Cassidy Lane (8 page)

He thought for
a moment, then snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “When people ask her how old she is. That
really
ticks her off.”

Cassidy laughed. “Nice.
What makes her laugh?”

Brandon scratched his
chin. “Hmm…I’d say…when people trip on the sidewalk.”

“Oooh, so she’s
mean
. I like it. What’s her pet phrase?”

“Her pet phrase?”

“Yes. Something she
says all the time, like the way Patti always says
stop it
to me, or the way my editor likes to say
cool beans
.”

“Ah, got it.”
He paused to think, then snapped his fingers again. “How about she calls people
darling
?”

Cassidy nodded. “Nice.
She really
does
sound like a bitch. OK, last one for you. What’s her secret talent?”

“You mean besides
keeping her age under wraps?”

“Yes, something totally
random. For example, I can stand on one leg for like an hour.”

He raised an
eyebrow. “I’d like to see that. OK…how about…she can touch her nose with her tongue?”

Cassidy applauded. “I
think
your
secret talent might be playing my character game. Well done, sir. Maybe you can help me with my next book.”

“That sounds way
more exciting than writing legal briefs, although then again, pretty much anything is more exciting than writing legal briefs. Except maybe reading legal briefs.”

She held up
her palms like the scales of justice. “I’d call it a tie. Equally boring.”

He smiled and
sipped his drink. “Do you like living in New York? I think it would be fun but exhausting.”

“Fun but exhausting
pretty much sums it up, actually. I love it, but yes, it can be draining. There’s just so much going on all around, all the time, which can be a good thing and a bad thing.”

“How so?”

She gestured around
the bar, which was now nearly full. “When you feel like going out for a margarita on a Wednesday night, the energy buzzing every which way is great. But when you have to elbow your way through a sea of pedestrian traffic just to buy a carton of milk on a Sunday morning, it gets a little old. And then there’s the subway, which is superconvenient but an absolute nightmare during rush hour. I mean, who wants to be forced to stare into a stranger’s armpit on a hot summer day?”

He chuckled and
picked up his glass. “Thanks for the visual. Would you ever move back to the Bay Area?”

“I know I
will.” She answered without hesitation, which surprised her. Would she?

“Why do you
say that?”

“Because my parents
are there, and my brother and his family. In the back of my head I know I’ll end up there, it’s just a matter of when.”
She wondered what had triggered the conviction in her voice, but regardless, they’d been talking about her long enough. “OK, that’s more than too much about me, so I’m officially turning the tables. At the reunion you said you have two sons?”

“Yes, twins. Jack
and Henry. They’re five and a half.” His eyes brightened when he said their names.

“Wow, twins. How
do you get any sleep with twins? You must have been a zombie when they were babies.”

“I’m still a
bit of a zombie. You don’t want to know how much money I spend on coffee.”

She briefly wondered
if she should play dumb about his marital status, then realized that would be…dumb. Instead she opted for a more mature approach to the topic, which was to be direct. “How long have you been divorced?”

“It was final
about a year ago.”

She stiffened. Only
a year? Was he ready to be dating?

“Not that long,
then,” she said.

“Long enough.” He
held her gaze as he said the words, and she felt a little buzz somewhere deep inside her.

“OK,” she said
softly.

The bartender interrupted
the moment, or whatever it was. “Would you two like another round?”

Cassidy looked at
Brandon, determined to follow his lead.

He pointed toward
the dining part of the restaurant. “Are you hungry? Can I buy you dinner?”

She smiled. “I
hear the shrimp tacos here are really good.”

Cassidy and Brandon
followed the waiter through the brightly colored restaurant, which hummed with chatter and laughter from groups of friends and couples huddled at tables tucked close together. They settled into a two-top in a cozy back corner, and over yummy shrimp tacos and another round of margaritas shared stories of where life had taken them since their high-school days. Cassidy was surprised by how easily the conversation flowed. She knew that, as an attorney, Brandon must be intelligent, and that he took his work seriously, but she was pleased to discover that he had a playful side to him as well.

She dabbed her
eyes with a napkin. “You didn’t have a towel or
anything
?”

“I had
nothing
.
And it was so hot that I was sweating buckets the whole bus ride, so when we finally got there, it looked like I’d literally peed all over the seat. You should have seen the look on the face of the woman who was sitting next to me when I stood up. I don’t speak a word of Chinese and couldn’t think of how to mime that it was only sweat, so I just gave her a sheepish look and got the hell out of there.”

“That’s hilarious. Gross—but
hilarious.”

He raised an
eyebrow. “Tell that to that poor woman in the Chinese countryside.”

She set down
her napkin. “Hey, speaking of languages, what did you take at Paly?”

“Apparently I should
have taken Chinese, but I took German. What about you?”

“I took
Español
with Señorita Azevedo. She was the best. Who was your favorite teacher?”

“Probably Mrs. Hori
for biology. Did you have her?”

“Yep. She was
one of my favorites too. Did you have Mr. Bakken for physics?”

He nodded. “Who
didn’t?”

