“Why? Are you afraid Xavier will find out?” She smarted off to him, tempting him to take her over his lap for a sharp spanking.
“Damn it, Cassie. This has nothing to do with Xavier. I’m your fiancé, and you should never have to sleep anywhere other than in a bed.” Preferably his bed, he wanted to add, but he didn’t. Even when she was dressed so unbecomingly and frustrating the hell out of him, he still wanted her.
“I slept in plenty of worse places on tour,” she replied calmly.
God, he wanted to shake her until she agreed with him. Instead, he did something better. Before she could react, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
She initially tensed, but after a moment, she relaxed and brought her arms around his waist, her hands over his butt. She kissed him as if she were as hungry for him as he was for her. No matter how at odds they were with each other, it seemed their mutual attraction was stronger.
He slipped his hand under her jacket to her waist, but he needed to feel her skin. He untucked her shirt from the waistband of her pants, and slipped his hand underneath to the smooth skin of her back. As he stroked, she arched into him, pressing her belly against his growing erection.
Her hands kneaded and squeezed his butt, pulling him tighter to her.
“You infuriate me,” he whispered against her lips.
“I know,” she answered, but didn’t offer any apology.
He smiled against her mouth. Then he bent and trailed a line of kisses over her jaw, down her neck to the opening of her shirt. He plucked one button open then another until he revealed her pale blue lacy bra. “I guess you found something from the weekend that was appropriate to wear on the job.”
“Mmm,” she answered when he pushed down the lacy cup and sucked her breast into his mouth.
A knock on the door barely registered as he savored the silky texture of her skin and the warmth of her scent.
“Sir, we are scheduled for…” Dan’s words trailed off. “Excuse me, I apologize.”
Evan shot a look at the door that was quickly closing as his assistant backed out of his office. In front of him, Cassie was hastily rearranging her bra and tucking in her shirt.
“Cassie, we’re engaged. It’s okay,” he reassured her, hoping to get back to where they’d been before the interruption.
“Maybe for you. You’re the boss, but I’m,” she checked her watch, “damn, I’m fifteen minutes late for work, which means you’re late taking off for your next meeting.”
“Cassie, we still need to talk about this.”
“Fine. But not now.” She slipped out of his office without another word.
He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. Was he destined to be forever frustrated by the incomparable Cassie?
Before he could come up with a plan of action to take with her, another knock sounded on his door. “Come in,” he ordered.
“Sir, I apologize for my previous hasty entrance.” Dan bowed his head slightly.
“Never mind.” Evan shrugged it off. “I suppose you’re here to tell me we’re late for takeoff.”
“Yes, sir.” Dan turned on his heels and headed for the door.
“Wait. I have something I need to discuss with you first.”
His assistant faced him again. “Yes, sir.”
“Don’t all prospective employees undergo a background check? One that includes their financial situation?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then, why the hell wasn’t I informed that Cassie was on the verge of being evicted from her apartment?” Evan spoke in a controlled tone, holding back from shouting his frustration out on his assistant.
“It wasn’t relevant at the time of her hiring. Her pilot credentials were outstanding, and her Army background indicated she would be a loyal and trustworthy employee. There was nothing to indicate she would be tempted to sell our secrets to the competition.”
“It didn’t seem relevant that she was in danger of becoming homeless?” Evan asked incredulously.
Dan tilted his head and seemed to study Evan’s expression. Whatever conclusion he came up with he kept to himself. “I assumed once she began receiving her paycheck, she’d no longer be in danger.”
“I want to see the reports on her. All of them.”
“Yes, sir. I will have them for you when we return from our meeting upstate.”
“No. Now, Dan. Reschedule the meeting at the manufacturing plant. I want to see Cassie’s background check now.” He wasn’t willing to wait to get his hands on Cassie’s reports and find out what else she’d been keeping from him. What he would do with that information, he wasn’t sure yet.
He turned his back on his assistant and returned to his chair behind the desk, not knowing whom he was angrier with, Dan or Cassie. He felt like he’d been lied to by both of them. Lies of omission were just as serious as intentional falsehoods.
Unfortunately, he was guilty of both. This Estrella deal was eating at his conscience, but he couldn’t change course now. It was too vital to the future of Mitchell Industries.
* * * *
Cassie climbed back into the pilot’s seat after completing the external preflight checklist on the helicopter.
“Shut her down,” her copilot’s words came through her headset.
She turned to him. “What? Where’s the problem?” Her eyes scanned the instrument panel for any obvious signs.
“Nothing wrong with the bird,” Ron explained. “I just took a call from Mr. Jacobs. The trip’s been rescheduled. We’ve been directed to secure the helicopter and return to our office.”
Cassie pinched the bridge of her nose where a tension headache had settled in after her encounter with Evan in his office this morning. “All right. Shut her down.”
With no wasted movements or extra dialogue, they completed the procedure for securing the bird. As she walked across the rooftop to the access door, a sense of doom settled over her shoulders.
