He got silence instead.
“You’re off your game.”
“You drop a bombshell like gooberment hounds sniffing around my booty hole, and I’m supposed to just ignore it?”
He frowned.Apparently, the conversation had moved past that point, and I’d handed him proof of my distraction.
His gaze followed the trail I’d inadvertently exposed.“Who is he?”
Oh, sweet Jesus.Once a cop, always a… “No one.”
Casey laughed once.“You don’t fool me.I know what that is.It’s kryptonite.At least for you.”
“I ain’t Superman.I have no weaknesses.”
He laughed long and hard at that one.Once he got it out of his system, he cleared his throat.“You know, I hated Johnny Pornstach.”
If everyone could stop reminding me of my faults, it would be really nice of them.“What was it, the caterpillar on his upper lip or the weasel-like set of his shoulders?”
“He was all wrong for you.”
I groaned.“And who’s right for me?”
Casey’s grin fell.“Not him.”He glanced to the front of the room.“And probably not the guy who caught your eye.That’s trouble.”
“How can you tell?”This was insightful.Because when I first met “He-who-shall-not-be-named” I had picked up on the swagger, the careless hair, the grin that hid secrets, but Ringo had done nothing more than any other normal man would have done when bumping into a pretty woman.
“He’s a wolf.”Casey leaned in and lowered his volume.“Without looking, he sees everything.You don’t do that unless someone somewhere has taught you how.”
I kept my eyes on Casey.
“Are you saying the newcomer is dangerous?”
His icy blue eyes met mine.He gave me a little shake of the head.“Dangerous doesn’t describe it.I know that thrills little girls like you, but steer clear of that one.”
I feigned offense.“Little girls like me?Come on!I’ve got at least two handfuls right here.”I grabbed my breasts and lifted them with a squish.
His face wrinkled into a sardonic grin.“He’s the kind you think can protect you, but they only draw you into the darkness.”
If he only knew how true his words were.
I leaned in with a flirty pout on my lips.“Sounds like you.Why do you think I love you?”
He laughed.“If only I were thirty years younger.”
“Spank me and call me baby-girl.”
Luckily, the song had switched to something raucous and mindless.Because I was in a mood.Casey picked up my lies, and we joked until he deemed his bedtime nigh.
As he took his leave, he tapped the table to get my attention.“Hey.Watch your back.”
It wasn’t delivered with his usual cadence.This warning held weight.Behind the words was insistence and sincerity.
I nodded, finally sobering past the false clarity booze goggles provided.“I will.”
His words haunted me an hour later as I scanned the streets while the rideshare driver chatted.
Ringo had disappeared, and I suspected I was being followed.
