Lose Control (6 page)

“Why would say
that? How can you even think that? If this is because of the mark on my hip,
you need to get over it. I told you it wasn’t a big deal and it’s not. In fact,
if you give me a chance, I will show you exactly how much I want you to do it
again.”

Myles warily
watched as Cassie began to inch her way across the hot tub. If she got any
closer, if she got within arm’s reach, he wasn’t sure if he could resist the
temptation to touch, to taste, to fuck her senseless. Crossing his arms over
his chest, he gave her the same stern and displeased look that made most of his
employees scatter and run in the opposite direction when they saw it. If it
worked on them…
 
“Cassie. What are you
doing?”

Not even the
least bit intimated, she slipped closer until she was directly in front of him
and answered, “Proving to you that you don’t scare me.”

Maybe he should
be the one afraid, because her fingers, bold and sure, began creeping up the
inside of his thighs. Myles closed his eyes against the sensual feeling and
tried to breathe as she inched higher. He knew he should push her away. His
brain was screaming at him to do so, but his cock had other plans as it
hardened even more in anticipation of her touch. Instead of her fisting him
like he was envisioning, though, what he felt was loss when she suddenly
removed her hands.

Myles opened his
eyes, wondering what she was up to, why she’d stopped. The air caught in his
lungs when he got his answer. Cassie was positioning herself to straddle his
lap. His body tensed, bracing for when she made contact, and when she settled onto
his arousal, he hissed out her name in both relief and warning as his hands shot
to grasp her hips. If she moved even a little, wiggled that ass against him in
the slightest, the fine line he was walking between trying to do the right
thing and taking what the hell he wanted was going to break. There was only so
much he was going to be able to endure, and Cassie was damn close to pushing that
limit.

“Myles, do you
know why I didn’t stop you last night?” Not waiting for his reply, she leaned
in as if she was about to share a secret only the two of them should know. Her
lips skimmed the edge of his ear, taught nipples pressed against his chest, and
when she spoke again, her voice was nothing less than pure seduction. Breathy
and low. Sultry. “Because I liked it. It turns me on when you get rough. Don’t
be gentle, Myles. Spank me, fuck me, command me to get on my knees. I don’t
care what you do to me as long as you do
something
.
Please, Myles. I trust you.”
 

Trust. The word
flowed through his veins like ice water. How could she trust him when he didn’t
trust himself? The idea of hurting her, letting her down because she blindly
put her trust in him scared Myles enough that he wasn’t about to take the
chance. Gripping her waist, he lifted her off of his lap and said the only
command she was going to get from him. “Don’t.”

Chapter
Seven

Cassie pulled
some bottles of water out of the refrigerator and slammed the door in
frustration.
Don’t.
That’s what he’d
said right before he got out of the hot tub and walked away from her, yet
again.

Don’t what?
Don’t touch him? Trust him? Don’t care for him? Yeah, well, it was too freaking
late for that, wasn’t it? She did like him. Entirely too much and way too
quickly, but the feelings were there all the same. And what did she get in
return? Myles rejecting her and pushing her away. Irony, much? Karma could be a
royal bitch, and right now she was thoroughly getting a taste of what it was
like for him all those years ago.

Who did he think
he was kidding, though? She’d felt how much he wanted her. You couldn’t fake
that. He’d been rock hard and ready. But instead of letting go and enjoying it,
he shut himself down, turned his back on her, and barricaded himself in his
room. Ignoring her for the rest of the morning with their only communication being
some random text messages he’d sent with instructions for the meeting.

Cassie had half of
a mind to march down the hallway and give him a piece of the other half. Make
him confront her about whatever was going on in that thick head of his. The
only thing stopping her from doing just that was her own stubborn pride. She
wasn’t going to let him see what he was doing to her, how pissed she was, how
much he had hurt her by not wanting her anymore. She’d be damned if she would
admit that to him. Hell, she didn’t want to admit it to herself.
 

What she did
need to do, however, was to get a grip and get it fast. They’d been together
one night. Granted, it was one mind-blowing night, but, nevertheless, they were
together only once. It was nothing more, nothing less. There hadn’t been any
promises or talk of anything other than their few days together, and if their
current situation was any indication, she was better off without him.

Enough was
enough. Cassie had tried twice, unsuccessfully, to make him understand that
what he did and how he did it was exactly what she wanted. If he didn’t want to
listen and believe her, then that was his problem. He could hide away all he
wanted. The sooner the meeting was over with, the sooner she could leave—there
wasn’t a chance in hell she was spending one more day alone in the cabin with
him—and get away from him, too. Two could play that game.

