“That’s all right,” Mark said smoothly. “It was nice to see you again.”
“You, too,” she said with that smile that made his stomach clench. Then she pushed away from the counter. “Well, I guess I’d better get back to my cleaning and let you get back to work.”
He set his empty glass on the counter and followed her outside, suddenly loathe to leave. He told himself it was because he hadn’t gotten any helpful info on the Belzer project. “Is there something I can give you a hand with?”
“Not at the moment, but if I come up against a job I need your muscles for, can I give you a call?”
Her compliment warmed him and inadvertently his shoulders went back. “Sure.”
She followed him to the gate. Mark hesitated, then cleared his throat. “Um, Cassie, listen. I’m really sorry about the way things ended between us.”
She nodded. “Me, too. But you were right—something was missing. I think it’s important that two people have chemistry, don’t you?”
He nodded absently, distracted by the chemical reaction straining his zipper. “Right. Well, I guess I’d better go.”
“Bye, now.”
He drank in one last look at her moist T-shirt and exited the gate to walk around to his SUV.
Mark climbed behind the wheel and puffed out his cheeks in an exhale.
So maybe Cassie Goodwin wasn’t the prude he thought she was. Apparently she’d been entertaining a big strapping professional with good taste in cufflinks and who enjoyed motor sports.
Then he frowned. Assuming the items belonged to the same guy.
Mark shifted in his seat. He’d assumed that Cassie had been a cold fish…but maybe she just hadn’t been interested in him. The thought rankled him—he was a sexy guy…wasn’t he?
As he pulled away from the curb, his phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Steve calling.
Mark flipped open the phone. “Yeah, Steve.”
“Did you get anything on the Belzer project?”
“Just that Cassie’s handling the bid for Rugers.”
“Perfect,” Steve said. “You’re going to call her again, right?”
Mark glanced in his rear view mirror. Cassie was back to window washing, straddling a step ladder. Mark had never been envious of an inanimate object before. “Uh…yeah, I’m going to call her again.”
CASSIE WATCHED MARK drive away out of the corner of her eye. Her heart pumped wildly. Had pretending that her brother’s T-shirt and cufflinks belonged to a lover worked? Had she piqued Mark’s interest, given him a glimpse of what he’d missed?
From the clip on her waistband, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and gave a little squeal to see Mark’s name. Cassie connected the call. “Hello?”
“Cassie, hi. It’s Mark.”
“Did you decide to lay claim to the cufflinks?” she teased.
He gave a little laugh. “No. Actually, my team could use a fourth in a charity golf scramble this Saturday afternoon at Trembley. Would you be interested?”
Cassie smiled into the phone. It wasn’t exactly a rendezvous in the woods, like Connie and Mellors in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, but it was a chance to spend time with him in the outdoors. And his invitation meant that her seduction plan was working—he was thinking about her. “Sure, that sounds like fun.”
“Okay. See you then.”
She disconnected the call and put a hand over her racing heart. Seeing Mark again had affected her more than she’d expected—she’d forgotten how tall he was, and how handsome. The juxtaposition of earthy male in shirt and tie had her body on full alert, throbbing to a beat entirely separate from her pulse.
Suddenly, Cassie was bombarded with text messages from her book club members.
How did it go?
Did he take the bait?
Details, details.
Is the seduction under way?
Cassie used her thumbs to type in Everything going as planned….
4
“ARE YOU SURE she’s coming?” Steve asked, leaning on his golf clubs. “Just our luck that Thomson has the flu.”
Mark gave his coworker a wry smile. “Somehow I think Thomson got the worse end of things.”
“We’ll be disqualified if we don’t have at least three players.”
“Relax. Cassie said she’d be here.” Mark’s admonishment was more for himself than for his antsy partner. Since earlier in the week, the image of her wet T-shirt and short shorts had worn on his nerves like a file. And inexplicably, the good times they’d shared seemed to rise from the recesses of his memory to taunt him. He missed talking with someone who understood the demands and frustrations of his job. He missed her easy smile and quick laugh. He missed wondering what she was hiding under her shapeless clothes, and why.
And he’d left without giving her a chance to reveal either.
“Are you okay?” Steve asked. “You look like you ate bad potato salad.”
“I’m fine. When Cassie gets here, don’t mention the Belzer project—let me handle it.”
“Okay, this is all on you. You know what we have riding on this bid.” Suddenly Steve straightened. “Yowza. Now that’s a nice set of legs.”
Mark followed his coworker’s line of sight to the path above them leading to the tee. A set of lean, tanned legs came into view and Mark’s pulse jerked in recognition. “That’s Cassie.”
Steve’s eyebrows shot up as the rest of her came into view. “I don’t remember her looking like that.”
Mark was torn between feeling protective and being irritated—he didn’t remember her looking like that, either.
She had traded her traditional chinos and baggy polo shirt for a navy blue athletic skirt and a white sleeveless shirt, both of which fit her hourglass figure like a glove. Her dark hair was scooped back from her face with a yellow visor, her ponytail bobbing in time with her quick, confident stride. Instead of using a pull-cart, she had shouldered her golf clubs, and carried them with athletic ease. When Cassie saw Mark, she waved and her lovely face lit up with a smile.
“Why did you break up with her again?” Steve asked, still staring. “I thought you said she wasn’t sexy.”
Mark frowned. “With your golf handicap, you really should try to keep your eye on the ball today.”
“It’s a scramble,” Steve muttered. “Only one of the three of us has to play well. Besides, what’s the harm in looking? It’s not as if you’re interested in her. You dumped her, remember?”
A sour mood descended over Mark, but he managed a smile when Cassie came bouncing up like a ball of sunshine.
“Am I late?” she asked.
“Right on time,” Steve said smoothly, then extended his hand.
Mark had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. “Cassie Goodwin, meet my coworker, Steve Hamlin.”
“Hi,” she said, meeting his hand.
Mark noticed that she didn’t seem