Chapter 14 Marcus

Cassie stretched her arms up and let out a yawn. I watched as she tilted her head to the left, elongating her neck as she rotated from side to side. It took every bit of willpower I could muster not to lean forward and put my lips on her skin so I could taste the faint, sweet echo of her perfume.

For the last ten hours, she and I had been going over Libra's financial documents and I spent every minute of all ten of those hours trying to build up enough courage to tell her I hadn't stopped thinking about Friday night. Not once. And that wasn't an exaggeration; the only time I came close to thinking about anything else was when I called my moms on Sunday night at the same time Frank got into Sammy's litter box. But still, it was incredibly telling that the only thing that could keep me from thinking about Cassie was the simultaneous distraction of my parents and my corgi batting around a clump of cat litter.

Gracefully, she lowered her arms. She released a soft hum that bordered on a moan, which naturally shot straight to my dick. "That's probably enough for one day."

I checked my watch and saw it was nearly seven. "You think?"

"We can finish the rest tomorrow." Cassie stood and hoisted her bag off the chair. "Are you heading out?"

"I probably should. I can get the rest of my work done at home." I returned to my side of the table and picked up my backpack. While I put my stuff away, I looked up at Cassie and saw her lingering by the door to the room, scrolling on her phone.

Briefly, I wondered if she was waiting for me to walk her out. I didn't know why that thought made me so nervous. I watched her, taking in the way the dress she wore fit her like a second skin. If I hadn't seen so much of her magnificent, unclothed body, I would want her to wear that dress every day.

I stared too long, because at some point she noticed. She looked up at me and glanced side to side, in the universal gesture for What the fuck are you looking at?

"Question," I said, mostly to deflect, but also because I really did need to ask her something.

"What's up?"

"On Friday, you mentioned you could get my binder out of the data room. I don't know if you meant that…"

Cassie furrowed her brow momentarily, but after several seconds her expression softened. "Oh, right. Of course I meant it." She nodded her head in the direction of my office as she led the way. "Let's do it now."

"Great, thanks," I said as I trailed after her through the empty office. "I know this is against the rules, but I just—"

"It is," she responded. Cassie took out my key and unlocked the door. As she opened it, she raised a shoulder. "This is more important."

She didn't wait for me to react. She disappeared into the office, leaving me standing outside. If she had waited a beat, she would have seen the look of complete and total admiration that crossed over my face.

Screw the rules .

In a split-second decision, I opened the door to my office and entered. Cassie was behind my desk, going through a stack of binders neatly piled in the corner. She paused when she saw me standing there, her expression fixed with confusion.

"What do you want?" she asked after a moment.

I paused, no response. I hadn't planned that far ahead. I toggled two options: one, be honest and tell her that every time I thought about her, my heart rate went up and my palms started to sweat and I forgot how to put together coherent sentences; or two, I could try to play it cool—nonchalant and seductive like Alex would.

"Marcus," she said, cutting into the silence. "What do you want?"

Well, it looked like I was going with option one, because the only thing I could do was stare at her wordlessly. Luckily, I was well practiced at keeping my face neutral. I had done it countless times over the years, suppressing eye rolls and grimaces and outright frustration working with Alex. Hopefully it ended up looking more like option two.

"Okay then," she murmured. She put down the binder she was holding and folded her arms instead. "Is this the part where I find out you're going to murder me so I can never tell anyone what we did on Friday?"

Not expecting that comment, I pulled my eyebrows together. "That's dark."

"I watch a lot of Dateline," she deadpanned.

"Well, I have no plans to murder you."

She cocked an eyebrow. "I appreciate that."

I slid my hands into my pockets and it was then I realized I was shaking the tiniest bit. I inhaled sharply, trying to quell my nerves like Dr. Jensen taught me to. Fortunately, Cassie wasn't looking at me anymore, so I doubted she noticed. Instead, she was back to sorting through the stack of binders.

I was about to say something else when she stood up straight and held one of the binders up. "This is it."

"Thanks, Cassie." I reached out and took it from her. To my relief, she didn't say anything else about it. She simply picked up her bag again and heaved it onto her shoulder.

"Wait," I said, holding up a hand to stop her as she walked in my direction towards the door.

Cassie looked up, expectation on her face. She was so stunning, even when she was just standing there looking at me. I didn't know how I managed to stand it all day, because at that moment I was fighting a full-body urge to kiss her.

I swallowed and asked, "Why would I want to keep you from telling anyone what we did on Friday?"

"Oh," she murmured. Her attention shifted to the side. "Well, I think it's clear you don't ever want to talk about it again."

"Says who?"

"You…by ignoring it all day."

Instantly, my face pulled into a frown. "While we were working?"

"I can take a hint. It's clear you want to pretend it never happened, so I'm fine to—"

"Are you mad at me?" I questioned, interjecting. I tended to avoid doing that, but I knew if I let her keep going, she was going to say something that neither of us meant.

Cassie kept her expression stony. "Why would I be mad at you?"

I knew a trap when I saw one. I shook my head. "Don't be mad at me. I don't want that."

