The Undercover Playboy (Captured by Love Book 3)

by Miranda P. Charles

  “We can tell Tash,” he said. “I’ll just need to remind her to keep it from everyone else. Is that okay with you? Just Tash knowing for now?”

  Cassie’s sincere smile eased his guilt somewhat.

  “So how come you didn’t join your family for dinner tonight?” Cassie asked.

  “I’ve already planned to see you when Mum asked me. So I said I couldn’t. Anyway, I better get dressed before Tash gets back.”

  He’d only meant to give her a peck on the lips before rising from the bed. But he found himself rolling on top of her instead, and devouring her mouth yet again. Hadn’t he had enough? Evidently, the answer was no. What was it about Cassie that made him want her again and again, even after she’d already satisfied him immensely several times?

  With much effort, he extricated himself from her and walked to her en suite. “You’re gonna have to find a way to keep your hands off me, woman,” he said with mock seriousness, shaking his head at himself in bemusement.

  “Okay, our first one-night stand is officially over,” Cassie said, deadpan.

  Oh, and he had to look back at her, didn’t he? She was grinning, her hair all tousled, with one of her beautiful legs poking out of the sheets.

  He trotted back to her and launched himself on the bed. Then he climbed back on top of a giggling Cassie, who went quiet when he covered her mouth with his.

  *****

  Carter watched Bronwyn Tellman walk into the building from the corner of his eye. Time to get to work. After his incredible night with Cassie last night, he’d been walking on air all morning. But now he had to ground himself and concentrate on his task.

  He followed the gallery owner to her office.

  He’d been suspicious of Bronwyn from the beginning. She might not have a police record, but surprisingly little had turned up about her elsewhere. For a successful businesswoman, it was strange that even publicly available information about her was sparse.

  “Hi, Bronwyn,” he said, stopping by the door and sporting one of his most charming smiles.

  “Hello, Carter,” Bronwyn said, giving him a professional smile in return.

  “Did anyone tell you that I’m checking each power outlet in this building?”

  Bronwyn frowned. “No. I was away for a couple of days. What exactly is the problem?”

  He explained, letting her know that the building manager had insisted that the checks be done. Thankfully, the building manager had simply trusted Carter’s word for it.

  “Okay,” Bronwyn said with a resigned sigh, waving her hand toward the sockets behind her. “You haven’t found many problems in the other areas, have you?”

  “Not enough for you to worry about,” he said, trying to engage her with another grin.

  “Good. I have enough on my plate that I don’t want to worry about electrical problems,” Bronwyn said. “And Carter...”

  “Yes?” he asked, cocking his head to the side as Bronwyn stared at him with a scrutinising gaze.

  “You’re a very handsome man. And it’s not difficult to understand why some of my employees have a clear crush on you.”

  He gave her a lopsided smile. “It’s not something I can help, I’m afraid,” he joked, ready to launch into his sob story as soon as Bronwyn gave him an opening.

  “But this is a workplace, Carter,” Bronwyn said, her tone suddenly stern. “I don’t want my employees getting distracted or, worse, getting into a competition over you that would destroy their camaraderie.”

  His mouth dropped opened. He wasn’t expecting this. “I didn’t realise that worries you, Bronwyn.”

  “Now you do,” Bronwyn said with a smile, although her eyes held warning.

  “Okay. I’ll watch how I interact with them.”

  “Please. And I’ve heard you’re having some personal problems as well, Carter. Could I ask you to refrain from discussing your money woes with my employees? Not that I’m unsympathetic, but I don’t want them to be further distracted by you.”

  “Of course. I understand. It won’t happen again.”

  “Thank you,” Bronwyn said, then went to face her computer screen.

  He proceeded to “test” the power points in silence. Could he have been wrong about Bronwyn? His instincts had told him she was someone to watch. But clearly, she wasn’t on the lookout for a financially desperate and criminally inclined stooge—unless his timing wasn’t right and she didn’t need one at this point. Or perhaps she’d already found someone else.

