Soar (The Empire Chronicles #1) (4 page)

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s just bored or hard up for girls or something.” I did find it surprising that he’d gone as far as picking an actual time. His teasing had been more general before. Maybe now that we’d been working together so much, he felt he could be more forward. No matter the reason, I didn’t like it.

“Who’s hard up for girls?” Jess asked, flipping her blonde hair off her shoulder before settling on the arm of a red love seat. She was one of those ultra-pretty girls who knew it. She could get any guy she wanted, but she’d settled on her high school sweetheart. Emmett seemed like a nice enough guy, and he was definitely crazy about her. I had a feeling there was a sparkly ring in her near future.

I crossed my legs, already antsy to get up off the couch and move again. “Just this jerk at work.”

“Is he cute?” Jess laughed. “Just kidding. If he’s bugging you, why not tell your boss?”

“He kind of is my boss, and the only one he answers to is his uncle.”

“Oh…that’s not good.” She gave me a sympathetic look.

“What? Marv is Eric’s uncle?” Remy had a similar reaction to me. At least I wasn’t the only one who’d failed to pick up on that detail.

I nodded. “Weird, isn’t it?” Then I turned back to Jess. “It’s not good at all. I’m hoping it was only talk and he doesn’t actually show up tomorrow night.”

“Just have Rhett send him away,” Remy suggested.

“He’s leaving in the morning for Russia.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” She twisted off the cap of her beer.

“Just make sure you’re out then, Casey. Make plans so when he shows up, you aren’t home.” Jess nibbled on some tortilla chips.

I liked the suggestion in theory. “Do you have any big plans I can jump in on, Remy?”

She blushed. “I actually have a date.”

“With who? Is it that guy from your chem class?” Jess asked. I’d had no idea Remy liked a guy from chem. I was really out of the loop.

“Yeah…believe it or not, I asked him out.”

“Nice. Way to make the first move.” I patted her on the back. She was usually nervous about approaching guys, so it was a pretty huge step for her. “I’ll find something to do.”

“We could make plans,” a somewhat familiar male voice asked.

I craned my neck behind me, curious who the voice belonged to.

“Toby? Hi.” I tried to take my jaw off the floor as I scrambled from the couch. My favorite customer was standing in front of me. Had he just asked me out?

“You’re Casey, right?” He studied me, his brown eyes giving me no hint of what was going on in his head.

“Yeah.” I was honestly surprised he knew my name.

“You two know each other?” Jess asked, looking from Toby and then back to me with a very amused smile on her face.

“She serves good coffee.” Toby smiled. It was one of those forced half smiles of his, but it was something.

“He means I can pour coffee into a cup.”

Jess laughed, and the slightly high-pitched tone of it made me think of tiny pixies or fairies. “What a small world.”

“I guess so.” He shrugged. “So what do you say? Want to make plans?”

“Why?”

His face scrunched up in thought a little. “Do you usually make guys explain their interest this early on?”

Jess laughed again. This time louder. “I guess Casey’s playing hard to get.”

I sipped the orange substance resembling a screw driver that was currently in my plastic cup. “What would you want to do?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we can do dinner.”

“Oh. Sure.” Was I really planning a date with Toby? “Where should I meet you?”

“I can just pick you up.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

“Really, I don’t mind at all,” he insisted.

I needed to find out how well Jess knew this guy before I shared my address. I glanced at her, and she pretty much read my mind. “Did you know that Toby and I went to high school together? He dated my best friend.”

Toby paled. “Here’s my number. Call me when you decide.” He slipped a thick, cream-colored business card into my right hand. In the process, his fingers touched mine and we looked at each other. I wondered if he enjoyed the momentary contact as much as I did.

“Sure. I’ll call you.”

He nodded before leaving. I waited for him to turn around to look at me again, but he didn’t. He just walked right through the doorway.

“Toby just asked you out.” Remy grinned.

“Technically, he asked if I wanted to make plans.”

“He asked you out,” Jess said excitedly. She was one of those bubbly types whose excitement was kind of contagious.

I let myself enjoy it. “All right, he did.”

Jess bounced a little in her seat. “I wonder where he’s going to take you? You know he’s loaded, right?”

