Chapter Nine
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Jessica asked.
Cassie looked over her mug of coffee. “Is what a really good idea?” They were eating in the diner, outside in the sunshine. They had a canopy to give them some shade.
“Screwing your boss?”
It had been nearly two weeks since she and Slade had begun to have sex. Two weeks, of looking forward to bedtime. They had sex a lot. Last night they had screwed six times, seven if the bath exploits were included.
She hadn’t had sex so much in her life. Of course, the last time she did have sex had been when she was eighteen and with an asshole. Thinking about Andrew didn’t make her feel anything anymore. She also wasn’t embarrassed about the sex she was enjoying with Slade. He was so damn hot in the sack, and what was more, afterward, they often talked. Sometimes he’d still be inside her, and he’d make some kind of joke that would make her laugh. When she was with him, everything felt right.
“Technically, he’s not my boss. Daniel is.”
“You know what I mean. I’ve seen the way you and Slade look at each other. You pretty much fuck in looks alone.”
“Let’s stop talking about my love life, and let’s talk about your impending move.” She was helping Jessica at the weekend to move into their new home. She already had several lasagnas, chicken casseroles, and pies made so that they didn’t have to worry about dinner. She’d gotten boxes as well, and she’d be helping.
All she needed to do was convince Slade to help her with his car, and she was all set.
“No, let’s not talk about the move. You know that your houses have a long history of the couples falling in love. You’ve gone from hating Slade, to being friends with him, to now having sex.”
The waitress brought out their burgers, and Cassie thanked her before diving in. “We’re not in love. It’s just sex, Jessica. You told me I needed to lighten up. Consider this my path to enlightenment.”
“Now you’re just being a pain in the ass.”
“I’m not. Really. Slade and I are friends with the whole benefits thing. I’m having a lot of fun.”
Jessica sighed. “You know I was messing around with William a long time before we got caught. I knew I loved him, but we had that honeymoon period.”
“I’m not going to get pregnant. We use protection,” Cassie said.
“I know you, Cassie. I warned you against Andrew, and look what happened there.”
This made Cassie pause, and look at her friend. Being eighteen and having the first guy show her attention, she had basked in it. Jessica had warned her so many times, but she didn’t listen.
Her appetite disappeared to nothing. Putting her burger on the tray, she looked at Jessica.
“You think he’s using me?”
“I don’t think he’s using you.”
“Do you think he’ll tell others about what we’re doing?” Andrew had gone into graphic detail.
Jessica reached over, and placed a hand over hers. “I don’t think any of that. Slade, considering he’s a man-whore, is a good guy. I’m worried that you’re going to fall in love with him and get your heart broken.”
“Oh, is that all?” Cassie asked.
“Yes.”
She saw her friend was worried. “Don’t worry. I have no intention of falling for Slade. He’s a great guy, but we don’t have those kinds of feelings.” She finished her burger, and the conversation turned to the move.
Cassie forced herself to show that she didn’t care. She did care. One of her biggest fears in the past few weeks was that she was starting to fall for Slade. Then again, she couldn’t fall for him. They were friends, neighbors, colleagues. Nothing was going to come of it, and having some good sex didn’t exactly mean anything.
She loved being with him. They watched movies, played video games. He had this awesome one where they competed at each level to shoot or stab each other. She didn’t win them all, but she put up a good fight. Then there were the times they spent just having fun. He’d come and perch on her desk, and they’d do the crossword together. They no longer carried two trolleys to do their grocery shopping, and only used one. They even split the bill.
He came and did any jobs around her house that she struggled with, and they had painted her spare bedroom last week.
Entering the sheriff’s office, she saw three people waiting, and after making sure they were booked in, and ready to speak with Daniel or Slade, she got to work on any necessary emails. She took care of Mrs. Wilson complaining about cats again, and updated the work timetable that Daniel gave her, along with the necessary amendments for safety during the fair that was coming in three weeks to mark the end of summer.
She tapped a pen against her lip, as she finished the last letter that Daniel wanted her to send to a lawyer.
“How was your lunch?” Slade asked.
He’d just entered the office, and was fanning his face with a file.
“It was good. Yours?”
“Boring without you. However, that pasta salad you made was delicious.”
“Did you take the entire bowl from the fridge?” she asked.
“Yep, and I found the lid you tried to hide. Finished it today after talking with one of the Andersons.”
This made her pause. “You went to see the Andersons?”
“Yep. It would seem they have been getting some complaints about the noise of their current building. They’re constructing a house on their land, and residents are getting pissed with the noise.”
