Never with a Rich Man

by Tina Susedik

“Let’s just say I have my sources, and my sources tell me you won’t get what you want.”

  The smirk on his face made her itch to wipe it off with a slap. She tried to wrap her brain around what he was babbling about. Did he have something to do with her job? Did he know Mr. Peters?

  “You just call me when you find those papers.” He poked a finger in her face. “I need them and I need them fast.”

  Cassie grabbed his finger and yanked it back, grinning when he flinched. “I don’t ever want to see or hear from you again, Tony Angelino. If I do, I’ll call the cops.”

  He yanked his finger back and sneered into her face. “You just watch your step, or you’ll be the one dealing with more than the cops.” He stepped back, then perused her body from head to toes. “And that man you’re seeing, I doubt he’ll stick around long when he finds out what a cold fish you are.”

  “You’ve been watching me?”

  “Let’s just say I have an interest in what you do.” He walked away, but stopped and turned back. “Oh, and good luck today. You’ll need it.”

  Before he turned the corner, she called to his back, “If I ever call your house, it won’t be about any papers. It’ll be to tell your wife how you’re cheating on her like you cheated on me. I suppose she’s the cold fish now. Maybe it’s not your women who are cold, but you.”

  The glare he sent over his shoulder made her re-think her outburst. But she didn’t have time to wonder what he was talking about. She needed to get to the office.

  Cassie stopped outside Mr. Peters’ office, wiped sweaty palms on her skirt, brushed back her hair, took a deep calming breath, and entered the room. She clenched her hands into fists when she saw Richard chatting amiably with several board members.

  Her encounter with Tony had not only made her late, but set her already frayed nerves on edge.

  Richard’s cool confidence didn’t help any. Did he already know the outcome? Only when she noticed a light sheen of perspiration on his forehead, did she relax and realize he wasn’t as collected as he acted.

  Mr. Peters stood at his desk and cleared his throat as Cassie took the only available chair.

  “Let’s get this meeting under way so we can finalize the Wauwatosa project.” He paused and looked between Richard and Cassie. “The board has met several times trying to come to a decision on who is to be manager of the office. It was an extremely difficult decision. One we didn’t take lightly.

  “While Cassie excelled in some of the areas,” he continued, looking at Cassie, “Richard stood out in others.”

  Mr. Peters cleared his throat again. Cassie had a bad feeling when her boss averted his eyes from her. He shuffled papers and turned to Richard, making her positive.

  “It is our pleasure to announce that Richard will be the manager of our new office. Cassie will work as assistant manager.”

  Cassie wasn’t sure she’d heard right. She’d put her heart and soul into this project, including long hours, agonizing over every detail assigned to her. She’d been positive she’d win over her bastard co-worker.

  The murmur of congratulations to Richard seeped into her mind. He’d won. She glanced at him. He smirked over the board members’ shoulders. Could he be any more superior, any more arrogant? Her heart sank and her stomach clenched. Not only did she not get the promotion, but she had to work for him? No way in hell.

  Biting down on her lip to hold back her tears, Cassie stood and walked to Richard.

  “Congratulations,” She barely got the word out through the lump in her throat. “I’m sure you’ll do a commendable job.”

  Richard took her elbow and, excusing himself from the congratulating men, guided Cassie to the other side of the room. His eyes gleamed with triumph and something else she didn’t want to think about. He increased his grip. She was sure she’d have a bruise in the morning.

  “Aw, Cassie, ever the ice queen. Don’t you ever lose your cool? Wouldn’t you just love to kick and scream and yell? Say a few choice swear words?” His voice took on a slimy tone as he gave her a once-over. “But I know you better than you think. Beneath that thick layer you hide yourself under, I bet there’s a hot babe just ready to please her new boss. Don’t you wish now you hadn’t turned me down? After all, I have your career in my hands. You’ll have to do whatever I tell you, and there’s no telling what we can be together.”

