Dawn was so quietly determined, my heart melted. She really was such an amazing friend and always had been. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
Dawn laughed. “Oh, I know.” She winked at me. “But you shouldn’t be stopped from getting these great opportunities because of things like this. It’s what friends are for.”
“Thank you. But I’m still worried about this trip.”
Chelsea came back from the bathroom and I sat her down at the table while Dawn brought the food over.
“Why? Is it because you still hate your boss?”
I knew what she was talking about, keeping it just a bit in code so that Chelsea wouldn’t pick up on anything.
“Sort of.” I took a deep breath, remembering how concerned Raff had sounded earlier. How he’d looked at me like he was genuinely worried for me, that something was wrong. “He’s just being really great.”
Dawn frowned. “Wait. Are you telling me that you’re upset because he’s being a good person?”
“I know! I know, it sounds crazy.” I shook my head and sat down at the table, helping Chelsea with her food. “But he’s charming and sweet. And he was looking out for me today. He noticed that I seemed upset and he asked me about it. And I’m just… struggling to remember all the reasons I shouldn’t like him.”
Dawn gave me a knowing look. “Mmm. It’s almost like what I said a couple of weeks ago… might actually apply…”
“Oh, shush.” I reached across the table to playfully shove her. “I’m holding fast to what I said. This doesn’t change anything.”
It had been so easy to hate him all this time. Being confronted with the reality that Raff was still the guy that I’d known and had feelings for was… disconcerting. It was such a dick move to leave, I’d just assumed he’d become a dick in every other way, too. Instead, he was a great person.
What was I supposed to do with him if I couldn’t hate him anymore?
7
Raff
Our hotel room in Rome was gorgeous.
It wasn’t far from the famous Coliseum, and had a great view of the entire city. The sunset was stunning. It was completely different from San Francisco, and I loved it. This was definitely a big perk with this job—getting to travel around the world, really enjoy it and explore it.
I was glad that Cass got to come with us. She was staring up at everything in wonder as we got off the plane, clearly trying to take everything in without looking like a completely naïve tourist.
It was adorable. I had to stifle my smile as we headed for our hotel and checked in. Honestly, it reminded me of how wide-eyed I’d been myself, just a few years ago. I’d gotten used to the traveling and globetrotting. Cassidy was new to all of this. It made me look at this situation with new eyes, too. To see it with wonder once more.
Part of me couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to take Cass here just for fun. Just for the two of us. Not for work. We could wander through the piazzas, sleep in, sample all the different hearty foods, take romantic strolls, soak in the history… make love at night in the hotel room, against the sheets… I could make her moan just like I had that one night we got together…
Down, boy, I told myself. I wasn’t here for pleasure and Cass and I weren’t together. She didn’t even like me. I liked to think that I was making some kind of headway with winning her over, but still. We were far from getting to be a romantic couple, and this wasn’t the trip for it.
No matter how much I dreamed about her and touched myself thinking of her when I was safely alone at home.
I got ready for our dinner that night with our client and then waited in the lobby for Kelly and Cass. Fuck, Cass looked stunning. The elevator opened and my jaw just about hit the floor as she waltzed over in a dark blue dress that brought out her eyes, the soft thin layers of the dress reminding me of a Roman or Greek chiton.
Cass smiled at me as she walked up. She had to know what she was doing to me, the way that I was looking at her. Fuck. Was she teasing me? Did I maybe have some hope with her after all?
“You look stunning,” I said quietly, keeping my voice low. I knew that it was a bit too intimate that way but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I didn’t want the rest of the lobby to hear me. It was a compliment for Cass alone.
Cass’ cheeks got a little pink. “Thank you.”
Kelly walked up behind her in a chic black number. “You look great as always, Kelly,” I complimented her.
“Thank you. Dapper suit.”
“Aww, this old thing?” I joked. “Shall we?”
We met Furio at the restaurant. He stood upon seeing us and helped the ladies sit down. “I’m so glad that you all were able to come out here and see things for yourselves. And visit my beautiful home city. I hope that my work with you will still give you some free time to wander around and see the sights.”
Furio smiled at Cass in particular and I felt another growl working its way up my throat. Furio was handsome and charming, with a sharp sense of style judging by his very nice powder blue suit. I was sure that women fell all over themselves trying to get his attention.
Well. He wasn’t going to get his charms to work on this particular woman, no way. Cass deserved better than some random guy trying to hook up with her while she was supposed to be working with him. And the thought of any man besides me having his hands on Cass drove me fucking insane.
“I would love to be able to see some of the sights,” Cass admitted. “I’ve never been outside of the United States before and I’ve always adored Italy.”
“Oh, is that so?” Furio smiled at her. “I’ll have to tell you some of the best place to go. Perhaps I could even give you a tour myself.”
The guy was practically breathing down her neck, what the hell? “We’re in town on business,” I pointed out. “And while I appreciate you wanting to give us all time to relax as well, we should get back on track discussing the business plans.”
“Of course, of course.” Furio was still looking at Cass. “I would love to hear more of your thoughts on things, Cassidy.”
