She hung up the phone and returned to her lunch. “She lives five minutes away. She’ll be here soon.”
“How soon?” To his own ears, his voice sounded husky. Damn, he really should have his mind on the case.
Her hand stilled over the container of Chinese. Slowly, her gaze lifted. Her teeth pricked her lower lip the way they always did when her confidence faltered, and the angry heat in her gaze softened. “Soon,” she answered quietly.
“Cassie, come here.”
By the pained expression on her face, he’d have sworn she fought a whimper. Whether it was delighted or not, he couldn’t say. He suspected she wanted to obey as much as he craved her compliance.
Her response was a strained whisper. “No.”
“We have to talk about this.”
She adamantly shook her head. “No, we don’t. We already have.”
“All we did was dance around it. Why’d you ask me to go home with you last night?”
She blinked. The fork she held began to quiver. Hastily she set it and the box down, and tucked her hands in her lap. “I think that’s rather obvious.”
Brad wasn’t buying it. He’d learned enough about her today to realize the woman sitting across from him didn’t make it a habit to invite random strangers home with her. Her ethics ran too deep. She’d wanted something specific last night, but she was going to fight telling him every step of the way.
Fine, then—he’d convince a confession out of her.
He pushed to his feet and moved around her desk to stand behind her chair. Sliding his hands over her shoulders, he bent his head toward the side of her neck. Not touching, merely insinuating he might. “Did you get what you were after?”
”Stop.” Though she protested, she didn’t jerk away. “We need to focus on the case.”
He brushed his lips against her throat. “Answer me first. Did you get what you were after?”
Her nod was jerky, hesitant.
“So what was it?” He slid his hands forward by a fraction, dipped the tips of his fingers inside her unbuttoned collar. Lowering his voice, he murmured, “If you merely wanted to submit to a man, you could have done so long before last night.” Ever so lightly, he brushed his lips against her throat. “What was it you wanted, sweetheart?”
This time, she distinctly whimpered as she tipped her head back and shifted beneath his hands. So…damned…responsive. Brad bit down on the inside of his cheek to temper the delicious burn that infused his veins. Logical or not, he had to have her again.
“Spontaneity,” she murmured. Arching her back, she pushed his fingertips closer to her breasts. In a voice he had to strain to hear, she added, “Freedom.”
“Freedom from what?”
“Logic.” She closed her eyes, shifted her hips.
He sucked in a sharp breath. Giving in to the gnawing need to feel her beneath his lips, he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her neck then drew away before he collapsed under the weight of his own rising desire. “It doesn’t get more illogical than this.” Sliding his palms over the satin fabric of her blouse, he gave her what she wanted and lifted her breasts into his hands.
“We’re opposing counsel. We could lose our licenses if we aren’t discreet. It’s a hefty risk, but you want me.” He grazed his teeth along the shell of her ear. “And I’m aching to be inside you again.”
She tipped her head, brushed her lips against his. Though denying that kiss was like slicing off a finger, Brad turned his head away. “Not until you tell why you’re fighting this between us.”
One heavy knock at the door shattered her compliance. She bolted upright, shrugging off Brad’s hands, leaving him swearing beneath his breath.
“Yes, Stephanie?” Cassie called a little too brightly.
“Mrs. Cooper’s here.”
“Send her in.”
Reluctantly, Brad backed away from Cassie’s chair. She might have gotten off easy, but she hadn’t escaped. One way or the other, before he left Vail, he would have her writhing in his hands again.
Chapter Nine
The meeting with Jennifer strained Cassie’s nerves beyond repair. Not only had they yet to discuss the new terms Miles wanted, Brad sat too close in the conference room, touching Cassie at every slight opportunity. Benign little flickers of contact, accidental to anyone who didn’t know they’d slept together. His fingers grazed her hip when she rose from her chair; his knee leaned into hers beneath the table; his fingers dipped a hair too low when he helped her out of her suit jacket. She could have coped with any one of them, but combined, they all stacked on top of each other until her nerves crackled and popped.