“What’s up, man?” I ask as I connect the call.

“Looks like Emily and I can come down this weekend. Would that be good?”

On the heels of my visit to see Nix in New Jersey, we’ve continued to brainstorm over my business idea. I told him about the garage for sale here in Nags Head, and while he’s questioning the locale, he did agree to come down and see it.

“Yeah, that sounds great, man. How long can you stay?”

“We’ll stay a few nights… make it a mini vacation,” he says. “Emily’s dad actually has a friend with a house on the island, so we have a kickass place to stay.”

Nix’s fiancée Emily has connections. Her dad is a U.S. Senator, and the rumor mill is he’s looking at a presidential run. Her family also comes from insane money, which gives me a little pause for concern, but I don’t say anything about it just yet with Casey standing in the room with me. That’s not a beast I’ve figured out how to tackle, because I do think some of Casey’s views about rich people could be a little skewed.

“Okay, man… why don’t you text me the details of when you’ll be in and we’ll arrange a time for you to see the garage, and then I figured we could get together one night and pound some beers,” I tell Nix as Casey sashays past me into the bathroom.

“Works for me,” he says and then disconnects after a quick, “Later.”

“Nix coming down to visit?” Casey asks from the bathroom as I watch her take her hair down and rearrange it back up into something that looks just like the tousled pile she had up there before.

I walk over to the doorway and lean my shoulder against the jamb. “Yeah… this weekend.”

“Cool,” she says. “Although, I wish I had room to let them bunk here.”

“They were able to get a place for a few days,” I say vaguely and luckily, she doesn’t ask me more details. I figure in the circles that Emily Burnham travels in, the house that was probably loaned to them is a mega-mansion like her friends Gavin and Savannah live in. I haven’t seen it yet, but Casey tells me it’s monstrous.

I’m not sure why I’m reticent to bring up the fact that Emily comes from a powerful family and lots of money. Casey has friends that are rich… Gavin, by way of example. And Brody’s fiancée Alyssa is an heiress as well. But those are her friends… she knows them in the context away from their money, so I’m assuming Casey makes exceptions. But past that, Casey is admittedly judgmental when it comes to the power money gives people and the way in which it changes them.

Based on her experience with Jeff, she intimately ties money and power with a man’s character, and that totally gives me concern because I haven’t been overly forthcoming with Casey about my own background.

In a cowardly maneuver, I’ve glossed over a lot of the details about my family when Casey’s asked. It’s not because I’m necessarily hiding it, but it’s that I don’t want to give her any room to be skittish with me. After the “Jeff” ordeal, there’s no telling what will come into that head of hers and her fragile sensibilities regarding relationships.

“Okay… I’m ready,” Casey announces as she turns toward me and holds her arms out to the side for inspection.

My eyes slide over her… over golden skin that I’ve pretty much licked every square inch of. Looking back up to her, I give her a smirk. “I guess you pass muster.”

“Pass muster?” she asks dramatically with narrowed eyes. “This is the hottest thing you’ll see on the beach today. I think I more than pass muster.”

I grin licentiously at her, grab her by the waist, and pull her in for a kiss. After I rob the breath from her lungs with said kiss, I smile and rub my nose against hers. “You are the hottest, sexiest thing ever. You more than pass muster. You outshine the sun.”

“God… your dirty talk is good, but your sweet talk is even better,” Casey mutters as she shimmies past me and out the door of her bedroom.

I watch that fine ass as it sways out the door for just a moment before I follow her.

It’s a massive production to get set up on the beach but by nine AM, we are in business complete with foldout lounge chairs, a cooler with ice and water for Casey and Coke for Zoey and me, towels, and the ever-needed sunscreen. I suggested getting one of those large umbrellas you stick in the sand, but Casey actually sneered at me.

“Shade is for wusses.”

I threw up my hands in quick defeat and said, “Sorry, Miss Beach Goddess. Didn’t know there were rules.”

She just smirked at me, and then put on a production by slathering the front of her body with sunscreen. It took some concentrated effort on my part not to get turned on by that, but I managed and mainly because of my daughter being there. It’s amazing how free I am with Casey when it’s just me and her… having no boundaries when it comes to expressing our mutual desire for each other. With Zoey here, it’s a bit different. I have to check myself so I don’t say something completely dirty to Casey or I don’t get a full-blown hard-on when she does something as simple as putting on sunscreen.

Casey and I get settled in beach chairs next to each other while Zoey heads down to the water’s edge. She starts walking south, stopping every once in a while to pick up shells.

“I have off tomorrow and I’d like to take Zoey up to Corolla to see the wild horses,” Casey says as she tilts her face up to the sun.

“Am I invited?” I ask playfully as I tilt my face up too, closing my eyes against the glare.

“Sure,” she says impishly. “Why not?”

“Gee thanks,” I mutter, slightly put out.

“It’s just… I know how much Zoey loves horses, so I thought that would be something cool I could do for her.”

“I love horses too, Goldie,” I point out.

The creaking of Casey’s chair has me opening my eyes and swiveling my head to look at her. She’s turned over onto her side, one hand propping up her head and the other arm resting gracefully along the length of her ribs and hip. This position really catches my attention because her breasts squeeze together and… eyes back up to her face before I get a woody.

“So what was it like working on a ranch?” she asks curiously, her one hand now fiddling with the bow tie of her bikini bottoms at her hip. I swallow hard and make my eyes slide back to focus on her face, which… fuck… that’s so beautiful, that alone would give me a hard-on.

So I decide to concentrate on the conversation. “It’s hard work… up at dawn, usually done about the time the sun goes down. It’s physically grueling, especially during the calving and branding seasons. And sometimes boring… many days are spent on horseback just riding the perimeter of the property, checking the fence line, and protecting the cattle from wolves and coyotes by our presence out there.”

“Do you love horses or your motorcycle more?” she asks, her blue eyes looking lighter in the overhead sun.

“Hmmmm…” I pause to think because that’s a damn good question. Something I’ve never considered before, and while I don’t miss working the ranch, I do miss riding every day. “I’d have to say horses. I’ve been riding them since I was practically a baby. The motorcycle thing has only happened in the last several years.”

“Alyssa has a horse that she keeps over at The Haven now,” Casey says. She had told me about The Haven, which was Alyssa and Brody’s no-kill animal shelter they ran together. “She said I could bring Zoey over there to do some riding if I wanted.”

“She would love that,” I tell her, completely warmed over her thoughtfulness to give something to Zoey that she loves so much.

“You could ride too if you wanted,” Casey adds on. “I think you’d look really hot on a horse.”

“Hotter than on a motorcycle?” I ask, turning her original comparative question back on her somewhat.

“No way,” Casey says firmly. “The hottest is you lying on my bed naked, on your stomach and sleeping. The way your arms curl around the pillow make your biceps bunch, and I get to see all of your beautiful tattoos. And your ass… damn, boy… it is the hottest, sweetest ass I’ve ever seen. Or licked for that matter.”