Bad Boy Secrets

by Seraphina Donavan

  CHAPTER ONE

  Cass Blakely awoke with the Sahara in her mouth and a thousand tribal drums banging inside her skull. She rolled over onto her back, her stomach protesting angrily. Cupping a hand over her mouth, she took several deep breaths until the urge to rid herself of the last dregs of her mystery number of margaritas passed. Slowly, she became aware of her surroundings with the dawning realization that she was neither at her apartment or in Evie’s guest room. The second dreaded realization that followed was that she was totally, completely naked.

  “Oh, god!” she muttered.

  “Finally awake?”

  The deep baritone voice penetrated the haze of her brain and sent dread spiraling through her. Turner her head, wincing at the pain that it caused, she looked into the all too chipper face of Reed Harrison. “Oh, god no.”

  “That isn’t what you said last night,” he replied with a smooth smile and a wink.

  “I need clothes.”

  “Apparently that was some crazy party last night... I tried to call Evie to bring you a change of clothes, but she and Jackson are not answering their phones this morning.”

  Horror was the only word that would adequately describe her response to that statement. “You called Evie? Are you crazy? No one can know I spent the night here!”

  “She and Jackson were the ones who tucked you into my car so I could take you home... and I would have taken you home, had you not tossed your cookies all over you, me and the interior of my car,” he said mildly.

  “You can send me the bill for having it detailed,” she said weakly. It just got worse and worse. “Why am I naked?”

  Reed smiled reassuringly. “Only because you passed out cold and I figured letting you sleep it off would be better than waking you up trying to get one of my shirts on you... There’s one at the end of the bed. I’m gonna head out to the kitchen and make you something that will help with that hangover while you get cleaned up.”

  Cass nodded and immediately regretted it. When Reed left the room, she rose unsteadily to her feet and walked into the adjoining bath. One look at her reflection and she wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Her makeup was gone from one side of her face entirely. On the other side, the eyeliner and mascara had managed to smear both up and down, leaving her looking like she had a shiner. Her hair was standing on end, again only on one side, with the other side matted to her head, and she was sure she had puke in it. She smelled, she thought. Reeked. And Reed Harrison, the sexiest most straight laced man in all of Gresham County had seen her that way.

  Never one to let things get the better of her, Cass decided to do the one thing she was good at. She would hold her head up, no matter that an army of tiny miners with pick axes were chipping away at her skull, and she would brazen it out. Glancing in the shower, she saw a bottle of two in one shampoo and conditioner. Cautiously, she stepped into the enclosure.

  For the first few minutes, the hard spray was torture. Eventually, it settled into a mild nuisance. Washing her hair gingerly, as it felt her head was literally going to fall off her shoulders, she managed to get most of the offending makeup off her face. Stepping out onto the bath mat, she felt marginally better, but smelled like a bed of roses in comparison. How had she gotten that drunk last night? She and Evie had gone to a friend’s bachelorette party, and as Evie had only recently discovered she was pregnant and didn’t want to share that information with the whole town yet, it had been Cass’ job to down any and all shots that had been purchased for her. Just thinking about the amount of alcohol she had consumed made her shudder.

  With the towel wrapped tightly around her, she moved into the bedroom as if she were a hundred years old and made of fragile glass. Everything hurt. She picked up the shirt Reed had left for her and dropped the towel at the exact moment he walked in with her bloody mary. Other than a raised eyebrow he didn’t respond, just set the drink on the dresser. “When you finish that, you might feel up to some breakfast. I’ll make you some toast.”

  Yes, Cass, thought. She wanted the earth to open and swallow her whole.

