Single Man Meets Single Mom

by Jules Bennett

Shaking her head, Cassie looked up to the ceiling and sighed. “Just go. I made a mistake—it’s over.”

  When her front door slammed, she jumped.

  “I don’t like being played.” Ian fisted his hands on his narrow hips.

  “This is my life, Ian.” She gestured toward the Pack ’n Play in the corner and the toys in a basket next to the sofa. “I’m a mom. I’m not apologizing for it, and you won’t make me feel bad.”

  When he continued to stare, muscle ticking in his jaw, Cassie tried her hardest not to wilt under his powerful presence. His gray T-shirt stretched over taut muscles, and she instantly recalled him taking her against the wall.

  “Look, you’re going to be here for a while,” she said, reality sinking in. “I’m going to be here for the most part except during races. We’re going to see each other.”

  His eyes roamed over her as if he were recalling last night, too. A shiver crept through her, but she remained still, waiting on his response.

  “I wish you were different,” he told her, his voice low.

  Stunned, Cassie crossed her arms. “What?”

  Cursing, Ian turned for the door. “Nothing. You’re right,” he said, gripping the handle and glancing over his shoulder. “We have to see each other, so why make this harder than necessary? Last night was a mistake, so let’s just forget it happened.”

  He walked out the door and Cassie resisted the urge to throw something. For a second, when he’d said he wished she were different, she’d seen a sliver of vulnerability in his eyes. But he’d quickly masked it with his cruel, hurtful words. Fine. She didn’t need anybody, especially someone who acted as if her child was a burden. Emily came first in her life. Period.

  And no man, not her ex-husband and certainly not this sexy stranger, would make her feel ashamed.

  Cassie turned toward her bedroom and cursed her body. She hated Ian Shaffer for his words, his actions, but her body still tingled from everything he’d done to her last night. How could someone so passionate and gentle turn into someone so hurtful?

  Something about Emily had triggered such a dramatic turnaround. Unfortunately, Cassie didn’t have the time or the energy to care. Whatever issues Ian had didn’t concern her.

  Now she just had to figure out how to see him on a daily basis and block out the fact he’d made her so alive, so confident for a brief time. Because now she didn’t feel confident at all. She wished she could have a do-over of last night.

  This time she’d keep her clothes on.

  Seven

  Ian may have had the best sexual experience of his life last night, but any desire he felt for Cassie was quickly squelched when he’d discovered her with a baby. A baby, for crying out loud.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t like children. Kids were innocent in life, innocent in the actions of adults. How could he not love them? He just didn’t see any in his future. And Cassie having a child certainly wasn’t a problem in and of itself.

  No, the issue had been when he’d seen her holding her child and he’d instantly flashed back to his mother, who would drag him from sitter to sitter while she went out at night.

  But he wouldn’t blame his past for his present problems. His body seemed to forget how angry he was and continued to betray him. Cassie was still sexy as hell and he’d forever be replaying just how hot their encounter had been.

  But now that he knew she had a daughter, messing around on a whim was definitely out. He wasn’t cut out for the long term, and he refused to be the lover floating in and out of a kid’s life the way his mother’s lovers had floated through his.

  Shaking off the unpleasant memories seeing Cassie with her baby had inspired, Ian approached Max Ford. His client had recently married his high school sweetheart and the couple had adopted a little girl. Ian couldn’t be happier for the guy, but he wanted no part in the happily-ever-after myth himself.

  “Hey,” Max greeted him as he headed toward the makeup trailer. “Coming in with me?”

  “Yeah.”

  Ian fell into step behind Max. The actor tugged on the narrow door and gestured for Ian to enter first. After climbing the three metal steps, Ian entered the cool trailer and nodded a greeting to the makeup artist.

  Max closed the door behind him and exchanged pleasantries with the young lady. Ian took a seat on the small sofa across from the workstation and waited until the two finished their discussion of the day’s events.

