All the Right Things (Love in LA) (16 page)

Sitting back down on the couch to wait, Annie thought about how she was really looking forward to dancing with Casey. Having never danced with a professional dancer before, she only hoped she didn’t make a complete fool out of herself. She had rhythm, but she knew her skills couldn’t compare to someone who made their living dancing.

Since she still had a few minutes until Casey would be ready, Annie decided to text Gabe and let him know her decision. She liked him too much as a person to keep him hanging any longer than necessary. But after she finished typing the words out, even though she knew she was making the right decision, her finger still hovered hesitantly over the Send button. She finally pressed it, and sighed as the text went through.

Annie:
So about what you said… I’m not saying what we had together meant nothing to me, but when you chose Genevieve over me when you could have stayed with me and still just been a father to your baby, that changed everything. How can I ever trust you again after that? I’m sorry, but the answer is no.

Gabe:
I understand. I’m so sorry again, for everything. I hope that guy makes you happy.

Annie:
Well, he has yet to make me cry.

Gabe:
Ouch. Well, I hope he never does. I might have to come kick his ass if he does.

Annie:
Hehe, funny. Take care of yourself.

Gabe:
You too, Annie.

“Have you seen my duffel bag?” Casey asked as he returned to the living room, now wearing a black, long-sleeved button-down with a pair of vintage designer jeans. He was stuffing his wallet into his back pocket as he walked around the room, looking for his bag.

Annie glanced behind the couch she was sitting on and saw a blue duffel bag on the floor. “Here it is,” she said, gesturing behind the couch.

He crossed over to retrieve the bag and dug through it for a moment before straightening. “Come here,” he told her, beckoning for her to stand up and join him behind the couch.

With a curious smile, Annie did as he asked, finally seeing a small box in his hands. “What’s that?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“A present for you,” he said. “Open it.”

“Aw, you didn’t have to.”

Casey rolled his eyes and jiggled the box at her. “I know I didn’t have to. Shush and just open the damn thing already, will you?”

Annie giggled and took the box from him. “Okay, okay.” Gingerly, she opened it and oohed out loud as she saw the most beautiful pair of abalone earrings along with a matching necklace. The necklace pendant and earrings were both teardrop-shaped, and she loved how the greens ran into the blues and had that overall rainbow hue. “Oh, they’re so pretty!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Casey’s neck and kissing him with a loud smack. “Thank you, I love them.”

“Want to put them on now?” he asked.

Nodding, she removed her silver hoop earrings and put the abalone earrings on. “I’ll save the necklace for another time, though. You won’t be able to see it with what I’m wearing tonight anyway,” she said, gesturing towards the neckline of her top. “How do I look?”

“Good enough to eat.” He leaned down and gave her a long, slow, lingering kiss. When Annie opened her eyes again, she saw that he was smiling smugly down at her. She smacked his chest playfully and pushed him away.

“Is it cold outside?” she asked, picking up a black leather jacket she’d brought with her.

“Yeah, it’s chilly. You can leave it with coat check when you get there.”

Annie nodded and pulled on the jacket, and then took his hand as he offered it to her. He opened the door with one hand and pulled her through the door by the other, letting her go as she passed him, and then followed immediately behind her. As they walked down the hallway to the elevators, she felt like she was only sixteen again, totally head over heels in love with her first crush. She wanted to doodle her future name on notepads:
Annie Jackson. Annie Ella Jackson. Mrs. Annie Jackson. Mrs. Casey Jackson. A. Jackson. AJ. CJ and AJ in love forever.

Okay, I really need to stop it. And maybe get my head checked.

Stepping into the elevator, Annie thought about how they hadn’t even slept together, yet. He could totally suck in the bedroom department. Or worse, he could have a really tiny penis. She might be doodling the name of a hunky, sensitive, genuine guy… who had the world’s tiniest penis.

She’d seen a tiny penis once. It was so small when it was flaccid that she had literally laughed and asked out loud where it went, and then of course immediately regretted it when she saw the hurt look on the guy’s face. But it was like a turtle when it withdraws its head into its shell. That could be Casey for all she knew. Casey could be tiny turtle penis man.
Fuck.
She really hoped they finally sealed the deal tonight. Then she’d know for sure.

