Hanging up and sliding the phone back into her pocket, she turned on her heel in the gravel and nearly collided with Nate, who had walked up behind her on nearly silent feet.
“Shit, Nate!” she exclaimed, backing up a step to avoid making contact with his body. “Give a girl some warning!”
“Sorry,” he said, his dark eyes intense on her face, squinting slightly because of the bright sunlight. “You uh, you have a party tomorrow? Do you need a date?”
“Uhh—” Shaun stammered, glancing over his shoulder before shaking her head. “I do have a thing tomorrow, my sister’s engagement party, but no, I don’t need a date. Besides, I’ve told you, I don’t date coworkers. Or anyone.”
“Come on,” he murmured, sidling slightly closer to her, reaching one meaty hand out to touch her forearm, and she jerked away from his touch. “You don’t want to go to a family wedding event alone.”
“Actually, I do,” Shaun snapped, taking another step backward, putting extra space between them. “My answer is no, Nate.”
Fear tingled down her spine when his dark eyes flashed with something sinister, but then he just grinned and said, “Okay,sure thing. Just thought I’d offer. Should probably get back to work.”
As he walked away, Shaun breathed a sigh of relief, then headed back into the garage, keeping one wary eye on Nate from across the room.
SEVEN
“How dressy is this supposed to be?” Shaun asked, her phone on speaker where it sat in the middle of her bed.
“Dressy casual,” she heard Jodi’s voice come from the phone. “I thought you said you had an outfit already picked out?”
“I did,” Shaun muttered, rifling through the clothes in her dresser before stepping over to the closet and sliding hangers around on the bar. “But that was before I knew Kasey fucking Corcoran was going to be there. I can’t wearthatoutfit now.”
“Why not?” Jodi asked. “Too sexy?”
Shaun scoffed and said, “No. I was leaning more toward thecasualpart of dressy casual.”
“So now you need to find something sexier? Because Kasey will be there?” Jodi asked and Shaun rolled her eyes. Damn nosy woman.
“You know what, never mind. I don’t know why I called you,” Shaun snapped. Why was she worried about what she was going to wear? Why did she care so much about what Kasey would think of her?She didn’t.Jodi laughed out loud and Shaun clenched her teeth together in aggravation. “I’m hanging up on you!”
“I’ll see you in an hour!” Jodi laughed again, and Shaun lunged across the bed to disconnect the phone call. Rolling to her back, she stared up at the ceiling.
Kasey had refused to leave her mind all day. It’s like having him in the general area made it so it was impossible to get him out of her head. He was by far the most attractive man she’d ever seen, but also the most infuriating.
“Fuck it,” Shaun muttered and rolled into a sitting position, standing and striding over to the closet. Grabbing a skintight pair of black jeans that she knew did wonders for her ass andlegs, she tossed them onto the foot of the bed and then rifled through the tops until she found the one she was looking for.
Peeling the t-shirt she’d pulled on after her shower over her head, she let it fall to the floor, standing in the middle of the room naked. She pulled a simple black thong out of the drawer and slid them up her legs, then fastened a matching strapless bra at her back, adjusting her breasts in the cups. Stepping into the tight jeans, she jumped and wiggled until they were over her thighs and wide hips. The top she chose was black, in a buttery soft material. Fitted at her waist, it highlighted her narrow waist and shapely hips, but was loose at the top, the neckline wide enough to let it drape over one shoulder, leaving it bare. The sleeves were loose and wide, floating around her arms.
She had let her curly hair dry naturally, which meant her curls were rioting around her head. She had smoothed curl cream into it after her shower, taming them slightly, but the fullness bounced around her shoulders and down her back. A pair of simple silver earrings adorned her ears and her make-up was simple but alluring. She had taken extra time on her eyes, making the blue of them pop. Staring at herself in the mirror in the bathroom, she turned this way and that, checking her reflection. Reaching into her cosmetic bag, she pulled out a tube of dark red lipstick, staring at it for a long minute before uncapping it and gliding it onto her full lips.
“Eat your heart out, you arrogant prick,” she muttered to her reflection, smiling just the slightest.
Leaving the bathroom, she slid her feet into her favorite sky-high black heels, but then kicked them off, opting for a strappy option with low, chunky heels instead. She then grabbed her purse and keys, and was out the door moments later.
Driving the familiar roads to her parent’s home, she parked her truck alongside several other vehicles already in the driveway. Sliding out of the truck, she carefully picked her wayacross the gravel driveway to the wide front steps, taking them one at a time, when a long, low whistle sounded.
Whipping her head to the right, she swallowed hard as the owner of that whistle appeared from the shadow of the covered porch.
“I was wondering what you’d wear tonight,” he said in that low drawl that made her belly do somersaults. “I’ve been torturing myself all day imagining it.”
“You’re a pig,” Shaun snapped, taking the final steps up onto the porch, where she stopped. He continued forward, slowly, and for a brief second Shaun felt very much like she was prey, and he a predator.
“I just appreciate a beautiful woman,” Kasey murmured as he stopped several feet away from her, his hands tucked into the pockets of his dark wash jeans. A black t-shirt stretched across his chest, and a mouthwateringly sexy black leather jacket hung open. His blonde hair looked freshly washed and tousled, like he’d towel dried it and then left it alone to dry haphazardly. Or like eager hands had been shoved through it—
“Well, don’t,” Shaun snapped, shaking the intrusive thoughts away, at the same time tossing her curls away from her face, revealing that bare shoulder.
Kasey’s lips tightened and then he murmured, his voice low and slightly bitter, “Right. You just love to remind me.”
