“Cassie, I—”
She shut the laptop before he could finish.
This was bad. This was very bad.
Chapter Four
Cassie wasn’t answering her cell the next morning, and when Ian tried calling her office line, he got her voicemail. He sent her an email but got an out-of-office reply stating she was out for the day.
He wanted to talk to her and was irritated she was obviously avoiding him, but what the hell was he going to say when he finally reached her? Sorry I invaded your privacy with my voyeuristic kinks? Yeah, that’d go over really well. He felt like the biggest asshole on the planet. He knew she’d tried to end the connection last night, so he should have done it for her. But it happened so fast there was a small part of him hoping her actions were on purpose, and if there was the slightest chance that was the case, he wasn’t going to stop the show.
Damn, but the woman was beautiful, and the sexiest little vixen he’d ever laid eyes on. If he had any doubts about her attraction to him, last night quashed them. Granted she was drunk, but she had to be thinking about him when she got off since she’d yanked her panties down inside of five seconds after talking to him.
And after Ian got over the shock of seeing Cassie masturbate, he couldn’t not touch himself too. He’d already been hard as steel from her flirting banter. He’d had every intention of jacking off last night anyway, but watching her touch herself caused his hard cock to ache beyond any sanity he could’ve clung to. He’d pulled out his dick before he’d even realized what he was doing. All logic flew right out the window, right along with his morals.
And here he was trying to pin his actions on the hope that she’d meant for him to watch. Yeah, he was definitely a first-rate asshole.
Ian spent the morning going over the changes that Cassie had sent him last night. She’d done a really great job understanding the requirements and identifying areas where the changes could be made to best meet the client’s needs. He also noted some modifications to build a generalized prototype pursuant to his instructions that trickled down from corporate. He met with his development team to initiate the work and set a timeline to complete it in two days. He’d work on the test plan documentation to get it ready for testing, and in the meantime, he would hope that two days would give Cassie enough time to muster up the courage to face his sorry ass.
The least he could do was cover for her calling in.
Then again, it wasn’t as if she would have a job for much longer anyway. He shouldn’t worry how it looked.
But he did. He’d liked her for too long, and he had always known his interest was more than just a physical attraction. He respected her professionally too, and the last thing he wanted was for her to look bad.
Especially since he was the reason.
Ian left the meeting with his developers and ran right into his boss.
“How’s everything coming along, Cope?”
“Good, Mac. Just finished meeting with the development team on the changes that are needed.”
Mac glanced around, making Ian do the same. “Have you gotten anything from Tucker?” he asked in a hushed tone, so he obviously wasn’t asking about the official project.
“Yes sir. I’m learning about the inner workings of her office. I should have something for you next week.”
“Just make sure you wrap up the consolidation plan by the time your project is finished.”
Ian did his best to seem nonchalant. He knew it wouldn’t do to come across as a prick right now, no matter how much he hated what he was being forced to do.
“I’ll get it done,” he said curtly and stalked off.
He had no choice but to do the job assigned to him. He’d just have to get back in Cassie’s good graces first.
And he’d have to shove all his fantasies about her into the deepest, darkest recesses of his brain. Because if he dwelled on the things he still wanted to do to her, he’d be in some serious trouble.
Trouble he yearned for.
“You fiddled the bean in front of Ian?” Sasha yelled loud enough that Cassie had to pull her phone away from her ear.
“Of course you’d focus on the details.” Cassie sighed as she flung herself onto the bed and threw the covers over her head. She didn’t think she could get any more embarrassed after last night. She was quickly finding out that wasn’t the case. Having to relive the experience was almost just as bad. Almost.
“I told you I wanted deets.”
“You got deets. Now I need help,” Cassie groaned.
Sasha sighed. “Cass, listen. You need to just chill. So you two got a little freaky last night. You’re consenting adults. You’re entitled.”
“But I didn’t know! It’s hard to say I was consenting when I didn’t exactly get to consent.”
“Good grief, girl. You practically shoved your pussy in his face. You can’t get much more consenting than that.” When Cassie didn’t respond, Sasha continued. “I get why you’re upset but just try and think about what he’s going through too. You both were hitting the sauce and getting cozy in your pj’s. If he’d actually been at your place, you would’ve fucked.”
“You don’t know that!”
“Whatever. Stay in denial. The bottom line is you have to work with him. You can’t avoid him forever. You’re on a tight schedule on this project, Cass.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. And he tried calling me several times today. I checked my email, and not only did he try getting me to talk to him that way, but he actually got the ball rolling on our project and kept me up to speed on what he’d done. I don’t want him covering my ass.”
“I bet he could cover it quite nicely right after he pulls his cock out—”
“Sasha!”
Unfortunately,