Outside, Annie was tucked snugly under Casey’s arm when he suggested that they walk to the club. Seeing the horrified look on her face, he glanced down. “Uh, or maybe we’ll just grab a cab,” he said with a grin. She smiled gratefully at him and climbed into the taxi first, scooting over to the other side so he could get in after her. “Ruby Skye,” Casey told the driver. “It’s just around the corner.” The driver grunted, and Casey apologized. “I know it’s just around the corner, but she’s wearing these mega heels, buddy. I’ll give you a good tip.” The driver just grunted again, but he finally pulled away from the curb.

When they pulled up in front of the club a few minutes later, Casey gave the driver a twenty and then got out of the car, turning to help Annie. She groaned when she saw that there was a line wrapped around the block, but Casey just patted her hand and laughed. Then he stepped right up to the bouncer at the head of the line, a big, burly, black dude who nodded at him and stepped forward to do one of those guy handshakes with the exploding fists.

“What up, CJ?” the bouncer asked, his eyes lighting up as he finally saw Annie standing there. “And who is this fine-ass, sweet thing, and why the fuck is she with you?”

Annie blushed as Casey reached over to gather her to his side again. “Annie, this ill-mannered gentleman is Lucius. Lucius, this beautiful woman is Annie, and you know, I’ve been asking myself the same thing. Guess I’m just lucky.”

“Fuck lucky.” After Lucius let them in past the red velvet rope, Casey turned to thank him. However, Lucius took the opportunity to grab Annie’s hand as she and Casey turned to face him and raised it to his lips for a kiss. In a deep, bass voice that reminded her of Michael Clarke Duncan, he looked her deep in the eyes and said, “Honey, whenever you get tired of this asshole and you’re ready for a real man, you just call Lucius.” Her cheeks were on fire as she laughed nervously, but he finally let go of her hand as Casey snorted with laughter and tugged her away into the club.

“Keep dreaming, Lucius,” he called behind him. “Nice try, though.”

As they walked further into the club, the music got louder and louder, the floor vibrating with the thudding bass. Shrugging off her jacket, Annie handed it over to the coat check girl and waited for her ticket stub.

Casey led the way to a bar and asked what she wanted to drink, then leaned over to the bartender to give their order. While they waited for the bartender to make their drinks, Casey pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and started texting.

“Everyone’s probably already on the dance floor, but I’m just letting them know we’re at the bar.”

Annie nodded and picked up the shot glass that the bartender had just set down in front of her and waited for Casey to pick up his as well. Clinking their glasses together, they both smiled and then tossed their shots back. As the alcohol hit her tongue, Annie made a face and slammed the shot glass down. “Another?” he yelled over the music, lifting an eyebrow at her. She nodded and held up two fingers to the bartender.

A minute later, Casey looked down as his phone vibrated. After reading the new text, he shoved his phone back in his pocket and leaned closer to her, not quite shouting, but still speaking loudly. “They’re going to come up here for a round of drinks. So we’ll wait here for them, and then we’ll all head back down to the dance floor together.”

“Okay!” she said, giving him a thumbs up. The bartender set down their next round of shots, and they again clinked glasses. “Banzai!” she yelled and then threw back her shot.

“Banzai!” he yelled as he laughed, and then threw back his shot as well.

Casey had just finished ordering another round for them when he was plowed into from behind by a couple of blonde, scantily-clad, giggling girls. “Casey!” they shrieked as they surrounded him, one on either side, each of them grabbing an arm and kissing a cheek.

Annie was pushed back as they did so, making her bump hard into someone behind her. She unmistakably felt something under her foot as she stumbled backwards.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” Annie yelped as she whirled around, apologizing to the owner of the foot she’d just trampled with her heels. But any further words died in her mouth when she saw the gorgeous man standing there with a wince on his face as he glanced down at his injured foot.

She guessed him to be about six foot two. He had short, spiky, blonde hair and deep blue eyes, and his right eyebrow was pierced. His bulging biceps were barely contained in the grey, V-neck, long-sleeved sweater he wore with a pair of designer jeans. She could see part of a tattoo on his forearm as it peeked out from his left sleeve, but she couldn’t quite make out what it was.