“Really?” He wore suits all the time, but that didn’t mean he was rich. I’d always assumed he was older.

“Yeah. He has some family business that he runs. He was one of the wealthier guys in high school, but not like he is now. It’s like his funds are unlimited.”

“Unlimited?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about the new info. I didn’t want to change the way I felt about a guy just because he was rich, but it made any real relationship seem less likely. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself anyway. It was only dinner.

“Hot, rich, and single?” Remy grinned. “And I thought those guys were extinct.”

I shrugged. “Evidently they buy their coffee at Coffee Heaven.”

Emmett joined us, handing Jess another drink. “Did Toby leave already?”

Jess leaned into Emmett’s arm. “Yeah…but not before asking Casey out.”

“Seriously?” Emmett grinned at me. “Nice. Be easy on him. He’s a bit out of practice.”

I wasn’t sure if he was referring to dating or sex. I had no desire to ask for clarification. “So you all went to high school together?”

“Yeah. Toby and I go way back.”

“Is he in school, or does he just work?” I wondered if he went to Fordham with Emmett. I’d never seen him around NYU, but that didn’t mean he didn’t go there.

“No. He started out at Princeton first semester, but then he dropped out.”

“Was it because of a girl?” His reaction to the mention of an ex-girlfriend made his somber mood understandable.

Jess nodded. “It’s weird because he dumped her. She had a hard time getting over it, but she’s moved on. She’s actually engaged already.”

“Want to know something funny?” Emmett shifted so Jess was practically sitting on his lap. “Toby tried to tell me that Allie was the one who dumped him. Isn’t that crazy?”

Jess looked at him with a funny expression.“Definitely crazy. That’s kind of a big detail to mix up. The whole reason we went down to New Orleans was to help her forget him.”

“Does she still live around here?” I asked.

“No. Allie goes to Tulane. We went down to New Orleans for the summer and she never left.”

Phew. At least I didn’t need to worry about running into this ex-girlfriend.

“Do you know why they broke up?” If he dumped her, why was he so upset when people brought up her name?

“I don’t remember. They were really serious, but then out of the blue, it was over.” Jess looked lost in thought. “It’s weird, I can’t remember any of the details anymore. Sometimes I feel like my brain’s all messed up.”

“That makes two of us. Maybe we should lay off all the alcohol.” Emmett looked down at his nearly empty beer.

“Oh…” I was positive there was a story behind the breakup, but it wasn’t the time or place to push for more answers. Besides, it didn’t look like Jess or Emmett had any.

“I can’t believe you’re going out with him. You’ve been eying Toby for months.” Remy grinned. Of course she brought the conversation back to our date again.

“Oh. I thought you just served him coffee.” Jess raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged. “I plead the fifth.”

Chapter Six
Toby

Had I really just asked out Casey? I didn’t think it through at all. I just didn’t like hearing that worry in her voice, especially when I realized who was behind it. I’d started visiting Coffee Heaven after meeting the owner, Marv, at a Society meeting. Coffee Heaven was run by a family of bears (or as they liked to call themselves, Ursus) that were usually pretty loyal. Still, if bears were in on any of the attacks, which I knew they were, Marv’s family would know about it. I didn’t like the idea of the one bright spot of my day walking into a mess.

By lunch time, the fact that she hadn’t called was starting to bother me. I debated asking Emmett for her number, but I didn’t want to come on too strong. I just had to wait it out. I squeezed the blue stress ball my grandfather had left behind. It burst open, making an annoying popping sound.

“Staring at that phone isn’t going to make it ring.” Tim interrupted my thoughts. He’d walked into my office unannounced—again.

“Do you have an update for me?” I tossed the remnants of the ball over my shoulder into the trash.

“It’s bigger than we thought.”

I sat up straighter. This wasn’t good. “In what way?”

“At least four wolf packs and several bear clans are involved. I’ve also heard there may be some panthers, but I can’t be sure.” Tim slumped down in his usual chair in front of my desk.

“Fuck.”

“My thoughts exactly. We’re talking the entire tri-state area and then some.”

“Do you know what they want? Do they think we’re going to just turn over the city to them?” I felt my anger boiling. I used to be so good at controlling it, but not anymore.

