Second Chances

Chapter 20

"Salud!" Thao lifted his champagne flute high in the air.

"Skol!" Miranda lifted her glass, clinking against Thao's.

"Bottoms up!" Carter took his turn, gently touching his glass to Miranda and Thao's.

All eyes turned to Casey as she lifted her glass. She smiled naughtily, winked at Carter, and then deliberately touched her glass to Miranda's. "Up......yours!"

Thao burst out laughing as Carter covered his mouth to keep from spraying everyone at their table with champagne. The foursome had gathered at La Veranda in celebration of Carter and Thao finalizing their deal. All that remained were the press releases and the actual signing of the papers to make it a reality. It had been over a week since Carter had presented Casey with Trouble. Although Casey resented spending the evening with Miranda, she desperately wanted to spend time with her husband. She had seen very little of Carter during that time, although he did manage to break free for a little while each day to check on Jon and make sure no more threatening phone calls had been received.

"I fail to see what you two find so humorous," Miranda pouted. She crossed her arms and sat back in her chair, only to wince and cover her ears when the band started a new set. "In fact, I can't imagine why the three of you wanted to come *here* again, of all places!"

"Oh, lighten up, Miranda," Thao muttered, leaning closer to her so that she could hear him. "The band that was playing last time we were here was quite good, and we had no idea that the entertainment had changed."

Casey giggled. "Yeah – who could have known we'd have to listen to the Bleached Blonde Bimbos!" Carter and Thao collapsed into laughter again, but Miranda continued to pout until Carter waved a hand at the rest of them and stood.

"I'll go see if I can ask them to tone it down a little and play something slower," he shouted. Casey was about to offer to come with him, but Carter left before she could say anything. She watched him walk towards the bandstand and had to take a deep breath to try to get her heart to stop racing. There was just something about the sight of her blue-jean-clad husband from behind that made Casey want to re-enact an X-rated movie she found on cable TV late one night.

When a sudden noise on the other side of the room caused Casey to turn and look, she caught sight of Miranda's face. Unfortunately, Miranda was having the same lustful thoughts as Casey, and she wasn't even trying to hide it. Casey's jaw almost hit the floor when Miranda's tongue emerged to lick her lips although her eyes were trained on Carter's posterior. Her dark brown eyes almost looked black with desire for him in the dim light of the bar.

Just as Casey was thinking of some really choice names to call Miranda, the music stopped abruptly and changed to something slow and quiet. "Wasn't that sweet of him?" she cooed. Casey was about to lose her supper when Miranda rose with a smile. "I think I'll just go ask him to dance to express my......appreciation."

Casey prayed that the steam coming out of her ears wasn't visible as Miranda wiggled her way over towards Carter. She watched as Carter smiled at Miranda innocently, nodded his head, and then led her into the middle of the dance floor. But when she glanced over at Thao, Casey saw something that literally made her jaw drop.

Thao was giving Miranda the same hungry looks that Miranda had given Carter only moments earlier. {He cares for her! Oh, my God......he might actually......love her! The poor guy!} Casey chewed her lip for a few moments as a number of realizations came to her. A few seconds later, she turned to Thao and smiled brightly. "Would you like to dance with me, Thao?"

"Me?" Thao pointed to his chest in disbelief. Casey nodded. "With ....you?" He pointed to her. Another nod. "Now?" He pointed at the dance floor and Casey sighed in exasperation.