She turned slowly and glanced down at where his hand remained. “We’re back on first names now?”
Her skin was so soft beneath his fingers, and he immediately released her. “We are. And I accept your apology.”
Because her admission humbled her and showed him a side he hadn’t anticipated existed. It gave him pause. Made him want to know more about this enigmatic woman who vacillated between discomfort and calm, embarrassment and confidence.
“Have dinner with me on Friday,” he said, the words tumbling out before he could think them through.
“I don’t think so,” she said, glancing down, not meeting his gaze.
“Why not?” He leaned forward, forcing her to glance up. “You can use the time to try and convince me to change my mind.” He was intrigued by her, her honesty he’d never seen coming. And he desired her too.
“Why the sudden change of heart?”
“You pique my interest,” he said honestly. “So what do you say?”
She sighed, a smile pulling at her full, sexy lips. “You’re persistent.”
“I can be … when I want something.” And he realized, despite the years that had passed, he still wanted her.
“Fine. We can have dinner. I’d be a fool to walk away from the opportunity to do my best … convincing.”
Chapter Two
Not long after leaving Derek’s office, Cassie was summoned to her father’s house for a meeting. Never a good sign and especially not now, with her brother home and in charge of the business. As she traveled back to her parents’ place on the train, she couldn’t focus on what awaited her.
Her head was still spinning from meeting with Derek for the first time in years. She couldn’t believe he was so impressed with her skills. Even though he’d declined the interview, his compliment had been the highlight of a really shitty week, as was the fact that he was giving her another chance to convince him to change his mind. But her thoughts weren’t on how much the interview would benefit Take a Byte and help give their online views and presence a much-needed boost.
No, she couldn’t stop thinking about what Derek looked like now. His blue eyes were still crystal and clear, his face handsome and more mature. No longer a lanky teen, he was muscular in all the right places. His forearms were bulky, as was his chest, all clearly from working out. And since he wore a long-sleeve shirt with the sleeves pushed up, his sexy tattoos were clearly visible. If his chiseled features and good looks weren’t enough, he smelled delicious too.
Derek West was a sexy, imposing man, and she was extremely attracted to him. So much so that she’d had inappropriate thoughts of wrapping herself around him and breathing him in, all the while feeling all those hard muscles against her softer ones. It had been a long time since she’d been in a relationship, and she wasn’t interested in one-night stands, but her deprived body had responded to Derek West.
By the time the cab arrived at her parents’ house, she’d pulled her mind back to what her father might want. She paid the driver and headed up the walk. The weather was cold, and she pulled her jacket tighter around her, a barrier against the winter wind.
She knocked on the front door and Greta, their current housekeeper, let her in.
“Miss Cassie, your father and brother are in the study,” she said, taking Cassie’s jacket the minute she shrugged it off her shoulders.
She thought of Derek’s parents and realized she hadn’t asked how they were. Cassie had come home from college during a freshman year visit to find the family had moved out of the guest home. They found another job, her father had said, and refused to discuss the help any further. Cassie had been sad because she’d liked Derek’s mom when she’d worked for them over the years. Her parents no longer had live-in help. After Derek’s mother, they’d begun to use a service that provided bonded housekeepers.
Cassie cleaned her own place and allowed her mother to send someone in once a week for deeper cleaning. She wasn’t the snob her parents were, and appreciated the fact that she earned enough to cover the cost. She knew she was born into a lucky lot in life, no matter how frustrating her family might be.
Speaking of … she walked into her father’s study. Christopher and Spencer were looking at something on the big-screen computer. Neither glanced up as she entered, so she cleared her throat, announcing her presence.
“Cassandra, it’s about time you got here,” her father said impatiently.
“Hi, sis.”
She forced a smile at them both. “I was in the city.” She refused to elaborate or give either of them any information about her plans for the magazine.
Her brother might be running things, but he didn’t need to know her intentions. Until she knew if they were on the same page for the direction of the business, she’d keep her strategies to herself.
“I’m here now. What did you want to discuss?”
“The guesthouse,” her father said, taking her off guard. “You’ve been living there for a while, and now with Spencer home, I think it’s only fair that he be able to move in.”
“Wait. You’re kicking me out of my house?”
Since returning from grad school, she’d been living in the guesthouse, where Derek’s family once resided. Cassie paid rent, just as she’d do anywhere else. When she’d first moved back, she hadn’t wanted to live in Manhattan. The commute to the city wasn’t terrible from Long Island, and she loved the home she’d made for herself there. She certainly had never expected to be evicted in favor of her sibling.