Single Man Meets Single Mum

“Yes,” she shouted as she grabbed a rubber band off a stack of school papers from her primary days.

“Max is a great guy, from what I’ve seen.” After pulling her hair into a knot on top of her head, she turned to Ian. “He and Lily are doing an amazing job, too. Lily seems like a sweetheart.”

Nodding his agreement, Ian rested a hip against an old dresser. “She’s rare in the industry. L.A. hasn’t jaded her or sucked the goodness out of her. She had a rough patch with a scandal at the start of her career, but she’s overcome it. She’s a rare gem.”

“And I’m sure you’ve tried to get her into bed.”

Rich laughter filled the space. The fact he was mocking her only ticked Cassie off more. But, if she were honest, she was ticked at herself for wanting him.

“I’ve never slept with Lily,” he told her, a grin still spread across his handsome face. “I’ve never even tried to. I’m actually hoping to sign her to my agency. I respect my clients and they respect me. This business is too risky and too exposed for anything like that to remain a secret. There are no secrets in Hollywood.”

“Is that all that’s stopped you? The fact that people could find out?”

Ian straightened to his full height and took a step toward her. Great. She’d awoken the sex beast again.

“What stopped me,” he said as he took slow steps toward her, “was the fact that, yes, she’s beautiful, but I’m not attracted to her. Added to that, I want a professional relationship with her, not a sexual one. If I want a woman in my bed, she won’t be on my client list. Plain and simple.”

He’d come close enough that Cassie had to tip her head back. Thankfully, he hadn’t touched her. Too much more touching—or, heaven forbid, kissing—and she feared her self-control would be totally shot.

Cassie swiped a hand over her damp neck. “Is everything a business strategy with you?”

“Not at all. Right now, I’m not thinking anything about business.”

The way his eyes held hers, as if she was the only person that mattered right now, made her wonder...

She may be naive and she was certainly still recovering from Derek walking out on her, but what would a fling hurt? Tessa had even verbally expressed Cassie’s thoughts on the matter. She’d married for “love,” or so she’d thought. Hell, she’d even saved herself for marriage and look how that had turned out.

“I promise I won’t ravage you if you’d like to take something off,” he told her with a naughty grin. “I’m sure your shirt will be long enough to cover things if you need to get out of those jeans. If not, I’ve seen naked women before.”

Yeah? Well, not this naked woman, and with that last bit of baby weight still hanging on for dear life, she most definitely wasn’t comfortable enough with her body to flaunt it. Even if she did indulge in a fling with the sexy agent—and she couldn’t believe she was seriously considering such a thing—she wasn’t going to make the catch so easy for him. What fun would that be?

Deciding to teach him a lesson, Cassie reached up and patted the side of his face. “You’re so sweet to sacrifice yourself that way.”

Cassie knew her mother had a box of old clothes up here. Perhaps something could be used to cool her off and make Ian squirm just a bit more.

As she went toward the area with the clothing boxes, she opted to keep Ian talking.

“So, tell me more about Lily.” Cassie pulled the lid off an oblong box and nearly wept with relief at the colorful summer dresses inside. “She’s very striking and has a strong resemblance to my mother.”

“When this film came across my desk, I knew I wanted Max to try for it and I was sincerely hoping they paired him with Lily. This role was made for her. She’s already got that Southern-belle charm your mother had, according to everyone on set. Lily has the sweet little twang in her voice like all of you Barringtons do.”

Cassie turned, clutching a simple strapless cotton dress to her chest. “I do not have a twang.”

Ian quirked a brow. “It’s actually even more prominent when you get ticked. Very cute and sexy.”

Rolling her eyes, Cassie turned back to the box and placed the lid back on. “I’m going to change. Could you try not to stare at me through the reflection again?”

Ian shrugged one broad shoulder. “I promise.”

Cassie waited for him to turn around or move, but he just sat there smiling. Damn that man. Now that she’d reminded him he’d seen her pretty much naked, Cassie had no doubt she’d just thrown gasoline on the fire.

“Aren’t you going to turn around?” she finally asked.

“Oh, when you just said not to look at you through the reflection, I assumed you wanted to let me in on the full viewing.”

“I didn’t want to let you into this room...let alone treat you to a viewing.”

Cassie resisted the urge to kiss that smirk off his face. He knew he was getting to her, and she wondered just how much longer she’d deny it to herself.

“I’ll move, then,” she told him, stomping to the other end of the attic behind a tall stack of boxes. “And don’t you follow me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He chuckled. “But you’re just putting off the inevitable, you know.”

She quickly wrestled out of her clothes and yanked the strapless dress up over her heated body. Her bare arms and legs cooled instantly.

“I’m not putting anything off,” she informed him as she came back around the boxes. “I know your type, Ian. Sex shouldn’t just be a way to pass the time. It should mean something, and the couple should have feelings for each other.”

“Oh, I feel something for you. And I plan on making you feel something, too.”

Why did her body have to respond to him? And why did she always have to be so goody-goody all the time?

She didn’t even have the ability to make him squirm. No wonder her husband had left her for another woman.

“I’m not sure what put that look on your face, but I hope it wasn’t me.”

Cassie drew her attention back to Ian, who had now moved in closer and was very much in her personal space. His dark eyes stared at her mouth and Cassie really tried to remember why she was putting up such a fight.

Had her husband ever looked at her like this? As though he was so turned on that all that mattered was the two of them? Had he ever made her tingle like this or feel so feminine and sexy?

No to all the above.

Cassie swallowed. If she was really going to do this, she needed to be in control. She’d been dominated enough in her marriage and right now she wanted something totally different. She wanted sex and she wanted Ian.

Mustering up all her courage, Cassie looked up at him with a wide smile and said, “Strip.”

Five (#udab38ae7-a8bd-5af6-81af-1c5ee66fcd91)

It wasn’t often Ian was shocked—he did live in Hollywood, after all. But that one word that had just slid from Cassie’s lips truly took his breath and left him utterly speechless.

“Excuse me?”

Raising a brow, she crossed her arms as if she dared him to refuse. “I said strip. You want this, fine. But on my terms.”

“I don’t do sex with rules.”

Cassie shrugged. “I don’t do flings, but here we both are, stepping outside of our comfort zones.”

Damn, she was hot. He never would’ve guessed the shy, quiet sister had this vixen streak. Of course, she admitted she was stepping outside her comfort zone, so perhaps this was all new territory. He had to hand it to her—she was doing a spectacular job. But he couldn’t let her have all the control.