Fighting for Redemption (The Elite Book 4)

by Nicole Flockton

  “I don’t know if you were aware, but at the time of the photo Julia was dealing with an allegation of cheating at the Diving World Championships. Someone accused her of bribing the judges so she could win.”

  “Yes, I remember reading about it at the time.”

  “Our meeting was totally innocent. I happened to be coming out of the restaurant she was walking into. She tripped and I caught her. An enterprising paparazzi took the picture and sold it to an online gossip site who ran it with the headline that we were having an affair. Julia begged me to run with it because she didn’t want the bribery scandal to tarnish Mitch’s reputation, which was starting to happen. So, I agreed. I like Julia and didn’t think it was fair what she was going through.”

  “But I don’t get why she would put you in that situation? It hardly seems fair to you, either.”

  “I had my reasons. In the end, it didn’t matter. Julia and Mitch are back together again.”

  Cassandra was about to ask him more questions, because something didn’t feel right about it all. However, she had a feeling Brett had said all he wanted to say on the subject. So she let it drop—for now.

  “Do you want to get some dinner or something?”

  “Pardon?” The invitation shocked the heck out of her. It was the last thing she’d been expecting.

  “I said, do you want to go get some dinner.”

  “That’s what I thought you said.”

  “So? Do you?”

  She should say no. It would be the smart thing. “Yes.” The word came out almost in a whisper. Clearing her throat, she looked Brett in the eye. “Yes, I’ll have dinner with you.”

  10

  Brett checked himself one last time in the mirror. He’d only brought casual clothes with him so he’d chosen jeans and a white button-down shirt. He grabbed the hand towel and wiped his sweaty palms. Geez, was he thirteen going out on his first date? He had no idea why he was feeling nervous about spending the evening with Cassandra. It was just dinner.

  He was about to step out the door when the room phone rang. Retracing his steps, he picked up the phone, hoping it wasn’t Cassandra cancelling.

  “Hello.”

  “Hey, Brett, it’s Drake.”

  Okay, not who he was expecting, but not an unwelcome call. “Hey, Drake, what’s up?”

  “Do you have dinner plans?”

  “Um, yeah, I’m meeting my publicist, Cassandra.”

  There was a pause before he answered. “Oh, okay. Not a problem.”

  Was that disappointment in Drake’s voice? And since when would he have even picked up on something like that?

  Since Cassandra started listening to what you had to say.

  “Why? What’d you have in mind?”

  “Mitch and I wondered if you wanted to join us for dinner.”

  Well, that was the last thing he’d expected to hear when he picked up the phone.

  Before he could say anything more, Drake’s voice burst across the line. “Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Tamara and Julia are with us. Why don’t you and Cassandra join us?”

  Dinner with Mitch and Julia? Probably not the greatest idea in the world. He had no clue why Drake thought otherwise.

  “I’m not sure that would fly. I mean I haven’t seen or spoken to Julia since Rio. And apart from saying hi I didn’t say much more to Mitch today.”

  “Listen, man, we’ve got to work on the show together. I knew the minute Josh announced you as the final member of the group that they wanted something bad to happen. Because I’m Mitch’s friend, they figured it would be two against one. It’s not cool, but we’re committed to the show. We’re not going to back out because it wouldn’t be fair to any of us, especially the kids. So, what do you say? Will you check with Cassandra? We’re only planning on eating at the restaurant in the hotel.”

  The same place he and Cassandra had decided on for dinner. It seemed kind of petty and stupid to sit a few tables away when they could all sit together.

  “Okay. We were going to eat there anyway, and I don’t think she’ll mind it being a group dinner. I was walking out the door to meet her when you called. See you in the bar in fifteen?”

  “Great, see you then.” Drake disconnected the call. Brett slowly replaced the receiver and hoped like hell Cassandra didn’t mind this change of plans.

  Five minutes later he walked into to the downstairs lounge bar, scanning the occupants for her caramel-colored curls.

  “Looking for me?”

  He swiveled and found Cassandra standing behind him. Anything he was about to say was lost when he saw her outfit. The pale pink dress skimmed her body, highlighting her breasts and the soft curve of her hips. Her brown hair glistened with strands of gold filtering through it. She looked sophisticated, alluring and somehow way out of his league.

  “Hey,” the word squeaked out of him like when he’d turned thirteen and his voice was breaking. He cleared his throat and tried again. “You look beautiful.”

  A pink hue the same color as her dress suffused her cheeks. Was she as nervous as he was?

  “Thanks, you look good, too.”

  “Umm, there’s been a slight change in plans.”

  “Oh?”

  Did her eyes lose a little bit of their sparkle? No, it was probably the lighting or she’d shifted her head a fraction.

  “Yeah, I got a call—”

  “Look, if you want to cancel, that’s fine. I’ll order room service.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she turned away. Momentarily stunned at her reaction, Brett didn’t move to follow her. When his brain fired back to life, he strode quickly after her.

  “Cassandra, wait.”

  She paused but didn’t turn around.

  He stood behind her and breathed in her fresh lemony scent. He reached out and touched her shoulder, turning her so she faced him again.