  He wasn’t ready to take Bronwyn off his suspects list yet, but he was relieved. If Bronwyn’s nose was clean, then Cassie’s dream job was safe.

  Just for that, he hoped that someone other than Bronwyn was the criminal they were looking for.

  *****

  “Hey, bro. How’re you feeling?” Carter asked Gavin as he stepped into his buddy’s penthouse.

  “Great! I’ve been going to the office this week and I was glad to see that the guys are holding the fort well without me.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to lie low?” he asked with a frown.

  “Dude, as if I don’t know how to make myself invisible,” Gavin said.

  “What, do you wear a wig or something?”

  “Come and I’ll show you.”

  Gavin led Carter to his walk-in dressing room where a longish blond wig and a fake full beard sat on an open box.

  Carter laughed out loud. “I’d love to see you with them on, Gav. From dark to blond, hey?”

  “And wait, there’s more.” Gavin showed him a pair of green contact lenses.

  Carter sighed. “As long as they don’t find out your real name and where you live, I guess you’ll be fine.”

  “So what’s news? Has Emma turned up anywhere?” Gavin asked as they walked to the kitchen to get a couple of beers.

  “No sign of Emma, even on past security videos,” Carter said as he sat on a bar stool and updated Gavin with recent developments. “So right now, there’s only one person who fits our profile to a tee—Susan Sanchez.”

  “And do you think she’s the Tellman Galleries connection?”

  “When I told her my sob story, she responded similar to how your shooter Emma responded to you at the singles’ party. But something about Susan’s demeanour makes me think she was being genuine rather than cunning.”

  “She could be a great actress.”

  “Yes, she could be. And then there’s Bronwyn Tellman. Nothing in her actions suggests it’s her and she doesn’t fit the profile at all. Yet my instincts tell me she’s involved.”

  “Well, I won’t discount your instincts, Carter. You’re almost always right.”

  “In this case I hope I’m wrong. If it is Bronwyn, the gallery would probably need to close since she’s the sole owner and director. I’d hate for Cassie to lose such a great job.”

  “Do you still have a thing for Cassie?”

  He couldn’t help his grin. “Hell, yeah.”

  Gavin narrowed his eyes. “Why do you look so happy for someone who can’t make a move on the woman he’s been lusting after for months?”

  He raked his hair.

  “You did not,” Gavin said, his eyes rounding. “Carter, she could very well be working with a person who’s part of a crime syndicate responsible for killing a cop, terrorising and robbing a surgeon, shooting their stooge in cold blood, and trying to kill me. This is not the time to indulge yourself when you have perps to catch.”

  “I know, I know. I haven’t told Cassie anything.”

  “Do you see how complicated you’ve made this? You know you’ll have to ask Susan out to work this case. I bet you’re gonna worry that Cassie might get jealous so you’d want to hide your ‘budding romance’ with Susan from her,” Gavin said, shaking his head.

  Carter exhaled heavily. Gavin was right, of course. He wouldn’t want Cassie to find out that he’d be “dating” Susan. Damn. Somehow, he’d have to make sure Susan wouldn’t tell anyone in the office, especially Bronwyn, who’d warned him
off her employees.

  He sat up straighter, a thought occurring to him. “You know what, Gav? Bronwyn has been out of the office from Monday afternoon till yesterday. Apparently, she was in Perth for her grandmother’s birthday. I saw her first thing this morning and I know she hadn’t spoken to Susan or anyone else before I did. So how did she know about my supposed financial problems but not that fact that I have to check the power points in the building?”

  “What are you saying? That Susan updated Bronwyn on non-work-related matters only? Do you think that the two of them could be in on this?”

  He stared at Gavin. “It’s possible.”

  “You have a lot of investigating to do, bro,” Gavin said.