  “You’re working out in the stables and field today?” Ian asked. “I saw the script. Looked like the scene with you and Lily when the first horses were brought onto the estate after the wedding.”

  Max nodded as the makeup artist swiped over his face with a sponge full of foundation. “Yeah. It’s a short scene. This afternoon and evening we’ll be shooting some of the wedding scenes at the small church in town.”

  Ian settled deeper into the sofa, resting an arm across the back of the cushion. “Everything going okay so far?”

  “Great,” Max told him. “Raine is planning on joining me in a few days. She was excited I was shooting on the East Coast.”

  Ian knew Max and Raine had been through hell after years apart before finally finding their way back to each other in Max’s hometown of Lenox, Massachusetts. Ian couldn’t imagine trying to juggle a family while working in this crazy industry, let alone from across the country. Speaking of crazy, Ian never thought Hollywood heartthrob Max Ford would settle down, much less on some goat and chicken farm in New England, but to each his own and all that. Love apparently made you do some strange things.

  “You talking to Lily soon?” Max asked.

  Max had been one of Ian’s first clients. They’d both taken a chance on each other, the risk had paid off and here they were, at the top of their games. They had no secrets and oftentimes their relationship was more like friends than business associates.

  “Yeah. Hoping to get a few more minutes with her today.”

  The makeup artist reached for a brush and started stroking a shadow across Max’s lids. Yeah, Ian would much rather stay on this side of the industry...the side where his face stayed makeup-free.

  “I’ll keep you posted,” Ian said, not wanting to get too detailed since there were other ears in the room. “I plan on being on set for the next several weeks, so hopefully something will come from that.”

  Something positive. There was no way Ian wanted his ex-partner to get his clutches on Lily. Not to mention Ian was selfish and now that Lily was between agents, he wanted her because she was one of the top Hollywood leading ladies.

  Added to that, she was the rare celebrity who hadn’t been jaded or swayed by the limelight. Lily was the real deal who made a point to keep her nose out of trouble.

  Any agent’s dream client.

  “I’ve discussed some things with her,” Max stated. “She’s interested in hearing your terms and ideas, so hopefully she makes the right decision.”

  Ian was counting on it. Lily was smart enough to know the industry. After all, she’d just left her agent, who’d been a bit shady with her career. She’d put a stop to that immediately.

  Ian could only hope she saw the hands-on way he worked and how invested he was as an agent. Visiting movie sets was his favorite job perk. Getting out of a stuffy office and being on location was always the highlight. Plus he wanted to make sure his clients were comfortable and there were no glitches.

  “I’ll be around if you need me.” Ian came to his feet and moved toward the trailer door, pulling his phone from his pocket to check his emails. “I plan on being at both scenes today.”

  “Sounds good. I assume you’ve met all the Barringtons?” Max asked as the makeup artist ran the powder brush over his neck.

  Ian swallowed. “Yeah. I’ve met them.”

  Met them, slept with one and still felt the stirrings from the continuous play of memories.

  “They’re one impressive family,” Max went on, oblivious to the turmoil within Ian. “Damon is an amazing man with all of his
accomplishments, but I swear, Cassie and Tessa are a force to be reckoned with.”

  Ian bit the inside of his cheek to avoid commenting on one of those “forces.” The image of her in that body-hugging dress still made his knees weak, his heart quicken.

  “That’s why this movie is going to kick ass,” Ian said, circling back to work, where his mind needed to stay. “Everyone loves a story like this, and having it on the big screen with two of Hollywood’s top stars will only make it pull in that much more at the box office.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Ian was confident this movie would be one of the biggest for both Max and Lily. Hollywood’s heartthrob and sweetheart playing a married couple in a true story? It was a guaranteed slam dunk for everybody.

  Which reminded him, he needed to check his emails and hopefully line up another client’s role.

  “I’ll see you in a bit,” Ian said as he exited the trailer.

  He refused to glance toward Cassie’s cottage. He wasn’t some love-struck teen who’d slept with a woman and now wondered what she was doing every waking minute.