  IN HIS immaculate kitchen in his brand new condo, Reed Harrison looked to the heavens and prayed for strength. Cass Blakely was driving him insane with lust. She had been for months. Since the whole crazy, wedding business with Jackson and Evie had started, he’d been forced into her company time and again. To say that Cass was a bit of a wild child was putting it mildly. She’d always been the free spirited party girl to Evie’s good girl, and if he was honest with himself, he’d wanted her for far longer than he cared to admit. It wasn’t just that she was ridiculously beautiful with that fiery hair and a body that simply wouldn’t quit, it was her spirit, her defiant attitude that had always enamored him, as much as her magnificent body. Cass wasn’t a skinny girl, but every curve that she had was in perfect, jaw-dropping proportion. Stripping her out of her ruined clothes last night had only fueled his already rampant fantasies about her. Her naked body in his bed would be an image that haunted him forever. He’d lain awake on his couch for half the night with aching balls and a hard on from hell.

  When she walked into the kitchen wearing one his dress shirts, the tail barely covering her ass and the fabric stretched taut across her chest, it didn’t help matters at all. He popped two pieces of bread into the toaster and when they popped out, placed them on a plate for her. He pushed it toward the edge of the counter, but he was trapped there. If he stepped out from behind the island, there was no way in hell he could hide his reaction to her. He wasn’t sure Cass would be up for the things he wanted to do to her on a normal day. On the hangover from hell, he was fairly certain it would be disastrous.

  “What the hell did I do last night?” she asked glumly.

  Deciding to play it cool and continue his mild mannered teasing, he said, “I think it’s called overindulgence. According to Evie, you were doing fine at the first club, and even the second one. It’s when you hit the third club and a group of out of town businessmen kept sending you drinks and asking you to dance on the table that things got really out of hand.”

  “I didn’t, did I?”

  “No, you didn’t. You did dance on the bar though. Until security escorted the lot of you out, and then you all went to Rhinestone Ruby’s for the all male review.”

  Vague memories assailed of her of getting up on the stage and gyrating with a very, very naked men. He’d been shiny with baby oil, which would never come out of her dress. “Where are my clothes?”

  Reed looked at her sadly, “You really don’t want to see them. It’s best if you just let me give them a proper burial.”

  “Oh, god. My shoes?”

  “They’re somewhere on Bourbon Street. The limo driver got you all as far as Evie’s house and then he refused to take you any further. Since the smell of alcohol was making Evie sick, well, I was going to see you safely home....but plans changed.”

  “When I urped all over you, myself and your car.”

  “Pretty much,” he agreed. “It’s all good. We’ve all been there a time or two. Of course, most of us hit that point in our early twenties, but hey. Live and learn right?”

  Cass laid her head on the table, the cool tile top feeling good against her aching head. “Please just kill me.”

  He chuckled, “Oh, no. You have to suffer through it just like the rest of us.”

  “Please tell you don’t have cloth upholstery in your car,” she said.

  “Nope. It’s an SUV. Vinyl seats and vinyl floor coverings. I’ll just hose it out later.”

  “Oh, sweet merciful God.”

  Taking pity on her, Reed said, “Drink the Bloody Mary. As disgusting as it is, I swear it will help. Then eat the toast.”

  Warily, Cass sip
ped from the glass. Her stomach rolled ominously, but she managed to keep it down. Hangovers are temporary, she thought, but humiliation is forever.

  IT WAS only two days later that Reed stood in the middle of his office, wanting to tear out his hair. The phone was ringing off the hook, his copier was on the fritz, and he was due in court in less than half an hour and the paper work he needed for court was half finished. When the bell over the door tinkled delicately, he considered chucking it all and walking away. But Reed wasn’t a quitter. He hadn’t gotten where he was by turning tail when things got tough. He could handle it, he told himself.

  Turning to face the door, the sight of Cass walking in wearing her mile high heels and a belt masquerading as a skirt made him groan. Of all the women in all the world to walk in, it had to be the one who made his blood boil in every way imaginable. She was the last thing he needed to deal with at that moment.

  Rather than poking at him as she normally did, she walked past him and picked up the ringing phone. “Reed Harrison’s office, how may I help you?” Reed gaped at her. “No, I’m sorry, Mr. Harrison is unavailable at the moment, but I’d be happy to take a message for you... Of course, Mrs. Shively, I’ll let him know that you called to cancel your appointment. Would you like to reschedule? ....Just give us a call back when you’re feeling better. Bye now.”

