Chapter 17
Cassie steeled herself for Monday morning.
She and Drea had been on an emotional roller coaster for weeks.
Every time she thought they were growing close, Drea would pull back or evade, either verbally or emotionally, or sometimes both.
But after this weekend, they had reached the peak, and the only place left to go was down.
So Cassie had given herself a pep talk on the ride to work and entered the office expecting distance from Drea, the realization that she had made a mistake and now they would be stuck in a polite zone to suffer through work together.
But that’s not what happened.
Drea caught her eye during the morning meeting and the expression she found there was not one of guilt or regret.
It was something entirely different, lust. She nearly spit out her coffee, pausing to do the mental calculation: one player plus one non-player, plus one night of earth-shattering sex equals .
. . nope. No part of that equation added up to a second date or more earth-shattering, life-altering, scream-from-the-rooftop .
. . Cassie mentally shook herself. No. Drea didn’t do relationships or even date.
She had a very robust reputation for it in fact.
Drea was a good-time girl and Cassie had definitely, abso-freaking-lutely, without question, had a good time.
Her body still ached from the extent of the good time.
But she would have bet a million dollars that Drea would not want more.
It wasn’t in her nature, and if tons and tons and tons—Cassie took another sip of coffee, letting the hot liquid coursing down her throat dislodge her from her mental hamster wheel—of women had not changed Drea’s viewpoint on relationships, she doubted anything she could have done would result in anything different.
Besides, Drea was amazing, in every way really.
She constantly surprised Cassie with her zest and talent and thoughtfulness, but Cassie would never want to change her or trap her.
Some people were meant to be free, and Drea seemed like one of those people.
So she played it off in the meeting and as Drea glanced her way later that morning.
It wasn’t until she went to refill her coffee that something shifted for her.
And all it took, as Drea joined her in the break area, was the smallest touch of her hand, a stolen moment so sweet and intimate that it sent Cassie’s thoughts crashing back to Drea’s bedroom.
She met Drea’s gaze, and the wall she had prepared in herself that morning cracked open at the emotion she found there, her mind dizzy from the enormity of it.
It took everything in her not to take that stunning face in her hands and kiss her until her lips gave out.
Drea’s fingers grazed hers once more as she walked away, leaving Cassie’s mind and hormones racing.
They made eyes at each other for the rest of the morning, ratcheting up the desire with each glance.
Her body vibrated from the arousal surging through her.
When she finally went to the bathroom to compose herself, she barely registered the door opening behind her before Drea pressed her against the wall with a passionate kiss.
They held each other tight as the kiss deepened.
Cassie couldn’t get enough, wrapping her leg around Drea’s hip, as Drea lifted her effortlessly, using her body to hold Cassie to the wall as she kissed her mouth and neck.
Arousal shot through her with each touch and she ached for Drea’s mouth on her, inside her, all of it.
Just as Cassie started envisioning moving things to a stall and going for more, office or no office, completely at the mercy of this woman who left her sanity hanging by a thread, Drea slowed and traced her tongue along Cassie’s lips before placing a final kiss there and resting her forehead against Cassie’s.
They stayed like that, against the wall, panting, as Cassie longed for more. “I want you so bad I can barely stand it,” she finally managed, a rasp in her voice.
“I know. Me too.” Drea lifted her head and ran her fingers along Cassie’s cheek, her eyes brimming with emotion. “Come home with me tonight.”
She didn’t know what this was or where it would lead. But everything in that moment, the emotions, the desire, the connection, answered every question in her mind. She smiled at the striking woman before her who had captured her heart despite all of her resistance. “Try to keep me away.”
“So, she’s going to kill everyone?” Cassie asked, trying to comprehend the storyline and the situation on the TV screen.
“Probably.” Drea grabbed a piece of popcorn from the bowl in Cassie’s lap and tossed it into her mouth. “She’s not a fan.”
They had spent the majority of the past two nights in Drea’s bed, only pausing when hunger got the best of them.
And as much as Cassie enjoyed the bedroom activities, these quiet moments with Drea, curled up on the sofa together, half naked in the late hours of the night, pulled at her heart.
It was what she had hoped a relationship with Drea could be.
