The CEO's Little Surprise (10 page)

“She is. Doesn't mean she should get her way.” He started the car with one last warning glare at the dog who was predictably ignoring him. “I can drop her off at a pet hotel on the way.”

Both woman and dog shook their heads.

“That's not necessary,” Cass said, patting Arwen's back. “She's welcome in my backyard. I have some sad little hydrangeas that would probably benefit from being eaten.”

“Really?” This time, he eyed Cass suspiciously. “She'll dig up your grass. I'm not kidding.”

“So? She's been cooped up in a hotel all week, hasn't she? My yard overlooks the lake and there are always lots of birds. No reason why she can't have a nice weekend, too, is there?”

Arwen's ears perked up at the mention of birds and that seemed to decide it. Casually, as if it had been her idea all along, the dog picked her way to her own seat and lay down on it without bothering to glance at Gage.

A little dumbfounded, he drove toward Cass's house and wondered what had just happened. “Okay. Thanks. Apparently that plan got the thumbs-up from Her Royal Highness.”

And from Gage. He snuck a sidelong peek at Cass. There'd always been something special about Cass but he hadn't realized her skills included dog whispering.

Warmth spread through his chest. Did Cass have any clue how much he appreciated her good humor over his bad-mannered dog? The invitation to let Arwen skip the dog hotel had earned
mucho
points with both man and beast. And neither of them gave points easily.

Arwen heartily approved of Cass's massive backyard. The moment Cass set down the bowl of water, Gage's diva of a dog gave Cass an extra nose to the hand, which was the equivalent of a rare thank-you. Would wonders never cease?

Gage followed Cass into the house, mystified why she'd be so welcoming of his dog. And why his dog was so welcoming of the woman.

Cass needs a big, fat thank-you. Immediately.

“Show me to your shower,” he commanded, his body already hardening in anticipation of a hot and wet Cass.

She raised a brow. “That's the first thing you want to do? Take a shower?”

“You say that as though I'll be by myself.”

“In that case...” She pivoted on one stiletto, then climbed the wide hardwood planked staircase at a brisk trot.

He raced after her, effortlessly taking the stairs two at a time, laughing as she ducked into a room and then popped back out as if to make sure he was following her. As if he'd be foolish enough to lose her.

“You're not getting away that easily,” he promised as he entered what was clearly her bedroom. He made short work of whirling her into his arms so he could strip her slowly for a much-needed round two.

When her gaze met his, it was full of promise and his breath hitched in his chest as he drew off her suit one luscious piece at a time. Never one to hold back, she got him out of his clothes lickety-split and when they were both bared to each other, he picked her up and carried her into the en suite bathroom he'd spied earlier.

She flung her arms around his neck, her own breath coming faster as she nuzzled his ear. Heat swept across his skin. Would he ever get tired of her? Usually he was done by now. Once, maybe twice, was generally enough with one woman.

Not this one. She kept drawing him back and he kept not resisting.

Gently, he set down the armful of long-legged blonde on the black granite vanity so he could turn on the water in the shower. Six showerheads spurted to life and he let them run in the cavernous enclosure that had the perfect seat for what he had in mind.

Cass perched on the counter, blinking at him dreamily, and it was so sexy, he crossed back to her while the water heated. He wanted to touch her.

Stepping between her legs, he gathered her against him, flesh to flesh. She clung to him, wrapping her limbs around his waist. Her hair was still down, golden and curly against her back, tempting. So he indulged himself in what had become one of his favorite sights—her hair wound up in his fist.

A six-foot-long mirror spread out behind the vanity and Gage had a front row seat for viewing the gorgeous woman reflected there. Sensation engulfed him, sending a blast of blood to his groin so fast, it left him lightheaded. He groaned and his eyelids drifted shut.
No bueno.
There was no way in hell he was missing a minute of this.

Prying his eyes open, he gorged himself on the sight of the lovely naked woman in the mirror, and the man who was poised provocatively between her legs. And that's when he realized this was the first time he'd seen Cass fully unclothed. They'd made love in a couple of inventive spots that had been, oh, so very hot, but it hadn't given them the time to undress.

This was a first. And he planned to enjoy every second of it.

Reverently, he soaked her in. Then he was kissing her, delving into the moment with every fiber of his being. She made him ache, down deep inside where it couldn't be salved. Except by her.