  Now hurt shone in her eyes and he felt like a class-A jerk for his clumsiness.

  “Drake called and asked me to have dinner with him and Mitch. I told him we had plans.” The hurt faded a little out of her expressive eyes. Why had he never noticed how they drew him into her very soul? “Drake suggested we join them. Julia and Tamara, Drake’s girlfriend, are here as well. I didn’t want to say no, considering that we have to work together over the next few weeks. Is that okay? Do you mind having a group dinner instead of it just being the two of us?”

  Her eyes darted to something over his shoulder. “No, and they’re here.”

  Brett glanced around and saw the foursome heading in their direction. Without thinking, he placed his hand on Cassandra’s back, the silky fabric of her dress warming beneath his touch.

  “You ready?” he murmured.

  “Sure.” She shrugged, clearly okay with the change of plan. “More to the point, are you?”

  He met her gaze, now clear of the hurt he’d put there moments ago. The sparkle had returned. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he finished with a wink and led her over to meet the others.

  He admired the way Cassandra took the initiative and introduced herself to the group. No doubt a benefit of her job.

  The last thing he expected when he greeted Julia and Tamara was for them to give him a hug. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d done to deserve this display of friendship but he wasn’t going to argue about it.

  Once they were seated and drink orders were given to the waiter, silence descended over the table. Tension built inside of him at the thought of no one talking for the whole evening, which was totally absurd, considering the other four were all good friends.

  Julia broke the silence. “Hey, Brett, did you hear about Brooke King?”

  The name sounded familiar. Then he remembered. “The diver? You roomed with her in Rio, didn’t you?”

  “Yep, that’s her. She’s moving to Australia.”

  “Whoa, that’s huge.” Another memory from the Games hit him then. “She hooked up with the Australian swimmer, Dane something, didn’t she?”


  “Yeah, Dane Parkland. The guy who beat me in the 400-meter and anchored the relay race we lost,” Mitch continued.

  Brett remembered that relay all too well. He’d swum the second lap, only he didn’t swim it well. The story of his life from those Games. Next time would be a different story altogether.

  “Good for her. I hope it works out because, man, that’s one hell of a move. Not like driving your stuff from one neighborhood to another.”

  Julia laughed. “It’s definitely worked out because she and Dane are getting married and they’re having a baby.”

  “A baby? That was quick.”

  Tamara laughed. “I think it’s safe to say it was an Olympic baby.”

  Drake slung an arm around Tamara’s shoulder and winked. “What can I say? There’s something in the air and hormones go crazy at the Olympics.” He then turned serious and brushed a finger down Tamara’s cheek, the action showing Brett how much he loved the woman he was with. “You can be a lucky one and find an everlasting kind of love instead of a casual hookup.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cassandra stiffen beside him. She obviously knew all about casual sex at the Games. His scandal had been plastered all over the press.

  In that moment, he hated himself even more for the way he’d acted, not caring about the consequences. He’d gone to Rio, confident he was going to win, wanting to do it for Naomi. Then he got there and hadn’t felt worthy. Had wished, for the first time in years, that Naomi’s brother Dean had been walking beside him through the athlete’s village. Dean would’ve loved it. And he would’ve been there if it weren’t for Brett’s negligence.

  “You okay?”

  Cassandra’s whispered question dragged him back from the tunnel his thoughts were headed down.

  “Yeah.” He straightened in his chair, aware that the other occupants at the table were studying him with varying degrees of interest. Last thing he needed or wanted was questions. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  Cassandra’s eyebrows rose up, widening her eyes, giving her a the others may be convinced you’re okay, but you don’t fool me look. Without thinking it through, he reached down to squeeze her leg in reassurance. In his mind, it was going to be a quick touch and then let go, but the moment he touched her skin, it quickly became more. Of their own accord, his fingers stroked her silky flesh, the muscle jumping beneath his touch. His hand trailed upwards, pushing the fabric of her dress to expose more of her thigh.

  He gasped and bit back a grunt of pain as the spiked heel of her shoe connected with the top of his foot. He pulled his hand away and faced her. A pleasant smile graced her features even while her eyes shot daggers at him. Brett couldn’t help the chuckle escaping him. He totally deserved the look and the throbbing toes, but he still didn’t regret the few seconds of pleasure he got from touching her.

  He hoped there would be more touches. Cassandra was attractive and suddenly he wished his reputation wasn’t so crappy.

  11

  Thank God dinner was almost over. Not that she hadn’t enjoyed getting to know Mitch, Julia, Drake and Tamara. Sitting so close to Brett was torture. Every time he brushed his leg against her, heat coursed through her, bringing back memories of his hand on her leg. His spicy cologne conjured images of burying her face in his neck while his hands worked their magic on her body.

  Stop it.

  He’s younger than you.

  He’s an athlete—been there, missed the three point shot.

  He’s everything you swore you wouldn’t do again after Michael.

  Heck, it didn’t matter how many times she repeated those reasons to herself, her body still screamed at her to lean in to him.

  She had to get out of here.

  Cassandra pushed back from the table, her chair catching on the carpet. “Dammit.”

  With another shove, she had enough room to get out of her chair without stumbling over it. She grabbed her handbag and made her escape.