In the meantime,
if he wanted to push her away then he was going to get a full view of what he
was losing. She’d put on her shortest business skirt, highest heels, and a
low-cut fitted shirt. The outfit wasn’t exactly the most professional she
could’ve come up with, but it accentuated her legs, hugged her curves, and
showed off a good portion of skin, including a hefty amount in the chest area. She
looked good even if it was in more of a working a stripper pole instead of a
laptop sort of way. Let Myles suffer.

The sound of a
throat clearing behind her got her attention. Turning around, Myles stood in
the doorway, arms folded over his chest. Disapproving eyes traveled up and down,
pausing at the hem of her skirt and the view of her cleavage. Guess he didn’t
like her wardrobe selection. Good. He could take that look he was giving her
and shove it where the sun didn’t shine. Cassie placed her hands on her hips
and cocked her head to the side, silently daring him to say something and give
her a reason to tell him exactly what she thought of him at the moment. When he
didn’t budge or make a sound, she asked in the most suggestive and sweet voice
she could muster. “Is there something you wanted?”

Cassie mentally
patted herself on the back when the innuendo she just threw in his direction
hit its intended target. There was a quick flash of recognition, his body
tensed, and heat surfaced in his eyes before he trampled it down and ground out
in a low voice, “They’re here.”

Huh. Poor Myles
looked cranky. Wonder what crawled up his boxers and bit his ass. Oh wait, it
was her. Keeping up her forced pleasantries, she smiled and grabbed the waters.
“Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

Cassie waited
for him to step back and walked past him, swaying her hips, feeling his stare
penetrate the material of her skirt with each step. If she kept this up, Myles
should be thoroughly frustrated and positively miserable by the end of the
afternoon. Why should she be the only one?

Her mood had
already been in the toilet, and seeing how handsome he looked in his Dockers
and Oxford shirt, the way his broad form filled the doorway, knowing full well she
affected him as much as he did her, and him not doing a damn thing about it
wasn’t helping matters. The last thing she wanted to do was to go play nice
with some CEO and his lawyer. Not like she had much of choice. The reason she
was there in the first place was to be his assistant, and even though personally
she might be pissed at Myles, professionally, she didn’t want to do anything to
jeopardize his position or hers. No matter how much screaming at him in utter
frustration would be blissful and cathartic right now.

Cassie took a
breath, adjusted her attitude, and entered the conference room. Putting the
bottles down, she made a quick mental assessment of the men standing by the
table. The older man was all business in a crisp tailored suit and groomed to
perfection with some gray showing at his temples, adding that distinguished
look. Definitely the lawyer. The other was wearing cargo shorts and a wrinkled
T-shirt, had shoulder length hair, and a thin goatee that did nothing to hide
how much of a baby face was underneath. If he was the CEO, he was barely legal
enough to buy a beer. Cassie turned to Myles and gave him a questioning look.
He simply nodded and began making introductions.

“Mr. Brown.
Blake. It’s good to see you both again,” Myles said as he shook each of their
hands respectively before turning to her. “Gentlemen, this is Ms. Sorrelson.
She will be assisting with the meeting today.”

“It’s a pleasure
to meet you both.” Cassie held out her hand and followed Myles’s lead by
shaking the lawyer’s first and then moved on to Blake. When she went to pull
away, however, Blake gripped her tighter, holding her fast and raking his eyes
over her with such a lewd look her skin began to crawl wherever his gaze landed.
Subtle? Not so much. In fact, he was being downright inappropriate and leering
at her like she was a piece of meat.

Cassie wished
she had worn something less revealing and bit more suitable. The point was to
push Myles over the edge, not attract Blake, or anyone else for that matter. Of
course, she would end up in a meeting with a testosterone-filled young man that
couldn’t stop drooling over her boobs. With the day she’d been having, why
wouldn’t she? Seriously, though, could he at least come up for air and stop staring
at her shirt-puppies for like one second? Trying to smile through the uneasy
feeling settling in her stomach and not seem obvious about how she was becoming
increasingly more uncomfortable, Cassie gently tugged on her hand.

Finally getting
the hint, Blake let go and gave her a smug smile. “After this, why don’t you
blow the rest of the day off and come with me? I was planning on jetting down
to L.A. and hitting the clubs to celebrate. How does a ride on my plane, some
partying, dancing, and whatever else we could come up with sound? I promise
you’ll have a very good time.” Blake winked before settling his eyes on her
chest again and continued. “I know I will.”

Holy Crap!
Cassie couldn’t believe what she’d heard. Had Blake really just blatantly hit
on her at the start of a business meeting with Myles and his lawyer watching?
There were so many things wrong with that, she didn’t know where to start. The
man—and she meant that loosely considering he was barely out of puberty—had
more arrogance than common sense. What was worse was he was standing there with
such a smug, proud look on his face that she was positive he entirely expected
her to say yes. As if she couldn’t resist…his what? His looks? His money? His
lack of charm? Whatever he thought he had going on, every instinct in her was
screaming to tell him he didn’t have it and knock that ginormous ego of his
down a few notches.

