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Not for the first time, he wondered what she’d told the poor schmuck she’d ditched, who’d likely spent all day anticipating his date with Cass. Had she admitted to her date that an old boyfriend had unexpectedly come to town? A business deal had suddenly fallen in her lap that she needed to attend to? She had to wash her hair?
It probably didn’t matter. She’d be forgiven for breaking the date regardless. Cass was a gorgeous, sophisticated woman who ran a multimillion dollar company and she likely had her pick of companions. Suave execs, successful doctors, cut athletes with Pro-Bowl or all-star credentials. The dating circles were wide open and she was most definitely sleeping with someone. A woman like Cass wouldn’t be alone except by choice.
That burn in your gut? Feels a lot like jealousy.
Ridiculous. So Nicolas didn’t get it right all the time.
Gage and Cass hadn’t been an item for nearly a decade. Sure, he’d thought about her and wondered what might have been if he wasn’t so averse to being tied down, but he hadn’t spent all his nights alone since then either. Though lately, a couple of hours at the dog park with Arwen was more fun than wading through the pool of women in his circle. That was the one downside to guarding your freedom so ferociously—you went through eligible women pretty quickly.
“That’s so generous of you to let me pick after leaving me so few choices otherwise,” she said, infusing it with enough sarcasm to clue him in that she still wasn’t clear on what she owed him.
“You always have choices,” he countered. “One just might lead to a different place than the other.”
“Well said.” With a cryptic nod, she brushed past him onto the front steps, engulfing him in a delicious haze of jasmine and other exotic spices. On Cass, the scent was half “come and get me” and half “I’m untouchable.” A thoroughly arousing combination.
Somehow, he managed to drive to the restaurant without veering off into a ditch. Or a shadowy hiding place between two buildings where he could ravish the cool beauty in the next seat. If he wanted her willing, he had to get back on track. But the ice in her spine seemed extra hard and cold tonight.
The restaurant was as highbrow as they came, making him glad he’d tossed a suit in his overnight bag, just in case. The maître d’ led them to a secluded table in the back, exactly as Gage had instructed, and left them blessedly alone.
Except Gage still didn’t know how to play this dinner. Seduction or strategy? Which would get him an invitation through the front door of Cass’s house at the end of the night? Because seduction might be the only way to get what he wanted in the end. A sated Cass might make for a much more reasonable Cass. But they did need to work together on the leak or the formula would be worthless. He couldn’t ignore the need to discuss strategy.
Fortunately, what he apparently lacked in ESP, he made up for in charm and ingenuity. So he’d wing it. Like always.
Gage barely glanced at the wine menu before handing it over to Cass. “Since you called dibs on ordering the wine, here you go.”
She arched one of those cool brows and took the leather-bound wine listing. The movement drew attention to her cleavage, where scarcely-contained nipples threatened to burst free of their cranberry lace cage at a moment’s notice. A bead of sweat slid between his shoulder blades as he tore his gaze from her breasts.
“I was expecting more of an argument,” she commented as if the sexual undercurrents didn’t exist. “You’re not a fan of wine, if memory serves.”
No, but the fact that she recalled his preference put a good deal more warmth down south. As if he’d had room for more.
“I’ll make an exception for you.”
The more she drank, the less she’d remember to act like the ice goddess, or at least that had been the plan once upon a time when his faculties were in order. Back in her office, she’d seemed...brittle. As if she’d needed someone to pay attention to her. Cass was in sore need of a glass of wine and an orgasm, and not necessarily in that order.
That made up his mind. He wanted to give her a chance to relax, as he’d entreated her to. One of them should be able to anyway. Seduction first. And then they could talk leak strategy later. Much later.
With their food, Cass ordered a four hundred dollar bottle of wine—exorbitant, as promised—and once the waiter left to retrieve it, she folded her hands, contemplating Gage as if she’d found an amusing little puppy she didn’t know whether to pet or send outside for peeing on the floor.
