upwardly thrust penis. Nice. She looked up into his eyes. “Er, um.” What did one say in this situation? Great kiss. Can I have more? Can you shut your whiny girlfriend
up?
“Are the chooks okay?” Evan asked, his hand still on her waist.
She’s forgotten all about Bert and Mitzi when she had stomped off to put a
protective layer of clothes on. “Ah—yeah.” She looked him up and down, unsure
what to say. Indicating the kiss was amazing would lead to others. She wasn’t there to
kiss people. She wanted an uncomplicated, naked-man-free life. “Evan—”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart? Oh boy. You go around kissing and sweethearting women and stuff
got complicated. Cass looked at the angry, loud Adele. “Shut up.” She was amused
when the dark haired woman’s mouth snapped shut. I see. I’m being used. “Evan?”
“Yeah?”
“Do that again and I’ll punch you in the stomach.” Yes, she enjoyed the kiss but
she didn’t want to be taken advantage of. If he wanted to piss Adele off that was fine
but Cass wasn’t going to help him. She licked her lips and looked him in the eye.
“Are we clear?”
“I understand exactly where you’re coming from,” Evan returned with a grin.
“And for god sake, get dressed.” It was hard being angry at a naked man.
“Yes, ma’am.” He reached over and tugged a lock of her hair. “I’ll see you later.”
“Not,” muttered Cass as she headed up the hall in search of the office.
“Good morning!” Flo greeted her as Cass walked into the reception area.
“You look like you’ve been hit with a sledgehammer,” remarked Jo.
“No, just a naked man kissing people in the hallway.” She looked from one
woman to the other. “I told him I would punch him in the guts if he did it again.” Cass
was more annoyed with herself than him. I should have pushed him away. I should
have yelled at him. Shoulda, woulda, coulda. It was a moot point now. Evan had
kissed her and it messed with her brain cells and she didn’t like it.
“Ah, Evan.”
“He is inclined to wander naked in the morning.”
Oh, boy. That I didn’t need to hear. That was really going to screw with her
equilibrium. “And Adele was with him.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” Flo nodded and looked at Jo.
“Yeah, he would have kissed you to get Adele off the track.”
That really annoyed Cass. “He kissed me to spite her?” Well, damn. Hearing that
confirmed was the pits. “So he used me?”
“Well, I’m not sure. We do know Adele has always had a thing for Evan. We
figured when he didn’t want her, that’s why she latched onto Murdo.”
“Bastard.” Cass had to admit it smacked at her pride.
Flo shrugged. “Men are strange. They don’t think like us. As for Adele, she could
be a problem. She’s a vengeful one. It’s all that Sicilian blood in her. Her family came
over to harvest sugar cane in the 1950’s around the Mossman area. They made a
fortune, bought a property out here and now they raise livestock and do very nicely
for themselves.”
“She wants Evan?” Cass thought back to what the women said about Adele
wanting to marry money. “Is he rich?”
“Word is he’s done okay for himself.”
Money didn’t mean a great deal to Cass, mainly because she had a limited supply
of it and it was all earmarked for bills. “Well, he’s still a bastard for kissing me like
that.” She wanted to be kissed because for the man to do anything else would be
impossible.
“Yeah, kisses screw up everything.”
Chapter Four
Cass held on to two corners of a double bed sheet and flung it out so the material
spread out onto the bed. That’s what she was doing. Making hotel beds. Normally it
was something Adele was supposed to do but the lady in question had gone home in a
snit. After meeting Adele, Cass found it hard to believe she would do any manual
labor at all. She didn’t look the type who would be domestic in any way, shape or
form.
Due to Adele’s sudden imposition, they were down one staff member. It was an
interesting start to her first day. Regardless, Cass wasn’t about to let her employers
down. What was making a half a dozen beds in the scheme of thing? While she rarely
made her own bed, Cass had worked in hotels before. She knew the drill. One lot of
guests out, another in. Make it look seamless. They had twenty rooms. Twenty beds.
Easy.
Her thoughts strayed to Evan, which she’d told herself, she wasn’t going to do.
But she did. That kiss was still on her mind. “Damn man,” she muttered as she bent to
tuck in the corners.
“Who?”
“Fuck.” It was the damn man in question. There were two options. Ignore him or
pretend in didn’t affect her in any way.
“Cass?”
“What?” She continued working on the bed.
“About this morning—”
“What about it?” That came out quicker than she wanted it to. She looked at him
as she grabbed a pillow. Tall, dark, sexy. Oh shut up. Go stuff a pillow. Cass plucked
a pillow case out of her linen pile.
“The kiss.” He leaned again the wall, his eyes never leaving her.
She worked the pillow case down over the stuffing. “Oh, that.”
“Oh, that?” Evan smiled at her response. So she was going to play it cool. That’s
okay. Cool I can deal with. Her studied disinterested tone didn’t put him off. He
knew that kiss meant something to her. Evan felt it in her response. There was surprise, wonder and submission. He was ready to risk the threatened punch in the
stomach for kisses and much more.
