"You could have set him straight." Jude had been good friends with Tessa since college and Nicholas had never shown any jealousy. He didn't need to. Tessa was like a sister to Jude. "And I'm not going to talk about my new assistant. What did you find?"
She pouted just a moment, before her eyes narrowed with the intense laser-like focus they always took on when work was discussed. "I found a whole lot of nothing, friend. I agree with accounting's take on the situation. It's likely a mistake. There's nothing to indicate that anyone is hacking in and funneling out funds."
He crossed his arms over his chest. His gut was warning him not to drop his guard. "Keep monitoring everything. And be vigilant."
"I can protect your accounts and your casino as far as my digital fingers can reach, but I won't waste my time just to appease your paranoia."
"My paranoia has saved me in the past."
She pursed her lips and stood. "Just be careful your paranoia doesn't drive you to become a cold, lonely recluse."
He stood with her, ready for her to leave.
"Nic is taking me out tonight. I'll be by next week to give you another update."
"Thank you, Tessa. I appreciate it."
"You should come over this weekend. Nic is grilling."
"Maybe." The look she gave him suggested she knew as well as he did that he wouldn't be there. He usually worked through the weekends and he felt like even more of a third wheel around Tessa and Nic now that they were married.
"You could bring Brianne. Isla is a fan and thoroughly convinced she's no threat to your wealth."
Jude sighed. He should have known Isla had already talked to Tessa about Brianne. "I never should have introduced you two."
Tessa laughed and left with a finger wave.
Jude stared at his computer, trying to make the numbers reveal a theft with the power of his gaze. All he could see was Brianne in that fitted dress and jacket, her hair up in a tight bun, revealing her creamy, elegant neck. He'd barely been able to look at her, sure he'd drag her into his office and ask her to show him her lingerie. He hated the way he lost control around her. Hated that his loss of control went beyond the physical to a region of his heart he'd thought extinct.
Distance. He needed distance so that he'd be able to maintain control.
Or, he could see her only after work hours, on his terms. That had been his plan the night before, but she hadn't answered when he'd called, and he'd realized just how deep he'd already fallen.
He hadn't taken a complete breath until security had alerted him that she'd checked into work that morning. He'd barely managed not to ask them where she'd gone the night before, who'd she'd left with. It wasn't his business.
No. He needed to stay firm and give her space, give them both the space they needed.
He stared out at the desk where she sat all day, now empty. He wanted to see her, to breathe her in, to taste her. Worse, he needed to see her. He needed to be inside her again. He stood and walked all the way to her desk, before he checked himself. If he went to see her in the state he was currently in, she'd own him.
He forced himself to turn and go back to his desk. He pulled out his cell and made a call. Grayson answered on the third ring. "You know that camping trip in the mountains you've been talking about for months?"
"Uh, sure," Grayson said. People talked in loud voices in the background. Grayson could be at a board meeting or walking his casino. The man worked more than Jude.
"I want to go. This weekend." Two days of grueling hikes and a night of little sleep on the hard ground ought to be just what he needed to get his head right.
"This weekend?"
"Think you could make it happen?"
"I'd have to shift a few things around, and I doubt Mark can get away on the weekend, but . . ." Jude could hear the excitement rising in his friend's voice. "Give me an hour. I'll let you know if I can make it happen."
Jude hung up, feeling like he'd finally gotten something right. Finally, he felt that he rode the waves of this thing he had for Brianne, instead of being carried by the tides. He smiled and stood. He needed to get home and pack.
CHAPTER NINE
Brianne set Jude's coffee on his desk. He didn't look up from his computer screen, didn't even pause in his furious typing. He had dark circles under his eyes, but his skin was tanner than it had been on Friday. She wondered if he'd spent the weekend by the pool as she had. She smiled to herself. If he had, he probably hadn't been reading the same sorts of books she'd been enjoying.
Enjoying at the time, but regretting a bit at the moment, because in every sexy scene she'd read, she'd been imagining Jude. Her engine thoroughly revved, she had to face him at work without the cushion of Raymond who had moved on to the marketing department.
She studied him a moment more. Clearly, he was busy, but she worked for him. It would be rude to say nothing. "Good morning, Mr. Cassidy."
He stopped typing and stared at her, his expression empty of any sort of emotion. "Good morning, Miss Mason. Do you need something?"
"No." She took a step toward the door. Her urge to apologize tried to force her lips apart, but she clamped them firmly. She had nothing to apologize for.
"In the future, please refrain from interrupting my work unless there is some sort of crisis you need to discuss."
She snorted. She couldn't help it. This was Jude. She'd seen him pantsed by her brother, she'd been there when he'd gotten so drunk he'd puked on the dining room table in his parents' house. He might not have many faults, but she knew he was human. The idea of him talking to her like he was some sort of robot, someone better than her, struck her as amusing.
Jude didn't engage. Of course, he didn't. He narrowed his eyes and returned to his work.
Bri went back to her desk and tried to do the same. She managed to get some work done, missing Raymond's company and support, but she couldn't ignore Jude. She felt his eyes on her when she bent to get a file, she noticed when he got up from his desk and walked toward his office door, she noticed when he took a phone call, and she definitely noticed when it was a woman on the other end of the line.
