Chapter 17

Brian stalked away from the couch, away from the temptation he saw in Cassie’s eyes. He grabbed the room service menu and began to flick through it, anything to get his mind off what he really wanted to do, which was lay Cassie out on the couch, slide between her thighs, and lose himself in her.

He flicked through the pages, needing the distraction.

“Uh, sure,” she said, uncertainty flicking in her eyes.

“Or we could go out if you’d prefer,” he said, trying to hide the desperation in his voice. “I could take you on our first date.” He smiled at her then, not wanting to frighten her away, but needing to put some distance between them.

She grimaced. “If it’s all the same to you,” she said, “I’d rather stay in. Maybe we could watch a DVD or Netflix?”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah, that sounds good,” he said. “So what can I tempt you with in the way of food?”

“I’d really love a burger,” she said shyly and he couldn’t help grinning. He loved this about her, the lack of guile, the lack of airs and graces, not that she couldn’t be a society lady if she put her mind to it. He’d been impressed with the way she had carried herself at brunch among the wannabes and he’d experienced her professionalism in her job. But his favorite part of Cassie was the one that sat on his couch with her shoes off and her masks removed.

“One burger it is,” he said. “Do you want fries with that?” She giggled and nodded. “And to drink?”

Cassie held up her Corona. “Another one of these would be perfect.”

Brian placed their order, getting a burger and another beer for himself, and then returned to the couch, picking up the remote.

“So, what are you in the mood for?” he asked.

“Will you hate me if I say a RomCom?” she asked.

“As long as I get to pick it,” he said. “I don’t want anything too mushy.”

She laughed. “Fine,” she said, “and while you’re doing that, I’m just going to run down to my room and change.”

“You’re not going to stand me up, are you?” he asked, suddenly afraid that she would have second thoughts and not come back.

She stood and dropped a kiss on his head. “I promise I’ll be back,” she said, “and I’ll bring dessert.”

He watched her walk away, her feet bare and her shoes held in one hand, her handbag in the other. This woman had bewitched him and he was helpless to resist her.

He forced his attention onto the television and searched through the available movies until he found one that fulfilled the brief…romantic comedy, heavy on the comedy, light on the romance. The last thing he needed was something that would give him ideas about how to woo her.

God, he wanted to woo her. He wanted to win her, but he wanted it to be on his terms. He didn’t want to be her second choice or to win her by default and he had no idea how to make sure that what she felt for him was real and not just because she was heartbroken over Nathan.

Fucking Nathan.

Brian wasn’t normally a violent person, but God, he wanted to punch him so fucking bad and not because he had Cassie’s affections, although that did add fuel to the fire. No, the reason he wanted to leave his stepbrother a broken and bloody mess was because of his callous disregard for Cassie’s feelings. The guy was stringing her along, making promises that weren’t fair to Cassie. He just wished Cassie could see that for herself.

And then maybe when she looked at him, she would see everything he could offer her. And he would give her anything she asked for if it was in his power to do so. He would move heaven and earth for her, he would catch the moon for her. And, apparently, he would wax poetic for her.

Fuck.

He was absolutely undone by her. How the hell was he going to make it through this evening without touching her? Without tasting her, without feeling the press of her soft, sweet lips on his?

There was a knock on the door and he got up to answer it. He opened the door to room service and let the guy bring the tray in, directing him to set it down on the coffee table.

He could do this…because more than anything else, he wanted Cassie in his life, even if it was just as friends. She was going to need a friend when she came to the realization that Nathan was going to marry Ainsley and that the future she had thought she’d have with Nathan was never going to be. That was going to crush Cassie. It may even break her. And if that happened, he would be there to pick up the pieces and he would make sure that Nathan could never hurt her again.

Cassie fidgeted with the hem of her sweatshirt as she walked towards Brian’s door. She really didn’t know what she was doing. This thing with Brian was crazy. The way she felt about him, the confusion she felt…it was all spinning out of control.

She took a deep breath and knocked on the door and it opened almost immediately as if he were waiting right on the other side, waiting for her to knock, like he was worried she wouldn’t come back.

