Free All the Right Things (Love in LA) by Audrey Harte Page B

his spot, and Casey was now sitting next to Annie with his arm slung casually, yet possessively across her shoulders. She couldn’t help but shoot Trisha a smug smile at one point when Casey turned to her, smiled and then leaned close to kiss her forehead before returning to the conversation he was having with his other crew members. Trisha scowled in reaction, and then turned back to her conversation with one of the guys’ girlfriends.
    Annie felt the effects of the alcohol slow her down and make her sleepy, but finally, people started to take off. As the last couple of people stood to leave, chatting with Casey on their way to the door, Annie started picking up empty beer bottles and glasses to take them to the kitchen.
    Casey closed the door, turned around and leaned back against it, giving an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Alone at last,” he said with a grin, but then he frowned as he realized what Annie was doing. “Babe, you don’t have to do that. You’re a guest.” He moved to take the glasses and bottle from her, but she shook her head at him.
    “Please, I’m not going to sit around and watch you clean up by yourself.” She turned and left to drop off a load in the kitchen, then returned to the living room. In the meantime, Casey had managed to snag the rest of the empty bottles and glasses and was already heading back to the kitchen.
    “I got it,” he said, putting everything down on the counter before starting to load the dishwasher. She helped pass him dishes, then leaned back against the counter and looked around uncertainly, not sure what was coming next. After closing the dishwasher, Casey turned towards Annie, reaching out a hand to snag her waist and draw her to him. “As I was saying, alone at last,” he murmured before lowering his lips to hers.
    She sighed softly against his lips as he ran one hand through her hair before gripping it to hold her more tightly against him as his other hand grasped her hip possessively with just enough pressure to make her feel wanted and sexy. After a few moments, he finally released her, his eyes closing as he rested his forehead against hers.
    “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”
    “Umm,” Annie said hesitantly. She wanted to go to bed with him. She really did. But she was tired of making the same mistakes over and over again. Biting her lip, she looked at Casey and prepared herself for rejection. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
    Casey grinned at her. “I’m not going to take advantage of you, princess. I just want to hold you and cuddle.”
    Annie laughed. “Did you just say you want to cuddle?”
    “What if I did?”
    Shaking her head, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You’re adorable.”
    “I know,” he said, hugging her back.
    She laughed again and let him lead her down the hallway to his bedroom. It was huge and decorated in very masculine tones, with a big California King-sized bed sitting right smack in the middle of the room. Her overnight bag was sitting on the end of the bed, so she grabbed it and excused herself to change her clothes. She was impressed to see that his bathroom was just as immaculately clean as the rest of his apartment.
    It didn’t take her long to change into her pajamas, brush and floss her teeth, but by the time Annie exited the bathroom, she stopped short and giggled at the sight before her. Casey had changed into a pair of red basketball shorts and a black wife-beater and laid down on the bed to wait for her. His head was already rolled back in the pillows as a soft snore came from his partially open mouth.
    Tiptoeing so she wouldn’t disturb him, Annie set her bag down by his dresser and climbed onto the bed next to him. Bravely she snuggled close to him, and as she touched him, he woke with a sudden start. It took a moment for his eyes to refocus, but then he gazed down at her as she gave him what she thought was her cutest smile, making him smile lazily in return.
    “Hey