Chapter 7
Cassie found herself blinking in surprise before taking the offered hand and letting him pull her into his arms. Brody moved her in a waltz around the room. Of course he would have to be an excellent dancer. Another point making him so hard to resist. Cassie loved to dance.
“Now where did you learn to dance so well, gorgeous?”
“Years of dance lessons and competitions.” Cassie enjoyed how well he moved. It was so hard to find anyone who knew how to dance, especially men, and Brody moved almost as well as Nathan. “I must be losing my mind.” She said looking up at him.
“Makes two of us.” He drew Cassie a bit closer to him. “I swore I’d leave you alone like you wanted. To hell with it. Let’s be crazy together.”
Giving her a spin, Brody swept Cassie into a dip at the end of a turn, leaving her laughing and clinging to him, lost once more in those incredible green eyes. Heavens, she loved how he made her laugh, and being held in his arms again felt better than she was ready to admit.
Just then, she heard someone clear their throat, and Cassie look over to see the bartender Brody had spoken with. He walked in with a couple of bottles of wine and two glasses. Brody let her go so he could go exchange a few words with the man. She saw them shake hands and what she thought might have been a discreet exchange of money before Brody walked the guy out and locked the door.
He came back over to the table and held out a chair. After helping Cassie sit, Brody grabbed one of the new bottles and uncorked it with a skill that only came from years of practice. He poured them each a glass, saying this wine was way better than the stuff they had at the party.
“To third chances,” he toasted, saluting her with the glass.
“To third chances,” Cassie agreed on a sigh. “And being crazy.” She clinked her glass against his. “How did you know this was out here?”
“I’m over here a fair bit. Chase is one of the producers for the show and the aforementioned friends forever thing.” Brody explained, digging into his food. “How’ve you been, Cassidy? Tell me what all you’ve been up to and where you’ve been traveling. And most important — I want to hear about that bet.”
And so she did, sharing about Halcyon’s expansion, and Brody shared what he’d been up to over the past few months. The bet she’d lost to Anna was over who could beat who in their annual fitness challenge. Cassie’s highly competitive nature had served her well over the years, but Anna had outstripped her in the crane hold during the yoga portion of the challenge. At the two-minute mark, Cassie’s balance had failed. Until then, they had been dead even in their timed mile-long run and pull-ups challenge.
The two of them talked until the meal was done and long after, enjoying the atmosphere and wine until she found herself holding his hand, slightly giddy from the wine, and feeling attractive for the first time in forever it seemed. Cassie was enjoying herself immensely. That was, until Brody asked her if she’d ever been serious with anyone and Cassie felt the night come to a screeching halt of reality crashing in like a freight train.
“Once. Married for a few years. It didn’t work out.” Taking the bottle to refill her glass, she thought desperately of just heading for the locked door and leaving.
Brody watched Cassie’s face go blank and knew he had screwed up big time. Her delicate, fine-boned hand actually shook when she reached for her wine glass. From such a rock-solid woman, that said a lot. Somehow, here was a line he’d unknowingly crossed.
No, it was more like a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon. There was getting to know someone, and there was getting to know the real someone. She clearly didn’t want to talk about it, but he could take a wild leap knowing he’d probably uncovered one of the reasons she was such a workaholic with all those boundaries. Brody had wondered since he’d met her what made Cassie that standoffish. Was it men in general or just him?
Cassie watched him warily over her glass. “You’re going to ask me what happened, aren’t you?”
“I am. And you sure as hell don’t want to talk about it.” Leaning back, Brody nodded at their impasse. She needed the fun and humor of their evening back, and he was willing to give it to her. “Guess that leaves nothing more to do than change the subject or get naked and enjoy the hell out of each other.”
Cassie stared at him a moment then broke into laughter, shaking her head. “I don’t know why I like you, Brody Miller, but I do.”
“You like me because you need some fun in your life. I’m your guy.”
“We are not getting naked any time soon,” she said, bringing those boundaries clearly back into play.
“But we will,” he stated with confidence. “Took me a while, but here we are at date number two. I should have you naked, in my bed, by the time we turn fifty.”
The idea had Cassie cracking up despite the lines she so obviously wanted to keep.
He took her hand again. “Tell me what happened?”
When Brody Miller was being fun, he was sexy and seductive. When that humor was gone, replaced by a look of caring — it was devastating. He offered no patronizing, condescending gaze, only support and a willing ear to listen. He’d amazed her all night by how good a listener he was.
Cassie swirled the wine in her glass, watching the flicker of the lights above them in the deep red, and took a deep breath to steady herself. Sharing your deepest hurt took guts.