They undulated together, physically and in their reflection. Steam from the shower gave the picture of the two of them a dreamlike quality, and it was the most erotic scene imaginable.

When they'd both shuddered to an intense, unbelievable release, he gathered her in his arms and took her to the shower, where he ministered to her like a slave doting on his mistress. It was as much an act of making love as what had happened on the vanity, though the thorough washing could never be remotely construed as sex. Didn't matter. Here in the shower as he rubbed soap over her skin and slicked shampoo through her hair, he wanted to make her feel as good as she made him feel, to connect on a higher level. Maybe somehow, he could open her up enough to know the ice was gone for good.

He couldn't stand it if things went back to being frozen between them.

Because he liked this Cass. More than he should. Far more than he had in college. This time was totally different, but he couldn't put his finger on what caused it to be that way. When he was inside her, his heart beat so fast, he thought it might burst from his chest, and when he wasn't with her, he thought about her. And not just about the physical stuff, though that was never far from his mind. No, he thought about how she'd come into her own as a woman. As a CEO. She'd grown far beyond his decade-old counsel.

The water grew cool and he shut it off, drying her tenderly. When he swiped the last of the water away, she grazed his cheek with her hand and lifted his lips to hers for the least suggestive kiss of his life. There was nothing sensual about it, just her laying her lips on his, and he couldn't have ended it to save his life.

Finally, she pulled back with a smile.

“Get dressed and let's eat something,” he suggested, shocked at the roughness of his voice. He'd like to chalk it up to the explosive encounter on the vanity but that had happened thirty minutes ago. He suspected the source was Cass. Always Cass.

“Tired of me naked already?” she asked saucily.

“Never. I need nourishment if I want to have any hope of keeping up with you.”

Dinner consisted of Chinese takeout eaten at the long island in Cass's kitchen. They sat on barstools, legs entwined and heads bent together as they laughed over failed attempts to use the included chopsticks.

Later that night, after a worthless attempt to watch a romantic comedy on Cass's wide-screen TV, he curled around her in her big fluffy bed, skin to skin. Moonlight poured in from the large triple bay window opposite the bed, where Cass had drawn the curtain to reveal the silvery lake. It was a million-dollar view but he only had eyes for the woman in his arms.

He stroked her hair, letting her essence wind through him and he had to know.

“Cass,” he murmured. “Why did you agree to talk to the others about selling the formula?”

She stiffened and he regretted bringing it up. But weren't they at a place where they could be honest with each other? He hadn't sniffed out her agenda so far; the only thing he hadn't tried was flat-out asking.

“It doesn't matter. We haven't found the leak yet.”

The bleakness in her voice reached out and smacked him. “We will. We'll spend all day tomorrow on it.”

“Yes. We have to. Otherwise, I'll lose my job.”

“What? They can't fire you. You own one-fourth of the company.”

“Yeah,” she allowed. “But if they say I'm out, I'm out. It's a vote of no confidence. I'd sell them my share and find something else to do with my life. That's the downside of being on a team.”

He rolled her to face him in the dim moonlight. “You're not giving yourself enough credit. You've done amazing things with Fyra
because
you're a team.”

He'd never been part of anything and he felt the lack all at once. Cass and her friends had been together for a long time. Longer than he'd known her. He'd never connected with anyone like that.

What would it be like if he did? If he hung on to someone longer than a couple of nights? Not as business partners, but as lovers. Would it always feel like this, like he felt with Cass? As though he could never get enough, never get tired of her, never run out of things to talk about?

It couldn't. Could it? Maybe for other guys who didn't have promises to their long-lost brothers to keep. Who would he be if he settled down?

She gave him a small smile. “Be that as it may, if I don't plug that hole, Fyra's profits could plunge. I have to answer to the whole company, as well as my executive team. Who are also my friends.”

She was making herself accountable, like a great CEO should. It was inspirational and a little moving.

Her firm resolution spoke to something inside that he had no idea was there. Awed at the wash of emotion, he took in the serious expression on her beautiful face and everything shifted.

Cassandra Claremont wasn't just a fun distraction. He was starting to fall for her. How was that possible? He'd never let his emotions go like this. And what was he supposed to do with it—offer her his heart? Make her a bunch of promises?

Fall
was definitely the right word. He'd fallen so far out of his depth, he'd need a thousand-foot ladder to climb his way out.

