Page 9 of Pleasure Lessons

I did my best to avoid her, but she came to me.

My blood pumps hot through my veins. I have no time to think. There she is, standing barefoot on the cobblestones, her big innocent eyes wide and uncertain. Like she just searched the entire estate to find me. Her cheeks are flushed, and her hair ismessy and windblown. She has her forearms crossed over her belly, almost the way a child holds their favorite stuffed animal.

“I was on time for our lesson like you told me,” she whimpers. “Why didn’t you come?”

I reach out and brace myself against my truck, gripping the steel frame so hard my knuckles begin to ache. “I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to come looking for me.”

“I didn’t know what else to do,” she says, stepping slowly toward me. “You told me not to be late, so I showed up fifteen minutes early and waited. I thought maybe your truck broke down, or maybe you were in trouble…”

A crack forms in my heart. Look at what I’m doing to this poor girl. The pain I’m causing her, all from making one simple choice that I thought would fix the situation. Instead, I’ve only made things worse.

“Did I do something wrong, Rhett?”

“Of course not!” I snap, causing her to jump. Shit. Calm down. I close my eyes, take a breath, and open them again. “You didn’t do anything, Cassandra. There’s nothing you could do that would make me…”

My voice trails off. I’m floundering. Drowning.

This isn’t like me. I’ve coached hundreds of women. Plenty of them have flirted with me, and it’s never fazed me. I’ve remained professional. Always. But Cassandra…all she has to do islookat me and I’m a wreck. One single whimper of her melodic voice and I’m all twisted up inside.

“Did you get bored of me already?” she asks, forcing a smile that doesn’t extend to her eyes. And it makes me lose control.

I leap forward like a leopard, snatch her by the wrist, and pull her to me. She gasps and drops forward into my arms. I catch her soft body and feel the tender flesh of her plump breasts as they rise and fall with every breath. Her nipples harden against me, and my cock pulses with aching lust.

Shit, what am I doing? No, no, no!

I let go of her before I do something rash and stare at her, directly in the eyes. “I could never getboredof you, Cassandra. Don’t be silly. I can’t even–”

No. Don’t say it. Don’t.But I just can’t help myself. “I can’t even sleep without seeing your face…you’re in my head every second of every day.”

Her beautiful, plump lips part. They’re gleaming, as if challenging me to kiss them. She reaches out her hand for mine.

I step back.

“No,” I rasp, shaking my head. “I’m resigning. I have to.”

I reach into the back of the truck and grab the envelope, lick it, and seal it shut.

“Rhett, you can’t!” she pleads. I avert my eyes. Her beauty is just too much to handle.

“You don’t understand, Cassandra. The way I look at you–the things I fantasize about…” My voice drops to a whisper. “Ican’twant you like this.”

She steps closer, blessing my nose with the familiar, sweet scent of her perfume. “But…youdoalready…don’t you?”

Is she unsure? Can’t she see the lust in my eyes? The bulge in my pants? The torture I’m experiencing every moment I’m around her?

But then I remember just how young and naïve Cassandra is. Like a beautiful bird that’s spent its entire life in a gilded cage, she has no experience with men. Least of all an unrefined man like me.

“You’re not just gonna quit on me, are you?” she asks.

“I…wouldn’t put it like that,” I admit. “But yes.”

“Why?”

My heart thuds heavy in my chest. “I have to.”

I move to step past her, but she slides in front of me, eyes down on the ground, holding herself like a timid dove. “No.” Her voice is firmer now. “You can’t go.”

“Cassandra–”

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