by Amali Rose
“What’s going on, Cass? You don’t put up with shit like that. That was a dick move to pull. Jesus, he deserves to lose his dick for that. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t cut it off.” She points her drink at me, as she continues. “If you ever reconsider that, I will happily hunt down a pair of scissors, and hold him down for you.” A smile flits across my face at this very un-Skye-like statement. Then her eyes soften, and she reaches across the table to grasp my hand.
“Talk to me.”
“I can’t stop thinking about him.” I say this as if it’s a sin I need to confess. “And yes, he’s hot, and I would like to play hide the salami with him again. Because his salami is big, Balls, like big big, and he’s really good at hiding it. But it’s also that he talks to his Mom regularly, and wants to take care of her. It’s that, after overhearing one of the receptionists talk about her son, he sent them the entire Harry Potter book series, because she’s a single mom and she mentioned that he had asked for them, but she couldn’t afford them. It’s that he orders Krispy Kreme donuts for the office because they’re my favorites. Even though I know that he prefers Dunkin’ Donuts.” The word vomit is spewing out of me at an alarming rate, but I can’t seem to stop. “It’s that every time he’s an asshole, there’s a moment where he looks as though he wants to dickpunch himself for acting that way. It’s that I want to know what he’s thinking pretty much constantly.” I pause, breathless. “It’s that he’s the first man that I’ve ever wanted to want me.”
Eyes wide, Skye considers my epic speech before responding. “It’s that way, huh?” A smile lights up her whole face. “You know what you’ve got, Cassidy Jensen?”
“What? What do I have, Skye Emery?”
“Feelings! You caught feelings! I knew it would happen one day. I feel so freaking vindicated right now, you have no idea.”
“Jesus, you’re practically giddy, I have had feelings before, you know.” I try to temper my tone, but I’m kind of offended right now.
“I know you have, Cass, but not like this, right? This is next level. I’m excited for you!”
“Well, don’t get too excited. Nothing can happen until he gets over his cunt complex, which I don’t see happening anytime soon.”
“How much longer do you think you’ll be working there? To be honest I thought he would have found a permanent replacement ages ago.”
“Yeah, so did I. He interviews a couple of people a week, but he finds fault with all of them. I’m not complaining though. The pay is decent, and the hours have been working really well for me.” Grabbing my cocktail, I take a huge sip before continuing. “Did I tell you that Mason gave me some freelance catering work? He orders a dozen cupcakes for every business meeting. I’ve actually made a few contacts because of it.” She eyes me up and down.
“So, I guess he has a cutie complex to rival his C-U-N-T one, huh?”
I roll my eyes hard at this. “Seriously?” Her only response is a giggle as she drains the rest of her drink.
“Okay, so. Essentially, you have feelings for him, but it’s too complicated, so you need to get over him? At least until he realizes what’s staring him in the face, and comes to his senses. Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I shrug. “I guess if you break it down, I need to figure out how to work with him, without mounting him on a piece of office equipment, again.”
“How did you feel when he asked you if you had fucked all your bosses?”
“Uh, like I wanted to literally kill him. In the most deliciously painful way imaginable. Something involving a machete sounded good.” My eyes light up at the thought. “But then that passed, and I was hurt. And embarrassed that he would think that about me. It was fucking humiliating.”
“I want you to remember that feeling every time he makes your heart flutter. Or your beaver flutter. Especially when he makes your beaver flutter! Remember how mortified you felt, and then throat punch him. Simple!”
“Simple, hey? No, you’re right. I can definitely shut it down if I just keep remembering that moment. But maybe I’ll skip the throat punching though. I want to hold onto this job.”
“Right, good plan.”
Feeling my shoulders relax, I motion to the waitress so we can get another round of drinks. “So, tell me about this magical thing Spanky did last night. I want to hear all about it.” Skye’s answering giggle eases the last of my tension, and I settle in to hear all about Ben’s wicked ways.
