Dating A Cougar (11 page)

Then she’d be walking around tonight among all those other military men with no underwear at all.

Not a good option, Casey decided.

He had barely enough control left to not take her in the back seat of the limo, audience or not, but the first time tonight was definitely not going to be pretty. It couldn’t be helped since Alexa was teasing him to the point of madness. He eased away from her carefully, and slid his hand firmly back down to her knee.

Casey’s voice was hard when he spoke, all evidence of his lust gone, replaced by a determination and an assured confidence that had shaken the Marines he’d served with over the years. There was a reason he had earned the uniform.

“You need to say good-bye to the pair of panties you’re wearing tonight because they’re history. You have my word I’m going to rip them off you and completely destroy them first chance I get. Then I plan to sexually torture you until you’re begging me to put you out of your misery.”

Casey felt justly rewarded for his self-control by a quivering knee under his hand and a mostly silent ride the rest of the way to the Arlington VA Center.

*** *** ***

Later that evening, Casey had trouble following the conversation of the newly wounded solider he was welcoming to the center. Instead, he was absorbed in watching Alexa from across the ballroom, standing in a swarm of men in uniform. There had never been less than five or six men around her at any given time. Most of them were officers.

Worse than the number of men, Casey could tell from her light laughter and smiling face that Alexa was enjoying every minute of the attention.

He’d been cornered by the director of the center the moment they came through the door, and ended up seeking out the new attendees. So far, he’d not made it back to Alexa in almost an hour—not that it probably mattered. Surrounded by fly-boys and chief petty officers, Alexa seem to be having a grand time without his company.

If this was what Alexa Ranger was really like in public, Casey didn’t think he could live with the flirting.

He was also wishing like hell he had never brought her.

*** *** ***

Alexa was getting tired of smiling and making charming conversation with every man in the place but her own date. For over an hour, she had been watching Casey moving slowly around the room, talking to various young men on crutches or in wheelchairs.

Even surrounded by handsome men in uniform, Casey stood out to her in his. It was the way he carried himself, she thought. There was just so much pride, so much dignity in his posture. Casey was absolutely the most masculine man she’d ever gone out with, and she couldn’t wait to take him home.

Finally, when Casey seemed to no longer be talking to anyone specific, she excused herself from the group and walked over to him.

“Hey,” she said with an easy smile. “I’m looking for the Marine that brought me here. Have you seen him?”

Casey didn’t smile back and it sent a little warning alarm through Alexa.

“Why? Don’t you have enough military men in your fan club?” Casey asked, unable to keep the mean out of his voice.

“No. I’m missing one Marine. What’s your major malfunction?” Alexa demanded in the military speak she’d been hearing all evening. She was intrigued by Casey’s show of jealousy, but also hurt by his comments. “You’ve basically ignored me since we got here. I was just making polite social conversation while I waited on you.”

“Polite social conversation?” Casey said in disbelief, laughing harshly. “It’s called flirting, Alexa. And it’s disrespectful.”

Alexa’s hands came to her hips. “Disrespectful? I don’t believe this. You drop me inside the door, ignore me for more than an hour, and then have the nerve to chastise me for talking to people? You left me alone, not the other way around. And for your information, I was not flirting.

“Like hell,” Casey said. “I heard you laughing everywhere I went. I’ve been on the receiving end of your
friendly conversation
before. I know exactly how you are. You flirt so much you don’t even realize it.”

“You,” Alexa said, poking an angry finger at Casey’s chest, “don’t know anything about me, and I just became really thankful about that. Rather than stand here and let you keep insulting me, I believe I’ll find my own way home.”

Alexa turned and started toward the door, shaking so hard she was surprised her teeth weren’t chattering. Then she stopped, turned, and walked back to him.

Casey’s chin came up when Alexa stood in front of him again. He was right about this. If she wasn’t interested in being monogamous with him, then he really didn’t want to be in a relationship with her.

“Just in case you try to tell yourself later that I had the hots for some other guy here tonight, I thought I’d set the record straight with witnesses,” Alexa said tightly.

Grabbing a couple fistfuls of his uniform, Alexa yanked him hard enough against her to have him dropping his cane with a clatter on the cement floor.

Then Alexa plastered her mouth to Casey’s in a kiss so hot and full of genuine longing, it would have melted a glacier. It almost melted her. She hated—really hated knowing she still wanted him so much despite his opinion of her.

She let go finally. What was the use? He hadn’t returned the kiss at all.

Fine, she thought. Forget him. She didn’t need him or his approval.

“All I wanted tonight was you, Casey Carter. I can’t believe you ruined what was between us just because you were jealous. Well, now you can go straight to hell as far as I’m concerned. We are done.”

Alexa turned him loose then and walked away, her heels clicking on the floor. She didn’t look back, and she didn’t hang her head in shame. Instead, she wound back the clock inside her to the woman she was before she’d kissed him the first time.