She glanced up at the nearly cloudless sky and the bright spring sun, no sign of a storm front moving in from the western horizon. She couldn’t blame the weather for her growing unease. Clearly, she was dreading her next meeting with Evan and the conversation he wanted them to have. Not only did having the very proper Mr. Jacobs walking in on them embarrass her, but she also hated admitting to Evan she was so financially destitute she’d been forced to sleep in a hallway last night.
God, she’d really love a shower right now. Sponging off in the ladies’ room had been completely unsatisfying this morning. Her scalp was starting to itch from her unwashed hair. If Evan were going to confront her today, she’d feel so much better if she was clean and in fresh clothes.
After returning to the small interior office she shared with Ron, Cassie entered the notes in the online flight log about their aborted trip. Then she sat back in her desk chair, staring at the soaring planes on her screen saver.
“So, are you going to tell me what led to you getting a giant rock put on your finger?” Ron asked from his desk next to hers. “I assume it’s from Evan since you spent the weekend together, which must have ended this morning.” He waved at the suitcase tucked under her desk.
“Ah, yeah.” She stuck her hands in her lap, feeling embarrassed. She hadn’t even considered the impact her engagement would have on her relationship with her co-worker. Wishing she could give Ron the honest story, she had to use the phony one instead. “It happened quickly, but Evan and I could tell we really liked each other.”
“And he proposed after three days?” Ron’s grey eyebrows rose up his forehead as he looked at her skeptically.
“Haven’t you heard of love at first sight?” She deflected with a question of her own, hoping she wouldn’t have to tell any more lies about the details of the weekend.
Ron’s face broke open with a wide grin. “That’s how it happened with Patty and me. One look at her and I was a goner. Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” she said, trying to put some enthusiasm into the wo
rd. She didn’t think it sounded too convincing, but Ron didn’t seem to notice. What was it with all the older men in her life suddenly confessing to having found love at first sight, first her father, now Ron?
“I need a coffee. Want another?” He gestured to her empty cup.
Cassie’s stomach burned already from the first cup she’d had this morning without food. “No, thanks. I’m going to run down to the bakery.” She stood from her chair. “I skipped breakfast. Do you want anything?”
Ron’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “A bear claw.” He reached into his back pocket to pull out his wallet.
She waved away his offer. “I got this one.” She patted her own wallet in her pants pocket.
“Thanks,” Ron said as she left their office and headed down the hall to the elevator bank.
She may be temporarily homeless, but she still had enough to buy breakfast. She stuck her hand in her jacket pocket, running her fingers over the reassuring crisp edge of the folded check. And once she got to the bank on her lunch hour, she would have enough in her account to re-secure her apartment.
Feeling more like her life was under her control, she reached for the down elevator button.
“Ms. Maynard,” Mr. Jacobs called to her as he approached from the opposite hallway. “Mr. Mitchell requires your presence in his office.”
Cassie cursed under her breath. She’d really hoped Evan would postpone this conversation.
She turned to Evan’s assistant and tried not to blush as she thought about what he’d walked in on her doing, not too long ago. So much for keeping up the appearances of a platonic arrangement. “Thank you, Mr. Jacobs.”
She followed him down the hall to the executive suites with the burning in her stomach switching to nausea, which was ridiculous. She’d been in such worse situations in Afghanistan. Meeting with Evan was nothing compared to the Medivac flights she’d done with RPGs gunning for her bird.
Swallowing hard, she knocked on Evan’s office door.
“Come in,” he called out.
She turned the doorknob, threw back her shoulders, and prepared to face whatever censure he chose to dish out about her financial situation.
He looked up from his desk as she entered. “Shut the door behind you.”
Damn, he hadn’t even tacked a please on his request. It felt like their relationship had changed course again, and not for the better this time.
But what business was it of his where she slept? Their engagement was a complete lie. He didn’t have any basis for telling her what she should or should not do in her personal life. They hadn’t formalized any real relationship. The nausea in her gut subsided as her anger grew hotter.
She approached his desk and stood practically at attention. She would not show any discomfort or any weakness. She stilled her fidgety fingers at her sides.
He watched her from narrowed eyes. “I see you’re taking the offensive.” He spread his arms out at his sides, palms up. “So, let me have it.”
That wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all. She hadn’t come here to attack him. In fact, she’d been expecting quite the opposite, to be on the defensive as he attacked her mishandling of her finances and her decision-making abilities.
“Well, I’m waiting,” he said when she remained silent.
“I don’t know what you want from me, Evan. You called me to your office, not the other way around.”
He dropped his hands to the top of his desk and used them to push himself out of his chair. “Okay. Let’s have that conversation now.” He walked around his desk and gestured toward the leather sofa at the other side of the office.
She chose one of the armchairs instead, while he sat on the couch with a frown marring his forehead. “What exactly do you think we need to discuss, Evan? I don’t see how my financial situation is any of your business.”
“When we became engaged, everything about you became my business.”
“My personal life is still personal.”
