by Tia Siren
“Go away,” I said. “I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”
“Hey, guys,” Scott said, walking up to us. “I heard yelling over here and figured I would come over and check in on you. Carl, are you giving—uh, I’m sorry; I forgot your name.”
“Cassie,” I said, hiding a smirk.
“Are you giving Cassie here a hard time?”
“Fuck off, Scott,” Carl said.
“No. I think you’re the one who needs to get moving back to your station,” he said.
He played the part of not knowing me perfectly, and in a way, it really turned me on. He was the hero again, like the first time. Only this time, I knew exactly what he was thinking. He was protecting me, and that was hotter than anything he had done before.
“Whatever,” Carl said. “She’s too much of a whore anyway. Like a fucking hotdog down a hallway.”
“You better watch that mouth of yours,” Scott said. “You are talking to a lady, and you might find that tongue doesn’t work too well after you get what you deserve.”
Carl put his middle finger up in the air as he stomped back off toward his station. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach growing stronger just standing next to Scott. He was so strong, so manly, and I wanted him to take me right there.
“You okay?” he asked, watching Carl walk off.
“Mhmm,” I said. “But I have to say, that was really fucking sexy.”
“I know.” He winked at me before walking off.
I shook my head and smiled, walking back over to the table. I picked up my fork as Bill sat down across from me, shaking his head. That wink had sent electricity surging through my chest, and I was finding it hard to speak at the moment.
“I don’t know what he was talking about,” Bill said grumpily. “Nobody over there needed me. Everything okay over here?”
“Just fine,” I said.
Chapter 15
Scott
“I’m fucking exhausted,” Landon said, taking a sip of his beer. “I went out for a run today and for some reason thought it would be a good idea to do five miles. I feel like my quads are breaking off.”
“That’s what you get for thinking.” I laughed and sipped my beer.
I was out for drinks like usual with Landon, and I was in a good mood. Cassie was on my mind, and I couldn’t wait to see her again. It felt great to be her protector, and the fact that it turned her on was even hotter.
“Oh, yeah,” Landon said. “I invited my buddy out for drinks, the one I told you was working for the company. Turns out I misunderstood him. He’s been with the company for a while and had gotten moved to another department inside the site.”
“Cool man,” I said. “When’s he coming?”
“He should be here any minute,” he said. “He wanted to go home and change before coming out. Wants to pick up some chicks.”
I laughed. “Of course.”
“Oh, there he is,” Landon said, looking over at the door.
I sipped my beer and glanced up at the big goof walking in. I choked, wiping my chin and stared at fucking Carl walking in our direction. I slowly put my bottle down and grabbed my napkin, wiping the beer from my chin. Of all the god damn guys Landon could be friends with, he had to pick the one guy I wanted to bash over the head with a hammer. Landon normally had great taste in friends, but for some reason he’d had a serious lapse in judgment.
“Where did you meet him?” I asked.
“Oh, we were in a fishing tournament together,” Landon said, nodding at Carl.
Are you fucking kidding me? I couldn’t stand to be within ten feet of this douchebag at work, and now I had to hang out with him in my spare time too. It was just my fucking luck that it would be Carl. The way he treated Cassie enraged me, and the way he treated everyone else just made that hatred even stronger. Immediately, I tried to come up with a reason I had to leave, but I knew Landon would give me a hard time. This was our usual Wednesday night drink, something we had done for a decade together, never missing one and never bolting out early. I was going to have to suck it up and deal with Carl, at least until Landon found some girl to go off with. Hopefully that would happen sooner rather than later.
“Hey, man,” Landon said, shaking Carl’s hand. “This is my best friend, Scott, the one I told you works onsite with you. Do you guys know each other?”
We both half nodded and stared at each other, trying not to make it too obvious. Landon ordered another beer and pulled out the stool next to him. Carl sat down with a smirk on his face, still staring over at me.
“Nice. So I’m assuming you work close to each other?” Landon asked.
“I work in the same section as good ole’ Scott,” Carl said with a fake smile. “We have a lot of interesting conversations.”
“Yeah?” Landon said, laughing. “Scott is good for interesting conversations. I knew you guys would probably recognize each other.”
“You told me his name was something else,” I said, taking a sip of my beer.
“Probably my last name,” Carl said. “I go by my last name to my friends.”
“Right,” I said, looking back toward the bar.
Landon had no idea who he had brought into the bar with him. He was missing every social cue that screamed out how much Carl and I hated each other. It was like he was purposely oblivious to the angry stares and the gritted teeth. Landon always did live in his own little world. He probably figured there wouldn’t be any way two of his friends could be so different that they would hate each other like Carl and I did. Still, for whatever reason, Landon had found friendship with the asshole, and I didn’t want to be rude. He wouldn’t understand anyway, especially since I was sure Carl was different around him than he was at work. He seemed like the kind of idiot who would have two personas like that. I took a deep breath and downed my beer, ordering another one. I wasn’t going to sit there and be an asshole to my best friend’s friend, so I drank instead.
“So, all three of the chicks I told you guys about, they are out,” he said. “I met this other chick last night, but, man, I’m not sure about her.”