Somehow, she didn't notice when he approached her desk. His deep voice startled her so much her mouse hand swerved just as she was about to click on a date and she almost deleted his entire calendar. She caught herself and managed to save the file before she looked up into a face that was anything but cold. His gaze on her made her cheeks warm and her panties flame.
"I'm sorry. What did you say?"
"I said we have a meeting. Now."
"There's no meeting scheduled."
"I scheduled it. In my office. Now."
His bossy tone did things to her. Delicious things. But she knew her weakness. "Are you going to fire me or fuck me? Sir."
His eyes went wide and she enjoyed a moment of pleasure for having shocked him, before his mouth set in a grim line. He leaned over her desk and spoke in a low voice. "I'm going to spank your perky ass if you aren't in my office in the next ten seconds."
She licked her lips, his threat only serving to turn her on more. Her nipples tightened, the silk of her bra against them almost painful, and she clenched her thighs tight. "I'll have to put the away message on the phone and save the docu--"
He growled in annoyance, and she bit back a smile. "Do what you need to. I'll be in my office."
She got the phone and his files straight and then she took a long sip of her coffee, as much to annoy him as to settle her nerves and prepare herself for whatever was about to happen.
Pulling in a deep breath, she walked into his office.
"Shut the door and lock it," he said, not looking up from his computer screen.
She did as he asked. "You had a woman in here Friday night. If you think you're going to touch me again, you're wrong."
He stood and walked toward her, slowly. "Were you jealous?"
"No." She licked her lips and put her back against the door, one hand on the doorknob. "It's just that we had this who
le talk about spending time together while I'm here and if you're going to fuck other women, I think it only fair that I--"
He pressed a finger to her lips. "No. It wouldn't be fair. Tessa is a friend. She's married to another friend of mine. I don't fuck my friends' wives."
His words sent both relief and fear coursing through her. Over the past few days, she'd realized how easily he could hurt her. "Look," she said. "I appreciate the convenience of having me at your beck and call, but you ignored me for four days and allowed me to think you were with another woman. I think it's best if we keep our relationship professional."
"Really? Then why did you lock the door?"
He'd taken his fingers from her lips to allow her to talk and no part of him touched her, yet they breathed the same air, his body less than an inch from hers. Every cell in her body screamed at her to lean into him, but she fought her primal urges. "Why did you ask me to?" she said, like a child on a playground playing the infinite game of 'did too' 'did not.'
"Because I've realized that what I should do and what I'm able to do are two wildly different things."
She waited, watching him. She loved the idea that he couldn't reason his way out of his desire for her, but she needed more than that. He said nothing, his gaze running over her body, his expression heating to near molten levels. "And how long will it be before your rational brain kicks in again and you ignore me, Jude? I'm not asking for commitments or promises, but if I'm going to do this without hating myself, you need to at least show me some respect."
His gaze popped back up to meet hers. "I'm sorry," he said, real regret on his face. "I never meant to make you feel disrespected, Brianne. I . . ." He took a step back and pulled in a breath, his earlier certainty gone. "I don't know how to be around you. The only way I know to remain professional when we're at work is to ignore you, to be . . ." He stepped toward her again and ran his hands over her bare arms. "I've been rude to you, but that wasn't my intention." He gripped her arms gently. "I spent a long time thinking you would be my future, Brianne Mason, and when you're with me, every time I see you, I can't help wondering what might have been."
He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. It felt so good, she almost moaned. She hadn't realized how much she'd needed that comfort until that moment. "I have a plan," he said. "It's the craziest, least rational plan I've ever imagined, but it's the only one I've got."
She stepped out of his arms and looked up at him. Damn, he was good-looking and the warmth in his eyes . . . She could almost believe he really cared for her. "Sounds appropriate. Lay it on me."
He cleared his throat, looking a bit nervous. "We don't just spend time together while you're here, Brianne. We date. For real. We explore what might have been if things had gone differently, get to know each other again. I was wrong not to try harder to get in touch with you four years ago, I don't want to make that mistake again. I want to find out if we can work."
She stared at him, trying to take it in. Did she want to go there with him? Give him a chance? No matter what happened between them, she'd have to go back to Towle in six weeks. Addy and Maureen still needed her too much for that to change. No matter what she felt for him, she would never choose him over her family. "I don't think that's a good idea," she said, choosing her words carefully. "I have commitments I can't abandon. I can't offer you more than the next six weeks."
His eyes widened and he took a step back. "We could address those issues at the end of six weeks. If we both want to move forward, we could figure out a way to make it happen."
She fought the urge to reach out to him. "And if there's not a way to move forward?" Because even if she loved him with her whole heart, would she ever be able to convince Max and Maureen to accept him? There were too many unknowns and the risk was so big. "I'm not sure I could bear losing you again."
He took another step away from her and she waited for the rightness of her decision to sink in, for her to feel gratitude that the emotional roller coaster she'd been on was about to end. Instead she felt only a crack in her middle, a disconnect so loud she expected Jude to hear it. The whole decision reeked of wrongness and she knew she'd spend the rest of her life wondering what she and Jude might have been. "We'd have to keep it a secret," she said, unable to stop herself. "Until we know how we feel we can't let my mother or Max or anyone who knows them find out about us. I don't want to hurt anyone without a really good reason."