“And Sam lets you watch this with Jake?” Cassie couldn’t imagine how Sam would be okay with her six-year-old son watching something so violent.
Drea held her gaze and snuck another piece of popcorn.
“Did you just wink at me?”
“I don’t know. Did I?” Drea put the popcorn in her mouth and chewed, but she couldn’t hide the smirk on her lips.
“You did it again!”
Drea laughed. “I can’t help it, the charm just oozes out of me sometimes.”
Cassie laughed and shook her head, but her mind drifted back to a couple of months ago, when things were very different between them. “Not all the time.”
Drea tilted her head with a curious expression. “No?”
“No, you weren’t charming at all toward me in the beginning.”
Drea frowned. “I’m sorry about that.” She looked up at the ceiling as if searching for the words. “I’ve been kind of struggling with all of the changes with Sam and how I fit into her new life. So, seeing you two so close at work, it made me feel even farther from her in a way.”
The admission clarified so much from those early days.
It was about Sam, not Cassie. A sense of relief washed over her, finally having an explanation for Drea’s early walls.
She thought about how much it would hurt if Janay distanced herself or became close with someone else.
“I’m sorry. You know that we’re just coworkers though, right? ”
Drea nodded. “Yeah. It wasn’t about you, so I’m sorry I wasn’t very friendly. I was dealing with a lot.”
Cassie placed her hand on Drea’s knee, wanting her to know she wasn’t alone.
“But, it was only a matter of time.” Drea sighed.
“Only a matter of time until what?”
“Until you hustled your way into my heart.” Drea flashed her charming smile, all the more so because it was genuine.
“Hustled, huh?”
“Mmhmm . . . and with that bold lipstick, I had no chance.” Her eyes danced with mischief.
“Oh, you like the lipstick?” Cassie could feel her smile take over her entire being.
In one effortless movement, Drea placed the popcorn bowl on the coffee table, then closed the gap between them. Cassie felt the air between them thicken, Drea’s lips only millimeters away as she looked deep into Cassie’s eyes.
“Mmhmm,” Drea replied. She ran her thumb slowly over Cassie’s lower lip, the heat in her eyes setting every neuron in Cassie’s body on fire.
“We should go to bed,” Cassie whispered in a rush, wanting to explore each other fully without the limitations of a sofa.
The sensuality and passion in Drea’s eyes made Cassie dizzy.
“Yeah,” Drea replied. She pressed her forehead against Cassie’s as they breathed each other’s air, the intimacy of the moment threatening to overtake Cassie.
Then Drea placed her hand against Cassie’s cheek and kissed her so fully that Cassie forgot completely about moving anywhere.
Drea slid out of bed, leaving Cassie curled adorably in the covers, a shock of lilac hair sticking out.
She grabbed her T-shirt off the floor, then sat on the stool and stared at the canvas before her, the soft light of her desk lamp illuminating the shadows along the water.
She blended a spot and added a bit more depth underneath the steamboat.
There was always more to do, more to create, and the hardest part, other than starting, was knowing when to stop, the finish line more a subjective resolution of good enough, often defined by a deadline, rather than the achievement of some artistic pinnacle.
Tomorrow was her deadline, when Byron would decide if the work he had commissioned was sufficient and worthy of both display and further marketing endeavors, the idea of the latter still bringing a wave of nausea.
He had seen her work at the wedding and had asked her for something similar, but there was still the possibility of rejection, that somehow she woud fall short of what he had envisioned.
But even if he was satisfied, then it meant her work would be out there, really out there in the city, and after so many years of trying to do that and falling short, the fear of victory was almost as overwhelming as the joy filling her the past few days.
It had been an exciting and unexpected whirlwind with Cassie.
Thankfully, she had spent most of Sunday after Cassie left working on the painting or at least trying to while her mind kept drifting, because she had only been able to sneak in a few hours each night, either before Cassie came over or after she had fallen asleep in blissful exhaustion.
The sound of a soft snore interrupted Drea’s thoughts. She turned on the stool and glanced at Cassie, who was lying peacefully with a small grin on her lips as she dozed, the tousled covers a remnant of their earlier escapades.