His gaze shot up and he glared at Trick. “What?”
“Hey, that’s an even better one. You should try that one on Vancouver tonight.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Trick shut the door to his locker. “Man, you’re grumpy. You need to get laid.”
“Fuck you, Trick.”
Trick just laughed. “That mood has got to do with a woman. A certain pretty brunette I met at the bar a couple weeks ago?”
“I don’t want to talk about Carolina.”
“So it is her.” Trick took a seat on the bench next to Drew. “Did she dump you?”
“No, she didn’t dump me. Well, maybe. I don’t really know.”
“You don’t know? What the hell, man? Has it been that long since you’ve been given the boot by a woman you can’t tell when you’ve been dumped?”
“Actually, I’ve never been dumped.”
Trick let out a snort. “Every guy has been kicked to the curb at least once. You either didn’t recognize it or didn’t care. And now you have, and you do care, so you don’t know what the hell to do. Like now, with the hot brunette.”
“Her name is Carolina.”
“That’s right. Carolina. So Carolina dumped you.”
Maybe she had. He’d never been with a woman he liked enough to care whether she wanted to see him again or not. He searched his memory to try and remember if any of the women he’d dated in the past had ever given him any signals about not wanting to see him again.
Maybe there had been a few in his past, and he just hadn’t read the signals. Nothing like being self-aware.
But with Carolina, he had no idea. He dragged his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know, Trick. With the road trip, I haven’t had a chance to talk to her. But she does want to see me. She left me a voice mail.”
“That’s a good sign then, right?”
“It’s about the modeling thing for her fashion line.”
“Oh.” Trick slapped him on the back. “Start there. If you like her, it at least puts you in front of her.”
“I guess. I don’t know. Women are a lot of work.”
Trick stood and grinned. “But so much fun to play with.”
THIRTEEN
CAROLINA FINISHED UP SOME PAPERWORK AND LOOKED at her phone, answering a few text messages and emails.
She cleared several off her phone, leaving the one she’d gotten from Drew three days ago.
Out-of-town games. Back on Friday. Will call you.
Terse. Noncommittal. And decidedly not warm or friendly.
Then again, she hadn’t exactly told him she’d missed him in her voice mail, or that she’d had a great time that night they’d spent together. Her voice mail had been cool and professional. So what had she expected in return?
She set her phone aside and went back to her paperwork, wrinkling her nose at the prospect. Design was fun. It fired her blood and fueled her excitement. The accounting and paperwork and everything else that went into starting up her business? Not so much fun. She had accountants and lawyers to handle the finances and legalities, but she was the CEO of Carolina Designs, and as such, it was up to her to go over every detail, including the drudge work she didn’t enjoy.