  Cassie jerked her arm from his grasp. “You slime ball.” From the corner of her eye she saw a few board members glancing her way. If she was going out, she hoped like hell she took Richard down with her.

  With a shove, she pushed Richard away. “Do you think that now you’re my boss that I’ll sleep with you?” She pushed him further back toward the wall with her finger.

  Richard’s face reddened when he realized they had a captive audience. “Cassie, not so loud,” he whispered, grabbing her elbow again. His eyes turned cold.

  “What’s the matter, Richard? Afraid they’ll find out what a creep and liar you are? That all your suck-up golf talk was just that—talk. Do you think I don’t know you stole my ideas and credit for all my work? Do you think the other women in this office will put up with your sexual innuendos and work willingly for you? Do you think I will?”

  Richard’s back was now against the wall, and Mr. Peters had turned toward them. “There is no way in hell, you fat-assed, no-brain, son-of-a-bitch that I will ever work for you.”

  She turned to the other men in the room. “I hope you’re happy with your decision and Richard will do a good job for you, but unfortunately I will not work with him. I tender my resignation effective immediately.” She stood before Mr. Peters. “I hope your legal department is good at handling sexual harassment suits, because I have a feeling with Richard as the boss, you’re going to need it. Gentlemen.” She nodded to the board and her boss. With her head held high, she walked out of the office and into her unknown future.

  Cassie wasn’t sure how she made it through the next half hour. She managed to hold back the tears burning in the back of her eyes as she packed her cubicle and left the building. Ignoring the curious glances from her co-workers and a phone call from Mr. Peters, she crammed her few personal belongings into a paper sack. She was rather surprised, yet glad, Jill hadn’t stopped at her desk. If she had, Cassie would had fallen into her friend’s arms and wept.

  Getting home safely had been a minor miracle. Driving while sobbing wasn’t the best way to travel. In a daze, she went up the back steps to her house and fumbled her keys several times before getting the door unlocked. She made it to the living room before the shaking started, then dropped to the couch and curled up in a ball and rocked, tears streaming down her face.

  “Oh, my god, I quit. I actually quit my job. What have I done?”

  She slammed a pillow over her face and cried. The phone rang several times, but she ignored it and let the machine take calls from Jill and Mr. Peters. Eventually she’d have to face them, but not today, and probably not even tomorrow.

  But when the phone rang again and she heard Hogan’s voice, she jumped up and grabbed the receiver. A glance at the clock showed she’d been crying for over two hours.

  “So how’s my new office manager doing?” Hogan asked, his voice light.

  Cassie couldn’t answer.

  “Cassie? Are you there? Are you ready to celebrate?”

  Cassie hiccupped.

  “Cassie? Have you been celebrating already?”

  Silence.

  “Cassie Jordan, you’re starting to scare me. Are you all right?” he asked, his voice rising.

  Cassie doubled over and rested her forehead on the coffee table. “Oh, Hogan,” she whispered between sobs.

  “Cassie, talk to me. What happened? Are you all right? Tell me you’re so happy you can’t talk.”

  “Hogan. I . . .” H
er stomach lurched as her sobs became uncontrollable.

  “Cassie, I’m coming right over. Stay where you are.”

  Hogan slapped his cell phone closed. After coming home from the office, he’d worked out and now only wore boxers while he cooled down. He ran through the house grabbing pieces of clothing strewn here and there, hopping first on one foot then the other as he jerked on his pants. What was wrong with her? Car accident? Her mother or sister? Had Tony come back to force her to join him?

  As he wove his way through traffic, it dawned on him what had happened. She didn’t get the promotion. He groaned, knowing how much this meant to her. How could they have passed her up? Hell, he’d hire her in a second if he thought they’d actually get any work done being in close proximity to each other. Hogan slammed to a stop in front of her house and raced up the steps. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he’d misread her voice and she was just too excited to speak. He rang the doorbell.