  He nodded. Forefront on his mind was making sure Cassie didn’t get entangled in this.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Cassie walked into Tellman Galleries with a bright smile on her face. It was the start of her fifth week with her new employer and things were going swimmingly. She’d even been invited to her first private dinner with a couple of prominent artists and several apparently wealthy art lovers.

  The only thing that frustrated her was the lack of recorded information regarding some of the accounting entries in the company’s financials. Bronwyn had answered a couple of her questions, but her boss had been busy with negotiating big exhibitions that they’d put off any further meetings until later. Apart from that, she was cruising.

  But what really excited her today was seeing Carter again. The last time they’d seen each other was the day after Jade and Lucas’s wedding over a week ago. Carter’s work at the gallery was on hold until the other tradesmen had done their bit, so he’d been working on other projects outside of Sydney. But he’d texted her last night to say he was coming in today.

  She couldn’t believe how fast things between them had progressed. After their first “one-night stand” three and a half weeks ago, they’d both been eager for a repeat—and she’d ended up spending fourteen straight nights with Carter, having nice dinners with him, watching a movie a couple of times, going for walks, and always ending up in his bed.

  Natasha had been thrilled when they’d told her, and promised them that she’d give them space and not butt into their business.

  Cassie appreciated that. She even got Natasha—after a little bit of prodding—to give her insights on why Carter hadn’t wanted to be tied up in a relationship.

  Natasha had said that Carter had always taken on jobs that were extremely urgent—kind of like life-and-death situations, which Cassie had assumed to mean fire or electrocution risks, or a whole business having to shut down for days for safety reasons.

  According to Natasha, Carter didn’t want to disappoint girlfriends by not having quality time for them, so he chose to go the casual route with his relationships. Natasha did say that she believed it was just a matter of Carter finding the right woman that would make him want something more long-term, and Natasha was backing Cassie for the role of Miss Right.

  Cassie was thrilled by her flatmate’s vote of confidence. She hoped herself that, for Carter, she was indeed Miss Right.

  Even though they’d only talked about a date-to-date agreement, she firmly believed that she was the only woman in Carter’s life right now. When he’d said that he wouldn’t let her have one-night stands with other guys, that meant he wanted them to be exclusive, right? Otherwise, why else would he have brought that up?

  She did understand why Carter used to prefer casual liaisons. He was a workaholic with a big heart who didn’t want a woman telling him to choose between his work and his relationship.

  Well, she had no plans of making that demand on him. In fact, she admired him for being so conscientious with his job. Funny thing was, he was the one who’d been telling her not to work too hard!

  She and Carter had been having such an amazing time together, in and out of bed, that she was no longer afraid to dream of a future with him. The two of them as a couple simply felt... inevitable.

  She’d known, even when they were still friends, that they had a special connection. Now, that connection was much stronger—aided by the sex part, which was out of this world.

  She suppressed a giggle. Carter was so sweet and tender. And so hot and naughty. He enjoyed teasing her with his dirty talk—and yes, his dirty talking did turn her on. Who would have thought she’d love it so much?

  She bit her lip at the memories, a delicious throb developing between her legs. Ah, but she couldn’t indulge in thinking about him anymore. It was time to start working.

  She placed her handbag in her bottom drawer then made her way to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. She was surprised to see two ladies from the event management team already there. There were still forty-five minutes to go before official working hours started, so they probably had to work on a big event that was happening soon.

  She paused for a bit, trying to remember her officemates’ names, but she just couldn’t recall them. With a shake of her head, she stepped into the kitchen, only to stop in her tracks and instinctively hide herself behind the wall.

  Did she just hear one of them say “Carter” and “fucking her”? How the hell did they find out that she and Carter were sleeping together?

  “Gosh, I wish it was me he was fucking,” said the redhead.

  “Shh. Don’t talk too loud,” the brunette said.

  “She’s still in the ladies’, putting on her makeup,” the other said. “And you know she doesn’t drink coffee.”