The next day, I hurry my hungover ass to the office, hopeful that maybe Mason won’t notice my lateness. Despite my pounding head and tired eyes, I’m feeling more hopeful after my talk with Skye last night. I can get my shit on lockdown and make this work. I have to.
My hopes of sneaking in unnoticed are dashed when, opening the door to our offices, I find Mason leaning over my desk, staring intently at my computer monitor.
“You alright there, Sunshine? If it helps, my plot to take you down isn’t on there. It’s all saved up here.” I tap my temple. As I walk closer, I see that he has his schedule pulled up.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” His tone is droll. “Look, I have some bad news. I need to head to Seattle for some emergency meetings. We’ll probably be there a few days, and we’ll need to leave tomorrow, so if you can book flights now, please.”
Switching into work mode, I pick up the phone receiver ready to make the call.
“Business class tomorrow morn— wait, did you say we?” My hand has stopped midway to my ear as realization dawns on me. His eyes are apologetic as they meet mine.
“I’m sorry, but I need my assistant there, and Tanya can’t come on such short notice.”
Refusing to let him see how much this is affecting me, I bring the receiver to my ear and start dialling. “No problem.”
Motherfucker.
Mason
“Thank you for your time, Charles. We’ll take these revisions back to our team, and see if we can put together a proposal that meets all of your expectations.” I do my very best to keep my voice level, despite the overwhelming need to punch something right about now. Preferably Alistair Thompson. However, since the dickwad couldn’t be fucked turning up for the meetings he requested, instead sending his minions, that would prove to be difficult.
After shaking hands, and exchanging some inconsequential small talk, I finally make my way out of the conference room with Cassidy right at my heels. As if dealing with all this business bullshit hasn’t been stressful enough, having her right by my side for ten hours a day is proving to be my biggest challenge. The scent of her sweet perfume is constantly irritating my nose; she smells like a goddamn cupcake anytime of the day. It’s a constant reminder of how good she smelt when my face was buried in her neck, and my dick was buried in her pussy.
Giving my head a slight shake to clear the images that seem to haunt me, I hone in on the sound of Cassidy’s voice, and realize that she’s talking to that asshole, Marshall, who has been eyeing her off like a fucking dog in heat for the past three days.
“I would kill for a decent burger right now, the ones from room service are pretentious crap.” She’s practically salivating at the thought.
“There’s this great burger place not far from here, it’s a local favorite. If you have time why don’t we go and grab some dinn—”
“We have plans tonight,” I cut the dickless loser off. “We have work to go over.” Cassidy’s gaze slowly washes over me, a knowing look in her eye. I have no fucking idea how I’m going to play this off with her, but I also couldn’t care less right now.
“Oh. Well, okay.” Marshall seems thoroughly unconvinced, and he looks between Cassidy and I suspiciously before shrugging. “Good seeing you again, man.” He offers me his hand. “And, Cassidy, it was great meeting you. Maybe if you’re ever this way again, we can grab that burger.” Marshall side eyes me as he says this. Motherfucker. “Have a good night, guys, don’t work too hard.” With a wink that cements his douche status, he heads off in the opposite direction, leaving me a
lone with the woman of my dreams. Or nightmares. Depending on the time of day.
“Work, huh?” Her tone drips with sarcasm.
“I figured you needed saving. You can thank me later.”
“Yes. I definitely needed saving from the tall, sexy piece of man meat who would have bought me a great burger, and then most likely fucked me hard and fast in his ostentatious-single-rich-guy car. Oh, thank you, sweet savior.”
“You’re welcome.” Choosing to ignore her tone of irony, as well as the sudden anger that image ignites, I continue, “I actually know the place he was talking about. If you want to, we could head over and grab something?”
Her eyes light up, and my dick twitches at the promise they hold. Just as quickly, however, they shutter and her head shakes slightly.
“That’s probably not a good idea, Mason.” Her voice holds regret, and I know if I pushed I could convince her to agree. But I also know that’s probably not what is best for either of us. So, instead, I nod my head in agreeance, and give her a forced smile.