“What’s wrong?” I said. “Too crazy for you?”
He laughed. “Sounds strange, I know. She is wild, like hippy wild, but I can tell she has some crossed wires going on upstairs. It might be the fact that she smokes way too much reefer and pounds whiskey like a man. Of course, because she’s crazy as hell, that means the sex is out of this world. I couldn’t get her to calm down to save my life. She literally wanted to do it all night long. Part of me was scared to turn her down, so I went with it.”
“Is that where I’m supposed to feel bad for you?”
“I tell you what,” Carl said. “Those crazy bitches are too much for me to handle. I don’t know how you do it. I know the sex is fucking amazing, but shit, the after effect is too much drama. I don’t need some crazy bitch slashing my tires in the middle of the night.”
“That’s why I keep my car parked in the garage,” Landon said.
I sat there listening to Carl talk about women, wanting more and more to punch him square in the jaw. He had zero respect for girls, absolutely zero. At least with Landon, he was sweet to them, honest and sweet. I had seen him talk a girl down more than once, and I was starting to think he liked being the doctor. Maybe he was waiting for the one he could tame, and then he would settle down and marry her. Me, I didn’t want anything to do with those types of girls. Cassie was perfect for me. She was sane, sweet, and grounded in reality. I didn’t have to talk her off any ledges or worry about her burning my house down in the middle of the night.
“How about you, Scott?” Carl said, looking over at me. “You bang any hot chicks lately?”
“Not Scott,” Landon said. “He’s too focused on his future to worry about women. He’s always been like that. Though, wait, you were seeing that one girl. Tell us about her.”
“Not much to tell,” I said, my stomach dropping.
I had to figure o
ut a way to get out of this conversation, but Landon was hell-bent on including me in the fun. Carl stared over at me, waiting for me to answer, but I couldn’t seem to find the words. Landon was going to completely screw me.
“Are you still seeing her?” Landon asked. “I know you were unsure of things last time I talked to you.”
“Uh, yeah,” I said with a smile. “From time to time we see each other. I got a lot going on right now, though, so it’s best that I just see her on occasion.”
“Did you fuck her again?” Landon asked. “This guy said it was the best fucking sex he had ever had. Apparently this girl is wild.”
“Hell, yeah,” Carl said, taking a drink of his beer. “So, what gives? You should be banging that every chance you get.”
“You know,” I said, “I’m not really one to kiss and tell.”
“You always have been private about that shit,” Landon said, shaking his head. “You never seem to want to give up the good details, the ones we really want to hear.”
“Call me old-fashioned.”
“Man, what was her name again?” Landon said. “Oh yeah, Cassie. That’s right.”
I gripped my beer and grimaced. Fuck. I looked over at Carl, who was sitting there with his head tilted to the side. Realization slowly washed over him, and he smiled at me and shook his head. He had realized the exact thing I never wanted him to find out. There was a good chance the conversation we just had was going to completely fuck me. Carl had been out for blood for me since he joined the crew, and Landon had just handed him the information that could not only make my life a living hell when it came to him but also completely screw me out of a job. My nerves went wild watching the smug smile Carl had on his face. I didn’t know how I was going to get myself out of this one, but I was going to have to try.
We went on with the conversation, turning it back to Landon’s love life. I sat there not saying a word, feeling Carl staring at me. I was in some seriously deep shit.
“I’m going to hit the head,” Landon said. “I’ll be right back.”
Landon got up from the bar and patted me on the shoulder, smiling big. I forced a smile out, knowing it wasn’t his fault for outing me. He had no idea Cassie was a secret or that he had brought the fox into the hen house when he befriended Carl. I sat there in silence, staring down at my beer. I looked over at Carl as he chuckled to himself.
“You think you are so sly. Lord, this is good.”
“I don’t know what you think you know,” I said, “but that Cassie is not the same one from work. It’s a completely different girl, and she doesn’t even live in this town. I’m sure you don’t know her.”
“Right,” Carl said. “You are so full of fucking bullshit. But hey, I can understand why you would want to keep that pretty little thing a secret. She is, after all, the boss’s daughter, and we all know how the boss feels about people taking what is his. Man, if he knew, he would personally hang you from the scaffolding and beat your ass before throwing you out on the street. It would be a beautiful fucking thing to watch. After all this time with you walking around talking shit, acting like you are so much smarter than the rest of us, you are fucking the boss’s motherfucking daughter.”
“This isn’t any of your business,” I said.
“You’re right. It wasn’t any of my business until your moron best friend spilled the beans. Damn, you would think you might be a little bit more careful with this info.”
“What do you want, Carl?”
“What do I want? I want you to stop being a fucking know-it-all that makes the rest of us look bad every chance he gets,” he said. “But you can’t change your personality, so I guess you are out of luck then.”
“I get it. You want to hurt me,” I said. “But you don’t need to hurt her too.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t tell the guys,” he said, standing up and leaning toward me. “But if you don’t end it with her, you can be damn sure I’m going straight to the boss and telling him all about how you are fucking his little girl.”
Carl smiled and sipped his beer before walking off into the crowd. I was in some seriously deep shit.
