Chapter 8
Starlight danced overhead. Glittering and glowing, it shifted and coalesced in and out of focus while Cassie drifted back and she wondered why she was outside with a fire crackling merrily nearby.
When had she left to go camping in December?
Then her brain clicked back in and focused on the fire pit next to them and the Christmas lights draped across the ceiling. She was sprawled on a chaise lounge with a heavy male still passed out on top of her. Raising her head, Cassie peered down at the length of stunning, half-naked man that was Brody Miller. His pants were still half on, her dress was a wrinkled bunch of fabric around her waist, and Cassie noted one shoe still glittered on her foot. With no idea where or even when the other one had flown off, she dropped her head.
Reality snapped back in, and a war of ping-ponging emotions rocketed through, leaving her a bit giddy with happiness and shock over what she’d just done. Anxiety bloomed next at what had happened between them and she waited for the aftermath of criticism she knew would be coming. Brody had well and truly turned her world inside out and blown it apart all in one fell swoop. She prayed that at least this one time a man would be kind with her. Raising a hand to her mouth, she bit down — hard — trying to hold back the maelstrom circling inside.
Brody shifted, pressing his lips lazily up Cassie’s neck. His post-sex coma was being disturbed by her going tense underneath him for some reason.
“What are you thinking about so loudly?”
Giving a slow roll of his hips, he heard Cassie’s groan of response and relished still being buried inside her warmth. She felt fucking phenomenal. Like nothing else he’d ever experienced.
“I must not have done a good enough job helping you relax.” He took her lips until Cassie gave a low hum of pleasure. “Give me a few minutes, gorgeous. I’ll get back to work.”
He teased himself by running a hand down her body, over a hip, and down the length of leg still draped over his own and found himself utterly infatuated with the softness of her skin. The scent of her was something floral and sweet. A man could get dizzy off that sweetness alone. Then there was the rest of her. A naked goddess. Just enough curves packed into a sweet little body that boasted a good balance of athleticism and tone to make every inch something he couldn’t wait to explore better next time around. Cassie took fitness seriously, it seemed.
“I’m sorry,” she said on a deep, hitching breath.
Confused, Brody braced himself above her, peering down in amazement. “What on earth are you apologizing for?”
Cassie focused somewhere over his shoulder and alternated with his chest. “It was all really wonderful. I’m sorry, though. I… I… know I didn’t keep up my end of things. Like I should have…” She sounded as if she was waiting for a lecture.
Brody studied her beautiful face, wanting nothing more than to smash his fist into her ex’s face. He’d had the brief suspicion from the way she talked about her marriage earlier that it had bordered on abuse, but now it was more than obvious. His heart went out to Cassie, laid bare in this vulnerable moment between them.
“Hmmm… afraid I won’t be able to accept that, gorgeous. That sounds like a bunch of bullshit. Your ex tell you that stuff?” He saw the truth in Cassie’s face as soon as he said it. The low vicious oath that followed made her pretty hazel eyes go wide. After taking Cassie in a blistering, soul-searing kiss that left her breathless and clinging to him, Brody swore again. “You’re a more than satisfying woman. Don’t you ever doubt it again. It’s a wonder the two of us didn’t blow the roof off this house.”
His comment made Cassie blink, smile, and finally giggle. She sobered on another hitch of breath, and her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. “I don’t do things like this — have sex with guys I hardly know. God, it sounds so cliché to say that, but what did we just do?”
Flipping over and taking Cassie with him, Brody settled back to hold her, wishing only that they were in a more comfortable bed. A quick glance around assured him that they were still shielded from potential prying eyes, and he offered thanks for not having lost his mind entirely while getting her naked. He’d kept Cassie safe from the front page.
“I’d say we both enjoyed Christmas a little bit early this year.” He cupped her ass to bring her up to kiss again. “I plan on enjoying it again soon.”
Her teeth tugged on her lip again, which Brody was coming to learn meant she was worried or unsure about something. It was fascinating to know she was so confident in the public eye and so different when entirely stripped raw with emotion, lying naked next to him.
“At the risk of sounding crazy, it’s been a while and I’m not really sure what to do next here,” she said.
A shiver hit her, so Brody felt around and grabbed his shirt to keep the chill off of her. She brought out every bit of the protective side of him that wanted to play hero as he laid down with her again.
“Thanks. Are you always like that in bed?” she asked and charmed the hell out of him by turning bright red and burying her head in embarrassment.
Brody rolled on his side and tucked her close. He couldn’t think of the last woman who had been shy enough to blush in front of him. Most were too brazen and bold, which was always a complete turn-off. They never wanted him for himself. It was always the extras of what he came with that made him appealing to them.
“Like what in bed?” he teased between kisses. Cassie seemed more at ease when she forgot to think, and it was no chore to keep kissing those beautiful lips to distract her.
“I don’t even know. Insanely intense. I might need a new hashtag.”
Playing his tongue across her lower lip, Brody got a sweet little hum of pleasure from her. “I’d say the intense factor had to do with both of us. Takes two to make it happen, and, baby, you sure do inspire a man. How about hashtag ‘cosmic’?”
“Cosmic.” She giggled. “What a perfect word. You ripped my underwear clean off. I’ve never had anyone do that before.” She sighed with a dreamy smile that had Brody grinning right back at her.
“I could apologize, but I think I’ll buy you bags of lingerie instead so I can tear them all off you again.”
The statement left Cassie with vivid visions of next time, and she felt heat creep up from her toes all the way to her face. Judging by Brody’s face, he was thinking exactly the same thing, since he was smiling ear to ear.