A bit panicked, he tried to get back on track. “So we'll find the leak. That's the only answer.”

Get that squared away and then get the formula. That's what he was doing here. The crazy talk, that wasn't him. He had nothing to offer Cass but a few laughs and a hundred million dollars. Then he'd go home and be done here. Like always. Like he was comfortable with.

She smiled. “Easier said than done, apparently.”

“Double down, sweetheart.” He kissed her temple. “I'm still a good bet. Get some sleep so we can spend all day tomorrow finding your name.”

“I've heard that one before,” she said wryly.

She'd meant it as a joke, but it sat heavy on his chest. He'd spent far more time focusing on pleasure than he had business with absolutely no thought to how their lack of progress might be affecting her. He could do better.

“Really. You can count on me. I promise we'll get there.”

She didn't argue, though he understood why she might have a case for not believing in him.

As she drifted off to sleep, he gathered her in his arms and tried not to think about how natural it felt to be her go-to guy, how it made him want to stick to the problem until it was solved. How it made him want to stick to her.

Coupledom. Love. Living with someone under the same roof, sharing a bed, bank accounts—that was definitely an adventure Nicolas had never gotten to have. Gage had been avoiding anything that even remotely looked like that under the pretense of living life to the fullest on behalf of his brother. But in reality, the whole concept made him want to run screaming in the other direction.

Or at least it used to. He'd developed the strangest urge to stop running.

And he was truly daft if he thought for a moment that settling down was in the cards for someone like him.

Ten

A
mournful howl woke Cass in the morning. She blinked. Sunlight streamed through the window and Gage's heavy arm pinned her to the bed.

Arwen apparently wanted them both to know she was awake and bored. But only one of them seemed to notice. Gage still slept like the dead, a fact she'd not forgotten. He'd never been the type to let the pressures of life keep him from something he enjoyed as much as sleep. He'd need a dictionary and autocorrect to spell
stress
.

One of the many reasons he fascinated her. It was a trick she'd like to learn. She openly evaluated his beautiful face, relaxed in sleep. How did he shut off everything inside so easily? Or was it more a matter of truly not caring and therefore, there was nothing to shut off?

The latter, definitely. She'd lost count of the number of times she'd labeled him heartless. It was starting to ring false. Any man who clearly loved his dog as much as Gage did couldn't be heartless. And he'd been so sweet in the Hummer yesterday before rocking her world, then again last night.

She shook her head. And therein lay his danger. Instead of uncovering his involvement in the leak, he'd uncovered
her
, in so many ways, reminding her why she'd fallen for him in the first place. He'd taken everything she'd dished out and come back for more.

He lulled her into believing he might be someone different this time around, someone who would be there tomorrow and the next day, growing closer as they grew older. Someone who could be trusted. She had no evidence of that.

Didn't stop her from yearning for it, though.

Gage stirred awake and smiled sleepily at her. “Morning, gorgeous. You better stop looking at me like that or we're going to get a very late start on our investigation. That's our top priority for today, no ifs, ands or buts.”

“Oh, that's a shame. I do enjoy your butt.” She snickered as he waggled his brows.

And somehow, she ended up under him and panting out his name before she'd scarcely registered him moving.

Finally, they rolled from bed at nine o'clock, the latest she'd gotten up since...college as a matter of fact. Gage was truly a terrible influence on her.

But then he took over her Keurig and brewed her a giant cup of coffee, exactly the way she liked it, which hadn't changed in a decade, but still. How had he remembered that? Trinity never remembered that Cass hated sugar in her coffee, and Trinity had watched Cass make it every weekday morning for years and years.

Gage elbowed her aside as she tried to put some breakfast together, insisting on scrambling eggs and frying bacon himself, despite never having set foot in her well-equipped kitchen before. Of course, she rarely set foot in it either. The pan he'd scrounged up from under the Viking range didn't even look familiar.

After Gage filled a plastic bowl with food for Arwen, they sat outside on the flagstone patio at the bistro set she'd purchased shortly after buying the house five years ago, and yet had never once used. It was a gorgeous morning full of fluffy clouds flung across a blue sky, but Cass was busy watching the man across from her as he tossed an old tennis ball he'd pulled from Arwen's bag. The dog raced after it time and time again. In between tosses, Gage shoveled eggs and bacon into his mouth in what was clearly a practiced routine.

It was all very domestic and twisted Cass's heart strangely.