Evan shook his head. “You aren’t getting it, are you. Once you agreed to wear that diamond,” he waved at her left hand, “everything personal became public. I’m one of the most eligible bachelors in the city, and the paparazzi can’t get enough.”
“Paparazzi?” The nausea reappeared with a vengeance, and she swallowed convulsively as saliva flooded her mouth. “I haven’t seen any.”
“That’s because they haven’t gotten wind of the story yet, but as soon as our engagement goes public, so does everything about your life.”
“Oh, God,” she groaned. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“I’ve read your background check and your complete financial record.”
Her cheeks burned with shame, even though it really shouldn’t matter what he thought of her situation. She didn’t owe him any explanations.
“Are there more skeletons in your closet I should worry about the media exposing?” he asked.
Slowly, she shook her head. “No, there’s nothing worse than the debt I’ve fallen into.” She couldn’t imagine Trent would ever publicize the details of what they’d done in the privacy of the bedroom, and there was no other way the paparazzi could find out about her fetish activities.
“And your debt is easy to remedy with my engagement gift to you,” Evan said.
“What engagement gift?” She looked at him warily.
“I’ll make arrangements to have all your loans paid off.”
“No!” she practically shouted. “You can’t do that.”
His eyebrows rose as he studied her. “Why not?”
“I can’t take that kind of money from you.”
He nodded. “I expected you to say that, so we’ll call it a loan. I guarantee my interest rates will be a hell of a lot lower than what you’re paying right now on your three maxed out credit cards and two car loans.”
“I will pay you back every cent,” she insisted.
“I know, but tell me one thing.”
She hesitated. “What?”
“Why are you paying off a car loan for a dead man?”
“He was my co-pilot,” she answered quietly.
“Shit,” Evan cursed under his breath.
“He left a wife and two kids. It’s their only car, and Marilyn hasn’t found a job yet to make the payments on her own,” she explained.
“So, you got evicted from your apartment in order for her to keep her car.”
“She’s not going to be able to keep it for much longer if I don’t make the next payment.”
“I already told you. I’m paying off your loans, including that one. But I’m not putting her car payment in the total that you’ll pay me back.”
“You can’t ask her for the money.” Panic swelled in her chest. “She doesn’t have it.”
“Do you really think I’m heartless?” He gave her a disappointed look. “I’m not asking either of you to pay me back for that car. It’s a small donation to thank the family of a fallen soldier for their sacrifice.”
“Oh,” she answered softly.
“Do you still have the check I gave you this morning?”
“Yes.” She patted her pocket.
“Here’s one to add to it.” He pulled another from his jacket pocket. “I want you to go directly to your bank right now. I’ve called ahead and instructed them to credit your account immediately without waiting for the checks to clear.”
“You called my bank? How did you know where my accounts are?”
He tilted his head and gave her a disbelieving look. “I have your complete financial history in a folder on my desk.”
“Oh,” she said again and dropped her gaze to her lap, feeling like the class dunce.
“You’re taking the rest of today off to get your finances in order. After you deposit these checks, you’re going to use the funds to pay off all your debts. Am I clear?”
She was tempted to answer him with a “Sir. Yes, Sir,” but she refrained from pushing him. He was being way more reasonable than she�
��d anticipated. She didn’t like that he was paying off her debts, but he was going to let her pay him back. That’s what was most important, to maintain her independence and dignity.
“Cassie?”
“Yes. I understand. I’ll get everything straightened out.” She stood and took his offered check. “Thank you, Evan. And I promise to pay you back as soon as possible.”
“I know you will.” He stood and walked with her to the door of his office. He put his hand on the knob before she did. “And one more thing, Cassie.”
She looked up into his dark brown eyes. “Yes?”
“I don’t ever want to hear that you’ve slept anywhere other than your bed…or mine, again.” His gaze was hot and direct. “I’ve already spoken to your landlord. He’s expecting cash this afternoon, and I sent a crew to your building to get your stuff out of the basement and back into your apartment.”
“I could have moved it on my own.”
“Yes, but it would have taken you all day and probably part of the night as well, and that would be too late.”
“Too late for what?”
“For our dinner date tonight. When you finish organizing your finances, take a nap. You look exhausted.” He ran a thumb along the top of her cheek. “Then, I’m picking you up at seven. Dress fancy. We’re going to Toulouse. The paparazzi will be following us, and it will be the perfect time for you to flash that rock as an announcement our engagement.”
“Oh, hell,” she whispered. Being the center of attention for all those photographers scared her more than any war zone she’d even flown into.
Evan lifted her chin with his finger. “You’ll be fine. I’ll be at your side.” Then he lowered his head and kissed her lightly on the lips. The sweetness of his touch was more devastating to her senses than any passionate kiss they’d shared so far.
He raised his head, and she stared at him dumbly. Smiling with his signature cocky grin, he said, “Go on now. You’ve got business to take care of today.”
She took a step back so he could open the door, and thankfully, she didn’t trip over her feet as she walked out of his office because her head suddenly felt floaty and unfixed from her shoulders.
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