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Cassidy
S
he still hated him. Sort of. But she’d been worried about Jacob too. She hoped their conversation had made him smile as well. He’d seemed down, overly quiet, and that just didn’t sit right with her. If she’d been home, she would have gone straight over to his place, but family night was the one night a month she wasn’t permitted to flake out on.
Even for a weeknight, they’d wrapped things up earlier than usual, and Cassidy suspected it had a lot to do with the looks her parents and brother were sharing when she’d walked out of her old bedroom. They’d brushed it off, her brother laughing at her and her parents smiling that knowing smile at each other. Next, they’d be asking when they could meet him. As if. Cassidy had laughed them off, but their conversation had stayed in her head, playing on a loop.
There was no sleep that night, even after Jacob’s text assuring her that he was okay. Cassidy sat up thinking, staring at the ceiling as she imagined the possibilities. A couple of hours before dawn, she worked up the courage to ask for advice on her favourite forum. Should she grasp onto what Jacob had tempted her with that night at the club? Did she have the courage to ask Phoenix to join them? Flirting was one thing. Actually propositioning him was something else entirely.
Then there was Jacob. What they were to each other was still so uncertain. Cassidy was wary of him. He had the power to break her—both her career and personally. Even the idea of enemies with benefits terrified her because of it. She’d never had anyone affect her like he did, and she could see herself falling for him, if she could get past her issues. And they were her issues. Jacob had told her over and over that it wasn’t him who’d caused her agency to lose the accounts. But she had a mental block in the spot where her trust should be. She kept reasoning that he hadn’t proven himself, but in all fairness, he hadn’t even known he was being tested.
Then there was their chemistry. One touch, one look, and she was putty in his hands. But she wasn’t alone. No one had ever reacted to her like Jacob had. It was… empowering. The night they were together at the club, they’d fallen into bed together, and it was like an electrical storm inside a whirlwind went off. After three rounds of mind-blowingly amazing orgasms, Cassidy had been wrung out and riding a high, her body still buzzing. Jacob had crashed, curled around her. Her body screamed at her to cuddle into him, but her head had told her to run. She’d listened to her head that night but keeping a measure of distance between them was getting harder.
She didn’t really know why she was standing outside the coffee shop, except that Jacob had told her to go there, and the gravity of his words had sunk in, despite him laughing at himself.
Pushing through the door would change things for them. It would create a link between her and Jacob, greater than just casual sex. Their shared mission was to find a third; did Cassidy want that with Jacob? Her body did cartwheels along the length of a football field. Her head? Her heart? They were undecided. Perhaps a better question was whether she was simply insane.
“Excuse me,” a man uttered as she blocked the doorway.
“Sorry, trying to decide whether to get a coffee,” she explained, stepping aside.
He let out a surprised laugh. “Is there ever a question? The answer’s always yes.”
Cassidy grinned in return. He’d given her the exact push she needed. She was overthinking things. Coffee. It was as simple as that. Jacob found Phoenix attractive. Maybe she wouldn’t. Maybe he wasn’t working, and this whole trip was a waste of time. Maybe he wouldn’t be into guys and girls. Or maybe, just maybe, everything would come together perfectly. Regardless, she was going to get her morning caffeine fix.
With renewed hope and a little less of her inner monologue droning on in the background, Cassidy pushed open the door. The smell of freshly roasted beans filled her lungs as she inhaled, and she instantly loved the eclectic vibe the place had. This would be a place Cassidy could sit for hours reading or working in, and she resolved to go there again when she had more time.
There was a lady behind the counter taking orders, and Cassidy waited to be served. A man who was a whole head taller than her backed through the swinging doors carrying three plates piled high with food. She turned her attention to the server. “Skinny latte to go, please, and do you do deliveries?”
She nodded, keyed in her order, and added, “We have a minimum order for deliveries.”
“I just want one coffee delivered, but I’m happy to pay for the minimum order and any delivery charge.”
“Ah, okay.” The woman hesitated. “Let me just check. One sec.” The young woman ducked out from behind the counter and trotted over to the man Cassidy had seen before, talking quietly to him. He was gorgeous. Dark floppy hair and bronze skin with a long, lean body—she could imagine him as a swimmer or a runner. Strong legs and narrow hips with a broad set of shoulders. He wasn’t bulky, but not skinny either. He looked up, and their eyes connected, a fission of electricity passing through her. Those full lips tilted up in the corners, and Cassidy licked her own, her imagination running wild.
He swaggered over, their locked gazes never breaking, and he leaned his hip on the counter. “You’re after a single coffee to be delivered?”
Cassidy mirrored his pose and breathed him in. His cologne, something spicy and rich, screamed sex. It oozed from him, and she wanted to lick him and get high on his scent. His tight black tee curled over lithe muscle, drawing her eyes to the white name tag pinned to his chest. Phoenix. Her breath caught, and her eyes snapped back to his. Jesus fucking Christ, Jacob wasn’t kidding. “I am. Can you pull it off?”
“Oh, I can do a lot of things.” He grinned, giving Cassidy the same eye fucking she’d given him. “But it depends.”
“On what?” Cassidy bit her lip, stifling her grin. He was cheeky and flirtatious, and the butterflies in her belly took off doing loop the loops. Cassidy flushed, heat crawling up her neck as his stare disarmed her.
“Hmm, well, we have a minimum order amount and a delivery fee.”
“I heard. It’s fine. I’m happy to pay both. I just want the one coffee delivered.”
“And we only travel up to two blocks away.”
Cassidy scrawled down the address and smiled an I-want-to-undress-you-with-my-teeth kind of grin. “One espresso delivered there, and my order.”
“Sure. And what name can I put the order under?”
“Cassie. Delivery is to Jacob.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Yes, please.” She laughed and covered her mouth in faux innocence. “Oh, wait, did you mean him?” He raised an eyebrow, and Cassidy laughed again, this time more genuinely. “He wants the job. What do you think?”
