Chapter 28
Cassie
Are you jealous?
What kind of question was that?
It just slipped out of my mouth at the bar last night. I was hurting, and Cole didn’t give me a chance to explain myself.
Squeezing a bruise is extra painful. And Cole hit an area of my heart that’s plenty bruised. I overreacted hearing him say that Dan might only be trying to help with my career so he can get in my pants.
I want to be taken seriously as a sports agent. I don’t want the fact that I’m a friendly woman to mean that I get dismissed as less deserving of opportunities. I’m tired of living in fear that my personality or my history will ruin my career before it really takes off.
So, I hit back. I said something stupid. I accused Cole of being jealous.
Yes, there’s been tension running between me and Cole. Hot and insistent. I can’t deny what he said by the pool. But that doesn’t mean he feels any ownership over me. That doesn’t mean he’s jealous.
No matter how much I might want him to be.
So the next night, I park at Dan’s hotel. We agreed to meet at the hotel bar in the lobby.
DAN
Hey, got stuck looking over some work stuff in my room
But feel free to come up and have a drink here and chat work?
An uneasy sensation tingles along my spine. Cole’s words resurface in my head. I shake it off.
I’m not really surprised Cole didn’t like Dan. Dan is the kind of charming but smarmy man that’s all too common amongst agents. We went on two dates years ago when I was new to the agency and he was a junior agent.
Dan was nice enough back then. It made sense on paper.
For a girl as in love with sports agenting as me, it would make sense to fall in love with another sports agent.
But he was so smooth and slick and something was just…
missing. He kissed me after our second date, and when I felt nothing, I knew it wasn’t going anywhere.
A few months later, he got a job at a New York agency, and his career blew up.
CASSIE
Okay. One drink and then I have to run. Don’t want to take up too much of your time.
I take the elevator up to the sixth floor and knock on his door. Dan waves me in with a grin. “Cassie, hey. Thanks for being flexible. Got held up with work. I’ve been here all evening.”
He’s wearing his jacket, but the top button of his shirt is undone. He sits back down on the bed, grabbing his laptop.
I hover by the door for a second before trying to lower my guard. “What are you working on?”
“It’s the phrasing in this rookie’s contract, but it seems off. Mind taking a look? You were always great at this back in the day.”
“Of course.” I sit down on the bed next to him, leaving a good gap of space between us. I glance over the contract and make a few suggestions. Dan nods and I try not to overthink how he’s not angling the laptop screen toward me, how he’s making me lean in to look.
“So…” I say, while he retypes some of the contract wording. “You said there were some agents at your company looking to expand their teams? I’d like to stay here at Legacy if I could, but I don’t know if I’m ever going to get promoted from within.”
“Right…” Dan’s voice is distracted as he gets up and crosses the room. “Hey, I got some wine earlier if you want some. Red okay?”
“Sure.”
I try to ignore the alarm bells in my head. This is more intimate than I was expecting, even without the wine added.
He gives a generous pour and sits back down next to me, clinking his glass against mine. “To old friends.”
“Dan, I… I can’t stay long, and I’d love to hear about your contacts at the agency. What was the job you thought I’d be a good fit for?”
He laughs like I’ve told a joke. “I’d forgotten how focused you are on work.”
“Well, you invited me here to talk about work, so. Yes.”
“You’re too pretty to think about work all night,” he murmurs. My eyebrows shoot up. This was supposed to be a work drink.
And also, does he not know me at all? I can think about work all night and be ready for round two the next morning.
Suddenly he’s angling toward me, way too close—
“Dan.” I draw away sharply. “I’m here to talk about your agency’s job openings. Nothing’s going to happen between us.”
I expect him to jump back in embarrassment, but instead a slow smile spreads across his face. “Yeah, well…” He shrugs, leaning a little closer. “If you want to use my connections, then maybe I’m going to need a little persuasion.”
My stomach turns, a wide grin on his face.
I raise my glass of wine and pour it right over his head.
