Wanting to change the subject, he said, “You mentioned you have a sister.”
“Yeah. Hailey. She’s two years younger than me. You’ll meet her tonight, actually—she works at the nightclub we’re going to.”
“Really?” He lifted a brow and took a swallow of beer.
“She’s a bartender.” Kassidy lifted one shoulder. “She’s not exactly career oriented.”
“Bartending can be a career.”
“I suppose.” Doubt shadowed her eyes. “She’s a lot different from me.”
“Hmmm. Interesting. Does she look like you?”
Kassidy’s forehead furrowed. “No. I don’t think so.”
They ordered another drink, hopping easily from one topic to another as they talked, until Kassidy finally checked the time. “Jesus! It’s almost seven. Where the hell is Chris?”
Dag hadn’t realized how much time had passed either. He’d actually been having fun, lost in the pleasure of getting to know Kassidy who was surprisingly easy to talk to, surprisingly sweet and sexy. Okay, that part wasn’t surprising. He’d already known that.
They were meeting friends at the club between nine and ten; Chris had arranged it all with some of the people he knew who were still in Chicago. They needed to grab some food, and he needed to shower and change. Shit.
Kassidy had pulled out her cell phone and quickly sent off a text. Her phone buzzed in response only a moment later. “He’s on his way,” she said.
“Tell him to just go home,” Dag suggested. “We should get going—”
“There he is.” Kassidy lifted a hand, and Dag followed her gaze to where Chris was entering the patio. He strode toward them, tugging at the knot of his tie.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” he said, bending to kiss Kassidy before grabbing a chair. “Little problem with the new WAFS project. Hey, Dag.”
“That’s okay. Dag and I were having so much fun we didn’t even realize what time it was.”
Chris looked between them, no doubt taking in Kassidy’s flushed cheeks from several mojitos. “That’s good,” he said. “I could use a drink.”
Dag stood. “You two go ahead and order if you want, I gotta get back to the hotel. Oh shit.”
“What?” Kassidy gazed up at him.
“All your stuff is in the trunk of my car.”
“Oh yeah.”
“I’ll bring it over in a while,” Dag said. “We can all go to the club together.”
“Gotta take a taxi anyway,” Chris said. “You won’t be in shape to drive later.”
Trust Chris to be the responsible one. But despite his risk-taking behavior, Dag would never drink and drive. “We’ll see,” he said. “I’ll see you back at your place in…what…an hour?”
“Sounds good.”
As he turned away, Dag saw Chris lean over and kiss Kassidy again, this time a longer, lingering kiss, his fingertips resting on her jaw in a tender, intimate gesture, and something twisted inside him as he dragged his gaze away from the image and made his way out of the bar.
Chapter Five
Chris lifted a hand to attract the waitress’s attention, ordered his favorite beer from a local microbrewery. “Kass…?”
“No. I’m good.”
“Had enough?” He smiled at her. “What the hell were you and Dag doing, sitting drinking all afternoon?” She looked pretty, all sparkly eyed, flushed-cheeked.
“It wasn’t all afternoon. He came shopping with me.”
Chris sat back in his chair, hands on the armrests. “He went shopping with you? Why?”
“He had nothing else to do.”
“Uh…when he called me this morning, it sounded like he had something pretty urgent to talk to you about.”
“Oh yeah. He did.” She told him about their lunch conversation.
“Wow.” Chris made a face. “Sounds interesting.”
Kassidy grinned at him, the evening breeze blowing a strand of hair across her face. “You aren’t even a little bit interested in that, are you?”
“Well…it’s not my thing.”
“I know.”
He reached over and gently tucked the errant hair behind her ear. “I’m glad you two are getting along. I wanted you to like him.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s my friend. One of my best friends. And I want him to like you too.”
Kassidy looked down at her fingers on the table. “Well. I do like him.”
“And man, do I need this drink.” Chris lifted the beer the waitress set in front of him. Tension still hummed in his body from all the crap he’d had to deal with all day at the office.
“Bad day?” She rested her elbow on the table, set her chin in her hand and studied him with those big brown eyes, all soft and warm.
“Yeah. Crappy day. Looks like they’re going ahead with outsourcing all those jobs.”
“Oh no.” Her forehead creased. He knew how much she hated that plan, all the jobs that would be lost, the impact it was going to have on morale. “And then Wendy tells me she needs time off next month. Right when our project deadline is.”
“Isn’t she getting married next month?”
“Yeah. She wants to go on a honeymoon.”
Kassidy laughed. “Well, you have to let her go for that.”
He shook he head. “I can’t. We have rules. Nobody gets time off when it’s deadline time.”
“Chris.” She leaned forward. “You can’t be serious. It’s her honeymoon.”
He met her eyes. “Rules are rules. And we gotta make that deadline.”
“Oh, for…sometimes you have to bend the rules a little. I’d say that’s an exception.”
He made a face. “I can’t let her have the time off.”
“What do you think is going to happen if you say no? Even if she shows up—and chances are she’ll call in sick—she’s not going to be happy to be there. Is that the kind of atmosphere you want? You think she’s going to be working hard for you? No! She’s going to be pissed!”
He pursed his lips, thinking about it. “I don’t think…”
“Don’t be stubborn,” she said, leaning back. “You know I’m right. Just think about it.”
“Yeah. Fine.” He sighed. “We’re way over budget on the reliability solutions project. Someone screwed up on the projections and now the executive sponsors are having a shit fit.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah.” Just talking to her about it made him feel better though. It was always that way with Kassidy. She knew just what to say—and just what not to say. She let him talk if he felt like it but didn’t push him if he didn’t.
“Tonight’s gonna be a blast,” he said, done talking about work. It was Friday night, time to set all that aside for a couple of days. “Everyone’s looking forward to seeing Dag again.” He listed off the names of all the friends who’d be there. “We’re all meeting there between nine and ten.”
“At Kiss.”
“Yeah.” He arched a brow. “That okay?” Hailey worked there and he knew Kassidy wasn’t fond of hanging out around her sister. But it was one of the hottest places in town.
She shrugged and pursed her lips. “It’s okay. I like it there.”
He reached for her hand and squeezed. “Hailey will be working.”
“I know.” She paused. “We should go. I need to change.”
“Yeah. Just let me finish this.” He drained the beer, pleasantly bitter on his tongue, and set down the bottle. “We need our check…”
When the waitress brought the bill, Chris did a double take. “Jesus! How long were you guys sitting here? And what the fuck is Dag doing stiffing me with his fucking bar tab?”
“Uh…Chris…”
He glanced at her, saw the smile tugging her lips. Couldn’t help his own smile. “That asshole,” he said mildly, temper settling, and reached for his wallet. “He’ll be buying the drinks tonight, that’s for damn sure. It’s not like he couldn’t afford to clear his fucking tab before he ran out of here.”