Unfortunately,
now was not the time or place, and at the very least, she could try to be
polite and pretend to be flattered by the invitation. Too bad that thought just
made her want to throttle him more. Go figure.
Can you say transference much?
Her agitation with Myles had found
an outlet in the form of the jackass standing in front of her. He might be
young, stupid, and horny, but Blake didn’t deserve that type of wrath.

Cassie smiled weakly,
attempting to bide some time while she mentally came up with an excuse or way
to turn him down without ruining any chance Myles had at closing the deal. Before
she could open her mouth, though, someone else decided to do it for her.

“Ms. Sorrelson will
be unable to join you. She has prior commitments.” Myles placed his hand on the
small of her back and turned her in the direction of the table, away from Blake.
“I think we should get started.”

What. The. Hell?
Cassie swallowed against the seething anger bubbling up and threatening to
cause a scene right there in the middle of the conference room. It didn’t
matter he gave her an out with Blake, the man had the gall to answer for her.
Who did he think he was? She was a big girl and could speak for herself. What
if she wanted to go with Blake? Not that she did, but Myles didn’t know that. If
he thought for a second she would be okay with what he just pulled, he was
sadly mistaken. The minute she got him alone, she was going to unleash an
unholy ripping on his ass.

Myles directed
Cassie to a seat next to him while Blake and his lawyer sat across the table.
Turning on the laptop in front of her, she opened the file for sale agreement
and mentally counted to ten, trying to calm her temper. If she made it through
the meeting without her mouth causing an incident, it would be a freaking
miracle.

“You’ll see
everything is in order and exactly what we’ve discussed.” Myles spoke first,
breaking the silence that had settled around them and prompting Cassie to take
a quick glance around the table. To the left was the cause of her irritation,
who happened to look about as pissed as she felt. Wearing a face that would
make most people duck and cover, the tension rolling of Myles was almost
tangible. Directly opposite of him, the lawyer was paging through the hard copy
of the agreement, and next to him, Blake was leaning back in the chair, his
hands clasped behind his head and looking like a cat ready to eat the canary. Whatever
he was up to, Cassie had a nagging feeling it couldn’t be good.

“Actually,
Myles, I’ve had a better offer. Simon’s Specialties is willing to give me
everything The Mountain’s Peak offered plus a quarter of a mil more for the
initial buyout. You’ll need to come up with some more cash if you want my
company.”

Cassie flashed
to the eerily silent Myles before tapping on the keys of the laptop to search
for the competing company. She’d never heard of them. When she brought them up,
she understood why. They had less than twenty stores distributed through
Colorado and the surrounding states, and they were seasonal, no less, catering only
to the ski resort towns. Cassie looked at Blake in disbelief. Was he serious?
The sales volume they would offer couldn’t be anything near what The Mountain’s
Peak had. Did Blake realize he would lose millions by going with them?

“I can’t
authorize any increase in the offer.”

For the first
time, Blake’s smug smile faded. “Yes, you can. You’re the vice president. You
can do what you want.”

Myles sat back
in his chair and smiled. This was what he was talking about and the reason he
was in such a prestigious position. The man looked confident, in control, and
totally in his element. If it wasn’t for the tick along his jawline, Cassie
could swear all the tension from before had washed away and he was actually
enjoying himself when he finally replied. “Let me make myself clear. I didn’t
mean can’t as in I don’t have the ability to do so. I meant that I won’t be
giving you any more cash.”

“What do you
mean you won’t?” Blake sat forward and glared at Myles. “You need my company.
We’re your best seller.”

“Whether or not
your products sell is not the matter at hand. We’ve provided you with an offer
that is more than generous, including a substantial payment and recurring
income that will allow you to maintain the lifestyle you are accustomed to. If
you feel taking the other offer would be better for you, then by all means, do
so. The answer is no.”

Cassie looked
between the two as they stared at one another and then looked to the person who’d
been quiet throughout the whole exchange. Why wasn’t the lawyer saying
anything? He was just sitting there watching, letting Blake ruin what could’ve
turned out to be a very profitable agreement for both sides.

Blake sat back
and resumed his smug attitude. “I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to play
some type of game with me, aren’t you? Pretending you won’t budge, thinking
I’ll get scared and give in. Sorry, not going to work. It’s about the money.
They’re giving me more and I want more. Either come up with it or I’m out.”
Blake turned and eyed Cassie up. “However, I could be persuaded to take the
difference in other types of payments.”