Chapter 16
Cassie
The water streamed down the outside of my bedroom window, and I stared out, watching the clouds moving overhead. It had been raining all night and into the morning, and the ground was soaked through. My father had called the crew off, figuring it would be much too dangerous to be working in those kinds of conditions, what with climbing on slippery wood and standing on rooftops during the lightning. I was sure the guys were happy to have a relaxing, rainy day inside, but I felt like I was going insane. I had woken up thinking I was going to see Scott but then found out that I wasn’t going into work. My father even gave me the day off from the office, telling me I had been working so hard and I deserved some rest. I wanted to rest, but I wanted to do it in Scott’s arms, not in my bedroom at my parents’ house.
I paced the floor back and forth, thinking about the nagging feeling in the back of my mind, like something was wrong. I dismissed it, figuring it was just the rain, the sound of the ominous thunder shuttering overhead, shaking the glass in the windows. I walked over to my nightstand and grabbed my phone. I scrolled through and called Scott.
“Hey, there,” he said on the other end.
“Hi.” I smiled. “I’m glad you’re up.”
“I woke up for work, and when I found out it was canceled, I couldn’t go back to sleep,” he said.
“I was thinking about you,” I said sweetly.
“Oh yeah? I was thinking about you too,” he said.
“Can we see each other?” I asked.
“Yeah, actually. I think we need to see each other,” he replied. “There’s something we need to talk about.”
“Okay,” I said, worried now. “I’ll be over there in twenty minutes.”
“Just come in. I’ll unlock the door,” he said. “And drive safely. It is really coming down out there.”
“I will,” I said. “See you soon.”
Immediately I went into panic mode, running around my room trying to find clothes to put on. He didn’t sound like his normal cheery self, and the fact that he said we had things to talk about was even more alarming. I grabbed my raincoat and headed down the hall, pausing at the sound of my father’s voice.
“Cassie,” he said from his office.
“Hey, Dad,” I said, pushing the panic back. “I thought you were at the office.”
“I didn’t want to go out in the storm, so I’m working from home,” he said. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Oh, uh, I’m going out shopping with Whitney,” I said. “She needs a dress for this thing she has coming up, and I figured I would tag along. We haven’t done much shopping this summer.”
“Buy yourself something nice while you’re out,” he said. “And be careful out there. It’s really coming down.”
“Thanks, Daddy. I will.” I smiled and turned to walk from the room.
I shook my head, feeling guilty for always lying, but I had bigger things to think about. On the drive over there, my stomach churned, not knowing what I was going to be walking into. If my father had found out, then he wouldn’t have let me leave like he did. Whatever it was, it had sent me into a tailspin. I pulled up in front of Scott’s little blue house and sat in the car for a minute, my nerves getting worse and worse by the second. I gripped my hands, noticing they were shaking. I had never been this crazy over someone telling me they needed to talk, but then again, I had never felt this way about a man. I was feeling even more nervous than before now that I was at Scott’s place. Part of me wanted to run, didn’t want to hear the bad news, but the other part of me couldn’t even think of bailing at a time like this. I was going to have to face the music, whatever it was, and take things one step at a time.
I looked out the window at the house, seeing the streams of water washing over my passenger window. My mind flew off on its own, thinking
about every possible scenario. Maybe Scott had had enough of the sneaking around and wanted to end things. Maybe he had met someone else, someone not so high maintenance, someone he could be in public with, see a future with. Maybe my father had found out and didn’t say anything to me, instead taking all his aggression out on Scott. My mind spun in circles, trying to remain calm but finding more and more scenarios to jar it awake. I needed to calm myself down and go inside and find out whatever it was that was so important. Maybe I was misreading the signs altogether and it was something good. That was doubtful given my track record, though. I could never seem to find a happy place when it came to having a relationship, mostly because they had to be secret.
I really, really liked Scott, and I was falling in love with him fast. It was just the beginning for the two of us. I was sure that in time I would figure out a way to bring our relationship to light and not have my father lose his mind. Until then, though, I wanted to keep what we had intact and growing stronger. Everything had been fine the last time I saw him, or at least as fine as it could be under the circumstances. There was no way he could have changed his mind that quickly. I knew he felt as strongly for me as I did for him, and that in itself was a testament to the fact that what we had was too good and too pure to give up on. No, I had to not give up already. I had to face whatever it was and then put us back together.
Deep breaths filled my lungs as I centered myself. I opened the car door and made a run for his front door. I grabbed the handle and walked in, shaking myself off. Scott looked up from the table and smiled sweetly before walking over and taking my raincoat. I looked into his eyes, shivering slightly from the cold rain, trying to find an answer.
“Okay, what is going on?” I asked. “You sounded like it was something bad on the phone.”
“Come here,” he said, sitting me down in a chair and taking a seat across from me. “So, here is what happened. Every Wednesday night I go out for drinks with my best friend, Landon, so it wasn’t abnormal that I did that last night. When everything first started getting more serious with us, I told Landon about it. I didn’t tell him that we worked together or who you were, but I did tell him your name. He was happy for us.”