“I still think
about that man every time I hear the words
concave
or
convex
,” Cassidy said.

He cleared his
throat. “Nerd.”

“I prefer the
term
straight-A student
. I can’t believe we never had a class together in four years.”

He took a
sip of water. “Six years, if you count junior high school. And you were in all the smart people classes, if I recall correctly. But to be honest, it’s probably for the best that you didn’t know me then. As you may or may not remember, I sported a serious bowl cut until the end of ninth grade.”

She laughed as
the waiter set a plate of flan between them. “You’re pretty funny. Maybe you’re the one who should be writing books.”

“I’ll leave that
to you. I’d make a terrible writer.”

“I don’t know
about that…you’ve got some pretty entertaining material to work with. I especially like that story about how you jumped off the roof of your fraternity using a parachute made out of bedsheets. What an idiot move.”

He laughed. “I
don’t dispute that I was indeed an idiot, but that was a long time ago. Now that I’ve got the boys and the firm, there’s a whole lot less time for getting into trouble. I’m sure these days your life is much more exciting than mine.”

“I doubt that’s
true. And I think you have a mistaken impression of my not-so-glamorous life. I take a nap nearly every afternoon. People who need a nap every afternoon can’t be all that exciting.”
Oh dear
. Had she really just admitted that to him?

He gave her
a look. “You take a nap every afternoon?”

“I can’t believe
I just told you that. I don’t tell anyone that, except for Patti, of course. It’s my guiltiest secret.”

“Your secret is
safe with me. In fact…I like that you told me. I can’t remember the last time I took a nap. Between work and the twins, I never seem to get enough sleep.”

She sensed a
shift in energy—that they were on the verge of something more intimate than funny stories and general small talk. Even though tonight was only the second time they’d spoken to each other, she felt like she’d known him for much longer than that. Maybe that was due to their shared childhood experiences—but maybe it was something else.

As she watched
him cut a piece of flan with his spoon, she wondered how many women were lining up to date him.

Women who didn’t
live three thousand miles away.

Before she realized
what she was saying, Cassidy heard herself ask, “So what happened with you and your ex?” She balled her hands into fists, immediately regretting having posed such a probing question. Intimate was one thing, nosy was another. She quickly held up a hand. “I’m sorry, Brandon. You don’t have to answer that.” After they’d been getting along so well, she hoped she hadn’t thrown cold water all over the evening.

He shrugged. “It’s
OK, I don’t mind. It’s not scandalous or anything. It just didn’t work out, unfortunately.”

She remained silent,
not sure how to react. Though it was true she didn’t have her own frame of reference, she wondered how he could be so detached about something so…significant.

“I wanted it
to, but in hindsight I think I always knew we weren’t right for each other,” he added.

She paused before
responding. “Then why did you get married?” It wasn’t like her to be so direct with a person she barely knew, but something in his demeanor told her it was OK to ask.

He looked her
straight in the eye. “Honest answer?”

“Of course.”

He picked up
his water glass. “Because we were both around thirty and we both wanted kids, and that’s what couples do when they’re around thirty and want to have kids. They get married.”

His frankness startled
her, but it also impressed her. It couldn’t be easy to accept that he’d gone down that path with the wrong person, but he had clearly come to terms with it.

He’s so grown-up
.

She hated to
admit it to herself, but she suddenly realized she’d never really dated a full-fledged adult before. Single men in New York—no matter what their age—tended to have a Peter Pan complex. All her friends said that, especially Danielle. Although Danielle sort of had a Peter Pan complex of her own.

She caught herself
in midthought.
I’ve never
dated
a grown-up before?

Is this a
date?

This really feels
like a date.

Or is that
wishful thinking?

She blinked and
forced her brain to return to the conversation. “Are you and she…friends?”

Brandon took a
sip of water. “I wouldn’t call us
friends
, but we get along OK. She’s not a bitch or anything.”

“My brother’s wife
is sort of a bitch.” Cassidy’s hand flew up and covered her mouth as soon as she’d uttered the words. “I can’t believe I just said that. Can we pretend I didn’t say that?”

He smiled. “It’s
OK. I like your honesty.”

She cleared her
throat and tried to get the conversation back on track. “
Anyhow
, it’s good that you and she get along. I guess for the boys’ sake you have to at least try, right?”

He nodded. “Exactly.
We have our differences, but that’s one thing we’re completely in agreement about, putting the kids first.”

“Do you split
custody?”

“Yep, right down
the middle.”

“Have either of
you been…dating?” She clenched her jaw. It was like her brain and mouth had lost contact. But once the question was out there, her mind started to race again.

Is this a
date?

Are we on
a date right now?

He didn’t seem
to mind her straightforwardness. “I think she’s been seeing someone, but I couldn’t say for sure. I’ve been on a few dates, nothing serious. It’s hard to make the time. I have a pretty busy schedule, so dating hasn’t been a priority. What about you? You seeing anyone?”

Oh.

That answered the
question.

She felt slightly
deflated but forced a slight smile. “Me? No, not really.”