Cass smiled, apparently pleased with his attention. Fuck’s sake. I wanted to interrupt them and tell Furio to keep his damn hands to himself, but that wasn’t my place. I had to swallow it. Cass and I weren’t anything to each other besides employer and employee and if she wanted to… flirt… with this guy… then that was her right.
But fuck did it sting.
“We’re jetlagged,” I said the moment dinner was up and Furio suggested dessert. “We should get back to the hotel and get some rest so we can start on our work for you tomorrow morning. Bright and early.”
Furio clearly wanted us to stay and have dessert and wine—or rather, he wanted Cassidy to stay and have dessert and wine with him. He couldn’t care less about Kelly or me, I was sure. But I wasn’t giving him the opportunity.
“We look forward to meeting your crew and touring your operation tomorrow,” I added, smiling. I had always been the consummate professional and I wasn’t about to let this guy or anyone else see that he’d gotten under my skin. Furio wasn’t even trying to upset me. I couldn’t ruin this just because I couldn’t keep my ridiculous jealousy at bay.
Furio seemed relaxed with this and bid us all goodnight. When we got to the hotel, however, I asked Cass if she could join me in my room for a few brief notes about tomorrow. Kelly went off to her own room, and Cass followed me.
Once we got inside, I didn’t waste any time. Cass needed to know not to flirt with clients. And if my personal feelings were also involved here, so what? She still wasn’t going to be sleeping with that man, one way or another. Period.
8
Cass
I was surprised at the anger in Raff’s face. “What’s going on?”
“You can’t flirt with clients,” Raff snapped at me. “I would’ve thought you’d know better than that.”
My jaw just about fell open. “What are you talking about!?”
“Oh don’t play coy w
ith me, Cass, I’m not blind or stupid. At least do me the courtesy of being honest.” Raff yanked off his tie and his cufflinks and strode over to the dresser to set them down. “You and our client were getting mighty cozy all through dinner. I don’t think Kelly or I even existed for you two.”
“Oh, so because he was trying to give me some tips on what to see in the city, on my first international trip, suddenly it’s flirting?”
Raff snorted. “Yeah, it was really important that he stare at your breasts while he was telling you all about the best gelato places. He wants to lick that shit off your body.”
“Well, if he does that’s his business,” I snapped. “He’s our client. What am I supposed to do, huh? Tell him to get bent? Welcome to being a woman, Raff! I have to play nice!”
“You can play nice while not encouraging him,” Raff snapped right back. “Instead of wasting your time on a man like him.”
“Oh? And you think you could do better?” I scoffed. “Because that’s the implication here.”
Raff stalked towards me. “I know I could do better,” he told me, his voice a soft growl.
I swallowed hard as a hot shiver worked its way up my spine. Raff was dangerously handsome like this and I hated myself for feeling this way, for loving how disheveled he looked, the top buttons of his dress shirt undone, his hair falling out of place.
Recklessness seized me and I shot back, “Oh, really? You could do better than the very handsome, very charming Italian?”
Raff grabbed me and hauled me up against him. Fuck, I could feel how firm and strong his body was and I wanted to melt. “You think he could know your body like I would? That he could make you scream the way I could? Oh, I’m sure he’s good at what he does but it’s fucking generic. You’re another notch on his belt and if that’s all you want to be, then go ahead. Have your fun. But he won’t learn the exact details of your body, the specific things you like, the way that I would.”
“Daring words.” My heart was pounding in my chest. I didn’t know what to do with it. With myself. With my sudden, raging desire, as if no time at all had passed, as if we were back home and I was twenty-one again and dying to have this man for years. “Most women would ask you to prove them.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” Raff breathed, his mouth only inches from mine, and when had we brought our faces so close to one another? When had we pressed together from head to toe? When had we entered a lover’s embrace?
I didn’t know. It felt like we were magnets, dragged together, unable to resist.
The next thing I knew, Raff was kissing me.
It was passion itself. Ferocious and furious. I couldn’t resist him, I gave as good as I got. He kissed me like he wanted to brand me so that nobody would even think about looking at me like that again, that all the world would know he was mine. His tongue licked into my mouth, hot and possessive, and I could only gasp and welcome him in.
It was like he was claiming me, and oh God did I want to be claimed. I wanted to be claimed so badly. I clawed at him, trying to rip his clothes off, wanting more, wanting everything—
What the fuck was I doing!?
I jerked back, breathing hard. Oh God, oh God, what was wrong with me? I couldn’t be doing this! My head was spinning, I felt like I’d just gotten off of a spinning ride at the fairgrounds.
“We can’t do this,” I blurted out. There was no way this could lead to anything but ruin. I had a daughter to think about. I had Raff’s abandonment from last time to consider.
“I know,” Raff admitted. Then he groaned, like he was in physical pain, and he surged forward, kissing me again.
He was such a good kisser. Even more so than last time. It was like the last four years had added an element of patience and refinement to his kissing that made him that much more deadly as he dove into me.