"What the hell do you want then?" she asked as she lowered her bag from her arm and dropped it onto the floor of my office with a thud.

You .

"If you want to talk about it, let's talk about it," I offered. "What do you want to say?"

"Screw you," she snapped in response. "Don't act like you're giving me the privilege of airtime. If I wanted to say something about it, I would have done that—with or without your permission."

"Okay, well you never said anything so—"

"Oh please. You've been playing me cold all day," she insisted, eyes narrowed. "Why would I put myself out there to—"

As she was talking, I stepped forward and fixed my hands on her shoulders, pulling her towards me. I drew her into my embrace and rotated us so she was between me and the door to my office. I pressed her against that door and tilted my head so our foreheads touched. Cassie inhaled sharply and peered up at me, her eyes traveling over my face as she steadied her breathing. Her hips arched to meet mine and I wondered if she could feel I was getting hard.

"I thought you were mad at me. Is this what you do with guys you're mad at?" My hands traveled lower to squeeze her hips over the thick fabric of her short dress. "Remind me to piss you off more often."

"There's no possible way for you to piss me off more than you already do." Her response was quick and I loved it. I wanted to take that smart mouth of hers.

"Is that a challenge?" I leaned in to kiss her, and when she moved to meet me, I hastily pulled back. She absolutely hated that.

"Fuck you."

"Please do," I quipped before I leaned in once again and kissed her, for real this time. "All I can think about is you fucking me."

Cassie bit down gently on my lower lip before she said, "That's never going to happen."

"I'm not even going to ask if that's a challenge because I know it is," I responded. I brought my hand up to her waist, feeling the warmth of her body. "It's not a question of if . It's a question of when, where, and how."

She let out a sigh as she canted her head to the side and gave my face a once over. "You can go from sweet and serious to forward and cocky at the drop of a hat. Do you think I like cocky guys?"

"I think you love them," I declared as I kissed my way down to her neck. "I think you like them so much that when I tell you I'm going to fuck you this weekend on my kitchen counter, with me behind you and you begging me to take you harder, you're not going to be able to hide how much that idea turns you on."

"Never happening."

"Fine. Maybe I'll just do it right here in the office." I bowed lower to nip her breast through her dress. And I did a pretty stellar job guessing where her nipple was located, because I could feel the edge of her piercing through the fabric.

Cassie sucked in and looked down at me, eyes hooded. I rose and brought my lips back to hers, kissing her harder now, mingling our tongues together. Her lips were soft and familiar, delicate against the stubble on my jaw that drew a groan from her as she forged a trail from my mouth down to my neck. I brought my hand to the back of her head and tangled my fingers in her perfect hair.

"How about now? Here in the data room. Right up against the door. We've been here before, Cassie. You up against a door and me keeping you there. That's what we did on Friday—right, beautiful?"

"Don't play with me like that," she said into my neck before she drew my skin between her lips, sucking it forcefully. I didn't tell her I already had one of her hickeys where my collarbone met my neck. I was hoping she would give me another, something else for me to run my fingertips over when I was thinking about her late at night.

I curled my fingers into her hair, holding her head in place and cradling her at the same time. She felt so good in my arms, somehow meant to fit there. "No?"

"You know we can't," she muttered.

Confused, I pulled away from her. Our eyes met and I lifted an eyebrow. "Says who?"

Cassie rubbed her hand over her lips, wiping away some of the lipstick smeared around her mouth. "I just assumed…"

I didn't let her finish. Instead, I tugged her over to the couch in the corner and fell into it with her in my arms. She was in my lap now, holding both of my upper arms as we stared at each other. It didn't take long for us to resume kissing each other frantically like some kind of universal kissing ban would go into effect at midnight.

"We can't…do this…in here."

"Cassie Pierson, if you say another word about this goddamn data room…"

She gripped my arms as she giggled and whispered, "I meant at work."

"Then come home with me," I responded. I pulled back to gauge her reaction.

"For what purpose?" She blinked a few times, almost innocently. I liked when she played innocent, even though we both knew she wasn't.

"You know."

To my chagrin, she shook her head. She was serious. "We can't do this. I don't care how good it feels. I cannot risk this job. I mean it."

This woman would be the death of me. Truly. I could die from disappointment, right here on this couch. I inhaled heavily and exhaled slowly.

Six-second reset.

"You get that, right?" she asked, leaning down to deepen our eye contact. "It doesn't matter how I feel about this job. I can't afford to get fired."

What I didn't tell her was that I actually didn't get it. I had never worked for anyone but myself. On top of that, for the last ten years, money had never been an issue for me. So while I understood this was important to her, I really didn't get it. At all. The look on her face told me this was dire though—and I couldn't push her on this.

I brought my hand up to her cheek. Her skin was unfathomably soft against my palm. Immediately, she put her hand on top of mine.

"I know," I said. "But god, I want to. And I know you do too."

"That's beside the point."

"Is it?" I asked. I drew my face back so I could stare at her. "Fucking in my office—questionable. Fine. But let's get the hell out of here. I want to do it. You want to do it. So, let's do it."