  “Cassie? It’s Hogan. Let me in.”

  No answer. He tried not to panic as he pounded on the door.

  “Cassie. It’s Hogan. Open the door, sweetie.”

  No answer. No sound of movement from inside.

  “Cassie, if you don’t answer this door, I’ll break it down.” He didn’t think he’d actually be able to break in the heavy oak door, but he’d sure as hell try. Something was definitely wrong.

  With his shoulder down, he was ready to ram it against the door, when it slowly opened. One look at her red eyes and tear-streaked face and Hogan’s heart constricted. He opened his arms and Cassie stepped into them. He picked her up, slammed the door shut with his foot, and carried her to the couch.

  “Aw, honey, what happened?” He sat down and cuddled her into his lap, resting her head on his shoulder. Her body shuddered. He tightened his arms, cradling her like a young child.

  “They. Hired. Richard.” Her voice hitched at each word. Her fists clenched against his forearm.

  “Did they say why?”

  Cassie took a deep, trembling breath. “Only that they felt he was better suited for the job.”

  Hogan swept strands of hair from Cassie’s face, wiped her tears, and massaged her temples. His efforts were rewarded when he felt her body relax. “What happened next?”

  Cassie snorted and tensed. “Then that jerk took me aside and had the gall to tell me since he was now my boss I would have to do whatever he said. And he meant whatever.”

  Hogan’s released his clenched jaw. “That son-of-a-bitch! I have half a mind to go down to your office and punch that bastard’s eyes out. That’s sexual harassment.”

  “Don’t worry, Hogan. I think I made my point.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I quit,” she answered, snuggling into his chest. “I was so angry at his nerve, I told him off in front of the board. I said I could never work for Richard, then packed my stuff and left.”

  “Just what did you say to him?”

  Hogan’s opinion of Cassie went up a few more notches as she recounted the incident. He chuckled with her descriptions of pushing Richard against the wall and telling the board about his stealing her ideas. Hopefully they’d realize it was more than sour grapes on Cassie’s part and they’d fire the guy.

  “What makes me really angry is that Mr. Peters lied to me.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “He kept telling me what a good job I was doing and how I would be good for the position.”

  Not sure how she would take what he was going to say, he hesitated for a few moments. “Sounds like he was being a good boss. Do you think he was saying the same thing to Richard?”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. It’s possible, but I still feel betrayed.”

  “What are you going to do now?” When she didn’t answer, he noticed how limp Cassie was getting. “Cassie. Honey?”

  “Hmm?” she murmured.

  Smiling into her hair, he rested his chin on the top of her head and decided to let her sleep. As her body relaxed and her breathing slowed and deepened, he eased them onto the couch with Cassie nestled between him and its back. He wrapped them in an afghan.

  As he listened to the slow cadence of her breath, he recalled how his day hadn’t been a whole lot better than hers. His boss’s shrill voice rang in his ears.

  “We need to get a handle on this smuggling,” Agent Kent said, his nasal voice grating on Hogan’s nerves. “Wynnters, what have you found about this Tony Angelino and his wife, Cassie?”

  “Sir, as I’ve mentioned before, Angelino is no longer married to Ms. Jordan. They haven’t been together for well over a year.”

  “That doesn’t mean they’re still not in cahoots. Didn’t you say she has antiques in her house?”

  “Yeah, how’s her house, Wynnters?” another agent emphasized the word house, then laughed at his joke.

  Hogan threw a balled-up piece of paper at him. “Shut the hell up, Falk.” He turned back to his boss. “So far I’ve only seen large pieces of furniture, but haven’t been able to dig any further. She has no large deposits in her bank accounts, no ties between her phone and Angelino’s. Hell, up to a short time ago, she didn’t even have an answering machine.”

  “Doesn’t mean they aren’t using some other form of communication.”

  Hogan wanted to shove Kent off the corner of his desk where he was swinging one leg back and forth. His gut told him Cassie wasn’t involved, but gut feelings didn’t fly with the Bureau.

