Page 9 of Back Up Plan

Before Cass could reach the conference room door, Jess jogged down the corridor and redirected her to Ari’s waiting area.

With a sigh of relief, Ari added, “But I obviously want Jess to be well-versed in my business and get more done for my client list.”

Sydney nodded, “Good. You’re doing well but, as you know, there isalwaysroom for improvement.”

“Absolutely. I appreciate the feedback,” Ari replied.

After standing and shaking each partner’s hand, Ari walked out so they could debrief in the conference room without her.

Subduing her panic, Ari made hastily her way back to her office. She straightened her blouse and brushed her pants before she was within Cass’s eye-line — Ari couldn’t help but want to impress her.

Suddenly aware of her outfit, Ari felt underdressed even in her expensive heels and gorgeous, v-neck blouse.

Ari tried not to think about what Cass would think when she looked at her.

“Do you ever wear jeans?” Cass asked as soon as Ari was in her sights.

Jess hopped in front of Cass and immediately started, “Ari, I’m so sorry. I told her to wait by reception, but she wouldn’t listen and insisted she speak to you immediately.”

Ari turned to Cass, staring into her beautiful, blue eyes. She hadn’t noticed how piercing they were the night before, but daylight highlighted the color.

“That’s alright, Jess. We’ll talk in a bit,” Ari said, gesturing for Jess to move back to her desk.

Once she was out of earshot, Ari continued, “What in the fuck are you doing here?”

“It was this or LinkedIn… well, I tried that, too,” Cass laughed.

“How did you find me?” Ari said, surprised, impressed… only slightly terrified. Her terror was not calmed by Ari’s nonchalant wink. “What do you even need?”

On edge as she was, Ari couldn’t help but swoon at Cass’s wink. Normally, she found them awkward and corny, but Cass was effortlessly cool and still stunning as ever in her white, muscle tank top and loose linen trousers.

Shaking her head with a sigh, Cass said, “So, I got a text from Elle after the bar…”

“Look, Cass, I was happy to cover for you, but…”

“She invited us both to her engagement party. And…” Cass couldn’t finish her sentence before John Daniels, Ari’s former boss, was approaching them.

“Well, is this the future Mrs. Graves? John Daniels,” John said, extending his hand to Cass.

Cass extended her hand with a smile, “Oh it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much.”

“We wish we could say the same. Ari was my assistant for years and I couldn’t get a word out of her about you,” John said, throwing a familiar smile to Ari.

“Well, you know Ari. Always keeping secrets,” Cass laughed with a familiar nudge to Ari.

Ari smiled back and added, “We don’t want to hold you up, John.”

John patted Ari on the shoulder, “Of course. Oh, before I go though,” he turned to Cass, “you’d better be coming to the Gala. I want to pick your brain.”

“I’d love to…” Cass started as Ari escorted her by the arm toward the lobby.

Once John was far enough away, Ari let go of Cass’s arm and gave her a shove, hushedly exclaiming, “What the fuck?”

Cass rolled her eyes with annoyance, but she was a little surprised by how seductive Ari’s whispers felt as they walked, “Come on, you’ve been pretending to have a girlfriend to your bosses?”

“He’s actually my old boss. Whatever. How do you know this much about my job?” Ari asked.

“LinkedIn,” they said in conjunction.

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