She’d be lying if she said that she hadn’t considered texting him and telling him that she was too tired, that she was just going to crawl into bed, but who was she kidding? She wanted to explore this thing with him. The attraction to him was so strong and whenever they were near, it felt like they were connected by a thin silver thread. She really wanted to tug on that thread and see where it led.

His face broke into a relieved smile when he saw her, which made her stomach flip and her knees go weak. The man was a goddamned Adonis with his green eyes, dark beard, and those tattoos. He’d changed while she was gone and he wore linen drawstring pants and a white, long-sleeved t-shirt that pulled across the muscles of his chest and shoulders. She could see the swirls of ink showing through the thin fabric of his sleeves and her fingers ached to trace the lines.

“Perfect timing,” he said. “Your dinner is served.” He performed a smart little bow and swept his hand to the side, ushering her into the suite. She went willingly, doubts and thoughts of begging off disappearing at the sight of him.

She held up the bag in her hand. “Dessert,” she said, “as promised. I hope you like gelato.”

“It’s only one of my favorite things to put in my mouth,” he said, taking the bag from her, his fingers brushing against hers. She swallowed.

He put the gelato in the freezer and then took her hand, leading her over to the lounge room where their room service was set out on the coffee table. They sat on the floor in front of it, Japanese style. His shoulder rubbed against hers as he lifted the covers off their burgers with a flourish and popped the top off her Corona. They settled into comfortable companionship as they ate and watched the movie. Their conversation was easy and it felt natural for Cassie to rest her head on his shoulder.

She felt her eyes droop, the stress of the day catching up with her. Being with Brian was nice and she relaxed into him as he put his arm around her and pulled her more securely into his side. The fight to keep her eyes open was lost and she surrendered to the pull of sleep.

“Blue.” The whispered endearment brought her out of her doze, the soft caress of his hand along her cheek and the warmth of his breath on her neck made her open her sleepy eyes and look up at him with longing. “You fell asleep,” he whispered.

She lifted her hand and stroked his jaw, loving the feeling of his soft whiskers under her palm.

“You make a good pillow,” she whispered back, not taking her eyes from his.

She watched as the bright green orbs darkened and his nostrils flared. She recognised that look and it made her stomach flutter and her core heat.

His hand cupped her cheek and slid around her neck to tangle in her hair. Her eyes fluttered as she felt his hand on her hip tightened, drawing her closer. He lowered his head to hers and rubbed the side of his nose along the side of hers, their breaths mingling. Her hand went to his chest, fisting his shirt, before smoothing it out again and running her hand up over his shoulder and around his neck to feel the stubble of his closely cropped hair. She opened her eyes to watch as he closed like a man finally letting go of his tightly held control.

Nothing else existed but this moment, nothing else mattered. It was just the two of them in this space and nothing outside of it was real. Her body felt tight in anticipation of his touch. Her breasts felt full and heavy, her nipples taut and begging for attention. Her core was hot and needy and aching for relief. She shifted, moving to sit on his lap, straddling him. He pushed the coffee table out of the way with his foot and both his hands went to her hips as she settled herself on his strong thighs. She could feel the twitching of his muscles through the light fabric of his pants and she could feel his hard arousal against her soft centre.

“Cassie,” he whispered and she loved the sound of her name on his tongue. She loved the raw desperation she heard in his breathy pronunciation.

“Brian,” she whispered back, leaning her forehead against his, her hands gripping his shirt near his shoulders.

His hands roamed up over her ribs, under her arms, and around her back until his big hands were splayed across her shoulder blades. He pressed her body towards his, her aching breasts making contact with the hard planes of his chest and she sighed. He tipped his head up and their lips were mere millimeters apart, his warm breath caressing her lips. She pulled the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth and he groaned. Her hands released their death grip on his shirt and she slid them around his neck and up into his hair.

She let her head fall forward, anticipating the first soft touch of his lips against hers.

Her mobile phone rang and the moment was shattered.

Nathan’s ringtone.