“It’s more than the city. They’re thinking big picture.”

“Who’s behind it?” I leaned back in my chair. This job was becoming such a headache.

“Not who you think.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s the Galvinos.” Tim looked at me nervously.

“Marv’s clan?”

“Yes.”

I slammed my fist on the desk. “They’ve always been trustworthy.”

“I know. Why do you think I said it’s not who you think?” Tim paced. He didn’t like delivering bad news. “They have to be working for someone bigger, but right now, all the trails are leading to them.”

“I need a meeting with Marv.” For more than one reason. Were they the ones who set the wolf on Casey? I already wanted to tear Eric a new one for letting her go out in a dark alley alone at night, but to think he may have known what awaited her. I couldn’t hold off the transformation. I felt my back prickle, and I knew my eyes were probably changing color already.

“Whoa, cuz. Calm down.” Tim stood up, readying himself for a fight.

I shook myself, breathing slowly, trying to come back around. “A meeting. Set up a meeting.”

“Here or on their turf?”

“Neutral. Set something up for tomorrow. I have plans tonight.”

“Two nights in a row?” Tim smirked. “Is that an all-time record?”

“Just shut up and get me that meeting.”

I got up and looked out the window at the people outside. None of them were worried about crazy bears and wolves trying to take over the city. How had my life gotten so damn complicated so fast? Nineteen wasn’t supposed to suck so much.

My phone rang and I grabbed for it, hoping the unknown 631 number was the call I was waiting for.

“Toby here.” I used my business greeting without thinking.

“Ah hey. It’s Casey.” She sounded different on the phone, more timid maybe.

“Hey. I was wondering if you were ever going to call.” I tried for nonchalant.

“Yeah, I worked most of the day.”

“You work on Saturdays?” Had I known that, I would have gone in to see her. It would have simplified things.

“Usually. I also work a lot of Sundays.”

Maybe I’d have to start going over to Coffee Heaven seven days a week. “Good to know.”

“Why? You planning to come in on weekends now?”

I smiled. She’d gotten that right. “Like I said last night, you serve good coffee.”

“Do you still want to hang out?” She sounded kind of nervous, like she thought I was going to back out.

“Yeah. Definitely. Have you decided whether I can pick you up?”

“Jess says I can trust you. But can we do coffee instead of dinner?”

“And you trust Jess?” I wasn’t sure how close they really were. I’d never heard Jess talk about Casey before. I knew the coffee instead of dinner trick was to make it easier for her to leave if things got awkward. I was okay with that. I’d just make sure things ran smoothly.

“I think I do.”

I laughed. “Either way, you can trust me.” And even if you don’t, I already know where you live. I kept that part to myself. I also didn’t voice the part about following her home the night before to make sure she was okay. She’d probably interpret my protectiveness as stalking.

“You can’t be worse than Eric.”

I frowned. What kind of trouble had he been giving her?

She gave me her address and I pretended to jot it down. “Coffee sounds great. I’ll see you at seven.”

“Great. See you then.”

***

Casey was waiting for me outside when I got there.

“Am I late?” I glanced at my watch. I’d made sure to leave extra time.

“No.” She looked away guiltily. “I just thought I’d meet you out here.”

“And here I thought you trusted me.”

She shrugged. “My dad raised me to be careful around men.”

“That’s a good thing.”

We turned the corner and started walking down MacDougal Street in the opposite direction of Coffee Heaven. Even if it weren’t run by bears, I wasn’t taking her to the place she worked for a date.

“Where are we going?”

“Just a little café I know about.” What I left out was that it was a paranormal place with a strict ‘no humans without an escort’ policy. Hopefully, she wouldn’t notice anything different about the clientele. The upside for me was that we’d get a private table with a view. If she wanted a coffee date, she’d get it, but it wasn’t going to be anything run of the mill.

Three blocks further down, I hailed a cab. I didn’t want to do it too close to her place. There were so many eyes on me at any time, and there was no reason to make it that easy.

“We’re taking a cab? There’re plenty of good places right here.”

“I think you’ll like this one.” I held open the door to the yellow cab idling at the curb.