with them. At least I like to think I do.” Char gave a slight nod of her head, because it was true. It may have started as a one-night stand, but he’d been so very considerate of her that night. Yes, he was horny and wanted his release, but he’d shown more interest in satisfying her desires first. And one thing was for sure. Casey Denault knew how to pleasure a woman.

  “Then you came along,” he said. “And suddenly I was—”

  “Gobsmacked?” she supplied with a smirk.

  “Exactly. See it’s a good word.” Casey smiled. “I didn’t know what hit me. I still don’t. I just know you make me want to be a better man,” he said. “You make me want to be faithful, committed, all of that, because I know if I stray, it’s over, and I won’t see you again... and that’s a day I don’t want to face.”

  “Me neither,” Char said. “Like you said, I think I’m better with you, too, Casey. I’m more relaxed. I’m more fun. I know I’m happier, and enjoy life more.” That was the biggest thing. He made her happy. “I didn’t want to believe that Instragram post, because I don’t want this to end.”

  “It’s not ending,” Casey said. “Not if I can help it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just beginning.”

  As Char listened to his words, she realized it was what she wanted too. Not the end, but rather only the beginning. A future of limitless possibilities. “I want that,” she said. “I may be insecure at times, and have my doubts about some things, but I want to be with you, Casey. I want to see where this road leads next.”

  “Then I’ll show you.” He reached across the table for her hand, then brought it to his lips and kissed it. “And I promise it’ll be a hell of a ride.”

  Char nodded. “I believe you, and I can’t wait to see where this ride takes me next.” She choked back a laugh. “Let’s just not make it as scary as the Iron Rattler, okay?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  San Antonio went 6-3-2 over its next eleven games, leaving the team in playoff position heading into the All-Star break. Usually, that meant a few days of rest for Casey, but not this year. No, this year he’d be playing in the All-Star game. Casey was still in awe. Not only did he earn his fist All-Star selection, but he’d be playing in front of the hometown fans. Not just the Generals’ home fans, though, but one very special woman, too.

  Talk about changing Casey’s life, and for the better. With Char’s help and guidance, he’d put the steps in motion to begin the Casey’s Kids program, benefitting juvenile diabetes. Each week, he’d invite local kids who suffered from juvenile diabetes to attend a Generals home game in a luxury box Casey paid for.

  He knew he’d take a financial hit in renting the box, at least in the beginning, but in the long-term, it would be worth it. Awareness, and money raised for a worthy cause. Char taught him to think ahead. It wasn’t just about tonight, the next girl, whatever felt good. Stardom came quickly for Casey, and probably too easily, as well. He’d never paid his dues. He was twenty-four years old, and a millionaire, and women wanted him. Lots of women? What else mattered?

 

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