The CEO's Little Surprise

“It’s not rocket science. I’ve just been around a while. Failed a lot early on and learned a few things. No big deal,” he said, and he ducked his head.

She swept him with a once-over laden with—dare he hope it—some heat?

“You’ll forgive me if I disagree. It’s is a big deal. You’re the CEO of a billion-dollar company for a reason. And I’m not. Also for a reason.” Her self-deprecating shrug spoke volumes.

“Hey. You’re being too hard on yourself.”

Her gaze flew to his and something raw flashed in the depths, a stricken sense of anxiety. The brief spurt of emotion in her eyes sucked him in instantly, spreading through him with equal parts warmth and a desire to fix it. He almost reached out then to comfort her.

Because she needed him that way, too. And he liked being needed by a strong, independent woman like Cass.

It had nothing to do with sex, nothing to do with business—or even fun—and everything to do with why he’d recalled their relationship so fondly. Why he’d wanted to revive that between them. He liked being her go-to guy, being there for her. How had he walked away from that so easily?

Better yet, how did he keep it going now?

“Am I? How many times has one of your employees spilled company secrets?” she asked, and he didn’t like how matter-of-fact she was about it.

She’d accomplished something really fantastic here at Fyra. Insisting that a blip like the leak overshadowed that riled him up but good.

“That’s not a yardstick,” he insisted right back. “If it was, then you could also compare yourself to the CEOs of companies that went bankrupt or employed executives that ended up in orange jumpsuits. You’re a star in comparison.”

Her amused smile heated his blood unnaturally fast.

And if he could get Cass on the same page, this conversation could very well explode into something that didn’t need words.

* * *

Cass let her smile widen.

She had Gage exactly where she wanted him. It had taken her a bit to shift the mood and even longer to convince Gage his charm was working on her. At this point, he was so busy flirting and shooting her heated glances, he was scarcely paying attention to the matter at hand—the leak. Advantage Cassandra.

Keeping it was another story.

“You really think so?” She leaned into him, letting her arm casually brush Gage’s. His gaze darkened. “That means a lot to me.”

“This is not the conversation I thought we were going to have.” He shifted closer, crowding into her space and she almost flinched as the contact sang through her but caught herself in time.

That episode last night, up against the gazebo post, had kept her tossing and turning all night long. She couldn’t forget it. She might never be able to jog by that gazebo again without reliving the feel of Gage’s mouth on her flesh and the intensity of his heated gaze on her bare breasts as he watched her climax under his talented fingers.

It was enough to make her want to corner him, strip him naked and let the passion between them come to conclusion. Where she got to watch him fall apart at her hands.

Which she totally planned to do...while extracting the information she needed. She could not, under any circumstances, let him dissolve that goal like he’d done last night. No more would she let her emotions run away with her. It was all business, all the time, especially while she was seducing him.

This was her career at stake, and the careers of her friends, poised to vanish into thin air if she didn’t produce the name of the person responsible for disclosing company secrets.

Fyra was her life and no man could replace it. Especially not this one.

“This conversation is better,” she said with a tiny smile guaranteed to pique his interest. “For example, I was just about to take your advice and ask you to dinner tonight. At my place.”

That got his attention. He sat up so fast, his back teeth clacked together. “Don’t toy with me, woman.”

Oh, but he was so fun to toy with, especially as she gave him a taste of his own medicine.

“Does that mean you don’t want to come?” she purred. “Or do you want me to tack the dinner discussion to the end of today’s agenda?”

“Now I’m dying to know what topics we have to get through to reach that particular item.”

“Business,” she said firmly. “Then pleasure.”

His hazel eyes lit up and a wicked smile spread across his face. “Just so you know, the fact that you label dinner at your place as pleasure warms my heart tremendously.”