  Okay, so he did wonder what she was doing, but love had absolutely nothing to do with it. His hormones were stuck in overdrive and they would just have to stay there because he refused to see her in any type of personal atmosphere again.

  Even flings warranted a certain type of honesty, and getting involved, in any manner, with a woman who reminded him of the past he’d outrun was simply not an option.

  A flash of movement from the field in the distance caught his eye. He headed toward the white fence stretching over the Barrington estate. As he neared, his gut tightened.

  Cassie sat atop a chestnut-colored horse flying through the open field. Her hair danced unrestrained in the wind behind her and the breeze carried her rich laughter straight to him...and his body responded...work and emails instantly forgotten.

  Ian stood frozen and admired the beauty. From behind her came Tessa on her own horse, but Ian’s gaze was riveted on Cassie. He hadn’t heard that deep laugh. She all but screamed sex with that throaty sound, her curves bouncing in the saddle, hair a wild mass of deep crimson curls.

  Her carefree attitude would’ve been such a turn-on, but in the back of his mind he couldn’t forget where he came from. From a father who had standards so high nobody could reach them and a mother who spent her time entertaining boyfriends and husbands, leaving a young Ian a distant second in her life.

  He never wanted to go back to that emotional place again.

  * * *

  “You’ve got an audience.”

  Breathless and smiling, Cassie turned to her sister as Tessa came to a stop beside her. This felt good, to get out and not worry about training or anything else for a few minutes. Just getting back to their roots and racing was something she and her sister didn’t do nearly often enough.

  “Who’s the audience?” Cassie asked, fully expecting to see some of the film crew. The cameramen and lighting people seemed to be all over the estate, moving things around, making the place their own for the sake of the film. The Hollywood scene was definitely a far cry from the usual relaxed atmosphere of Stony Ridge.

  A sense of pride welled deep within her at the fact that Hollywood loved her family’s story as much as she did. Horses, racing and family... That was what it meant to be a Barrington, and they excelled at it all because they worked hard and loved harder.

  “Your agent,” Tessa replied, nodding back toward the fence line. “I saw him stop when you raced by. He hasn’t moved.”

  Cassie risked a glance and, sure enough, Ian stood turned in her direction. He was just far enough away that she couldn’t make out his facial expression...not that she cared. But damn, why did he have to be a jumbled mess? He’d wanted her with such passion last night, had made her feel so special and wanted. How dare he pull such emotions out of her when she was still trying to piece the shards of her heart back together after her divorce?

  Today when he’d seen Emily, he’d become detached, angry and not at all the same man she’d been with last night. His silence had hurt her, had made the night before instantly ugly.

  And after coming home, she’d checked her phone and found a missed call from Derek. Seriously? After months of no contact whatsoever, now he decided to call? Cassie had deleted the message without listening. She didn’t care what he had to say, and, after her emotional morning with Ian, she wasn’t in the mood.

  “He’s not my anything.” Cassie turned back toward Tessa, turning her back on Ian and willing him to go away.

  “He was something to you last night.”

  Squinting against the sun, Cassie shrugged. “He was my temporary mistake. Nothing more.”

  Leaning across the gap between the horses, Tessa slid her hand over Cassie’s. “I’m not judging at all. I just want you to know people aren’t perfect. We all make rash decisions, and beating yourself up won’t change what happened.”

  Cassie knew Tessa would be the last person to judge her, but that didn’t stop the embarrassment from settling in her gut.

  “I just hate that I gave in to the first man to show me any attention since being divorced,” Cassie explained, gripping the reins.

  Tessa’s warm smile spread across her face. “Honey, Ian is a very attractive man, you’re a beautiful woman and you all were locked in an attic all night. Instant attraction is hard to ignore, especially when you have nothing else to focus on.”

  “Self-control is a beautiful thing,” Cassie murmured. “Too bad I didn’t have any.”