“I think my toes are still intact, but what’s your name in case I have to press charges?” he asked, looking at her sternly.

Annie gasped and started to apologize to him again. “Oh my God, can you do that? Are you really going to sue me? I’m so sorry—I was pushed into you. I didn’t step on you on purpose!” Belatedly, she saw the twinkle in his eye and trailed off. Smirking, Annie raised an eyebrow at him. “Having fun making me feel like a complete shit?” she asked.

He threw back his head and laughed, showing off a great set of even, pearly white teeth. “Hey, you
did
step on my foot,” he reminded her with a wink, “and now you’re avoiding telling me your name.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Annie,” she said, holding out her hand to shake his.

“Annie. It’s nice to meet you.” He took her offered hand, but for the second time this evening, a man kissed her hand. Annie was really starting to wonder if she was in the year 2013.

“And your name is?” she asked.

“His name is Trey,” Casey said as he stepped up to them, having finally disentangled himself from his female fan club. “What’s up, buddy? I see you’ve met my girl, Annie.”

“Your girl? Is she really?” Trey asked dryly, giving Casey a tight smile. Casey just slid his arm possessively around Annie’s shoulder and continued looking at Trey with a bland expression on his face. The two men continued to stare at each other for several long, uncomfortable seconds. Finally, Trey glanced at Annie, then back at Casey again and shrugged. “Too bad.” He excused himself, nodding briefly at Casey, and disappeared off into the crowd.

While she somewhat appreciated the caveman attitude that Casey had suddenly adopted towards her in front of Trey, Annie also felt slightly annoyed at the same time. Gently disengaging herself from his grasp, she crossed her arms and looked at him pointedly. “Care to tell me what that was all about?”

Casey gritted his teeth and shook his head. “That guy is trouble, just trust me,” was all he said.

Annie waited for him to elaborate on his statement, but he said nothing. Finally, she rolled her eyes and shrugged. “Alright, well fine. I’ll just have to take your word for it that he’s trouble. But all I know is that he was just being nice to me when your fan club knocked me into him.”

Casey had the grace to look embarrassed. “Um yeah, sorry about that. Kelli and Kelly… they’re usually pretty nice girls, but they’ve had a lot to drink already,” he finished lamely.

Annie just stared at him at a minute before responding. She could do this. She could take the high road and not act like a jealous girlfriend. She could show that she was confident and secure. “Whatever. Let’s just do another shot and get on the dance floor already.”

A smile flashed across his face and he nodded, turning to the bartender to order another round. After their shot glasses were emptied, Casey grabbed Annie’s hand and tugged her close so that she was standing flush up against him. He wrapped his arms around her and for a moment, it seemed like the rest of the room was blurred out, moving in slow motion. All that existed right then was the two of them as he gazed down at her, a small smile quirked on his lips.

“You ready to do this thing with me now?” he asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied.

Casey kissed her hard, and then leading her by the hand, he turned to move with the crowd towards the dance floor. As they wound through the mass of sweaty bodies gyrating against each other, Annie swallowed hard. Quickly she began to pray over and over again.

Please God, just do me a solid and don’t let me make a total ass of myself. Please God, just make me look cool tonight.

When they’d gotten to the center area of the dance floor, Casey finally stopped. Annie glanced at the immediate area around them and recognized the two girls who had jumped him at the bar. As they looked at her, they both shot daggers with their eyes. Annie felt a little taken aback at the blatant hostility radiating from the two of them. Uncomfortable, she turned around to face Casey, who was leaning to his left with his head ducked down as one of the other guys yelled something in his ear. He laughed at whatever the guy said and nodded, then fist bumped with him and turned back to face her.

The music had just transitioned into a classic hip hop track, Jay Z’s
Can I Get A
? Casey grinned down at Annie, sliding his hand to rest just above her ass, and then he began to move. And man, could he move. She couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face as she felt him undulate so effortlessly against her. What was even better yet was the fact that she was actually moving in perfect unison with him. Dancing with Casey felt like the most natural and erotic thing in the world to her.