Bare Essentials: Naughty, But Nice. Leslie Kelly

meant he had far more self-control and restraint than she did, and she had plenty. It startled her, knowing he wasn’t the usual puppet on a string. That he had his own mind. Was his own man.

      It startled her, and unsettled her. Enough that she told Kate she was going for two days. She needed some action, and New York was where it was at.

      Kate wasn’t happy, but Cassie easily distracted her, mostly because Kate was busy with other projects such as working at the local theater—the Rialto—not to mention she had her own problems with the sexy Jack Winfield. And he was pretty damn sexy, so Cassie could understand the distraction.

      In any case, Cassie wasn’t worried. She wouldn’t be in New York long enough for Pete to track her down. Besides, she had the restraining order. And in the mood she found herself in, she felt invincible.

      Or at least, battle ready. Bring it on, Pete, she thought testily. Bring it on.

      Back in the city, she looked up her friends, went to the birthday party, hit a great new dance club afterward, lined up some work for the fall and winter…and by the end of forty-eight hours, was ready to go home.

      Home. As in Ohio.

      Pleasantville, Ohio. She sat on the plane, staring sightlessly down as the landscape passed her by, wondering when exactly she had started to think of that one-horse, narrow-minded, too small town as her…home?

      Not good. In the name of distraction, she asked the flight attendant for a deck of cards and tried to occupy herself in a mean game of solitaire, but she kept losing.

      By the time she got off the plane, shouldered her carry-on and walked outside, the sun was setting. She put on her sunglasses and looked for Kate, who’d promised to pick her up, and realized she was still carrying the deck of cards.

      Maybe she’d get Kate to come over to play a game with her tonight. Then she wouldn’t have to stay up late and stare into the mirror above the bed wondering what the hell she was going to do for another long month and a half.

      Only there was no sign of Kate. Really, that was no surprise. Cassie had always figured Kate would be late to her own funeral. With a sigh, she found an empty bench and sat, idly shuffling the cards to keep her hands busy.

      When a patrol car pulled up, she frowned. Her frown turned to an all-out scowl when Tag rolled down the window. His eyes were hidden behind mirrored sunglasses, his shoulders straining his uniform shirt. Not that she’d admit it to him, but she knew him now, and could read his tension. What had gotten his panties all ruffled?

      “Ready?” he asked.

      Ready. Maybe that explained the odd tremble in her limbs at the sight of him. “Has hell frozen over?”

      His jaw tightened. “You want to be nice to me today, Cassie. I’m in a mood.”

      “Oh, fine, you’re in a mood. Well, just take it on down the road.”

      “Get in.”

      “What’s the matter? Am I disturbing the peace?”

      “Yeah. Mine.”

      “Kate is going to meet me.”

      “The arrangements have been changed.”

      She was going to kill Kate at the first opportunity. “I’d rather walk.”

      “It’s thirty miles and it’s going to be dark in five minutes.” He sighed. “Let’s go.”

      She would never in a million years be able to explain to anyone, much less herself, why she stood up and got in the squad car.

      Without glancing at her again, he put the car in drive and took off. Cassie looked around her with morbid curiosity. “I’ve never been in one of these before.”

      “Uh-huh.”

      She hadn’t, but at his sarcastic “Uh-huh” she folded her arms and stared straight ahead. Why had she said that? Why had she just opened her mouth and let something personal like that fly out? She never did that, and she never would again, or she’d cut out her own tongue.