  “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded.

  “I thought I was helping,” she replied with a shrug, and then answered the next call. Reed watched with amazement as she handled the call both efficiently and professionally. She took concise notes and then handled the next call that was on hold.

  With the phone no longer ringing and the lights on top of it no longer blinking accusingly at him, Reed took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

  Cass shrugged at him, an elegant motion of creamy white shoulders bared by the wide neckline of her summer weight sweater. He could see just a hint of collar bone and then the fabric molded over her generous breasts. Knowing precisely what they looked like beneath that thin fabric did not help matters any. Forcing his eyes back up to her face, he tried to focus on what she was saying.

  “I was getting my hair done when Crystal came in crying to her Mama. What the hell were you thinking hiring her?” Cass asked, as she carried the messages in and placed them on his desk. Stepping back out of the inner sanctum, she approached the copier, opened the front panel and turned several dials until a crumpled piece of paper began to emerge from a slot on the side. “I mean, when the Mama is that crazy, and the Daddy is in the looney bin, that particular candied apple cannot fall very far from the tree.”

  “Candied apple?” he asked, puzzled.

  Cass chuckled, “Can you think of a better description for a girl named Crystal who covers everything she owns in rhinestones? Good lord, Reed. You should have known better. The bedazzled ‘Hello Kitty’ cell phone would have sent me running.”

  If he’d had time, he would have laughed, but he was feeling desperate--desperate to get to court and finish the case that had been driving him insane for months and desperate to get away from her and the smell of vanilla that made him want to take a bite out of her. “Cass, I need fifteen minutes to finish that brief and then I have the whole afternoon in court. If you will stay here and just handle the phones for the afternoon, I will pay you... anything you ask for.”

  “Anything? Does that include the fringe benefit Crystal had her eye on?”

  “You play dirty,” he said, when he could manage to suck air back into his lungs.

  She smiled that coquette smile that had been driving him crazy for months. “You have no idea. Go play in your briefs. I’ll hold down the fort.”

  That image had him biting back another curse as he retreated into his office. Blocking out the all too tempting vision of her, he finished the brief, knowing that he was doing a shoddy job of it, and left for court.

  Four boring hours later, Reed walked back into his office. He’d spent the entirety of the afternoon going through the motions, while thinking of her. He’d kept a tight reign on his proclivities since moving back to Gresham County. Engaging in a BDSM relationship while living in New Orleans had been much easier. There were limits to just how private one’s life could be in a small town. While sex of any kind with Cass would be amazing, there was something about her that called to his dominant side, and he knew that just indulging in a brief and limited affair with her would not be enough. Anything else was too risky. So, he would pay her for helping out in the office, he would grit his teeth and get through the wedding fiasco and then he would put her firmly out of his mind, he decided. Even uttering this words in his mind made his gut clench.

  Walking into his office, what he found only left him more befuddled. The files on the desk were neatly stacked. The messages that had been taken were prioritized by importance, and the place was clean. Not a speck of dust could be found anywhere. Walking through the reception area and into his own office, he saw that it too had been cleaned. The floor had been vacuumed, and the files on his desk had been alphabetized. There was also a thermos of coffee sitting in the middle of his desk. The thermos itself must have been left by Crystal, as it bore a sparkling ‘Hello Kitty’ with an iridescent bow.

  Opening the thermos, he filled the pink cup with the hot liquid and took a long drink. Maybe it would get him through the evening, he thought. Thinking back to the way Cass had handled the phones earlier, he knew what was going through his head was completely insane. He’d just made the decision to limit contact with her, but given her undeniable administrative skills and his own dire situation, could he afford to? He needed a receptionist, and since the store she was working for had closed, he knew she needed a job. Her wardrobe would be an issue, he thought. Cass was all woman, with lush curves, and she dressed to show them, not indecently, but definitely provocatively. Of course, with a body like hers, a burlap sack could have been provocative. And those heels, he thought. God above, he didn’t know how she walked in them but he damned sure liked to watch her when she did.