And I let him. Fuck, I let him. I knew I shouldn’t, but he was so good at this and I hadn’t been with a man in all this time, too busy with my daughter, too busy with getting my life back on track, and I wanted him so badly, still, even after what he’d done—
Raff wrapped his arm around my waist, pinning me against his body, as my hands clutched at his shoulders and I knew, I was lost. I couldn’t pull away. I wanted him to keep kissing me until the end of time.
I could feel his cock swelling against me, right between my legs as we kept kissing. My body grew hot all over and I squirmed, grinding against him. Fuck, I could remember all too well what it felt like to have that hot, thick shaft inside of me, filling me up. I whimpered into his mouth. He was so thick and big, and so hard for me. All common sense flew out the window—I just wanted him inside of me, fucking me, I wanted more.
Raff ground himself against me, making sparks fly through my body, and the both of us moaned. “Yeah, you feel that? That’s what you do to me. I can’t fucking help myself, seeing you like that—I need you, gotta have you—”
“God yes,” I blurted out. I mewled as he got his hand under my thigh and hitched my leg up, allowing him to grind against my clit with his clothed cock. Oh God oh God oh God yes, yes, it felt so good!
“Does that feel good? Is that what you want?” Raff asked, his voice low and growling and his breath hot against my neck.
I trembled all over, unable to speak. It had been years since anyone had touched me, years since I’d had anything but my own hand and my fantasies to get me through the nights. In fact, the last person to be with me had been Raff. I just… hadn’t wanted anyone else.
And Raff had gotten even fucking stronger in the years in between. He picked me up so that my legs wrapped around him and then he took three powerful strides forward, pinning me to the wall. I moaned helplessly. The pressure against my folds was insane. I was so wet that I was sure my panties were ruined. God, I was so close to coming, I was sure of it.
“Answer me, Cass,” Raff crooned. He kissed up my neck. “Is this what you want? Hmm? Does this feel good?”
“Ye—es,” I whimpered. Oh, God, yes, he was grinding against me again and I was trembling all over, it felt so good… so good…
“I bet that flirty playboy couldn’t make you feel this way,” Raff promised me, his voice dripping with sin. “He doesn’t know you like I do, does he Cass? He wouldn’t know to get you this desperate first, take the edge off before plunging inside you. Gotta give you a nice good orgasm first before I fuck you until you scream.”
I was close to screaming already, grinding mindlessly like I was a horny, tipsy teenager all over again. “Raff—Raff please—”
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Get off against my cock, fuck yourself and it’s not even in you yet, you’re so pent up, baby, I’m going to take good care of you, don’t you worry.”
I writhed against him, chasing my high, so close that I could taste it. “Raff, Raff! Please! Oh fuck oh God—”
“Yeah, come on, good girl, that’s it,” Raff kept whispering in my ear, his voice urging me onward as I ground against his cock, ruining our clothes as I shuddered all over, my toes curling, my orgasm hitting me hard and spreading through me like a flower of heat.
Oh holy fuck. I hadn’t come that hard in years. It felt so good. Raff ground against my now oversensitive folds and I whimpered. He kissed me, quick and dirty.
“Oh, I’m far from done with you,” he promised.
I shivered, coursing with pleasure but wanting even more. I wanted to see what he had in store for me.
9
Raff
God, Cass was so fucking hot.
And pent-up, the poor thing. Jesus Christ. When was the last time she’d had sex? Or had she just been with guys who couldn’t satisfy her properly?
Didn’t matter. Either way, I was here now, and I was going to take care of her. She’d just fucked herself against my body, grinding her way to a sweet, adorable orgasm. She’d looked so goddamn sexy, had sounded so amazing, that it was taking everything in me not to just shove my cock in her right now and fuck her like an animal
.
But I wouldn’t be doing that.
Not until she asked me to.
I pulled away from the door and carried Cass over to the bed, laying her down on it and then standing up to start undoing my pants. I didn’t have the patience to get all of my damn clothes off.
Cass started ripping her own clothes off, like they were constricting her, and she couldn’t take it any longer. The moment her clothes were off enough I grabbed her and kissed her again—fuck, she was as good of a kisser as I remembered, perhaps even better—and then I flipped her over onto her hands and knees.
Fuck, at long last I was getting my hands on that thick, curvy body of hers, the one I’d been unable to stop fantasizing about for years. I slid my hands all over her, squeezing her breasts, kneading them, pinching them, as I kissed along the back of her neck, across her shoulders, down her spine.
Cass moaned and pressed into my touch. “Raff…”
“You’re so fucking sexy,” I growled. “And all for me.”
“Yes…” she whimpered.
I didn’t want to overstimulate her too much after her first orgasm, as much as I wanted to just plunge inside of her, so I toyed with her breasts for a little longer, kissing her everywhere that I could reach, until Cass was squirming against me.
Fuck, the feeling of my hard cock against her ass was heavenly. I was tempted to just grind myself against her ass, between those luscious cheeks and get off that way, but that would mean I wouldn’t get to be inside of her, and I had a mission today, dammit.
Cass pressed herself up against me, encouraging me. “Please, Raff…”
“Please what?” I asked. “Did that not satisfy you earlier? Hmm? Are you greedy? Do you want more?”
Dating My Brother's Best Friend Page 5