She'd dated a guy... Tyler Matheson...a year or so ago and she'd have said it was bordering on serious, but she'd never once thought about inviting him to her house for the weekend. It had felt intrusive. As if men and her domain should be kept separate at all times. When they'd broken up, Tyler had accused her of being cold and detached, but she'd brushed it off as the ranting of a rejected man, just like she'd ignored the hurt over the unkind, unnecessary accusation during what should have been an amicable split.

Now she wasn't so sure he'd been wrong.

In contrast, Gage had flowed into her life effortlessly. As if he'd always been there and it was easy and right. As if they'd picked up where they'd left off. She'd been holding her breath for almost a decade, waiting for her heart to start beating again. And now it was.

She stared at him as if seeing him for the first time.

She'd never gotten over Gage Branson and chalked it up to having endured such a badly broken heart. But that wasn't it at all. She'd never gotten over him because she was still in love with him.

She shut her eyes for a beat. That was the opposite of a good thing. And this was a really bad time to discover it. He might be involved in the leak. Hell, he might have even orchestrated it and at this rate, she'd never find out. If he flat out denied involvement, she'd never believe him. He'd proven he couldn't be trusted personally, so what was to say he could be trusted professionally? She would not give him the opportunity to destroy her or her business all over again.

Even if he got down on one knee and proposed, which would happen when monkeys learned to pilot a stealth bomber, she'd say no. Her own self-preservation overrode everything.

“I did some more digging into our files. Ready to talk through them?” she asked after she cleared the emotion from her throat. Not only was it a horrible time to discover she still had very real, very raw feelings for him, it would be a disaster to tip him off. God knew what he'd do with it. Twist it around and say she owed him something.

He glanced at her, ball in hand, as Arwen barked to show her displeasure at the interruption. He threw it to the far end of Cass's property, a good hundred yards, and managed to make it look effortless. Like everything else he did.

“Sure. We've got all day and most of tomorrow. Let's make good use of it.”

That was her deadline to somehow work through her emotional mess, too. A day and a half to get him out of her system for good and move on.

“I'm curious.” She drank deeply from her coffee mug for fortification. “When I talked to you about planting false information, you seemed to know a lot about how digital forensics works. How did that come about?”

The best way to get him out of her system was to prove his involvement in the leak. Then she wouldn't have to remind herself he wasn't trustworthy. Because he'd be in jail. Her heart squeezed. Surely that wasn't going to be the result of all this.

But even if it wasn't, Gage's presence in her life was still because of the formula. He wasn't falling in love with her. He was only here to squash his competition.

Gage shrugged. “You learn stuff over the years. I read articles and such. But really, the reasons that wouldn't have worked are common sense.”

Carefully, she raised her brows. “How so?”

“Because. Like I said, you don't have that kind of time. And you're assuming that the person responsible for the leak would actually be transferring files. What if they take handwritten notes? Memorize files? Take photographs? There are dozens of ways people can access information, especially if the person doing it is authorized in the first place.”

All said very casually, while still throwing Arwen's ball. She'd watched him over her coffee cup, growing more frustrated by the minute at his clear hazel eyes and relaxed expression. He was supposed to be letting his guard down enough to say something he shouldn't.

Maybe he hadn't because she was being too subtle.

“Is that how you'd do it?” she asked, just as casually. Good thing she had a lot of practice at keeping her voice calm even when her insides were a mess. “Take photographs?”

“For what? To steal proprietary information?” He laughed and she'd swear it was genuine, not the kind designed to cover nervousness. “No reason for me to resort to underhanded tactics. If I want something, I buy it.”

Yeah, as she well knew. Her coffee soured in her mouth. The problem with this line of questioning lay in the fact that she didn't have a clue if Gage was blowing smoke to distract her from his crimes or truly not involved in the leak.

How would she ever know for sure?

Maybe she was still being too subtle and the best way to resolve this was to flat out ask
Gage, are you involved?

Surely she could read him well enough to recognize truth in his response. She opened her mouth to do it, once and for all, when his phone rang.

Frowning, he glanced at the screen. “Excuse me a sec. Someone from this number has called a couple of times but never leaves a message. Otherwise, I wouldn't take it.”

Cass nodded as he stepped away from the table, her pulse pounding in her throat. So close. She'd almost blurted out the million-dollar question and she hated being forced to wait now that she'd made up her mind to go this route. But Gage ran a billion-dollar company. Of course people were vying for his attention.