His expression softened, but he didn't move toward her. "You're not wrong," he said. "It is a dangerous idea, likely to end in heartbreak and destruction for at least one of us."
She almost smiled at the formality of his tone. So serious. But she didn't smile, because as adorable as his word choices were, she knew he was right. She knew it down to the bottom of her toes, because there were some obstacles even love and money couldn't overcome. "I guess I choose heartbreak and destruction over a lifetime of wondering."
He smiled, then, but there was sadness in his eyes. She felt it, too. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be, this wasn't the outcome she'd envisioned when he'd promised her a future with him four years before.
But then his hands were in her hair, his lips pressed to hers and she forgot all her doubts, forgot her sadness, and just let herself be with him in the moment.
#
After having made what could turn out to be the worst decision of her adult life, Bri should have felt worried or tense, but she felt the opposite. She felt lighter. Jude had upped the ante on their little game, and she felt free. Like that moment between jumping off the cliff and hitting the water. There was no backing out, so she might as well enjoy the fall.
She wondered if Jude might invite her back into his office for some more kissing, but he didn't step her way until a few minutes after five. And then, it looked like he was heading out for the day, bag in hand. She smiled up at him, and he met her smile with a frown.
"It's after five," he said. "Why are you still working?"
"I'm just finishing up a couple things." She tried to frown back at him and failed miserably. He was so cute when he tried to be all serious and rigid.
"Finish them in the morning. I'm taking you out."
She bit her lip to hold back her grin and looked over the mess on her desk. There was nothing there that couldn't wait until morning, but she didn't want to give in to him too easily. "Not sure the boss will like the disorganization of my desk. Just give me five minutes."
He released a low growl that surprised her so much a laugh burst from her.
"The boss doesn't care how messy your desk is. Quit teasing me and come on. I'm tired of being professional."
That sounded so much like the old Jude that she stopped and looked up to see him grinning down at her, his professional demeanor gone. Her heart skipped and she ignored it. Just a symptom of physical lust, nothing more.
She set the away message on the phone, shut off her computer and left her desk messy. Jude didn't touch her as they walked down the hall together, but he kept glancing her way, smiling like he enjoyed looking at her.
Inside the elevator, their shoulders touched, but Bri didn't dare look at him or say a word. An empty elevator all to themselves was way too much temptation. The masculine scent of his cologne and the heat of his body seemed to fill the small space and she clenched her hands into fists to keep from touching him, from running her fingers through his hair, from loosening his tie and pulling him in for a kiss.
Apparently, Jude felt the same, because he pulled out his phone and glared at it as though she wasn't even there. Oh, wait, no. He was actually answering a text and scowling. She broke her own rule and turned to face him. "Still at work, Mr. Cassidy?"
He pressed a button on his phone and pocketed it. "I'm afraid I am never not at work, Miss Mason."
He didn't appear at all happy about that situation, but before she could press him farther, the doors to the elevator opened. A man dressed for the Wild West Show in chaps, a vest, and a cowboy hat stepped onto the
elevator, arms tight around a woman wearing a cocktail waitress uniform. He backed inside, pulling her with him, his lips on hers, her hands slipping down over his ass.
The guy broke away from the woman long enough to glance at the numbers on the plate by the door and jab his thumb onto one and then went back to kissing.
Jude cleared his throat, but the couple ignored him. The woman pressed closer to the man and the man groaned loudly.
Jude cleared his throat more loudly, and then coughed. Finally, the couple broke apart long enough for the woman to glance over at Jude. Her face immediately flushed a deep red and she shoved the man away from her so hard he stumbled and almost fell.
"What the he-?" The woman shoved his shoulder and inclined her head toward Jude, and the man appeared to get the message. He straightened and faced Jude. "Mr. Cassidy. I'm sorry. This is all my fault. Kara is off the clock and I--"
"It doesn't matter," Jude said, his tone severe. "As long as you are both wearing casino-issued uniforms, you should act professionally."
The man glanced regretfully at Kara, but she shook her head, tears already tracking down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, sir," she said. "It won't happen again."
Jude nodded. "See that it doesn't."
The elevator doors slid open and Jude stepped into the casino without a glance back. Bri followed him, giving the two employees what she hoped was a reassuring smile. They both looked a bit stricken, but also relieved that Jude hadn't fired them on the spot.
Bri caught up to Jude as he strode across the casino floor, his steps determined. Had the intimate co-workers made him doubt their arrangement?
He paused, as though he felt her behind him and slowed his pace. "Sorry," he said, with a wry smile. "I'm used to setting my own pace."
She'd assumed he'd have the attention of any woman he wanted in Vegas, but his words made her think he was more often alone. Why would he choose to be alone? Did he care so much for the casino he didn't need anyone else?
Outside, Philip waited for them by a black car. He opened the door as soon as he saw them and Bri slid inside with Jude.
How to Lasso a Billionaire Page 14