Too embarrassed and prideful to call out to her, Casey started walking slowly after her, but never caught up. He was still mad, but something in the punishing kiss she had delivered, some desperation in her action, had made him regret their fight.

He watched, frustrated as Alexa climbed into a taxi that magically pulled up the moment she got outside.

Everything probably worked that way for her, Casey thought resentfully.

When he came back to the ballroom, a fellow Marine and friend had retrieved his cane and was holding it for him.

“Hey, Gunny. Did Alexa have to leave?” Corporal Aaron Franklin asked, noting the frown. “That was some kiss goodbye. You could hear hearts breaking around the room. I’m surprised you’re still here after that lip lock.”

“Alexa thought I was ignoring her and went home early,” Casey said, not willing to spill the whole argument, but unable to keep all of his anger in check.

“I’m sorry you two had a fight. She is some amazing woman. You should have heard the way she grounded that fly-boy zero when he tried to ask her out,” Aaron said with a laugh, pointing to a tall, good-looking Air Force officer across the room.

Casey frowned, but was happy to hear Alexa had been turning down dates. He wasn’t happy to hear she had been asked.

“He probably thought she was available. Alexa likes to flirt,” Casey said sharply.

“I don’t know if I’d call what she does flirting,” Aaron said, walking along with Casey to the drinks table. “I’d say if she was flirting with you, you’d know it.”

Aaron picked up a cracker and chewed as he studied Gunny Carter’s set jaw. He didn’t blame the man for being jealous, but he just let her go home alone. That couldn’t be good. He’d sure hate to see Casey lose the best thing that had happened to him since Aaron had known him.

“You know, Alexa asked a Chief Petty Officer to get her a drink like he was on the fucking wait staff here. He looked like he could have chewed through the hull of a ship. I thought I was going to bust a gut trying not to laugh.”

Casey laughed a little at the image himself. That comment might have been fun to hear. He could definitely imagine Alexa’s regal but sweet tone delivering it.

Aaron nodded with his chin at a group of Army officers across the room. “Some of the Army guys were bad-mouthing Marines—just joking, you know. I swear the evil look she shot that Army Major damn near knocked the maple leaves off his collar. She’s a keeper Gunny, and damn hot, too—if you don’t mind me saying so. You better make it up fast before she moves on.”

Aaron slapped Casey on the back and headed off to find his wife.

Casey drank some punch and wished it had something stronger in it. Aaron was right. Alexa Ranger was a keeper, and she was hot too.

Maybe he could understand her flirting a bit with guys who couldn’t keep from being attracted to someone as hot as she was. Flirting was probably some sort of uncontrollable reflex reaction Alexa had around men.

He’d apologize tomorrow, Casey decided. But some things would have to change in the long term. They were eventually going to have to talk about her flirting, which had to stop if they were involved. He took all his commitments seriously. Right or wrong, Casey didn’t think he could even be in a sexual relationship with a woman he didn’t trust.

Chapter 10

Alexa found a salon opening Saturday morning and let them spin some magic on her to remove the traces of a nearly sleepless night. By the time she hit the office at twelve thirty, she was at least half way over being mad.

Worse than her sagging appearance, the pressure in her chest bothered her more. She was fighting some insistent urge to bawl that she was definitely not going to indulge—at least not until the buyer open house was over.

When she walked in the office waiting area, Sydney looked at her tight red dress and matching heels with obvious relief.

Alexa went instantly back to a full mad. “What happened? Did Casey call fifty times or send flowers with an apology? I can see on your face you were expecting frump lady to show up today.”

Hands on hips, she glared at Sydney, who still hadn’t said anything.

“You should know me better. I don’t pine for small-minded men. Casey Carter can crawl back into the Neanderthal cave he came out of because I certainly don’t need him,” Alexa stated, ignoring the voice inside her head calling her a liar.

“Wait!” Sydney called, before she taken too many steps down the hall. “Casey’s in your office.”

“Oh, fucking hell, Sydney.” Alexa swore again and again, each time more viciously, making Sydney blush with embarrassment.

Sydney held both hands up in surrender. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do with him. He wouldn’t say anything other than he hurt your feelings and owed you an apology. After yesterday—well, I couldn’t just boot him out.”

“Wuss,” Alexa hissed at him. “Fine. I have no problem kicking his ass out myself. If he refuses to leave, I’ll call the damn police.”

Sydney checked his watch to see how much time before the lingerie buyers starting showing up. He hoped Casey and Alexa worked out their problem before then. Actually, he just hoped they worked everything out period.

Yesterday was the closest moment to a happy ending he’d ever seen Alexa Ranger have in her life. Even Paul was dying to meet the man who finally broke through Alexa’s protective shell.

