“Shouldn’t Richard be in here?” Cassie asked. Ian looked down, and Mac cleared his throat.
“No need, Tucker. I’ll give him an update later.”
She didn’t like the sound of this. Office politics could get ugly and in no way was she going to allow Mac to stir up trouble when there was none, especially if that trouble involved her. He could weasel his way into drama in another office. She leveled her gaze on him, gathering her courage to confront him. “Richard is my boss, Mac. Not you. I respect that you called this meeting, but as my boss, Richard should have at least been notified, giving him the choice to attend or not.”
Mac’s face turned beet red, and he pointed an accusing finger in her direction. Cassie swallowed, bracing herself for his ire. The last thing she wanted was to be taken to task by Ian’s boss with him watching. “You listen to me, Tucker. I—”
Ian grabbed Mac’s arm. “She’s right, Mac. Richard is her boss, and she has to answer to him. It’s professional courtesy to notify him of any meetings.” He looked in Cassie’s direction. “I apologize for the oversight. We’ll make sure he’s notified in the future.”
Cassie wasn’t taking the chance. While Ian was coming to her defense, which pleased her greatly, she opened her IM and sent Richard a message letting him know what was going on. If he came barreling through the conference room door, then so be it. She wouldn’t mind watching Mac take the brunt of his irritation. Because regardless of what Ian said, Cassie got the feeling Richard not being notified wasn’t just an oversight. It was deliberate on Mac’s part. He was the one who scheduled this meeting. He should’ve notified her boss.
“Thank you, but I just informed him that I got called into a meeting. It may not be an issue since I gave him a status update this morning.” She tried to make light of the problem Mac created for Ian’s benefit. She didn’t want to cause any trouble for him.
“Well, if we’re through whining about Richard, can we please get on with this?” Mac grumbled as he shifted in his seat.
Ian and Cassie both acquiesced and took turns bringing Mac up to speed. She thought Mac should’ve been more pleased with their progress. At least he didn’t bitch about where they were on this project, but he wasn’t exactly singing their praises either. When they finished, they all stood while shutting down their laptops. Although it was very subtle, Cassie heard Ian’s sudden intake of breath. She glanced up and saw his eyes smoldering.
“Mac, I have a few more things to discuss with Cassie about the test plan. I’ll kill the meeting when we’re finished.”
Mac mumbled and waved a dismissive hand in Ian’s direction. Then he picked up his laptop and left the room. Ian just stood there, staring at her, not saying anything. Without taking his eyes off her, he reached over and picked up the remote for the video conference system. His eyes were predatory, stalking her every breath.
“W-What are you doing?”
“Zooming in. Turn around,” he ordered softly.
Trembling at his authoritative sound, she obeyed, moving away from her chair and turning slowly.
“Jesus, Cass, you need to be spanked for coming to work dressed like that.” He groaned, and she looked over her shoulder at him. “Bend over.”
She hesitated. She was at work, in the conference room…with the door unlocked. Richard never responded to her IM, so theoretically, he could come barging in at any second, catching her.
And that made it even hotter.
“Don’t make me tell you again,” he warned gently.
Cassie slowly bent over, touching her toes.
“God, baby, I can almost see your ass cheeks. Lift you skirt. Show me that sweet little ass of yours.”
Cassie groaned as she slid her hand around and gathered her skirt at the side, drawing it up. When she’d put on the black lingerie this morning, she’d hoped Ian would get to see it. Now he was about to. Just the thought of him looking at the scrap of black lace that barely covered her made her pussy wet.
“Fuck, Cassie,” he breathed. “Stand up and look at me.”
She dropped her skirt and turned around, facing him, relieved to be out of her compromising position, yet regretting that her little teasing show seemed to be over.
“I want you on Skype tonight. Right after work.”
“Can’t. Going out with Sasha for drinks,” she said casually as she shrugged a shoulder, hiding her smile.
“Drinks? With Sasha? Wearing that?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” She did smile then and started gathering her things.
“You’re going to get hit on by every drunk motherfucker in that bar.” He didn’t sound mad, but he did sound a little possessive. She rather liked that.
“Oh, I know.”
“Don’t let another man touch what’s mine, Cassie.”
“Yours? How do you figure?”
He growled. “You like being sassy don’t you?”
She laughed. “Sassy Cassie. Now there’s a blast from the past. My best friend in high school used to call me that.”
He sighed, clearly not really finding the amusement. “I’m serious, baby.”
He sounded serious, too. And not in an ordering-her-around kind of way. He sounded worried. She didn’t even want to begin to process the meaning of that. “Look, I have to go before someone walks in.”
“Fine. Be on Skype at ten.”
“What if I’m not back by then?”
“You will be.” Then he disconnected the meeting.
Chapter Six
“There she is!” Sasha yelled when Cassie walked into the bar. Luckily, the place was loud enough that not many people turned around to see who she was yelling at.
“I’ll have a dirty martini,” Cassie said to the bartender as she hopped onto the stool next to her friend. “Make that a strong one, darlin’.”
“You got it, babe.” He winked at her as he set about making her drink.
“Where were you all afternoon, Sasha? I looked everywhere for you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “You
