Brett checked himself one last time in the mirror. He’d only brought casual clothes with him so he’d chosen jeans and a white button-down shirt. He grabbed the hand towel and wiped his sweaty palms. Geez, was he thirteen going out on his first date? He had no idea why he was feeling nervous about spending the evening with Cassandra. It was just dinner.

He was about to step out the door when the room phone rang. Retracing his steps, he picked up the phone, hoping it wasn’t Cassandra cancelling.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Brett, it’s Drake.”

Okay, not who he was expecting, but not an unwelcome call. “Hey, Drake, what’s up?”

“Do you have dinner plans?”

“Um, yeah, I’m meeting my publicist, Cassandra.”

There was a pause before he answered. “Oh, okay. Not a problem.”

Was that disappointment in Drake’s voice? And since when would he have even picked up on something like that?

Since Cassandra started listening to what you had to say.

“Why? What’d you have in mind?”

“Mitch and I wondered if you wanted to join us for dinner.”

Well, that was the last thing he’d expected to hear when he picked up the phone.

Before he could say anything more, Drake’s voice burst across the line. “Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Tamara and Julia are with us. Why don’t you and Cassandra join us?”

Dinner with Mitch and Julia? Probably not the greatest idea in the world. He had no clue why Drake thought otherwise.

“I’m not sure that would fly. I mean I haven’t seen or spoken to Julia since Rio. And apart from saying hi I didn’t say much more to Mitch today.”

“Listen, man, we’ve got to work on the show together. I knew the minute Josh announced you as the final member of the group that they wanted something bad to happen. Because I’m Mitch’s friend, they figured it would be two against one. It’s not cool, but we’re committed to the show. We’re not going to back out because it wouldn’t be fair to any of us, especially the kids. So, what do you say? Will you check with Cassandra? We’re only planning on eating at the restaurant in the hotel.”

The same place he and Cassandra had decided on for dinner. It seemed kind of petty and stupid to sit a few tables away when they could all sit together.

“Okay. We were going to eat there anyway, and I don’t think she’ll mind it being a group dinner. I was walking out the door to meet her when you called. See you in the bar in fifteen?”

“Great, see you then.” Drake disconnected the call. Brett slowly replaced the receiver and hoped like hell Cassandra didn’t mind this change of plans.

Five minutes later he walked into to the downstairs lounge bar, scanning the occupants for her caramel-colored curls.

“Looking for me?”

He swiveled and found Cassandra standing behind him. Anything he was about to say was lost when he saw her outfit. The pale pink dress skimmed her body, highlighting her breasts and the soft curve of her hips. Her brown hair glistened with strands of gold filtering through it. She looked sophisticated, alluring and somehow way out of his league.

“Hey,” the word squeaked out of him like when he’d turned thirteen and his voice was breaking. He cleared his throat and tried again. “You look beautiful.”

A pink hue the same color as her dress suffused her cheeks. Was she as nervous as he was?

“Thanks, you look good, too.”

“Umm, there’s been a slight change in plans.”

“Oh?”

Did her eyes lose a little bit of their sparkle? No, it was probably the lighting or she’d shifted her head a fraction.

“Yeah, I got a call—”

“Look, if you want to cancel, that’s fine. I’ll order room service.”

Without waiting for a reply, she turned away. Momentarily stunned at her reaction, Brett didn’t move to follow her. When his brain fired back to life, he strode quickly after her.

“Cassandra, wait.”

She paused but didn’t turn around.

He stood behind her and breathed in her fresh lemony scent. He reached out and touched her shoulder, turning her so she faced him again.

Now hurt shone in her eyes and he felt like a class-A jerk for his clumsiness.

“Drake called and asked me to have dinner with him and Mitch. I told him we had plans.” The hurt faded a little out of her expressive eyes. Why had he never noticed how they drew him into her very soul? “Drake suggested we join them. Julia and Tamara, Drake’s girlfriend, are here as well. I didn’t want to say no, considering that we have to work together over the next few weeks. Is that okay? Do you mind having a group dinner instead of it just being the two of us?”

