Page 93 of Due Diligence

Yep. I was going to do unimaginable things to that smart mouth the next time we were alone—that was for sure.

But naturally, I just couldn’t say no to her. I unlocked the phone and handed it back to Cass. She spent a few seconds on it before she passed it back to me and said, “Now you have my number.”

“You don’t like my emails?”

Cass took a seat in her chair. “We have to be professional on our work emails, which means we’re not quite saying what we want to say. And you know me; I’m not coy.”

I sent a text to her number. “There. Now you have mine too.”

Gingerly, Cass picked up her phone and swiped on the screen. After a moment, my phone lit up with a text from her.

I unlocked it to look at the message and I nearly spit out a mouthful of coffee. Cass had sent me a picture of herself in her underwear—and not just any underwear, but a see-through, basically non-functioning lingerie set that put her entire body on display. It was so transparent I could see the bars in her nipples in full outline through the cream-colored lace.

Fuck, this woman was going to wreck me.

I was too shellshocked to say anything, so I ended up just gaping at the photo while Cass watched me with a smile on her face.

“Goddamn,” I murmured. “Well, I would send you one back, but I don’t have any pictures of myself. It’s in my contract.”

“A likely story.”

“I mean that,” I confirmed before I looked back down at my phone and wondered what generous deeds I did in a past life to deserve this. “And to be honest, even if it weren’t in the contract…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You have an amazing body,” she cut in. “I could look at you all day.”

“Okay.”

“No, don’t do that ‘okay’ bullshit,” she countered, shaking her head at me. “I wouldn’t flatter you. You look incredible.”

Deep down, I knew I looked good, but that hadn’t always been the case. Even though I was tall, I was always one of the skinniest kids in the foster homes where I lived. I had been an easy target for a few of my foster brothers and sisters, and probably spent more days with bruises on my body than without them. I carried those insecurities with me for years, even to college when I met Cass. To hear her compliment my body…that held weight that she probably didn’t even realize.

I allowed myself to smile. “Thanks, Cass. I just…”

“What?”

That would be a story for another time, maybe after I played out the conversation with Dr. Jensen first. “Nothing.”

Cass didn’t press the issue, which I appreciated for once. One day, maybe when we were more than just two friends who fucked each other exceptionally well, I would tell her all about my childhood—or lack thereof.

The rest of the morning was mostly uneventful, but I didn’t notice. I was content to just be around her, basking in her presence. It wasn’t until midday that I realized she was typing on her phone…a lot.

That wasn’t too out of the ordinary, but I also noticed she was smiling as she typed—and there was something about her mannerisms that made me suspect she was sending messages. And those messages clearly weren’t going to me because my phone stayed dark the entire time.

“Who are you texting?” I asked when the curiosity (and anxiety) finally consumed me.

To my surprise, Cass didn’t hesitate to say, “My ex.”

Immediately, I stopped typing on my laptop. My hands just froze in place, right in the middle of an email I was sending to one of our board members.

“Who’s your ex?” I asked. “As intheex? Was this the boyfriend during law school?”

She tried to wave off my question (orquestions, rather), and I probably should have let her. But because I was a masochist, I needed to hear her say it. I kept staring at her, waiting for a response.

“He’s just this guy.”

Except he wasn’t just a guy. This was a guy who Cass let upend her life. She wasn’t willing to do that for me, but apparently he had been worth it. “Sounds like a really interesting person.”

“Marcus, I don’t think this is a route we should go down together,” she warned as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Ever.”

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