One Dance for Case (Possessed 2)

Would he love me?

Approaching them, Casey turned his attention to her, and a huge grin lit up his entire face, eliciting a smile of her own. His enthusiasm was contagious, so she let go of the nerves threatening to take hold of her. She refused

to give into the fear wanting to drag her into the depths of hell.

“Ready?” he asked her, reaching for the bag she’d forgotten about. A quick glance at his friend and she nodded. “Don’t worry, he’s not coming,” he assured her.

“Nope, not much for being the third wheel.” His friend laughed.

“You wouldn’t…I mean, you can join us,” she bumbled her way through it, “if you wanted.”

“Relax, sugar, I was teasing. I’ve got other things to take care of tonight.” A salute of his fingers and he was gone.

“So…” she wasn’t sure what to say let alone do. Should she take the lead, or would he?

“What are you in the mood for?” he finally asked her.

“Ummm,” she could barely think with him standing so close, so she said what always popped into her mind when she thought of food. “Tacos?”

His bark of laughter startled her into raising her eyebrow in question. “I was thinking the same thing. Tacos it is.”

Placing his empty hand on the small of her back, he guided her to his truck—a blue Ford F-150 that seemed unnaturally high. She had to wonder how the hell she was going to climb into that monster.

“Is it me, or is that thing high?” He looked from her to the truck and back to her again. “Like abnormally high.”

“For someone of your size?” There was laughter in his voice. “It could be. For someone like me, not so much.”

“Ass,” she mumbled as he continued to laugh.

Laughter followed him after he helped her in and made his way to the driver’s side. The short drive to Papi’s Tacos was filled with tension. She struggled to make any type of conversation or think past what the night would bring.

Once they pulled into the small parking lot, Case shut the truck off. Going to her side, he helped her out so she didn’t make a fool of herself and fall flat on her face.

“Welcome to Papi’s Tacos!” the hostess greeted them enthusiastically. “Just the two of you?” Her eyes travelled up and down Case in appreciation.

“Yes,” he answered pointedly, grabbing Ev’s hand which made her smile up at him. Leaning into her, he placed a gentle kiss on the side of her head.

Could he be more perfect? She was in awe of the affection he openly showed her. She’d never experienced that before.

Seated, they perused their menu’s quietly, each lost in their own thoughts. She kept peeking at him over her menu not paying attention to the items listed to order. Needing a distraction, she took in the look of the small restaurant itself. It was cute.

Bar tables, three to each side, lined the walls with a sombrero lamp dropping from the ceiling to hover over the middle of each table. In the center of the room was the four-sided bar. It had a low-key, homey atmosphere that she loved.

They sat for a few minutes waiting for their waiter. Neither saying a thing nor looking at one another. It was like they were complete strangers. Uh, Ev, you are, her inner voice helpfully pointed out. Just as she was about to say something, the waiter appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

“Hi, there! I’m Derek, and I’ll be your server tonight,” he told them as he placed sombrero shaped coasters on the table. “Can I start you off with some drinks?” he looked between the two of them.

“Bud Light draft,” Casey told him, his eyes now firmly on her.

“Got it, and for you, miss?” When Derek’s gaze lingered a little too long on her chest, she could have sworn she heard Casey grumble something under his breath.

“Strawberry Margarita, please,” she told him shyly, not able to look at the waiter any longer.

As soon as he left to get their drinks, Case demanded to know, “Do they do that often?”

“What?” She wanted to know exactly what he was referring to.

“Stare at your tits?” His crude word had her face flaming hot.