  “I don’t understand why she has to spend that much time making herself look pretty. She’s already so gorgeous!”

  “I know. I’m so jealous about how flawless her skin is. She doesn’t need a lot of makeup at all.”

  “At least we can still ogle Carter in secret. That’s all we can do since we have no chance now that Susan’s got her claws on him.”

  “Do you really think they’re dating?”

  “Yes! I caught them flirting with each other last Thursday. They had lunch together at the park, but obviously, they didn’t want anyone to see them because they were sitting at the far end where none of us would go because it’s a bit far away from here. But I ventured that way because I’m committed to exercising during lunchtime. Anyway, they were sitting so close together that I was so envious. Susan even wiped something off Carter’s mouth at one point. Of course, I had to watch so I can live vicariously through Susan. Who wouldn’t want to be with that hunk of a man?”

  “Wow.”

  “I know.”

  Cassie quietly made her way back to her office, her heart racing. Carter had had lunch with Susan last Thursday? He was supposed to have been in Canberra, working on another building there.

  Cassie had never had lunch with Carter while they were at work. Carter had always seemed to want to appear professional, except on her first day when he’d flirted with her in her office. There had been no repeat of that since.

  She looked out the window, her mind busy trying to make sense of what she’d heard. So were she and Carter not exclusive, after all? Had he tired of her after two weeks of intense sexing?

  Anger started bubbling up inside her. She had no reason to disbelieve what she’d just heard in the kitchen. There was no reason for her officemate to lie about what she’d seen.

  Yes, she was mad at Carter for making her believe he was not the playboy she’d thought he was. But she was angrier at herself. How could she let herself believe something that was never even on offer?

  She’d been the one who’d propositioned Carter for a one-night stand. He’d given her more than one night, but he’d never said anything about exclusivity. He’d made it clear they were only a date-by-date agreement.

  Yeah, if anyone were to blame, it was her. She was so stupid. This was yet more proof that she couldn’t trust herself to read the situation correctly when it came to matters of the heart. Multiple nights of hot sex didn’t mean the guy was falling for her. How could she let herself “see” a futur
e with a man who’d been clear from the beginning that they were only in a non-committed relationship?

  Stupid. Fucking stupid.

  Her eyes welled up, but she forced her emotions back down. She wasn’t going to cry here. She was a big girl, and she did have some pride.

  Taking a deep breath, she turned around and headed back for the kitchen. She’d learnt long ago that the best way to deal with disappointments like these was to pretend it didn’t matter.

  Yeah. Fake it till you make it, Cassie.

  She bumped into the two women from events management.

  “Hello, Cassie. You’re early today,” said the brunette.

  “I have a few things to do so I thought I’d come in early,” she responded with a smile. “You guys preparing for a big event?”

  “Yeah.”

  Cassie listened politely as the two ladies gushed about an upcoming exhibition for the works of a newly discovered painter. She was impressed to learn that Bronwyn had personally given a directive to make sure this event had the buzz reserved for more established artists. Bronwyn really was such a great supporter of new talents. It made Cassie feel proud to be working with her.

  “Well, we better go and start working,” said the redhead. “From his picture, it looks like this new artist is cute so I want him to be successful.”

  The two giggled as they walked back to their cubicles.

  “Hey, Cassie. Good morning,” a voice said behind her.

  “Good morning, Susan,” she greeted, unable to help but check out her colleague’s face. Susan really was stunning. And yes, even if she hadn’t put on more makeup, she would still have looked beautiful, like she always did.

  “Lots of work on?” Susan asked.

  “Yeah. Bronwyn asked me to look into a couple of things. You?”

  “Um, yeah,” Susan responded.

  Hrmph. She bet that Susan turned up early because of Carter.

  “Hey, can I ask you something?” Susan asked.

  “Sure.”

  “Do you know if Carter likes coffee? And if he does, how does he take it?”