  “Cass? Is everything okay?”

  She’d taken two steps before stopping at the sound of Brett’s voice.

  Cass.

  It had been a long time since anyone had called her by the shortened version of her name. Michael had never called her anything but sweet cheeks or Cassandra. She’d thought sweet cheeks was cute and meant something to him, until she overheard him calling his latest groupie that name. It was then she’d found out she wasn’t his only sweet cheeks. That had marked the beginning of the end of their marriage.

  “Cassandra?” Brett’s voice was a little louder this time.

  Pulling herself from her confused memories and thoughts, she faced the table. “I’m really sorry, but I’m not feeling the best. I think I’ll call it a night.”

  Lame, so lame. Couldn’t she have come up with something better than that? Like having to make a call to her agency or something.

  Brett stood, moved to where she was, and slipped his arm around her. The action natural, but she noticed the raised eyebrows from everyone still seated at the table. “Let me walk you to your room.”

  She fought to urge to lean into him. “No, you stay here, I’ll be fine.”

  Cassandra reached into her bag to pull out her wallet, Brett’s hand stayed the movement. “No, I’ll walk you back to your room. And I’ll pay for dinner. I asked you out, remember?”

  She glared at him, conveying her dislike for the situation. It wasn’t that she was a raging feminist. On the rare occasions she went out on dates, she liked when her date paid for her dinner, or made sure she got into her house safely, usually with a polite kiss on the cheek. Nine times out of ten, the dates had been busts. Even though he had technically asked her to dinner—and yeah, she may have worn her only decent dress she’d brought on this trip—but their dinner wasn’t a date date.

  Who are you trying to convince?

  There were times she wanted to slap that voice in her head.

  “Cassandra, please.”

  She could just make out what he said, the words spoken so softly. It was enough for the sounds of the restaurant to come rushing back into focus. This wasn’t the time or the place to create a scene, even though they’d done a pretty good job of it.

  She nodded. There would be other things she would have to cajole Brett to do in the future. She could let him pay for dinner. Her body bemoaned the loss of his arm as he made the short journey back to the table.

  “It was really good to meet you, Cassandra.” She turned and faced Julia who’d moved to stand beside her.

  “Likewise.”

  Julia quickly looked at Brett then back at Cassandra. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep it up,” she said the words quietly.

  Cassandra tilted her head. “What are you talking about?”

  “With Brett. In all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him this relaxed. He usually carries this sort of tension around him. It’s almost like I saw the real Brett Hunter tonight for the first time.”

  Cassandra considered that and glanced over to where Brett was still talking to Mitch, Drake and Tamara at the table. All things considered, she supposed he did look a little mellow, but that could’ve been due to the meal they’d just had. It couldn’t have been alcohol because Brett had stuck to drinking club soda.

  “I don’t think it has anything to do with me, and more to do with being able to relax in your company. As his publicity representative, I’m aware of the history between you, Mitch and Brett.”

  “Has Brett said anything to you about it?”

  How should she handle this? Another quick glance in Brett’s direction confirmed he was still talking to the others. One thing she did know was, she didn’t want to throw Brett under the bus. “We discussed it earlier, but not in great length.” She paused. “My main focus for Brett is to concentrate on the future and not the past.”

  Julia cocked her head to the side, as though not quite believing what she’d said.

  Cassandra couldn’t prevent herself from jumping when warm fingers int
erlocked with hers.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Brett said smoothly. “Are you ready to go?”

  Being in publicity, she should’ve been able to handle any and all questions. The feeling of Julia not believing her was a new sensation. Or was it her guilty conscience, knowing that she’d fudged the truth a little.

  Cassandra smiled at Brett. “Yep, all ready.”

  Not wanting to give the rest of the group more gossip fodder, she withdrew her hand from Brett’s grip and waved goodbye to the others. “It was great meeting you all. No doubt I’ll be seeing a bit of you over the next few weeks.”

  Assuming Brett would follow her, she headed for the exit. She had no idea why she felt so discombobulated. It wasn’t a feeling she’d ever experienced with other clients. Then again, going on an intimate dinner date wasn’t normal. Any meals she’d attended with her clients had been purely business. This meal was anything but business. It had been what a good group of friends would normally do once a month. Friends who knew each other really well. Strangely, there had been no awkwardness around the dinner table. Considering the history between them all, she had been nervous the whole evening would be one mass of long silences where conversation faded away to nothing because no one knew what to say next.

  If only this evening had been like that. Then maybe she wouldn’t be feeling so confused.

  Cassandra reached out and stabbed at the elevator call button.

  “Are you sure everything’s okay, Cass?”

  She whirled around. “My name is Cassandra and everything is fine.”

  “Well then, Cassandra. I’m glad you seem to think everything is fine, because you sure as hell aren’t acting like all is good.”

  It hadn’t been her intention to snap at him; the words had just popped out. The last thing she wanted was to dissect her words and actions with Brett.

  The elevator doors opened and she pressed her mouth together so she didn’t snap again at him in front of the patrons exiting.

  “Hey, aren’t you Brett Hunter, the Olympic swimmer?”