We make our way down the corridor in silence, distancing ourselves from the room we’ve been locked in for the past three days. For the first time I am grateful that these meetings were held in the hotel where we are staying. When the elevator appears up ahead, I let out a small sigh of relief. In about three minutes I’ll be in my hotel room, away from temptation. I can order some dinner, then pull up Porn Hub and relieve a bit of tension before turning in for the night. I make a promise to myself that this time, it won’t be Cassidy’s face I imagine as I come all over my hand.
In a moment of serendipity, the doors to the elevator open just as we step up to it, and as we walk inside I feel tension coiling in my shoulders. Being in such a confined space with Cassidy challenges my self-control.
Pushing the button to our floor, the atmosphere is almost suffocating, and I know she can feel it too. The lack of smartass comments being thrown my way is a good indicator. I turn slightly and take in her profile. She really is fucking sexy. That pink hair falls over her shoulders in soft waves, and I can’t help but notice it’s the perfect length to wrap around my fist. Her blue eyes are wide, surrounded by dark lashes and her nose is delicate, perfectly in proportion. But it’s her mouth that catches my attention. Full lips, that I have imagined wrapped around my cock more times than I care to admit.
She turns and catches me staring. I can see her mind ticking over, and I find myself leaning forward, waiting to hear whatever shit she’s going to give me. Her mouth opens, but before she can get anything out there is a loud crash and the elevator comes to a grinding halt. The lights flicker briefly, and Cassidy’s hand finds mine and clings to it before falling away as soon as the light stabilizes.
We look at each other in shocked silence. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Her voice resonates with a mix of disbelief and annoyance. “What do we do now?” I pick up on the slight waver in her voice, and immediately switch into get-shit-done mode.
“We let someone know what’s happened, and then wait while they get us out of here. It shouldn’t take long.” She nods her agreement, and I keep my eyes trained on her as I pick up the emergency telephone, and then talk to building maintenance. When I’m done, she rolls her eyes and huffs out in unfettered exasperation. Fucked if I know what I’ve done though.
“You going to elaborate on that ‘hmph,’ or am I supposed to know what the attitude is for?”
“How long are we going to be stuck in here?” She ignores my question, her tone curt.
“He said it should be about twenty minutes. Now are you going to tell me what bug crawled up your ass, or not?”
Her eyes narrow, and if looks could kill I’d be burning in hell right about now. Damned if it wouldn’t be a hell of a way to go, though.
“You’re kind of an asshole, you know that?” I do know that, but I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of agreeing with her.
“Why am I an asshole today, Crazy?”
“You were rude to whoever you were talking to! It’s not their fault we’re stuck in here.” Her face is scrunched up with a look of distaste, and she looks about ready to hurl more insults my way.
I fucking own you. Those words have been burned into my consciousness since the night they fell out of my mouth, and it’s moments like this, when she’s feisty and doing her damndest to put me in my place, that I wish they were true.
I move forward subconsciously, invading her space so that I am all she can feel.
“That wasn’t rude. That was direct. There’s a difference.”
Her eyes search mine; I’m not sure what she’s looking for, but whatever she finds seems to satisfy her. Still, she takes a step back, moving away from me.
“You could still be nicer.” Her voice is strong, and I have to admit I respect her for never backing down. Even if she is wrong.
I follow her path, taking a step forward and leaning down so she is forced to meet my gaze. “Nice gets you nothing in this life, Crazy.” The small strangled noise she makes in denial causes my dick to harden, and it takes every ounce of self-control I have to move away from her, allowing us both space to breathe. “Besides, it was building maintenance, so yeah, they are kind of responsible.”
Sighing, Cassidy throws her huge-ass purse to the floor and slides down the wall until she is sitting next to it. Looking up, she motions for me to do the same. “May as well make yourself comfortable if we’re going to be here for a while.”
