interior provided a comfortable work environment where anyone would want to spend their working hours. The painted walls, carpeted floors in some areas and marble tile floors in others, modern furniture and state-of-the-art equipment all provided an upscale image of what she’d thought Brandon’s place of business would be like and she hadn’t been wrong.
“I should have warned you about my secretary, Rachel Suarez,” he said in a low voice. “She’s been here for ages, started out as my dad’s first secretary, and she thinks she owns the place. But I have to admit she does a fantastic job of running things. I have ten associates working for me and she keeps everyone in line, including my other thirty or so employees.”
Cassie glanced over at him, not realizing his firm was so massive. “You have a rather large company.”
“Yes, and they are good people and hard workers, every one of them.”
“The layout is nice and no one is cramped for space,” she openly observed.
Brandon’s secretary’s desk appeared to be in the center of things. The sixty-something-year-old woman’s face broke into a bright smile when she saw her boss. “Brandon, I wasn’t expecting you back until sometime next week.”
He smiled. “I’m still officially on vacation. I just dropped by to see how everything faired during the storm.”
The woman waved off his words with her hands. “It wasn’t so bad. I’m just glad it didn’t get worse. I understand the islands got more rain that we did.”
She then glanced over at Cassie and gave her a huge smile. “Hello.”
Cassie smiled back. “Hello to you.”
Brandon began introductions. “Rachel, this is-”
“I know who she is,” the woman said, offering Cassie her hand. “You look a lot like your daddy.”
Cassie raised a surprised brow as she took the hand being offered. Her surprise had nothing to do with being told that she looked like her father since she knew that was true. Her surprise was that the woman knew who she was.
At Cassie’s bemused expression Rachel explained. “I was Stan Washington’s secretary when you were born.”
Cassie nodded. In other words the woman had known about her parents’ affair and, like Brandon’s father, had been sworn to secrecy.
“I’m going to give Cassie a tour of my office, Rachel. And like I said, I’m still on vacation so I won’t be accepting any calls if they come in.”
Rachel grinned. “Yes, sir.”
Brandon ushered Cassie down the carpeted hall to his office. When they entered he locked the door behind him. She only had time for a quick glance around before he pulled her into his arms. “Now to finish what we started on the plane,” he said, before lowering his head for a kiss.
Their mouths had barely touched when Brandon’s cell phone rang. Muttering a curse, he straightened and pulled it out of his pocket. He rolled his eyes upon seeing whose telephone number had appeared. “Yes, Adam?” he said, a split second from letting his best friend know he had caught him at a bad time.
“Yes, Cassie is here and yes, she’s with me now.” A few moments later he said. “No, she’s not staying at the Garrison Grand. She’ll be a guest in my home.” He winked his eye at Cassie before she moved to sit on the sofa across the room, crossing her legs in a very sexy way.
“And, no,” he continued, trying to concentrate on what Adam was saying and not on Cassie’s legs, “you won’t be able to meet her until dinner on Sunday. You might be my best friend but I can’t let you use that fact to your advantage since Parker has requested that the family all meet her at the same time. Besides, I’m taking her to dinner tonight and tomorrow I plan to give her a tour of the town.”
Brandon laughed at something Adam said and replied, “Okay, Adam. I’ll let Cassie know.” He then clicked off the phone and placed it back in his pocket.
“Let me know what?” she asked, returning to where he stood.
Brandon smiled. “If you want to go ahead and make him your favorite brother, he’s fine with it.”
A smile touched Cassie’s lips. She had a feeing she was really going to like him. “He seems nice.”
“He is. Like I told you, all of them are, including Parker. The two of you just rubbed each other the wrong way in the beginning.”
“And what if he doesn’t agree with the counteroffer I intend to make him? I want you to know that I won’t back down. He can either take it or leave it.”
Brandon grinned. Sunday dinner at the Garrisons would be interesting, as usual. “I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. Like I said, Parker is a sharp businessman and I believe he wants to end the animosity between the two of you and come up with a workable solution as much as you do.”
He reached out and caressed the cleft in her chin. “Every time I touch this I get turned on.”
Cassie smiled, shaking her head. “I think you get turned on even when you’re not touching it.”
He laughed. “That’s true.” And to prove his point he lowered his mouth and joined it with hers. Their lips locked. Their tongues mated. Desire was seeping into both of their bones. Brandon thought he would never get enough of this woman no matter how much he tried.
Moments later he lifted his head and drew back from the kiss, his gaze on her moist lips. “I better get you out of here. It’s not safe to be in here alone with you. I’ve never made love to a woman in my office, but I might be driven to do that very thing with you.”
On tiptoe she stretched up and brushed a kiss across his lips. In a way she wanted him to take her here. That way when they did go their separate ways, her presence would always be in here, a place where he spent the majority of his time working.
“Maybe not today, but promise you’ll do it before I leave to return home.”
He lifted a brow. “Do what?”
“Make love to me in here,” she said, stepping closer and sliding her fingers to his nape to caress him there.
He released a shuddering sigh at her touch before asking, “Why would you want me to make love to you in here?”
“So you could always remember me, especially in here.”
He was taken aback by her words, and then murmured softly, in a husky tone, “Do you honestly think I could forget you, Cassie? Do you think I’d be able to forget everything we’ve shared together?”
Before she could answer he bent his head and claimed her lips, kissing her with so much passion it made her stomach somersault. It made the lower part of her body feel highly sensitive to his very presence.
Reluctantly, he pulled his mouth away and gazed at her in a way that sent sensations rushing all through her. He took her hand in his. “Come on and let’s get out of here before I do just what you ask and not care that I have an office full of people working today.”
A smile touched his lips when he added, “They’re a smart group of people who will get more than suspicious about all the noise we’ll make.”
“Umm, you think we’ll make a lot of noise?” she asked when he unlocked the door.
“He glanced over at her before opening it and chuckled. “Sweetheart, we always do.”
Later that night Cassie could feel the soft pounding of Brandon’s heart against her back. His arms were wrapped around her as he slept. The warm afterglow of their lovemaking had lulled her to sleep, as well, but now she was awake.
And thinking.
He had a beautiful home, and after showing her around, she had felt the love he had for it while he’d given his tour. She had watched him carefully when he had shown her with pride the things that were his. They were possessions he had worked hard to get and he was still working hard to retain. He’d told her that a number of his father’s clients had dropped his firm after his father’s death, citing Brandon’s youth and lack of experience. John Garrison had been one of the few who’d kept him on, and had gone even further by recommending him to others. With hard work Brandon had rebuilt the legacy his father had started.
When Brandon stirred in his sleep, she glanced over her shoulder and her gaze touched his sleeping face. She wanted him. She wanted to marry him. She wanted to have his babies. But most of all, she loved him. However, this would be one of those situations where she couldn’t have any of the things she wanted.
