Page 96 of Due Diligence

“I’m debating,” I finally admitted, even though this was never how I intended to break this news to Alex. “I haven’t decided.”

“Oh hell no,” he snapped, betrayal visible on his face. “You never mentioned this to me before.”

“So?”

“So?So? I thought you loved this job.”

I raised both eyebrows. “Who told you that?”

“I just figured…”

He was so damn off base that I found myself laughing. “You figured I liked having every part of my life tailored and controlled so you could snort coke off an Instagram model’s ass cheeks?”

“What are you talking about?”

I shook my head. We weren’t going to go down this road—not today, at least. “Whatever. Look, I’ll figure out the issue with the cash. Forget I asked.” I picked up my stuff and headed towards the door.

“Are you seriously not going to stay and talk to me about the fact you just confessed to hating this job?” he called after me.

“Let it go,” I snapped, lingering by the exit. “I’m serious. Let it go.”

Chapter 25: Cass

Marcus returned to the conference room after his meeting with Alex and he didn’t say a word. He took a seat, pulled out his binder, and began writing.

I didn’t mention it.

He was quiet for the rest of the day, his attention on his laptop. I ignored some texts from Trevor, knowing that even if Marcus wasn’t speaking to me, he was watching me. As soon as he had left earlier, I regretted how insensitive I had been about Trevor. Hurting Marcus was the main reason why I was reticent to keep sleeping with him, even when we weren’t exclusive. I needed to be careful. Iknewthis. I should have been more tactful from the jump.

We worked late, heads down as his coworkers started to leave. At some point, the sun began to set and the dusky light of the evening began to pass through the window.

“Cass.”

“Yes.”

“It’s seven o’clock. Do you want to make out for a little and then call it a day?”

I looked up and I saw Marcus’s attention was still focused on his laptop screen, but when he noticed me watching him he made eye contact with me. His expression was unrevealing: placid and illegible as usual.

And so handsome. So freaking handsome.

“Why stop at making out?” I asked, hoping I could make him laugh. “Why don’t you shove all the stuff off the table, rip open your shirt so the buttons scatter everywhere, and make sweet, tender love to me?”

Marcus snapped his laptop shut with a tap of his finger and I was furious at myself for jumping at the sound. “Because I don’t want to make love to you,” he responded, his tone serious—and so sexy. “I want to fuck you. And I would do just that, but I have dinner plans tonight. A make out session is going to have to suffice.”

“Fine.” I closed my laptop. “Come here.”

He didn’t flinch. He simply stared at me with desirous eyes. “No, you come here.”

“Are we really going to play this game?” I reached up and hooked a lock of my hair around my finger as I continued to watch him. I twirled it, just like he did this weekend when I was in his bed.

“We’ll play. I’ll win.”

Seconds passed and I realized he really wasn’t going to get up. And I had no intention of giving in, so it looked like we were at an impasse. That was fine. It gave me a few more seconds to just stare at him and appreciate just how disarmingly attractive he was to me. My eyes lingered on his regal, sharp features. He was stately, so elegant that he turned heads when he was in public.

“Can I ask you something?” I inquired after a beat.

A nod. “Always.”

---