  “I’d be more inclined to question Angelino’s current wife or the bimbos he sleeps with rather than Cassie.”

  “Don’t forget Falk overheard them today. Angelino was telling her he wanted some piece of paper.”

  “Did she say she had it?”

  Falk found something interesting in his shoes. “Uh, no. She denied knowing what he was talking about.”

  “See? She’s not part of this.”

  “Well, Wynnters, you cover Jordan,” Kent said. “We’ll cover his other women.”

  Hogan drew in a deep breath to hold back a laugh. He glared at Falk. Did they know how well he’d been covering Cassie or was Kent’s comment simply a slip of the tongue?

  “Yes, sir. I’ll be with her this weekend and see what I can get out of her.”

  “See that you do. We know the Angelino family has been involved in smuggling in the past.” Kent toyed with a letter opener, then dipped the tip under each fingernail as he spoke. “I doubt the apple fell far from the tree. We need to catch him in the act, and if Ms. Jordan has any information, you need to ferret it out.” He set down the opener and glared at Hogan. “And if you don’t, we’ll get a search warrant and go through her house board by board. Got it?”

  Hogan nodded and left the room, Falk hot on his heels, making sly comments about Hogan’s relationship with Cassie.

  Maybe this weekend he could find a way to bring up the subject of her ex.

  Cassie was having the most wonderful dream. A thick, warm eiderdown quilt acted as a cocoon around her body. Tall, snow-covered mountains surrounded an Alpine cottage, while cows jangled their bells as they came down the mountainside for milking. Mountain goats bleating out morning greetings mixed with dogs yipping at the heels of the cows. A cat, curled up tightly at the end of her bed, ground out a snore.

  Snoring? A cat, snoring? Cassie dragged her eyes open. It took a few moments to get oriented. The eiderdown quilt turned out to be the afghan Annie had crocheted for her. The Alpine cottage was her living room, while her grandfather clock chiming out midnight filled in for the cowbells. The other dream stuff she couldn’t figure out—except for the snoring.

  Cassie lay on her side, one leg draped across Hogan’s crotch. Hogan was on his back, mouth open, vibrations that could cause a landslide coming from his mouth. His free hand was kneadin
g her breast to the beat of his snores. She closed her eyes and basked in the sensations his magic fingers produced.

  Gradually she noticed a hard presence against the inside of her leg. It pulsed to the rhythm of his hand on her breast. The snoring stopped. She rubbed her leg against his crotch and smiled at his groan.

  “Cassie, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he murmured against her temple.

  “Mmm? Why not?”

  “You’ve just been through an emotional day, and I don’t want to take advantage of you when you’re not thinking clearly.”

  Cassie rubbed her breast against his still hand. “Maybe this is exactly what I need,” she whispered. “Maybe I want to take advantage of you.” She inched her hand down his stomach to the top of his pants, making Hogan suck in his breath.

  “Cassie, stop,” he begged. “I didn’t come prepared for this, and unless you have condoms lying around your living room, you aren’t prepared for this either. Last time I was here, the box of condoms was upstairs.” He removed her hand from the inside of his pants.

  Cassie answered by removing his hand from hers. “Who says we need to have intercourse to make love?” she asked, moving down his body.

  A few ecstatic moments later, Hogan threw an arm across his eyes and took a deep breath. His loss of control made him self-conscious. He didn’t know what to say. Saying ‘thank you’ for a blowjob didn’t seem to cover it.

  Hogan rubbed her back and then moved her so she lay on top of him. Her breasts burned against his chest. His heart swelled as he considered feelings for Cassie that grew each time he was with her. Her sense of humor, her strength, standing up for herself at work, her beauty inside and out. How did a man express what he felt?

  “You’re incredible,” was all he managed to say.

  He slipped his hands under her shirt and massaged her back. Slowly, her muscles relaxed as the tension eased.