“Thank you by the way. I can’t believe I came three times,” she said.
“Uh uh, gorgeous. Four.”
“Hmmm?”
“Four times.” Brody was smiling against her lips. “I kept count. You needed it. How long has it been?”
“Since I had sex or since I faked it last?”
The comment was out before she realized it. Flushing, again, a red she was sure matched her hair by now, Cassie buried her face against Brody. God, how much more could she let slip on how bad this part of her married life had been?
His fingers cupped her chin, tilting her head up to look at him. “Seems the same thing to me.”
“Well over two years, give or take.”
Brody’s green eyes sparkled with a promise that was nothing but pleasure and mischief all rolled together. “Sounds like we need to make up for all that lost time. I loved watching you come apart for me. As soon as my legs work right again, we’re going to go find us a proper bed upstairs in one of the twelve bedrooms this house has and enjoy it all night long.”
When he lowered his mouth back to hers, Cassie was so tempted to give in. “I really can’t stay. I have to work tomorrow.”
“It’s Friday. What can you possibly have to work on this weekend?”
Tracing Brody’s face and down over handsome shoulders, she stopped only to return to play in the edges of thick dark hair. Cassie took a breath and let it out. The reality of her life wasn’t for the faint of heart. “Contracts to do, preparing the team for the entire week I’ll be gone. A conference call with Nathan. Presentations to finalize for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, depending on which company I’m at in which state. Washing clothes and packing to leave Sunday evening to be in New York bright and early Monday morning.”
“That sure is a whole lot for one woman. Any time for me in there?”
“I don’t know. This is why I said no to you in the first place. Around Christmas, things will slow down for three blessed weeks, which just means no travel, before it all picks up again after the holidays. This weekend would be very hard to make work.”
“Just gonna use me and leave me begging for more?”
Cassie knew he meant to tease, but his words only triggered the anxiety once again. Her ex had always had a problem with her business and how much time it took away. “I’m sorry.”
“I thought we already talked about you not needing to apologize. I’ll take whatever time you want to share with me, all right? We can make this work if we both want it badly enough, and I do want that with you. I didn’t stop thinking about you, even after you told me no at our coffee date.”
She saw nothing but complete honesty in him, and she closed her eyes a moment as sadness drifted in and brought the past with it. All the doubt and insecurities. “It won’t work. You won’t be happy with me. I’m not cut out for this — being with someone.”
“Cassie?” His kiss was sharp and swift with an edge of anger that startled her. “I’m not him. Don’t ever compare us like that again. I would never treat you like that. Whatever you’re building and making — it’s special and worth it. Don’t apologize for being strong enough to go after it. My life, my schedule, and being in the public eye won’t be any easier for you to deal with. We choose to make it work, or we don’t. Simple as that. Say yes, gorgeous? Let’s give this a chance. See what we can have together.”
Looking into Brody’s handsome face, Cassie felt the lock inside her open a little and knew she couldn’t deny she wanted to spend time with him. Even knowing that it would be short-lived, for however long he put up with her limited life, it had to be worth it. He had been so wonderful and caring, and he’d helped heal part of her bruised heart already.
“All right.” She nodded.
Brody pulled her tight to him, his green eyes flashing. “No way. You don’t go into this thinking it will fail and only giving half of yourself. I’m asking you to be more with me. No more of those walls, and no holding back.”
Shocked and wide-eyed, she could only stare, amazed once again at Brody’s ability to see through all the barriers she tried to throw up.
“I want you to fight for us just like you do everything else. You don’t hold back with me. It’s that or don’t even bother. You’re just wasting both our time if you do,” Brody challenged, throwing the proverbial gauntlet at her feet.
The truth was there in everything he’d said — it wasn’t fair to either of them if she carried an expectation to fail. Something inside her bloomed at his words. That he wanted so much more with her and was ready to step up fully, if she was willing on hers, made her want to take the leap.
“All right, dammit. All the way. Don’t complain when you hate it,” she warned.
“No complaints. You have my word.” Brody lowered his lips to hers again.
Clothing hitched back in place, the two of them sneaked up the back stairwell like thieves in the night, carrying the as-yet-untouched dessert plate and spare bottle of wine. The party in the other part of the house was still thumping wildly along. Brody escorted Cassie inside the bedroom he used when he stayed over and said he’d be right back. Back a minute later with a box of condoms lifted from the master bedroom, he locked the door with a flourish and shoved a chair under it to ensure privacy. He couldn’t be happier to have won the woman and a chance to have more with her.
Undoing the couple of buttons on his shirt and pulling it slowly off, Brody walked to the bed where his gorgeous Cassie sat waiting for him. She looked nervous as a cat again.
There was no doubt what Brody Miller had in mind. He was moving like a panther stalking prey, but Cassie still squealed like a girl when he snagged her foot and playfully dragged her across the bed to him then flipped her over. Peeling down the zipper on her dress again, he set his teeth on her neck in a move that lanced heat straight to her core, then his hands slid under and around pulling her back up to kneel in front of him. The dress went up and off in a slither of fabric. Brody wrapped around her from behind while his fingers moved up between her legs again. Cassie was sure her eyes rolled back in sheer bliss as her head fell back on his shoulder.
“Now, back to this whole ‘leaving early’ thing. I don’t really like arguing, but I think we need to talk that little detail out between us.” He turned Cassie’s face to catch her lips with his. “I want you to stay, baby, and sleep in my arms tonight.”
When Brody got done with his unique form of persuasion, Cassie couldn’t help but agree that his viewpoint had many merits worth considering.