“Hey,” I say, instantly feeling nervous, and trying not to picture him in his underwear again.
He looks at the bartender and all the people vying for a drink. “We could be here awhile. We might as well get to know each other.” He smiles, revealing two dimples. “What’s your name? I’m Steve.”
“I’m Rach—, I mean, I’m Casey.”
“And what brings you here tonight, Casey?” he says, his blue eyes holding my gaze.
“I’m here with my friend over there.” I turn and motion toward Destiny, who gives me a half wave and a disapproving look.
“So what do you do, Casey?” He flashes his dimples again.
“I’m in television,” I offer.
“And so is everyone in this room,” he says with a laugh. “Can you be a little more specific? What do you do in television?”
“I host a show called GossipTV.”
“I thought you looked familiar. With that douche bag, Dean Sanders, right? Is that guy annoying or what?”
“Something like that.” I laugh.
The bartender finally notices us and walks over. “So sorry to keep you waiting, Casey, I didn’t see you over here.”
“That’s okay.”
“What are you drinking? Double Belvedere and soda?”
“Make it two,” I say.
The bartender looks from Steve to me. “You guys together?”
“Well, hopefully we’ll be together soon,” Steve says. Such a cheesy line, but he delivers it so smoothly I believe it.
“Oh, no, we’re not. When I said two, I meant the other one was for my girlfriend over there,” I say awkwardly.
The bartender stifles a laugh and asks Steve, “What are you having, man?”
“The same.” He smiles at me and my knees go weak. “So, I’d love to get your number, take you out sometime.”
I think of John. “I can’t. I’m kind of seeing someone right now.” For about twenty years.
“Well, can I still give you my number? I’d love to talk to you and get some advice. I’m a model but I’ve always wanted to be a host. Are you friends with Ryan Seacrest?”
My heart sinks. He never wanted anything to do with me. He just wanted to use me as a connection.
“Sorry, I have to get back to my friend,” I say quickly and take off with the drinks.
“Let me guess. A model but wants to be a host?” Destiny asks.
“Yup.”
“Sunset Boulevard, in his underwear, right?”
“Pretty sure,” I say as I look back toward the bar and find him with his arm wrapped seductively around a petite blonde’s waist.
Destiny takes notice. “That jerk doesn’t waste any time, does he?” She takes a sip of her drink. “Geez, this is strong. Did you get me a double?”
“Guilty,” I say, trying to play off the fact that I have no idea what she drinks.
“Girl, you know I drink white wine. A double anything is going to knock me on my ass!”
“Guess you’re getting drunk tonight, bitch.” I clink my glass against hers and take a drink. Then another.
“You know it doesn’t always have to be like that.”
“Like what?” I ask.
“Like that guy at the bar.”
“It felt like crap just now. I thought that guy was really into me.”
“Oh, he was. He would’ve slept with you and then slid his head shot and reel under your pillow.”
“Ugh.” I think of Casey and realize this must happen to her on a depressingly regular basis.
“You know there are guys who’ve liked you for you.”
I know she’s referring to Charlie. “Your point?”
“My point is when it was real, you didn’t want it.”
“That’s not true!” I say, baiting her to tell me why it is.
“Oh, please. Everything was great before you screwed it all up.”
What did Casey do to him?
I take another sip of my drink, trying to figure out how to pry the details out of her without giving myself away. “Before I screwed it up. Please. He had a hand in it too.”
“Is that the story you’re telling yourself??” Destiny purses her lips.
“It takes two to tango, right?”
“You guys tangoed all right. If I remember correctly, you tangoed quite often!”
So they slept together. And it sounds like Casey ended it. But why? I decide to take a guess.
“Well, you know what they say, you shouldn’t dance where you work.”
Destiny doesn’t skip a beat. “So why are you dancing with him again then?”
“I’m not!”
“But you want to,” she teases.
I feel myself blush. Is this how I’ve been acting at work? Like I wanted to sleep with him? Sure he’s cute, adorable actually, but I’m married.
Destiny turns serious. “The thing is you can’t just dance with him here and there. He’s a nice guy. He’ll get hurt. He really cared about you, you know.”
“You really think he cared about me?”