*** *** ***

Alexa opened the door of her office and walked to her desk, not bothering to spare Casey more than a tiny glance. Casey winced at her coldness, trying to remember why he had come to see Alexa today, and why he’d rashly decided letting her temper cool off first was a bad idea.

She was making his remorse worse by clouding his brain as she walked across the room in a red dress and matching heels. Wanting to know what was under her clothes sure blew to hell his civilized intentions for making peace.

He was wound so tight today, he was afraid to put his hands on her.

Alexa looked at Casey and steeled her heart against his words. “You have two minutes to say what you obviously think wasn’t said last night, and then you’re leaving,” Alexa told him.

Casey internally winced at her all-business tone but worked to keep his face neutral.

“I think I covered all my complaints about your behavior pretty well yesterday evening,” Casey said softly. “I haven’t changed my mind. You flirt too much. It’s disrespectful to me and could be dangerous for you.”

“And since I still vehemently disagree with your judgment, we’re done with this conversation. Unless you want to hear me swear at you one final time before emphatically stating again that I don’t care what you think about me or my social skills,” Alexa said.

Ignorant ass
, she thought. She refused to yell at him because she didn’t want Casey to know how much he had hurt her or how angry he had made her. In all her life and with all the men she had known, Alexa couldn’t remember ever being so angry with one.

Today she was still in shock, unable to believe Casey was really a condescending caveman. She had been making social conversation before he’d even been born.

Ignorant ass
, she thought again.

Casey looked at her across the desk. Alexa’s eyes were blue lasers boring holes in him. It was obvious she wasn’t willing or able to see things from his side. In fact, she was taking female irrationality to a level he’d never seen before, even in a pissed off female Marine.

“Look, I’m truly sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean to do that as much as I obviously did. I was just trying to tell you how your behavior made me feel,” Casey explained, trying to break through her coldness to soothe the hurt.

“If you want approval for your emotional honesty, go talk to your therapist. I happen to know a good one if you’re still looking for help,” Alexa said meanly, leaning back in her chair, unhappily settling for glaring at him. “You obviously need it.”

What she really wanted was to throw the paperweight on her desk at his hard head to see if she could knock some sense into him.

“Now you’re just being mean,” Casey replied. “I’m trying to apologize.”

“Doesn’t sound much like an apology to me. It sounds like you just want to justify your jealousy by making me feel like I was a bad woman,” Alexa said. “Well, fuck that. I don’t have to defend myself to you or anyone else.”

“That’s not what I am doing,” Casey said through gritted teeth, trying hard not to start yelling.

“You know Casey, I’ve had people finding fault with me all my life because I have the audacity to act like a man. Newspapers and magazines used to devote great amounts of publishing space debating why I acted as I did. At my age now, and as hard as I’ve worked to be happy with myself, I’ve earned my damn attitude. Your negative opinions of my behavior might have influenced how I felt about myself twenty years ago, but I’m not as nice or as gullible as I used to be,” Alexa said, her voice hard and flat because she meant every word.

Alexa knew she had lived her life the best she could. She would not shrink herself now into a quiet, anti-social woman she couldn’t like, not for Casey Carter or any other man. She wanted Casey, maybe in ways needed him, but not enough to stop being herself.

Casey’s elbow hit the cane resting on the arm of the chair. He adjusted its position and then brought his attention back to Alexa.

“I have my own therapist through the VA. He said I needed to soften my personal comments to civilians and work on not swearing so much,” Casey told her.

“Hell, don’t worry about sparing my sensibilities,” Alexa snorted. “I passed up being mad at your insults and went straight to furious at about three o’clock this morning. It cost me a hundred dollars to make sure my emotions weren’t showing on my face today so I could look my male buyers in the eyes without wanting to kill them. Truth is, I’m really madder at myself than you. I can’t believe I let you close enough to get in a verbal slap so big. It’s been a long damn time since I made that kind of mistake.”

Casey studied his hands, looking for a way to get through her anger, which was a lot stronger and far more righteous than he’d imagined it would be.

He could see now that there was a lot he hadn’t considered last night. He got what she was saying. It wasn’t just him Alexa was mad at, but everyone else before him who had tried to shame her because they thought she was doing something wrong.

Too late, Casey realized he really should have let her temper cool off.

“Since it doesn’t look like you’re going listen, I’ll leave you to your work then. I’m sorry I hurt you Alexa. The idea that all those guys you talked to last night would think you’d make good on the flirting made me crazy. Maybe one of these days you’ll be less angry and able to see our fight differently.”

Casey pushed himself out of the chair and walked to the door.

“Wait a minute,” Alexa said, rising from the desk. She walked to the chair Casey vacated, lifted his cane from the arm of it, and walked to him. “I don’t want to have to explain your stuff being in my office again.”