“I know you did it to piss off your girlfriend.” Cass tossed the pillow. It landed
on the floor and not the bed.
Oh, yeah, she’s anything but cool. That was good. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
Adele wasn’t his type. Sure, she was attractive in a forced way but the temper and the
petulance? Murdo could have her. “She and I have never and will never have sex.”
Cass picked up another pillow and held it to her breasts. “So you say. But just
remember once you start romancing or having sex with women they expect stuff.”
Did they now? Do tell. What did Cass Kelly want? “Like what?”
“I dunno—commitment stuff.”
“Would you?” Evan had heard from Flo and Jo about her ex-boyfriend. The man
was an idiot to let this one go.
“I’m not most women.”
He wondered when she would stop hugging the pillow. Evan knew it was a
defensive move. He had a feeling she’d been hurt by another. He wasn’t that man.
“No, you’re not. I believe you would give everything in a relationship without expecting anything in return.” Evan watched her shrug. “I think you’re also pretty
wounded and that’s hard to get over.” That was greeted by another shrug. “And the
kiss? It was more than just pissing off Adele.”
“Was it?”
Yeah, she was cool but her eyes held a glimmer of hope. He would give Cass that
and more. She just had to let him in. “You know it was. You felt it.”
“You were naked. I felt stuff. It was a natural bodily reaction.”
Uh-huh. “So, if that’s true, if we both get nak
ed now and our bodies touched you
would feel nothing?”
“Yep.”
She blushed. Evan smiled. “Liar.”
Cass dropped the pillow. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to relax and accept that there’s this attraction between us.”
She snorted. “I don’t even know you.”
“So, get to know me.”
“This is just bollocks to get you laid.”
Evan laughed out loud at that. “I kissed you. I felt something. You felt something.” Her face went redder. Evan took a step towards her.
“What do you want?” Cass’s tone was bordering on panic.
“You.” It was simple. He desired her. It couldn’t be any plainer than that. They
got off to a bad start. He planned to fix that.
She studied him for a long moment, a militant look in her eyes. “Fine. Let’s do it
then.” She tugged at the snap on her shorts.
“It?” His eyes followed her hands as she undid the zipper.
“Sex. Clearly, you’re desperate. Clearly, we need to get this over and done with
so you move on and stop pestering me.”
“So, you see sex as some meaningless, random act.” Hardened, uncaring women
did not blush as Cass did.
“Yes.” Her shorts hit the ground and she kicked then aside.
Evan gulped and focused on smooth, plump thighs. “Cass?” He watched as her
hands skimmed down to her waist and she lifted her shirt over her head. “Bloody
hell.” A lacy white bra caught his attention. Through the filmy gauze he caught sight
of pink nipples.
“What are you waiting for?” Cass was standing in her underwear before him.
“You’re serious.” He hadn’t thought this moment would go like this. Evan
wanted to talk to her and see what her feelings were. But an almost naked woman
urging him on? Priceless.
“I’m deadly fucking serious.” Cass wasn’t a fan of being naked but she wanted to
prove to him and herself that he meant nothing to her. She didn’t like being used for
kisses. She reached around and tugged at the hooks of her bra.
“Ah, so we’re proving a point about how sex is just about bodies and nothing
else.”
Her bra dropped to the floor. “Yeah, now strip.” He gulped. “What? Never seen
boobs before?” Tough talk. Shaky body. What the hell am I doing? It felt good yet in
an out of control, crazy way. Just go with it.
“Can I say that you’re beautiful?” Evan yanked his shirt off over his head.
“Don’t be so corny.” She watched as his jeans hit the ground. The bulge in his y–
fronts was interesting but she wasn’t going there. She was going to stop him before it
got to that point. This was showing how any two people could be attracted to each
other when naked and that sex was just bodies without emotion. It had nothing to do
with romance, fate or kismet. That was bullshit. Cass pulled her panties down.
“Wow.” His hit the ground.
She had already seen him naked so there were no surprises there. She lifted her
arms out to him. “Come on.” She had never invited a man to take her. It was weird
and strangely exciting.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“To prove sex is meaningless?”
“Yep, I can walk away quite easily afterwards.”
Evan smiled. “Okay then.” He walked into her open arms.
When his skin touched hers she momentarily closed her eyes and breathed in the
scent of the man as his flesh branded hers. Heat surged through her body and she felt
dizzy. Bloody hell. Get a grip, girl. She gulped down a lungful of air and opened her
eyes. His gaze was locked on her. “See? I feel nothing.”
“Really?” His hands smoothed down her back in slow caressing circles.
It was hard not to close her eyes and give into the luxury of his hands. “Yeah.”
Oh god…
Evan dropped his mouth down to nuzzle her neck as his hands made their descent
downward to cup her ass. “Still nothing?”
“N—n-nope.” Uh-oh.
One of his hands moved up to her breast, his fingers toying with her nipple.
