Screwdriver by Mari Carr Read Free Book Online

rather than answering to someone else.”
    He understood what she meant exactly. “It’s good to be in
charge of your own destiny.”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “So this new Jordan is you taking another step closer to a
happy future?”
    “I think it is. I was living on an impossible dream and
trying to convince myself it was enough. Now I’m moving on, looking for
something real.”
    Casey frowned slightly. “You realize there’s one flaw in
your thinking.”
    “There is?”
    “I took my shot at being an artist. You didn’t take your
chance with Gabe. You dismissed it out of hand without ever trying.”
    Jordan didn’t answer for several long minutes. “It’s not
that simple.”
    He leaned closer and grasped her hand. “You haven’t given
yourself the chance to find out if he’s the guy for you. You have confidence
when it comes to your job, running the store, but that self-assurance seems to
dry up when faced with forging a romantic relationship with Gabe.”
    “He’s not interested.”
    “Have you asked?” Casey wasn’t sure where he found the
strength to push her. If he listened to his own desires, he’d be throwing
Gabriel under the bus with both hands. But reliving the memory of his time in
New York made it even harder for him to give up on his friend. Gabriel was
hurting and needed help. It was time Casey paid it forward.
    She shook her head. “No. I haven’t told him how I feel. What
I want.”
    “What do you want from life, Jordan?”
    “I guess I want the same stuff every woman wants.”
    “Love? Marriage?”
    She nodded. “What about you? Are you dating anyone?”
    “No, but I’m looking. Like you.” Casey realized she wanted
the same things he did. He was thirty-one and anxious to settle down with a
good woman, maybe start a family. Just his luck he’d fall for the same woman as
his best friend.
    For a minute, he took Gabriel out of the equation. How would
this date be different if it was just Jordan and Casey? He imagined the
possibilities. He’d continue dating her, talking to her, trying to provoke a
few thousand more of her innocent blushes.
    And he wanted her. Badly.
    She ran the fingers of her free hand over his knuckles, the
soft touch conjuring up some wicked needs.
    “Where does sex fall in your grand life scheme?” he asked.
    She flushed at his question and tried to pull her hand out
of his. He wouldn’t relinquish his grip. Instead he tugged her closer.
    “Why the blush?”
    “Typical man. How on earth did you get from love and
marriage to sex?”
    “It seems to me there’s an obvious connection between those
things.”
    She gave him an incorrigible smile that told him she was
perfectly able to hold her own in the teasing department. “Fine. Yes, I want
sex. Lots and lots of hot, sweaty, hard sex. I think about it all the time.
Happy?”
    Casey tried not to groan with pent-up need. “Hot and hard?”
    She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Let go of my hand.”
    He leaned forward. “No. So you think about it all the time.
You mean you have sex fantasies?”
    She blew out a frustrated breath and he sucked in the scent
of her orange chicken. His mouth watered for a taste of her.
    “If I tell you, will you let go of me?”
    He nodded.
    “Of course I have sex fantasies. Doesn’t everyone?”
    “Are they hot and hard?”
    She punched him on the shoulder with her free hand. “God,
you are such a pain in the ass.”
    “Describe one of them to me.”
    She tugged on her hand once more but he tightened his grip.
His cock twitched. He’d never get the fucker to go down at this point but he
didn’t care. He wanted to hear about Jordan’s naughty fantasies.
    “They’re all the same.”
    He was oddly disappointed. “All of them?”
    “Apparently I’m boring in my fantasies too.”
    “So what happens?”
    She took a deep breath. “I’m always alone in my office above
the bookstore. Uh, a m-man…” She stumbled over the man part and Casey
instantly knew Gabriel was