Her eyes darted to something over his shoulder. “No, and they’re here.”

Brett glanced around and saw the foursome heading in their direction. Without thinking, he placed his hand on Cassandra’s back, the silky fabric of her dress warming beneath his touch.

“You ready?” he murmured.

“Sure.” She shrugged, clearly okay with the change of plan. “More to the point, are you?”

He met her gaze, now clear of the hurt he’d put there moments ago. The sparkle had returned. “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he finished with a wink and led her over to meet the others.

He admired the way Cassandra took the initiative and introduced herself to the group. No doubt a benefit of her job.

The last thing he expected when he greeted Julia and Tamara was for them to give him a hug. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d done to deserve this display of friendship but he wasn’t going to argue about it.

Once they were seated and drink orders were given to the waiter, silence descended over the table. Tension built inside of him at the thought of no one talking for the whole evening, which was totally absurd, considering the other four were all good friends.

Julia broke the silence. “Hey, Brett, did you hear about Brooke King?”

The name sounded familiar. Then he remembered. “The diver? You roomed with her in Rio, didn’t you?”

“Yep, that’s her. She’s moving to Australia.”

“Whoa, that’s huge.” Another memory from the Games hit him then. “She hooked up with the Australian swimmer, Dane something, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, Dane Parkland. The guy who beat me in the 400-meter and anchored the relay race we lost,” Mitch continued.

Brett remembered that relay all too well. He’d swum the second lap, only he didn’t swim it well. The story of his life from those Games. Next time would be a different story altogether.

“Good for her. I hope it works out because, man, that’s one hell of a move. Not like driving your stuff from one neighborhood to another.”

Julia laughed. “It’s definitely worked out because she and Dane are getting married and they’re having a baby.”

“A baby? That was quick.”

Tamara laughed. “I think it’s safe to say it was an Olympic baby.”

Drake slung an arm around Tamara’s shoulder and winked. “What can I say? There’s something in the air and hormones go crazy at the Olympics.” He then turned serious and brushed a finger down Tamara’s cheek, the action showing Brett how much he loved the woman he was with. “You can be a lucky one and find an everlasting kind of love instead of a casual hookup.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cassandra stiffen beside him. She obviously knew all about casual sex at the Games. His scandal had been plastered all over the press.

In that moment, he hated himself even more for the way he’d acted, not caring about the consequences. He’d gone to Rio, confident he was going to win, wanting to do it for Naomi. Then he got there and hadn’t felt worthy. Had wished, for the first time in years, that Naomi’s brother Dean had been walking beside him through the athlete’s village. Dean would’ve loved it. And he would’ve been there if it weren’t for Brett’s negligence.

“You okay?”

Cassandra’s whispered question dragged him back from the tunnel his thoughts were headed down.

“Yeah.” He straightened in his chair, aware that the other occupants at the table were studying him with varying degrees of interest. Last thing he needed or wanted was questions. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Cassandra’s eyebrows rose up, widening her eyes, giving her a the others may be convinced you’re okay, but you don’t fool me look. Without thinking it through, he reached down to squeeze her leg in reassurance. In his mind, it was going to be a quick touch and then let go, but the moment he touched her skin, it quickly became more. Of their own accord, his fingers stroked her silky flesh, the muscle jumping beneath his touch. His hand trailed upwards, pushing the fabric of her dress to expose more of her thigh.

He gasped and bit back a grunt of pain as the spiked heel of her shoe connected with the top of his foot. He pulled his hand away and faced her. A pleasant smile graced her features even while her eyes shot daggers at him. Brett couldn’t help the chuckle escaping him. He totally deserved the look and the throbbing toes, but he still didn’t regret the few seconds of pleasure he got from touching her.

He hoped there would be more touches. Cassandra was attractive and suddenly he wished his reputation wasn’t so crappy.