“Nothing much.” She shrugged. “Typical story, I suppose. Thought we were right for each other. Got married. Turned out, we weren’t right after all. We grew apart. Nothing I did in any area ever seemed good enough. In the end, he felt our marriage included having sex with other women in our bed. I strongly disagreed. I divorced him. End of story.”
Daniel had paid her back by dragging her name through the mud and trying to take everything she had ever built. The legal battle had been almost worse than his pithy and cutting evaluations of her bedroom talents. And he’d managed to insinuate that lacking into every level of her life, from simple domestic skills to even the way they socialized while out with friends.
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you went through. To trust someone with everything you had, enough to marry them, and to be betrayed like that. I had someone cheat on me years ago. When I was just starting to make a name for myself. We were working on the same show together, and I fell head over heels for her. Now I’m old and wise enough to look back and see it as just lust. Found out she was sleeping with the lead actor to try to get a good word in for her career. Crushed my poor twenty-something heart. I’d never do that to anyone— in any situation.”
Cassie looked at him and saw the truth in his eyes. Honor was clearly something Brody held sacred, and what he had said was comforting instead of full of pity, like she got from most people. He had an understanding and insight that most missed. At the core of it all, Brody got it.
“Thank you. I try to look at the whole thing as a positive. We never had kids, at least, so it was only the two of us that fell apart. Could have been a lot worse.” She saluted him with her glass. “Your turn. Worst tragedy of dating? Anyone ever serious?”
“Sadly, no, outside of the one who stomped all over my young heart. A lot of weird fan obsession stuff over the years, but mostly everyone is respectful. I’ve come to what I thought might be close to a good relationship, maybe love a couple times, but reality is that the life of an actor can sometimes suck. The travel and time apart are hard to bear if you aren’t both strong people who are happy and content to be on your own a lot of the time. I can sometimes be gone for weeks or months. Takes trust. Especially living in the weird world of Hollywood where everyone lives for the next hottest rumor.”
“You don’t seem to play into any of it though,” Cassie said. “I was curious and Googled you. Brody Miller is a vague mystery of sorts. Social status ‘unconfirmed.’ Lots of rumors though. Interesting that they think you swing the other way a lot of the time.”
Brody laughed it off before turning serious. “I think people think that about everyone in acting at one point or another. I’ve never cared what they think of me. I act because it’s all I ever wanted to do, and I pick the roles that are the most intriguing and challenging. My private life is exactly that — private. So you were curious about me, huh?” A grin stretched from ear to ear. “What else did you find out?”
“You aren’t on any social platforms that I can tell, other than Twitter, which makes you a dinosaur. You generously give a shout-out on about once a month, or even longer than that, which your fans go into raptures over. You’re a rare guy who isn’t plugged in. Impressive in an age that’s all about self-promotion.”
“And that’s what you do for a living. Aren’t we quite the pair? I hate phones and devices with a passion. Give me wild country and no service any day. A backpack and sleeping bag is where it’s at. These days, I only work when I need to and on exactly what I want to do. I give a lot of my time when I can to causes I feel are worthwhile, like conservation. But I like to keep busy, so it’s a fair bit of work in between the play.”
“I still haven’t watched anything you’ve been in,” Cassie said sheepishly. “It’s a pretty big list you have.”
Brody shook his head. “I don’t care if you’ve watched a single thing or ever do.” Leaning back in his seat, he still held her hand. “I know you’re not here because of what I do for a living.”
And therein lay the question. What the hell was she still doing here with Brody Miller, going on close to eleven o’clock? Talking the night away, holding hands, and being charmed right out of her shoes. By Nathan’s definition, she would have been having fun. On. A. Date.
Tugging on her hand, Brody brought her attention back to him. “Come here, Cassie.”
“What?”
“Come over here. I want you to sit on my lap so I can kiss you.”
All teasing aside, Brody seemed ready for more than talking. Cassie’s mouth hung open in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”
Pulling harder, Brody helped her up.
“I’m serious as hell.” Drawing her down onto his lap, he rested her on thighs made of pure steel and slid an arm around her waist to bring her closer. “I’ve been watching those sexy lips of yours all night, wondering what they taste like.” He searched her face, threading his hand into her hair and tilting her face into his.
Cassie’s nerves were dancing again as her hands came up to rest on the deep blue of his shirt and curled in tight fists at the anxiety that threatened. She tried to hold him off, but his arms only stayed gentle and soothing around her. Waiting.
“I’m not really all that good at this,” she said softly knowing she couldn’t possibly measure up for someone like him. A man who probably had women throwing themselves at him on a regular basis.