“You’re lying, Cassie.”
Cassie. Double oh god. “I am not.” Yet she knew she was pressing herself against
him.
“Are too.” His fingers dropped down to bury themselves inside the cleft between
her legs.
Oh fuck. That’s bad. Real bad. “Don’t…”
“Why not,” he breathed against her lips.
Cass closed her eyes for a moment. “Because…”
“You’re wet.”
Her eyes opened on his. Cass licked her lips. This was backfiring at a rapid pace.
“Okay, that’ll do. Point proved.”
Evan laughed at this. “What point? That you’re horny and fighting it? That
you’re attracted to me but you don’t want to admit it? I want you, Cassie. I’m not
ashamed to say it.”
She could feel how much he wanted her. His dick was prodding against her
stomach. “Evan—”
“When was the last time you had sex?”
“None of your business.” She barely knew this naked man in her arms. Oh…
right. He’s naked. This was probably a bad idea.
“I’m making it my business.”
“Last week.”
“Liar.” Evan kissed her nose.
Okay, that was sweet. “Last month.”
“More lies.” He kissed her cheek.”
Oh… “Okay, a while.” Evan kissed her other cheek. She closed her eyes and
inhaled the scent of the man.
“Cassie—”
“Fine. My supposed boyfriend went off and got himself engaged to another
woman.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“How?” Her eyes opened.
“Flo and Jo told me you’re ‘Mary Poppins’ from the Cairns Post advert.”
Great. Who else knew? “Yeah, well, I was a bit drunk when I wrote it.”
“I loved that advert. It showed passion.” He reached up tweaked her nose. “Are
you drunk now?”
Dizzy. Not drunk. “No.”
Evan’s hands settled on her waist. He started backing her towards the bed. “So
come have sex with me and get him out of your system. If I understand you correctly,
sex doesn’t mean much to you as it’s just a bodily reaction so us getting all bodily
together should be okay. Right, Cassie?”
“Right—I mean—no.” The backs of her legs hit the bed. “Besides, he’s already
well and truly out.” Thinking about Evan being in would cause other problems.
Evan pushed her gently onto the bed and followed her down. “Is he? Is that why
you ran away to Mundabucka?”
“I didn’t run.” Lordy, he feels good. “You’re heavy.”
He lifted her hands above her head and lifted off slightly. “Ask me to get off,
Cassie.”
“Get off.” It sounded pathetic and half-hearted.
“Sex is healing.” He leant down, his lips hovering an inch from her mouth.
“Oh, yeah?” She was breathing hard, like she had run a race yet she will still and
waiting. Oh boy, I’m in trouble.
“Cleansing.” Evan flicked his tongue up and tasted the corner of her mouth.
“You’re just horny.” And I like it a lot. That surprised her. While Cass acknowledged he was a sexy man, never had she thought this would happen. She
wanted to
clear her head and be alone to think and stuff. His particular brand of stuff
was not what she planned on.
“Aren’t you?” His tongue licked at her lips.
“I want—”
“So have—”
“I barely know you—” and stuff and oh God, I’m melting.
Evan hovered above her. “What’s to know, Cassie? We have needs to be met and
we’re adults. You’ve seen me naked. You’re gloriously naked now. It’s a no brainer
what should happen next.” He nudged her thighs apart.
Cass had to admit it didn’t take a lot of effort on his part. “Well…”
“Sex cures what ails you.”
Her hands went to his shoulders. “You’re very good at this.”
“Seduction?”
“No, corny lines.”
Evan rolled over so she was on top of him. “Your choice.” He dropped his hands
down on the bed. “If you want me, be honest and say so. I’ll not take an unwilling
woman.”
That was sweet and honorable. Cass licked her lips. “Do you want me?”
“Possibly,” he murmured, his gaze on hers.
“Possibly?” She bounced her body down on his. He smiled. She trembled. Bad,
bad move, in a good way. “What sort of an answer is that?” Cass lifted up slightly
from him, her hands on his chest. The heart beating under her hands was strong and
true.
Evan smiled then closed his eyes. “I’m playing hard to get.”
She reached down with one hand and encircled his dick. She could feel the
sudden acceleration of his heart beat. “Well, if you’re not interested.” She gave his
shaft one gentle squeeze and started to get off him.
His hands grabbed at her ass, holding her still. “Cassie?”
“Yes?” That one word came out in a breathless rush. She knew what was about
happen.
“I would die a happy man if I could be inside you just once.” His fingers slid
down into the cleft of her ass and towards her vagina.
Cassie lifted her fingers and gently slid back one of Evan’s eyelids. “Do these
lines of yours actually work on women?” She jumped when one long finger touched
her clit.
His eyes opened. “You’re wet. That’s proof that the line works.”
Yes, she was. It surprised her. Sex had been average with Wade. It was not how
she had imagined it to be. Before Wade, she’d had okay sex. Being in love, as she
DumbAtHeart.epub Page 3