I slid the phone back into my pocket and turned toward the country club. The door opened, and Casey came walking out.
“There you are. I turned my back for one minute, and you were gone. Everything okay?” she asked, coming to a stop in front of me.
“I just stepped away to take a call.”
She nodded toward the country club. “You ready to head back in?”
I nodded, and she wrapped her arm around mine as we walked in together.
“I’m glad you called. I missed this. You must have been busy over the last month. I thought you’d call sooner.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy,” I told her, not wanting to go into any details about what had kept me busy. Not that she would care. She was a paid escort, but I didn’t wish to answer any follow-up questions on the matter.
The two of us went back into the charity event and took our seats at our table.
“There you are. I was afraid you’d left before we could make a deal,” Tony Anderson said, tuning in his chair to look at me.
I picked up my half-empty glass of bourbon and took a sip. “Just had to take a call, but I’m sticking to my original number.”
He raised his hand to flag down the waiter, and when the waiter walked over, he said, “Another round for my pal.”
I chuckled. “It doesn’t matter how much alcohol you pour down my throat, Tony. I’m not budging on the price. You pay what I’m asking, or you don’t get the business.”
“I guess I could always let some shmuck buy at the asking price, then buy it off of him when he realizes he’s bitten off more than he can chew.”
I nodded along. “Yeah, you could, but by then he’ll probably have ruined the name, and it won’t be worth as much.” I smiled, knowing I was getting into his head.
His smile fell as he stared off into the distance, clearly thinking about my asking price more seriously.
“Boys, hasn’t anyone ever told you that you’re not supposed to be doing business at a party?” Casey asked, batting her lashes at Tony before turning her smile on me.
“Nonsense,” Tony said. “More business gets done at these parties than what gets done during business hours.” Hechuckled before looking at me. “I’ll have my lawyer reach out on Monday.”
I nodded. “I look forward to it.”
“Okay, now that’s out of the way, I want to dance,” Casey said, standing and looking down at me.
I finished off my whiskey and set the empty glass on the table.
“Duty calls,” I told Tony as I stood.
Casey took my hand in hers, and she pulled me toward the dance floor. I couldn’t think about the last time I’d been on a dance floor and how I ended up spending the rest of that evening wrapped up in the woman I wasn’t supposed to love.
Casey turned to face me, and it snapped me out of the memory because it wasn’t the face I wanted to see. I hadn’t seen Sasha in almost two weeks, and I was beginning to feel like I was going into withdrawals. Whenever I pictured her face, my stomach would clench, and my heart would crack.
I was desperate to hold her, to kiss her. I wanted to drop down onto my knees and beg for her forgiveness, but I couldn’t do that. I needed her to hate me. I needed her to move on because I wasn’t strong enough to keep space between us any other way.
I put my hands on Casey’s hips, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her dark eyes met mine, and she smiled. I didn’t return the gesture.
“Why don’t you tell me what’s really been going on this last month?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re different.”
“No, I’m not.”
She rolled her eyes and smirked. “You met someone, didn’t you?”