He gasps, liquid splashing over his hair and down his white button shirt, turning it bright rose-pink.
Now I’m glad it was red wine. Much better for ruining the clothes of jerks who think they can use their connections to get women into bed.
“What the fuck,” he sputters. His face goes pink to match his shirt, and it would be comical, the scrunched-up expression of fury, if I weren’t so pissed off. I place the glass down hard on the table and head for the door.
“I was going to help your career!” he shouts after me. “Enjoy being a nobody in Boston forever!”
“Will do!” I yell behind me.
In the parking lot, I sit in my car as my heart rate eventually evens out.
I’m mad at Dan. I’m mad at myself.
After a few minutes, I pull out of the hotel parking lot. I drive through Boston’s old red and orange brick neighborhoods. The harbor glitters black, lights dancing off it in the moonlight.
So, Cole was right. Cole was just warning me about Dan, and what did I do? Accused him of being jealous of Dan.
I’m driving home.
I’m driving home, until I’m turning left when I should turn right, and suddenly I’m sailing past the exit, and I’m heading toward Cole’s address.
I don’t know what my plan is, exactly. Jittery nerves are swirling inside me. But I park my car, glancing up at the beautiful house in front of me. I pull my jacket tighter around me in the cold as I cross the path and knock on Cole’s door.
The door swings open. Cole’s eyes flicker in surprise at the sight of me.
Unannounced.
On his doorstep.
Late at night.
In this light, his eyes look sea-green, like the ocean he loves so much, like its deep, untouched parts. He’s wearing gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt that clings to his muscles, making my stomach swoop.
“Cassie?”
I don’t hold back. “You were right about Dan.”
His stare turns dark and dangerous, the line of his brow firming in anger.
He starts toward me and then stops like he’s hit an invisible barrier.
My stomach tightens at how downright possessive he looks, like he wants to break Dan at the thought of him hitting on me.
But I shake it off. I’m not tricking myself into thinking that Cole feels things like possessiveness toward me. Not anymore.
“Are you okay?” Cole demands. “Did he—”
I quickly shake my head. “I’m fine. He’s an asshole, but I’m fine. Nothing happened.”
His fingers clench into fists. “Tell me he crossed a line and I’ll go over there right now and end him—”
I raise a hand. “I took care of it. Might’ve burned down the whole bridge to his agency. But I’m not worried about him. That’s not why I came over here.”
My throat tightens, and I drop my gaze for a moment.
“I came here to say… I’m sorry. You were right about Dan and his intentions. I just didn’t want to see it, because I didn’t want it to be true.”
Cole leans against the doorframe. His stare softens. “Don’t apologize for being ambitious, Cass. Don’t apologize for seeing the best in people, even when they don’t deserve it. It’s better than assuming the worst.”
Cass.
I don’t know why that hits me so hard. It sounds so intimate coming out of his mouth. It sounds just right.
“No, that’s not why I’m sorry.” I twist my fingers in my hands, nerves rippling through me. “I shouldn’t have accused you of being jealous. I know our relationship has to stay professional. You’re my boss’s client. I’m your agent’s employee. And that’s it.”
Cole holds my gaze for a long moment. Heat flickers over my skin. An ache tightens deep inside me, like a fist closing tight around my heart.
I watch the Adam’s apple bob in his throat. The muscle in his jaw contracts.
“It’s fine,” he says. “I accept your apology.”
My smile is quick and tight. It’s hiding disappointment. It’s hiding the realization that nothing will ever happen between us.
“I’m glad, Cole,” I say softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I turn to leave.
“Cassie.”
His voice stops me in my tracks.
The sound of my name from his mouth is low, hot, and coiled.
Slowly, the breath wild in my throat, I turn back. My eyes lock with his.
“So he wasn’t your type after all?” he asks.
My voice has the slightest trembling edge. “No,” I whisper. “But why does that matter?”
His fingers reach forward and close firm around my wrist, drawing me back toward him.
Sparks of hot energy flicker between us as he grits out his response.
“Because I was fucking jealous.”