  Laughing, Tessa squeezed Cassie’s hand before pulling back. “Yeah, well, I didn’t have any where Grant was concerned, either, and look how well it worked out for us.”

  Cassie’s eyes darted down to the impressive diamond band surrounding Tessa’s ring finger. Grant had gotten a flat band because of Tessa’s riding career; he knew she wouldn’t want to work with anything too bulky.

  And that proved just how beautiful a relationship her sister and Grant had. The man knew Tessa inside and out, loved her and her career. He’d even overcome his own personal demons to be with her.

  Cassie couldn’t be happier for the two of them, but her situation was different.

  “I’m pretty sure my attic rendezvous will not be leading to any proposals,” Cassie joked. She had to joke with Tessa, otherwise she’d cry, and she refused to let this experience pull her down and make her feel guilty for having needs. “Besides, I think seeing Emily was like a bucket of cold water in Ian’s face. I won’t be with anybody who can’t accept that I’m a package deal.”

  “I saw Ian’s face when he found out Emily was yours,” Tessa said, shoving her hair behind her ear. “He was definitely caught off guard, but the man wasn’t unaffected by whatever happened between the two of you or he wouldn’t have just stopped to watch you ride by. He may be torn, but he’s still interested. You can’t blame him for being shocked you’re a mother.”

  Yeah, well, Ian’s interest more than likely consisted of getting in her pants again...which she wouldn’t allow.

  But the memory of last night still played through her mind. His touch had been perfect. His words had seduced her until she’d forgotten about anything else but the moment they were locked in.

  No matter how her body craved to be touched by his talented hands again, Cassie knew she deserved better than the way she’d been treated afterward.

  So if Ian wanted her, that was his problem and he’d have to deal with it. She had enough on her plate without worrying about some big-time Hollywood agent who was only looking for only a fling.

  She had a racing season to finish and a school for handicapped children to get started.

  Her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Grant, had a paralyzed sister who used to ride, and her story had inspired Cassie on so many levels. Even though they hadn’t met yet, just her story alone was enough to drive Cassie to want more for the next chapter of life. And what better way to teach her daughter to give back an
d love and care for others? Instilling love in young children made all the difference. She and Tessa were evidence of that.

  Throwing a glance over her shoulder, Cassie had mixed emotions when she saw Ian was nowhere in sight. On one hand, she was glad he’d moved on. On the other, she kind of liked knowing she’d left some sort of impression on him.

  No matter how things were now, for a time last night, she’d been in a sexy man’s arms and that man had been attentive and giving and had made her feel more self-worth than ever.

  Having regrets at this point was kind of in vain.

  Besides, no matter what common sense played through her mind, she couldn’t deny the physical pull she still felt toward Ian. And she was positive she hadn’t seen the last of him.

  Eight

  After shooting wrapped for the day, Ian headed toward the stables to see if Lily was in there. He hadn’t seen her for two days, and Max had mentioned he’d seen her heading that way. Ian hadn’t had a chance to speak with her yet. The chaos of filming and so many people around had gotten in the way. Other than the usual small talk, he’d not been able to catch her alone.

  Hopefully he could find her and perhaps they could arrange for a time to sit down and talk.

  The sun was just at the edge of the horizon, casting a vibrant orange glow across the sky. The air had turned warmer as spring approached summer. Soon they’d be off to the Preakness Stakes, where Tessa would try to win the second race on her way toward the coveted Triple Crown.

  The entire crew was riding the high of the shoot as well as getting sucked into the excitement of cheering the Barrington girls on toward victory. He had no doubt Tessa and Cassie were a jumble of anticipation and nerves.

  Ian shoved his hands into his pockets as he approached the stables. He wasn’t letting his mind wander to Cassie, because if he thought of her, he’d think of her sweet curves, her tempting smile and the fact he still wanted her.

  Before he could travel too far down that path of mixed emotions, Ian rounded the corner of the open stable door and froze.