  The bell over the door tinkled again, and he turned to see Crystal walking in. Her face was streaked with tears, her normally perfect makeup smeared all over her face. She looked crazed. “I want my job back,” she said. “I’ll be good. I’ll be better than good. No more cell phone in the office, no more short skirts!”

  It hadn’t been the short skirt. It had been the fact that she’d bent over in front of his desk to deliberately show him she wasn’t wearing underwear. She was only nineteen for the love of god. He might be a pervert, he’d thought at the time, but he damned well wasn’t a pedophile. Looking at her now, with her tear streaked face and her petulant, trembling lips, it only underscored for him how much of a child she was. He’d wanted to give her a chance when he hired her, and it had been a mistake. “I’m sorry, Crystal. I’ve hired someone else.”

  Her face fell even further, and then the tantrum began. She grabbed the coffee thermos from his desk and hurled it at him. The hot liquid splashed over his chest, scorching his skin through the cotton. “You’ll regret this, Reed Harrison! I would have done anything for you!”

  Reed watched her rush out, sobbing. Cass was there, coming in through the open door as Crystal ran out. She carried a white paper sack emblazoned with the logo of the diner that was just next door. “Well, I’m glad I missed that,” she said with a rueful smile. “Lover’s quarrel?”

  “That isn’t funny, Cass. That girl is--” he stopped, unsure of what to say.

  “It’s called cray-cray. She’s crazier than a shithouse rat, Reed, and apparently she really likes you,” Cass intoned sarcastically. Since Reed really wasn’t amused, she took pity on him, “Get that shirt off before you burn. Boy scout that you are, I know you have a spare around here.”

  “I don’t, actually. Crystal didn’t pick up the dry cleaning.”

  Cass chuckled, as she pulled his neatly folded and pressed shirt from her bag. “I promise not to go all Fatal Attraction on you. Strip. I
needed to return this anyway.”

  “You could get sued for that, you know.”

  “I’ll take my chances.... I grabbed you a couple of burgers. I figured you were going to have a late night,” she said breezily, as she watched him loosen and then remove his neck tie. When his fingers moved to the buttons of his blue, oxford shirt, she felt the familiar tingle of lust that she always did. Reed Harrison, with his dark hair and chiseled features, not to mention his ridiculously keen mind, had been fueling her fantasies for months and his true, Southern gentleman routine of the other night had only piqued her curiosity. Each button that popped open revealed a widening V of bronzed skin, lightly dusted with crisp, dark hair. He was no slouch in the workout department either if the abs he was revealing were any indication.

  When he finally shrugged the shirt off, revealing his broad shoulders and the bulging muscles of his arms, she found it difficult to breath. Nonetheless, she moved forward and took the shirt from him to pretreat it with the stain remover she’d found amongst the cleaning supplies. She needed the space.

  “Thank you, Cass. If you hadn’t come by today, I don’t know what I would have done.”

  “You’d manage, Reed. You may not have lived your whole life in the trailer park, but you were there long enough to learn how to make do,” she replied from the bathroom, her voice carrying over the sound of running water.

  It was true enough. Though she was a few years younger than him, Cass had grown up in a rat-trap trailer just two doors down from him. He could remember her as a kid in her dirty, hand me down clothes, with dirt smeared on her face and the sound of yelling and broken crockery coming from the trailer behind her. She’d smiled all the time, regardless. Cass knew about chaos, and she knew how to work in the middle of it without being a part of it. Growing up where they had, it was a necessary coping mechanism. Biting the bullet, he said, “So you need a job?”

  Pausing midway through rinsing his shirt, she wondered momentarily if she’d heard him correctly. She had and she did, but coming off as needy had never been her thing. “Depends on how much you pay,” she replied, walking back into the room. The black and cream skirt she wore fluttered around her legs as she moved.