Casey reached out to take the cane, his hand closed over hers where she held it. When Alexa tried to remove her hand, his grip tightened even more.

“I am sorry, Alexa,” Casey repeated. “I don’t like fighting with you.”

“Save your breath,” she said, putting a little more energy into pulling on her hand.

“Are you always this hard and unforgiving?” Casey asked, hurt seeping into the question.

“Yes. You’d know it to be truth if you ever read my press. ‘Cold, hard bitch’ and ‘incorrigible flirt’ are often used in the same sentence,” she said tightly. “Are you going to let go or do I kick you in the knee?”

Casey twisted the cane in a single flip, and used it to push Alexa up against the wall. He still had his hand over hers on the cane, and she wasn’t strong enough to break the grip with her free one.

“I know you’re not cold or hard,” he told her, his mouth inches from hers. “The rest of the description is debatable. I might feel differently in few moments, especially if you decide to kick me with those heels.”

“Let me go,” Alexa demanded, struggling against him and the cane.

“You threatened me and I defended myself. Now I’m going apologize again and this time try to hear it. I’m sorry I hurt you, Alexa,” Casey said softly.

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I can’t let you go and you know it’s the truth. We’re going to have a relationship because we need and want each other. The attraction between us is worth fixing this disagreement. You can be as mad as you want about our fight, but eventually we’re going to make up.”

“Go to hell. I don’t have to do anything,” she denied, shaking with anger because she had never allowed a man to physically overpower her before.

Alexa knew she should kick Casey in the knee, or knee him in the balls, something, she thought, to free herself. But she couldn’t look at him without seeing herself walking across the room to him in his uniform. And she couldn’t add more hurt to a man who had suffered such a loss of self, no matter how bad he’d made her feel, no matter how much she might think he deserved it.

Which left her where? Other than pinned to the wall, she didn’t know. Casey was stronger than he looked, despite the injury. Unwilling to hurt him, she was virtually helpless to escape.

Alexa had never been so conflicted in all her life.

She hissed when Casey pressed himself a little closer, all but leaning into her.

“I bet you’re wearing underwear that matches the red dress aren’t you?” Casey asked, the question a sexy whisper on her cheek. “I’m sorry I’m not going to find out until you get over being mad at me.”

Casey lightly kissed a spot below her ear, felt her pulse pounding hard against his lips. He pressed his cheek against her neck and felt her tremble. She was so his, he thought, wondering how long Alexa was going to resist what was between them.

“You’re meant to be mine,” he whispered. “I think I knew that the first time I touched you. Flirt all you want with other men if it gives you some kind of thrill, but don’t expect me to tolerate it silently. I guess I’m just the jealous type.”

Casey leaned into her hard then, pressing his straining erection against her. “I would hate to believe you’re planning to break my heart just to feed that notorious reputation of yours.”

When Alexa froze at his words and stopped struggling, Casey leaned in fully and kissed her lips softly, his passion for her restrained in favor of gaining more in the long run. He stepped reluctantly away from her warmth and pulled the cane with him.

“Nothing has changed how I feel about you,” he said quietly. “I hope you get over being mad, but I intend to sleep with you anyway. Eventually you’re going to have to forgive me so that can happen.”

Alexa stayed against the wall, heart beating, mind spinning while Casey walked away.

Through the open door, Alexa heard him talking to Sydney, who came skidding to a halt in front of her seconds later.

“You okay?” he asked, noting her shock and flushed face.

Alexa nodded and eased away from the wall. “I’m in big trouble, Sydney.”

“No kidding, There are two buyers fighting already over wanting an exclusive for the breakaways. I know how you feel about exclusive contracts, but you’ve got to hear what they’re offering,” Sydney said, eyes wide as he watched Alexa smooth her hair back into place and walk to her desk on wobbly legs.

“Did you and Casey work out your differences?” he asked casually—or at least, he hoped it was casual.

“No,” Alexa said, pulling out a lip-gloss and a hand mirror from her desk drawer. “I don’t think Casey cares whether or not we settle our differences.”

“Well, I’m sorry for that,” Sydney said genuinely. “Casey caught me in a weak moment this morning. My heart fluttered a bit when I saw him in his uniform yesterday. He looked like some movie hero, and he seemed liked so much fun too. So is it over, Alexa?”

Please say no, Sydney begged silently.

“Over?” Alexa asked, eyebrows disappearing into her hair. “No. Oh, no—it’s not over. He used his cane to hold me to the wall while he lectured me about dating etiquette. The only reason I didn’t kick free was because I didn’t want to hurt him more than he is already.”

“Damn it. I can’t believe I wimped out.” She threw the lip gloss and mirror back into the desk drawer. “His apology—if you could call it one—was more like a declaration of war. I don’t think it’s going to be over until one of us is left standing over the other’s dead body.”