Page 49 of Casey


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Chapter 14

Preston

I knew I was either becoming spoiled or stalkerish when not getting to talk to Casey after work had me frustrated. It was so distracting that I hadn’t been able to get any work done in nearly an hour. I’d start a project and then end up staring into space before moving on to something else.

Leaning back in my chair and staring up at the ceiling wasn’t helping me relax, but it had reminded me that I needed to talk to the janitorial staff that came in at night. The spiderweb in the corner of my office was gigantic. One day, Eli would notice and then all hell would break loose.

He was brash and confident and insane and completely terrified of spiders.

Yep, it had to go before he wanted to burn the building down and start over somewhere without bugs…like Antarctica.

“What are you still doing here?” Eli’s teasing voice startled me enough that I jerked and the chair rolled precariously.

He giggled but shook his head at me. “I thought the days of too many hours were over now that you and Casey are a thing?”

I sighed. “If you must know, he has work to do tonight.”

He’d been cagey, but I had a feeling that he’d been putting some of his work off in order to be with me. Working a day job and building his own business at night probably hadn’t left much room for a social life, but now I was taking over every spare minute he had.

To say I was feeling a tad guilty would be an understatement.

Eli’s face tightened. “He stayed too long at the shoot yesterday, didn’t he?”

I nodded. “Yes, I have to be more careful of the time.”

I hadn’t realized how difficult it would be to say it was time for him to go until I’d checked the time and seen how long he’d been there. I’d apologized and had quickly walked him to his car all while he’d been downplaying the problem, but I’d known better. Yes, he’d pointed out that he could have left at any point, but I knew he hadn’t wanted to disappoint us by leaving before the shoot was done.

So to make up for it, I’d promised him privacy and quiet on Friday evening so he could get caught up. I was looking forward to our plans for Saturday, but it left Friday feeling vacant and unsettled.

“How’s his business going?” Eli propped one hip against the doorframe and rested his head against it, showing how tired he was.

“Good. He says he just needs a bit more in savings and a few more clients waiting in the wings before he goes full time, but I think that’s more worry talking than necessity. I wish there was something I could do to help, but…”

I shrugged as Eli nodded.

“Just be there for him.” Eli was the master of doing a thousand things at once and building up a business, but even he knew this was something that Casey wanted to do on his own. “And make sure he doesn’t try to do too much.”

That was something I should have stepped in and toldhima long time ago, but Roman seemed to be doing a good job at keeping Eli from overdoing it, so I didn’t let myself go down that path. “The plan is for him to get some work done tonight, and we’ll go out sometime tomorrow evening, depending on how the puppy shoot goes.”

I had a feeling he would be working most of Saturday as well, but there was nothing I could do about that.

Eli interrupted my mental wandering with a dramatic sigh that said he was looking for attention. I raised one eyebrow and gave him a questioning look that made him snort. “You take all the fun out of things.”

I barked out a laugh. “You’re up to something.”

“Of course I’m not.” He looked so insulted I knew I had to be right. “I just wanted to point something out.”

Yep, up to something.

“I do not need your help. Things are fine.” I was being honest, but Eli sighed and shook his head like I was an errant child.

“What’s so sad is that you really believe that.”

“Insane drama queen. No meddling.” I gave in to the urge to throw something at him and tossed an eraser at him that had him laughing and ducking in the hallway.

“I’m not meddling. I just wanted to point out that maybe…just possibly…you were going slower than you needed to with Casey.” Eli’s head eased out from behind the doorframe when nothing else went flying at him.

“I know he’s…inexperienced. But you didn’t see his face the other night when he was talking. Yes, I tried to get him to stop, but you should have seen him.” Eli sighed again, that time filled with honest frustration. “He doesn’t know how to ask for it, but I saw the look on his face…”