Page 21 of Rumor Has It

I carry my suit coat over my arm and set my hand on her back as we climb the staircase. “I don’t leave home a lot,” I begin. “Let me start over. I haven’t gone out much recently, so there’s been no need. In the past, if I’d been traveling for a while, and the house stood empty, then yes, someone on my security team looked around to make sure I wasn’t coming home to any surprises. But what they do happens before I get there, so I don’t notice.”

Too soon, we’re standing in front of Cassidy’s bedroom door. I should’ve directed her to the downstairs den or the living room.

“One more question.” There’s a hint of eagerness in her voice. “Do you grocery shop?”

My brow raises. “I can’t cook so, no.”

“But you can do laundry.”

I crunch the peppermint. “If I need to. Push button start.”

“Can you work a microwave?”

“Uh,yeah?”

She’s quiet, but the smirk on her face says the gears in her brain are working overtime.

“What?” My brow lifts, sensing a clever quip coming on.

“So aside from playing the guitar, those fingers are pretty dexterous. What other buttons can you push?”

I turn my head to look down the long hallway. Deciding if I’m ending the date here and going to my suite is a quick deliberation. I’m not putting space between us.

I step forward. Cassidy retreats, planting her back against the door. I lift my arm, leaning it against the wood. My palm finds that delicate sliver of exposed skin at her hip. Cassidy shivers when my thumb brushes up and down.

“Where are your questions leading, Cass?” I cage her in.

Our mouths are inches apart. If all I get is a goodnight kiss, the evening will be worthwhile. But you can’t blame a guy for accepting an opportunity he might never get again. That’s how I wound up staying at Kingsbrier in the first place.

“I—” She bites her lower lip.

“You need help with that. It’s stuck.” And I want to be the one sinking my teeth into it.

I nibble her lip, our mouths pressing together as the shock wears off for Cassidy. She kisses me back. It’s simple. Sweet. Seductive when she opens for me and our tongues tangle. I kiss her long and slow, as if we truly have the rest of our lives instead of the illusion of more than a single night together.

When we part, my hand rises and falls on her collarbone to the rhythm of her rapid heartbeat.

Her fearful eyes search my face. “I’d invite you in, but I’m a cook at my family’s estate. You need to understand I don’t know how to be anyone but me.”

I wonder if Cassidy thinks I’d ridicule her about her job, or if I believe that I—a man who can’t feed himself—holds myself in higher esteem.

“I don’t want you to be anyone other than the woman I asked out to dinner because that’s the only person I want to know.”

My answer must satisfy her. Cassidy reaches behind her and turns the knob.

“You don’t lock your door?”

“Security,” she teases, flicking the light switch. A lamp across the room turns on. The swish of her hips hypnotizes me into following her.

“I’ll lock it. To be on the safe side.”

She tosses her clutch onto her dresser. “You do that. Make Monty proud.”

I grit my teeth, folding my jacket over a chair. I don’t want to hear any other man’s name come out of Cassidy’s mouth except mine. Not to mention, at present I’d rather forget the trappings that go along with being Isaiah Roomer. I just want to be Isaiah for her.

We dance around one another, but the magnetic force I refuse to fight against draws us closer.

The way she dressed is sexy as hell and my fingers haven’t stopped itching to touch her unless they’ve been kneading her bare hip.

---