Page 51 of Due Diligence

She let out a sigh as she canted her head to the side and gave my face a once over. “You can go from sweet and serious to forward and cocky at the drop of a hat. Do you think Ilikecocky guys?”

“I think you love them,” I declared as I kissed my way down to her neck. “I think you like them so much that when I tell you I’m going to fuck you this weekend on my kitchen counter, with me behind you and you begging me to take you harder, you’re not going to be able to hide how much that idea turns you on.”

“Never happening.”

“Fine. Maybe I’ll just do it right here in the office.” I bowed lower to nip her breast through her dress. And I did a pretty stellar job guessing where her nipple was located, because I could feel the edge of her piercing through the fabric.

Cassie sucked in and looked down at me, eyes hooded. I rose and brought my lips back to hers, kissing her harder now, mingling our tongues together. Her lips were soft and familiar, delicate against the stubble on my jaw that drew a groan from her as she forged a trail from my mouth down to my neck. I brought my hand to the back of her head and tangled my fingers in her perfect hair.

“How about now? Here in the data room. Right up against the door. We’ve been here before, Cassie. You up against a door and me keeping you there. That’s what we did on Friday—right, beautiful?”

“Don’t play with me like that,” she said into my neck before she drew my skin between her lips, sucking it forcefully. I didn’t tell her I already had one of her hickeys where my collarbone met my neck. I was hoping she would give me another, something else for me to run my fingertips over when I was thinking about her late at night.

I curled my fingers into her hair, holding her head in place and cradling her at the same time. She felt so good in my arms, somehow meant to fit there. “No?”

“You know we can’t,” she muttered.

Confused, I pulled away from her. Our eyes met and I lifted an eyebrow. “Says who?”

Cassie rubbed her hand over her lips, wiping away some of the lipstick smeared around her mouth. “I just assumed…”

I didn’t let her finish. Instead, I tugged her over to the couch in the corner and fell into it with her in my arms. She was in my lap now, holding both of my upper arms as we stared at each other. It didn’t take long for us to resume kissing each other frantically like some kind of universal kissing ban would go into effect at midnight.

“We can’t…do this…in here.”

“Cassie Pierson, if you say another word about this goddamn data room…”

She gripped my arms as she giggled and whispered, “I meant at work.”

“Then come home with me,” I responded. I pulled back to gauge her reaction.

“For what purpose?” She blinked a few times, almost innocently. I liked when she played innocent, even though we both knew she wasn’t.

“You know.”

To my chagrin, she shook her head. She was serious. “We can’t do this. I don’t care how good it feels. I cannot risk this job. I mean it.”

This woman would be the death of me. Truly. I could die from disappointment, right here on this couch. I inhaled heavily and exhaled slowly.

Six-second reset.

“You get that, right?” she asked, leaning down to deepen our eye contact. “It doesn’t matter how I feel about this job. I can’t afford to get fired.”

What I didn’t tell her was that I actually didn’t get it. I had never worked for anyone but myself. On top of that, for the last ten years, money had never been an issue for me. So while I understood this was important to her, I really didn’t get it. At all. The look on her face told me this was dire though—and I couldn’t push her on this.

I brought my hand up to her cheek. Her skin was unfathomably soft against my palm. Immediately, she put her hand on top of mine.

“I know,” I said. “But god, I want to. And I know you do too.”

“That’s beside the point.”

“Is it?” I asked. I drew my face back so I could stare at her. “Fucking in my office—questionable. Fine. But let’s get the hell out of here. I want to do it. You want to do it. So, let’s do it.”

“We would both regret it.”

“I wouldn’t,” I insisted, shaking my head. “In fact, I think I would relish it.”

“Which part?”

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