Moving to the other side of the elevator, I take a seat facing her. She is openly scrutinising me, her stare appraising, and making me fucking uncomfortable. I reach for my tie and loosen it, undoing the top buttons of my shirt and then rolling my shirt sleeves up to my elbows. Her eyes immediately fall to my right arm, taking in the tattoos that cover my forearm, and I realize that in all the time we’ve worked together she’s never seen them. Her tongue peeks out and glides along her bottom lip before her teeth bite down; the sight reminding me of the way she bit into my shoulder the moment she came.
“What’s that about?” she asks, pointing to my sleeve. “The artwork kind of clashes with your asshole businessman persona, doesn’t it?” Her eyes widen, and she claps her hands together, suddenly gleeful. “Oh my god, do you have a secret bad-boy past, Sunshine? Is that what this is?”
I throw my head back with a loud laugh. “No, no secret bad-boy past. I’m sorry to disappoint.”
Her delight is replaced with a look of curiosity. Waving a finger at me, she asks, “So you’ve always been like this then?”
“This?”
“Yeah, serious. Responsible.” Her lips lift in a smile full of mischief. “Asshole-ish.”
Her words are light, and I know she’s joking, but it reminds me of the role I was compelled to play. How quickly I was forced to grow up, and it pisses me off. But before I can reply she continues.
“I mean, you have to admit, you’re kind of a freak. You work around the clock, I never see any social events on your calendar unless they’re work related. You’re a CEO for Christ’s sake! What kind of twenty-nine-year-old is a fucking CEO? So, yeah, I’m thinking you were always an anal retentive, control freak.” She pauses briefly to take a breath before throwing the knockout punch. “No wonder you have to fuck your secretary on the copier.” She looks away, refusing to make eye contact, and I feel the anger start to simmer. I’m pretty good at shutting my emotions down. I’ve been blocking out that bullshit for almost twenty years. But hearing her belittle what happened between us, when I’ve been doing everything I can to deny this pull I have to her, causes me to snap and lash out.
“No. I was your typical kid, until my father went to prison when I was ten. I had to grow up pretty fucking quickly after that.” I plough on, not giving her a chance to interrupt. “And I have no trouble getting laid, but what man would turn down a piece of ass when it’s wiggled in his face?” Even I can hear the bitterness in my voice, and I immediately regret both my confession, and the attack on her.
I watch as her eyes widen, her fists clench and her entire body seems to start vibrating with rage. Then just as suddenly as her physical reaction started, it stops, and she slumps, closing her eyes.
When they open they seek mine, and are full of empathy. “Your father went to prison? What for? Shit, your poor mom.”
“Mom was better off without the bastard.” My voice comes out harsher than I intended, and I notice her flinch. Adjusting my tone, I continue, “he wasn’t a good guy. I think it was probably the best thing that could have happened.”
“That must have been hard, though. Your mom is a nurse, yeah?”
“How do you even know that?” I ask with a small grin.
“We talk, obviously. Your mom is far more likeable than you, fyi.” She throws me a smirk that calms me down, and I feel my body relax.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, according to Mom I’m the most charming man in the world.” Her answering laugh is loud and reckless. It makes me want to prove that I can be just as reckless.
“Well, then Rhonda is a damn liar!” She wipes her eyes, as her laughter subsides, and I can’t help but return her smile.
“I couldn’t even imagine not having my dad around, so I’m sorry that happened. Even if it was for the better, that doesn’t mean it was easy.”
“It wasn’t. Mom worked all the time just to make enough money to survive. I mean, it wasn’t much better before the prick went away, but after, it was almost unbearable.” Cassidy watches me intently, nibbling on her bottom lip, and I feel a surge of protectiveness. The instinct to make her a part of my life is getting harder to fight. In an effort to distract myself, I continue. “I used to wake up some mornings just as she was getting home from work. She would be so tired she wouldn’t even be able to stay awake through breakfast, no matter how hard she tried. I decided that one day I would make enough money that she would never have to work again, and I’ve worked my ass off to make sure that happened.”