“I bet you are,” Brody murmured at her lips. “Maybe just out of practice a bit.”
Cassie saw eyes like emeralds, then Brody laid his lips on hers and she forgot everything.
Every. Single. Thing. In the world.
Except the feel of his lips. Full, soft, and warm. Kissing her. Teasing and gentle, they played across hers in a thoroughness that started slow then switched to something deeper. They built a heat that only went hotter and pulsed inside her.
When she pulled back to try to slow the spinning in her head, Brody groaned and nipped at her bottom lip, showing he wasn’t ready to let her go. Cassie gasped against his mouth in surprise, and that was all the invitation Brody needed. His tongue swept in to tangle with hers, and Cassie was caught in the storm that flashed like lightning around them.
Wrapping herself around him and burying her hands in his dark hair, she gave everything she had and fought to get more. Never had anyone kissed her so deeply and passionately. Never had she so acutely wanted to give the same.
Wave after wave of color rolled through, so bright and intense, Cassie feared she might drown in it. Brody’s hands were moving up and down her body, and she moaned from the flood of sensations sweeping over and through, leaving her aching from head to toe.
When Brody finally let go, her hair was a mess as she looked down at him in unrealized wonder. Both of them were breathless, and Cassie was sure her heart was about to explode right out of her chest, it was hammering so hard.
“Holy God! What was that?” Laying her head against his, she clutched at him madly, trying to steady her raging body and spinning head. To anchor herself somehow on something.
His incredibly strong, wide shoulders.
Brody’s arms were wrapped around her, and one hand was splayed out on her bare thigh and inching its way up toward her ass. Cassie could honestly say she was fighting to find the ability to care.
“Chemistry. God Almighty! Chemistry.”
Working his way down her neck, Brody absolutely loved the fact that her hair was short and sassy so he didn’t have to take his hands off her to move it out of the way. Cassie tasted like magic, pure and simple.
She was sweet, hot, and wrapped around him, and Brody wanted nothing more than to drown in her.
“Please, Cassie, don’t ask me to stop. You feel amazing.” He would beg on hands and knees, if need be, to touch her.
Every single inch of him was hot and hard and dying to flip her onto the table and bury himself deep. Taking her lips again, Brody felt her moan echo in his head, and he knew that time would be sooner than later if he didn’t let her go.
Dragging away and framing her face in his hands, Brody looked at her. Pure, elemental, and male, Brody held nothing back. It was devastating for Cassie. He wanted her, and for the first time in her life, Cassie rode nothing but the whip of emotion. Logic flew out the door as she was pulled into the storm swirling inside those devastating eyes.
She nodded breathlessly. “Yes! God! Put your hands on me!”
A smile of pure male power lit up Brody’s face in a way that said she had just handed him the world, and Cassie knew without a doubt hers was about to be set on fire.
Lips captured hers, and Cassie was swept under. Brody lifted her and she protested the lack of contact, then somehow she was straddled across his lap and he was molding every inch of them together. Never in her life had she been with someone so big, strong, and powerful. It was thrilling and mind-bending all at same time — the thought of just being completely taken and knowing instinctively she could trust Brody to take care with her. He whispered across her face and neck exactly how beautiful he thought she was and what he was going to do to her. The promises made Cassie go weak, like rain flowing into him.
When his hands slid up her legs to cup her backside and ease her forward to press against full arousal, Cassie gasped in surprise, looking down at him.
“Is nothing about you average?” A hand flew to her mouth in utter mortification of what she’d just said.
With a look of supreme smug ego, Brody pulled her back to whisper at her lips, “I promise it will fit.”
His hands moved her hips against him until Cassie caught the rhythm, and her head fell back on a groan from the blatant heat pulsing between them. Those same strong hands came up to cup her breasts while his mouth worked its way down her neck. The explorations continued until his hands moved to the back of her dress. Easing down the zipper, Brody let his hands play across her skin like fire, stroking across her back and sliding the dress forward over her shoulders to pool in her lap.
Creamy skin that felt like silk was showcased in nothing more than sheer black lace. Brody gave some thought to tearing it off then did just that, enjoying the shock that played across Cassie’s face. Stroking a hand down the front, he cupped one now-bare sexy curve and arched her back to draw it into his mouth. He felt something between a moan and a scream from her as he gave and gave to that one perfect peak before taking equal care of the other. About mindless himself, he jerked her against him harder and captured Cassie’s mouth again just to taste her sweetness.
