Page 52 of Due Diligence

“I would relish the part where you come on my cock and realize men have been fucking you wrong for years.”

She flushed, but remained cool as ever. “Oh really?”

“Really,” I said, grinning. “I keep every promise I make, Cassie. And I promise you, I would do things to you that would change your whole fucking world.”

When Cassie didn’t smile back, I wrapped both of my arms around her and almost cradled her—and that felt so right. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

To my surprise, she frowned in response. Her eyes ticked over my face before she shook her head and said, “You want me to…towhat?”

“I want you to tell me what’s on your mind. I can tell you’re worried about something. Let’s talk about it.” I rubbed her back with one hand, tracing the line of her zipper. “I just want to listen to you.”

Still frowning, Cassie tilted her head to the side. It was almost like she was contemplating me, wondering if she should take me seriously.

“It’s not a marriage proposal, Cassie. I just asked you to talk to me.”

“Wow,” she murmured, staring at me as her expression softened. “Okay then. Well, I think I’m worried about a lot of things. Not so much you and me—that’s another story. I’m more worried about what would happen if anyone ever found out what we did.”

“And what we want to do,” I added. “Right?”

“Right. I could get fired. If it gets out that you hooked up with your due diligence analyst, the entire integrity of the deal would be at risk. If that falls apart, you’ll lose hundreds of millions of dollars. Literally.” Before I could respond to her, she held up her hand and said, “And I swear to god, if you tell me that fucking me is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, I’m going to have to leave right now, because that’s absurd.”

I let out a sigh. She was right, but I didn’t want to tell her that. It wasn’t that I was uncomfortable with her being right. Ifanything, I figured I should get used to her being right. After all, she was able to spot a ten-year-old accounting mistake in less than five minutes. No, what I didn’t want to admit is that us hooking up really was a monumentally bad idea.

“You don’t think we can keep it a secret?” I asked, even though I already knew she was going to shoot me down.

“Hell no. I’m a due diligence analyst. I speak from experience when I say no secret stays hidden forever. Someone always figures it out.”

“Why is it so hot to me when you talk like that?” I seriously wanted to spend the next few hours just tasting her lips and listening to her speak about business concepts and audits.

Cassie smirked, but quickly pressed the smile away from her lips. “You can’t say things like that anymore. We have to stop.”

“Even though neither of us wants to?”

“Exactly.”

I shook my head. “Typical,” I murmured.

So be it.

“What is?”

“Nothing,” I said. “I’m just used to being told I can’t do what I want. I should be used to disappointment, I guess.”

Cassie slid off my lap and settled into a spot on the couch next to me. She reached over and patted my knee. The gesture was friendly, but far from intimate.

“I didn’t want to sleep with you that much anyway,” I told her, trying to keep it light even though I was practically choking on defeat. “At all. I was just trying to be nice.”

“Oh, same,” she responded, her sarcasm just as detectible as mine. “I just let you finger me as an apology for what I said back in college.”

I was nodding. “I could tell.” I turned to look at her, trying not to be too impressed by how incredible she looked on my couch.“I could tell by the way you were begging me to fuck you that you were just being polite.”

“Obviously,” Cassie continued, suppressing a smile as she spoke. “I would never actually want to be with you. You’re just…monstrous looking.”

“Right. Not as bad as you though. Your body is mediocre and your nipple piercings are so unattractive. I have no idea why anyone would want to see those, let alone suck on them for hours on end.”

“I get that a lot.” She nodded. “I’m so relieved you feel that way. I was worried I was going to have to let you make me come again. That was probably the worst orgasm I’ve ever had. I’ve totally—” She waved her hand nonchalantly. “I’ve blocked it all out. I never think about it.”

“Same,” I agreed, nodding as well. “I’ve already compartmentalized it.”

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