“The Andersons are the ones that own a lot of the town.” She printed the letter, and placed it on the pile for Daniel to sign.
When she turned to look at Slade again, he was staring at her. Not liking that he was looking down at her, she stood up, and grabbed the letters. “Why are you staring?”
“The Andersons are Andrew? Andrew Anderson?”
“One and the same. It’s no big deal though. Just be careful. They can be quite mean to people who step on their toes.”
“I don’t care about rich bastards. Are you still game for my parents’ next weekend?” he asked.
“Yes.”
She heard his phone going on his desk.
“When you’re done with that, come and talk. I’ll take care of this.” He left to go and answer his phone, and she took the letters through to Daniel.
“Are these for me to sign?” he asked.
“They are.” She placed them on his desk, and waited as he went through them.
“I heard about you and Slade,” Daniel said.
She looked at the sheriff, and her cheeks heated. “Erm, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry, Cassie. I just want you to be careful. I know how upset you got the last time, and I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“You won’t. I promise. I don’t intend to get hurt again.” She took the letters from him.
“I heard news that Andrew is coming back to town.”
She shrugged. “I honestly don’t care. I’ve had a long time to deal with everything that happened. Seven years of it, and I was hurt, but I’ve come to see that I wasn’t sad about him. I was sad about what happened afterward. I’m not a little girl anymore, Daniel. I can handle myself.” She moved toward the door, and bit her lip. “Actually, I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For everything you did for me growing up, and I also want to thank you for going and seeing my father’s body, and laying him to rest.” She hadn’t told Daniel that she’d known about that.
Going through some of his old files a few years ago, she had seen the report tucked away. Her father had died and no one had any way of contacting her, so they had gone to Daniel.
“You knew?”
“I didn’t know at the time. I found out after.” She hadn’t cried either. It was hard to cry for a man who told you how much they hated you. “Did he suffer?”
Daniel shook his head. “No, he didn’t.”
“That’s all I needed to know.”
She left, going to her own desk, and placing the letters into the necessary envelopes. It was good to finally get that off her chest, and to admit to Daniel that she knew.
****
“If you’re giving them food to help survive, why are we helping?” Slade asked.
“We made a bargain, and you’re going to live up to your end, and I’ll live up to mine.” Cassie placed the box on the floor inside Jessica and William’s new home. It was big, and the kids were already somewhere, screaming and laughing.
Slade placed his box on the floor, and caught his woman into his arms. Gripping the cheeks of her ass, he nuzzled her neck.
“We don’t want one of the kids to see.”
“Is putting your ass on the line worth it?” he asked.
She chuckled. “I asked you for help, and you told me it would cost me anal.” She pulled away, and cupped his cheeks. She pressed a kiss to his lips. “I thought it was a good price.”
She kissed him again, and then left.
Slade watched her ass in the knee length shorts she wore. He wanted to take her home and have his way with her, but he had agreed to help her friends move. He didn’t want to be lugging shit about, but he was finding his life a lot more fun being around Cassie.
“I really appreciate you helping us out,” Jessica said. “It has taken us a long time to find this place.”
“I’m always happy to help.” He went to leave the room, but Jessica’s next words had him stopping.
“Are you playing her?”
He turned toward Jessica, shocked by her outburst. “I’m not playing her.” He wasn’t even going to pretend that he didn’t know what she was talking about.
She laughed. “William told me to stay out of it. Cassie could live her life the way she wanted, and I had to accept that. She’s my best friend. I saw her get hurt by that fucker, and I don’t want to see her fall for you.”
“I’m not going to hurt her.”
“You think you’re not going to, and that in itself tells me you’re a fucking idiot.” Jessica put her hands on her hips. “Do you even realize that you’re the only guy she has been with since Andrew? Since she was eighteen? There hasn’t been anyone else in her life. You are both acting like this is just some fun. That you’ll move on, and still be friends, but you won’t be. What happens when she finds someone else? What happens if you get bored? What if you’re already in love with each other, and you’re pretending that it’s not the case?”
Just the thought of Cassie being with anyone else made his gut twist. No one else deserved her.
“I don’t know.” There were no words that he could give, as he didn’t know the answer to that.
“I hate this. It’s like I can see this going two different ways,” Jessica said.
“What ways do you see?” She was Cassie’s friend, and he was giving her the respect to voice her opinion.
“You’re either going to both fall in love, and live a happy life.”
“Or?”
“Or you’re going to break each other’s hearts. I know that if this fucks up, Cassie’s never going to be the same again.”
Silence fell between them. He didn’t say anything especially as Cassie and William came in at that moment.