"We would both regret it."

"I wouldn't," I insisted, shaking my head. "In fact, I think I would relish it."

"Which part?"

"I would relish the part where you come on my cock and realize men have been fucking you wrong for years."

She flushed, but remained cool as ever. "Oh really?"

"Really," I said, grinning. "I keep every promise I make, Cassie. And I promise you, I would do things to you that would change your whole fucking world."

When Cassie didn't smile back, I wrapped both of my arms around her and almost cradled her—and that felt so right. "Tell me what's on your mind."

To my surprise, she frowned in response. Her eyes ticked over my face before she shook her head and said, "You want me to…to what ?"

"I want you to tell me what's on your mind. I can tell you're worried about something. Let's talk about it." I rubbed her back with one hand, tracing the line of her zipper. "I just want to listen to you."

Still frowning, Cassie tilted her head to the side. It was almost like she was contemplating me, wondering if she should take me seriously.

"It's not a marriage proposal, Cassie. I just asked you to talk to me."

"Wow," she murmured, staring at me as her expression softened. "Okay then. Well, I think I'm worried about a lot of things. Not so much you and me—that's another story. I'm more worried about what would happen if anyone ever found out what we did."

"And what we want to do," I added. "Right?"

"Right. I could get fired. If it gets out that you hooked up with your due diligence analyst, the entire integrity of the deal would be at risk. If that falls apart, you'll lose hundreds of millions of dollars. Literally." Before I could respond to her, she held up her hand and said, "And I swear to god, if you tell me that fucking me is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, I'm going to have to leave right now, because that's absurd."

I let out a sigh. She was right, but I didn't want to tell her that. It wasn't that I was uncomfortable with her being right. If anything, I figured I should get used to her being right. After all, she was able to spot a ten-year-old accounting mistake in less than five minutes. No, what I didn't want to admit is that us hooking up really was a monumentally bad idea.

"You don't think we can keep it a secret?" I asked, even though I already knew she was going to shoot me down.

"Hell no. I'm a due diligence analyst. I speak from experience when I say no secret stays hidden forever. Someone always figures it out."

"Why is it so hot to me when you talk like that?" I seriously wanted to spend the next few hours just tasting her lips and listening to her speak about business concepts and audits.

Cassie smirked, but quickly pressed the smile away from her lips. "You can't say things like that anymore. We have to stop."

"Even though neither of us wants to?"

"Exactly."

I shook my head. "Typical," I murmured.

So be it .

"What is?"

"Nothing," I said. "I'm just used to being told I can't do what I want. I should be used to disappointment, I guess."

Cassie slid off my lap and settled into a spot on the couch next to me. She reached over and patted my knee. The gesture was friendly, but far from intimate.

"I didn't want to sleep with you that much anyway," I told her, trying to keep it light even though I was practically choking on defeat. "At all. I was just trying to be nice."

"Oh, same," she responded, her sarcasm just as detectible as mine. "I just let you finger me as an apology for what I said back in college."

I was nodding. "I could tell." I turned to look at her, trying not to be too impressed by how incredible she looked on my couch. "I could tell by the way you were begging me to fuck you that you were just being polite."

"Obviously," Cassie continued, suppressing a smile as she spoke. "I would never actually want to be with you. You're just…monstrous looking."

"Right. Not as bad as you though. Your body is mediocre and your nipple piercings are so unattractive. I have no idea why anyone would want to see those, let alone suck on them for hours on end."

"I get that a lot." She nodded. "I'm so relieved you feel that way. I was worried I was going to have to let you make me come again. That was probably the worst orgasm I've ever had. I've totally—" She waved her hand nonchalantly. "I've blocked it all out. I never think about it."

"Same," I agreed, nodding as well. "I've already compartmentalized it."

"Good."

"Yep."

We were both staring at each other, our gazes unyielding. "We're really good at this, aren't we?" I commented after a beat, speaking seriously this time. "Banter. We're like the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of banter or something."

"We are. It's kind of a shame, really."

"What?"

"That we have to go back to hating each other," she explained. "It seems like a waste."

"Fuck it. You're my friend now." I shifted in my seat so I was facing her. "Assuming you can handle that. You're not going to keep trying to seduce me, right?"

"Me? Please. You're the one who forced your way into the data room." Cassie smiled. "I'm kidding. I can be your friend."

"Deal," I said. I held out my hand to shake hers.

She took it. And when we shook hands, the sensation was so unlike the first time. Her hand didn't feel bony and delicate in mine. On the contrary, it felt warm and recognizable, almost comforting.

"I'm glad that's settled."

"Same."

"And Marcus?"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You actually really do need to leave the data room now…"

"Fine, fine," I declared as I got to my feet. "I'm going. But I have one last thing to say."

"What?"

I lingered by the door, staring at her as she sat comfortably on my couch. "I just hope that one day we both find someone who loves us just half as much as you love this fucking data room."

"Bite me," she exclaimed as she threw a couch pillow at me, narrowly missing me as I darted out of the room.