Deciding he wasn’t nearly as comfortable as he wanted to be, Brody stood and carried Cassie over to one of the double chaise lounges in front of the fire. Kicked it sideways so it was behind a bunch of tall potted palms. Satisfied he had ensured as much privacy as possible, he gave in to the madness boiling inside him and sat down with Cassie wrapped around him like a dream.
Her dress was bunched around her hips and she was bare in front of him. Brody’s hands and mouth were doing things Cassie had never experienced before or during her marriage. Things she hadn’t known were possible to make her body feel this good. Fighting to get his shirt off, her fingers fumbled and the buttons snapped, making her laugh at the craziness of it all. Then there was a stunning naked chest the likes of which Cassie had never seen in person — and she was pressed against it. Every curve and plane of them molded together. Flying high on the heat searing through, she shuddered as her panties were tugged off on another snap of fabric. Then Brody was touching her. His fingers teased and drove her mad before taking her over the edge in a whiplash that left her choking and clinging to him in wide-eyed amazement that she even could.
Still buried in her, Brody smiled and bit her neck before those talented fingers drove her up again. Not willing to wait any longer, they both fought to open his pants, and Cassie slid her hands inside on a moan. Her eyes widened when she felt his size, stroking the thick length, hot and pulsing against her hands, before Brody pulled away to protect her with a condom.
She watched and waited, the realities of the past trickling in and bringing old fears with them.
Everything between them had been so wonderful up until now. Knowing she was about to disappoint him, Cassie bit her lip, wanting somehow to please this one man who had gone out of his way to charm her in a way no one else had ever done.
Brody caught the look on Cassie’s face and stopped what he was about to do, which was flip her under him and drive them both insane. All of a sudden, she didn’t look like the woman she had been, the one who had been completely lost in pleasure. Cassie was now tense and tight instead.
Figuring he could take a little more time to make sure she was with him all the way, Brody gathered her close again and took his time stroking Cassie back up, nipping, nibbling, kissing, and touching. Finally she was on the edge and mindless again, his name falling like music from her lips.
Cassie was beyond awareness. Brody had stopped to kiss her and just kept on kissing her. Long, slow, and so deep, until the taste of him was imprinted on her soul. His hands had taken over her body. Lost in nothing but him, she barely felt the change until he was easing her down onto him, stretching her, filling her. Her eyes flew open and locked with his, pinned by that magnetic stare. His steady hands guiding her, Brody helped her move, inch by inch, until her eyes closed. He was buried inside her, and Cassie was lost to nothing but this one man.
All there was was pleasure and more pleasure as she rocked against him. It built higher and higher, tighter and hotter, like a spiraling storm, then the world burst around her again, leaving her weak and shaking in his arms.
Even then, Brody never let go. Taking her lips again, he coaxed and teased her to reality again. Cassie’s eyes flew open to look down at him. When she realized that Brody was still rock-hard inside her, doubt slipped back in. This wasn’t what men liked, and she struggled to make it what it was supposed to be — hot and fast.
“You… you haven’t… stop… you need to… please… let me…”
Brody, it seemed, had other ideas about how the night was going. Breath short and hot against her neck, he wrapped Cassie’s arms back around his shoulders and held her there. “In a minute. I’ve waited a long time to have you.” Taking her lips in a searing kiss, he smiled wickedly against them. “I’m enjoying myself.”
Sweat broke out over both of them as he built the fire once more. Cassie struggled now to keep up with a man who wanted everything she had to give and more. Demanded it all in his slow, seductive voice and the eyes she all but drowned in.
“I can’t… I can’t…”
Brody knew on some level that her bastard of an ex had something to do with her struggle. But he refused to let Cassie go there. When he was done, she’d only see the future with him in it and never doubt herself again.
“Yes, you can. Look at me.” Holding her close, Brody locked eyes with her pretty hazel ones, gone almost midnight in passion. “Yes, you can. I’m gonna help you get there.”
Good as his word, with Brody’s help, Cassie let go and flew high once more. The look on her face when she did almost sent him over the edge, right then and there. Reaching back, Brody pulled the lever for the chaise, and it flattened out. Rolling them both in one smooth move, he pulled Cassie under him and slid into that vivid heat once more, feeling her arch up like a bow toward him. Groaning and unable to hold back anymore, his mouth roamed wherever it wished and he took her in a surge of hips. Guiding her legs around him, Brody watched her face and strained to hold himself back, wanting to see her come apart just one more time for him. Then suddenly Cassie was calling his name over and over, her body locking around his like a vise. Swallowing her cries, he delved deep and took her, hips pistoning madly, and with a guttural cry, he jumped off the ledge and poured himself into her.