He smiled, and pretended that Jessica hadn’t just made him think of all the shit he’d been trying to avoid.
There was no way he could think or even deal with Cassie being with anyone else, or falling for someone else. She had cancelled and removed her picture from two dating sites, and never went with Greg again. He knew, deep down, that for as much fun as they were having, it wouldn’t be a forever thing. Cassie was a good woman, and she deserved someone who was going to love her for her.
What he couldn’t do was let her go.
He didn’t want to.
For once he didn’t want to share her either. He’d never had these possessive, protective instincts for anyone else, and yet for Cassie, they were out in full force.
“Are you okay?” Cassie asked a couple of hours later.
He’d been working in a bit of haze, following William and Jessica pointing to where they wanted boxes to go, and just working through his own thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
“You’re just … acting weird. Has Jessica said something to you?”
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“What? Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m sorry, I’m just not in the right place right now. Everything is fine. Don’t worry about it.”
She caught his wrist, stopping him from leaving.
“Jessica said something, didn’t she?”
“It’s nothing, and no, she didn’t.” He lied with ease. “Let’s get all this done so that we can go and eat.”
“O-kay.”
He left the room, and focused on unloading the truck. When all the boxes were distributed around the house, they said their goodbyes to the happy family, and he avoided Jessica’s gaze. He didn’t like some of the shit that she’d been saying, and especially as it was so close to home for him.
Pulling into the bar, he parked up.
“I’m not cooking?” she asked.
“Not tonight. Steak, potatoes, and some dancing is in order. Come on.” He climbed out of his truck, and made his way to Cassie’s side, helping her out.
“You’re in a real weird mood.” They took a seat toward the back of the dance-floor. He nodded at Bethany, who gave him a wave.
“I’m sorry.”
“Jessica said something, didn’t she?” Cassie asked. “She’s already given me the whole you’re going to be sad or hurt speech. She’s just looking out for me. I wouldn’t think too much of it.”
“She’s your friend, Cassie. Of course she’s going to look out for you. I just … she said some stuff, and it just got me thinking.”
“Do you want to end it?”
He jerked back, and stared at Cassie. Her face was unreadable. He didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling.
“No, I don’t. Do you?”
Cassie didn’t get to answer as they came to take their order.
“No, I don’t,” Cassie said, the moment they had their privacy. “You don’t have to start freaking out. I know this isn’t some kind of love thing, or a happy ever after. I have no intention of springing up words of love for you, Slade.”
What if it’s what I want?
“I’ve not been in a real relationship for some time. I didn’t want to end up like my parents. Hating each other, and then causing heartache to get away from each other.”
“Slade, I’m not like that.”
“You’ve only ever been with Andrew. How do you know if you’re even falling in love with me?” he asked.
She sighed. “Are we going to do this now? You want to go and screw one of the women here, Slade? Is that it? You bored already?”
“Fuck no!”
“Then what is your deal? I’m not bored. I’ve not told you I loved you, and you’re acting like I told you I was pregnant. Don’t listen to everything Jessica says, okay? She’s my friend. She’s allowed to do the whole threatening thing, and the worrying. Don’t put that shit on me.” She stood up, and this time he caught her wrist.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going to dance with someone, and it’s not going to be you. If you want to be an asshole, you can sit here, and be an ass.”
She stormed onto the dance-floor, which only pissed Slade off. He was acting like an ass, and in doing so, she couldn’t seem to help her reaction to him. He seemed to get under her skin and drive her crazy.
He didn’t know what was wrong with him. Pushing Cassie away was not what he wanted to do. Running fingers through his hair, he forced himself to watch as Cassie was pulled into another man’s arms.
Slade’s hands clenched into fists as jealousy rushed through him, and then he took the time to watch her. Cassie wasn’t open in her dancing. She kept the guy at arm’s length, and there was no swaying of the hips, or drawing him in.
She was just having a dance with a person. There was no connection.
Stop being a fucking asshole, and go and get her.
He didn’t need to be told twice. Crossing the dance-floor, he wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her against him.
“Sorry, man, but this woman belongs to me,” Slade said.
The guy held his hands up. “No problem.”
Cassie wound her hands around his neck, but didn’t move. Her back was pressed to his front, and he kept his hands on her stomach.
“Are you done being stupid?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Are we still friends?”
“Yes.”
“Do we still fuck?”
“Hell yes.”
He nibbled on her neck, breathing in her scent.
You’re falling for her.
She’s yours for the taking.
Take her.
Slade ignored all of his thoughts, finished the dance, and then made their way back toward their table just in time to eat their food.