She'd hoped to get her hands on his phone at some point this weekend, but snooping through his private life felt a little dirty, so she hadn't. So far. If he gave her any reason to, though...

Gage thunked back into his chair, his expression completely transformed from the relaxed, easygoing one he'd worn earlier. Thunderclouds had gathered in his eyes, turning his entire demeanor dark. “I have to leave. I'm sorry to cut our weekend short.”

“What's wrong?” she asked before she thought better of it. They weren't a couple. They didn't share their problems. And no amount of yearning for that type of relationship would change things.

“Something's happened.” Bleakly, he met her gaze, and suddenly it didn't matter if they weren't a couple. She reached out and captured his hand. In comfort, solidarity, she didn't even know. She just couldn't stop herself from touching him.

“What, Gage?” she asked softly, envisioning an accident involving his parents, a fire at his production facility. The pallor of his skin indicated it must be something bad.

“That was... I don't know for sure yet. I have to go home.” He scrubbed his face with his free hand as he gripped Cass's with his other. “Someone I used to date died. Briana. That was her sister on the phone.”

“Oh, I'm so sorry.” Cass's heart twisted in sympathy. The woman must have been someone special for Gage to be so visibly upset. The thought of him caring about a woman so deeply set her back a moment. Was she missing something here? When had Gage become the committed sort?

“Thanks, I hadn't spoken to her in a long time. A year and a half.”

Cass eyed him. “Then why would her sister have called you, if you don't mind me asking?”

Maybe
that
was the million-dollar question. Her curiosity burned. What if he truly had turned into someone who stuck around, growing close to this woman, and she'd been the one to dump him? Maybe
he
was nursing a broken heart.

After all, they'd never really talked about what the future between the two of them could look like. Maybe everything was within her reach if she just—

“She called because Briana had a son.” Gage blinked. “My son. Or so she says.”

* * *

Gage's two-story house overlooked Lake Travis just outside of Austin. It was one of the main reasons he'd bought the house several years ago and the water had always spoken to him. After driving straight home from Dallas in less than three hours—a record—he stood on the balcony, hands braced on the railing surrounding the enclosure and stared at the gray surface of the lake without really seeing it, wishing like hell the view didn't remind him of Cass.

But it did because her house was similarly situated near White Rock Lake in Dallas. He should be there with her right now, but wasn't because his world had shifted into something unrecognizable, where a paternity test was suddenly a part of his reality.

The woman who had called him was on her way over to discuss that very thing. It was bizarre. If what she'd said was true, he'd fathered a child with Briana.

Briana Miles. The name conjured up the image of a diminutive brown-haired waitress he'd met at a sports bar not far from his house. Beautiful girl. She'd come home to Austin after five years in LA and had started waiting tables so she could put herself through college, hoping to graduate without debt.

They'd struck up a conversation because Gage had expressed curiosity about how the University of Texas had changed in the almost ten years since he'd exited graduate school. That had led to a great couple of days that had ended amicably. He hadn't heard from her since.

The doorbell pealed through the house, and Gage opened the door to a short brown-haired woman with the swollen eyes and messy ponytail. Lauren Miles shared features with Briana and he could see their family resemblance even though he hadn't laid eyes on her sister in a year and a half.

“Come in,” he said woodenly.

“The courier dropped off the results of the paternity test you took.” She handed Gage the sealed envelope with her free hand. “I guess it's true that if you have enough money, you can get anything done quickly.”

He ripped the envelope open and his vision went a little gray. No question. He was a father.

Lauren perched on his couch but he couldn't sit down, not until he got the most important question answered.

“Why?” he burst out as he absently paced the strip of hardwood between the couch and the fireplace. “Why didn't she tell me? I would have helped her with the medical bills. Paid for diapers and teddy bears. I would have—”

His throat seized.

Liked to be involved.
But he couldn't finish the thought, not with the way his chest had gotten so tight that he couldn't breathe. All this time. Briana had been raising a baby without his help. Without even bothering to tell him he'd fathered a son. He'd have supported her if he'd known. She shouldn't have had to worry about anything.

And now it was too late.

Lauren bit her lip. “I argued with her about that. I really did. But she insisted you wouldn't want the baby and she was scared you'd make her have an abortion.”