“Ow.” The word was barely out before it was followed by, “Oof!” as she had the wind knocked out of her by nearly one-hundred pounds of puppy.
Tip had taken advantage of her presence on the floor, jumping onto her and licking her face.
“You’re disgusting, Tip.” Cassie wrapped her arms around the dog and pulled him close.
“The hell?” Eric bent down, pulling Tip away. “Off.” He grabbed Cassie’s hand and pulled her to a sitting position.
She slowly lifted her eyes to his face.
And there he was.
The blond hair that still could use a trim despite being shorter, the five o’clock shadow Julia mentioned, his blue eyes still as beautiful as ever, and his mouth …
“Cassie,” he was saying.
She dragged her eyes back up to his. “Y — ” Her voice cracked. She stopped and started again. “Yes?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Anger flashed from his eyes.
I came to tell you I love you, you bastard.
“Have you been crying?” He ran a finger down her cheek.
“A little.”
He tensed. “What did that bastard do to you?”
Cassie shook her head. “No, it’s not Steven.”
Eric frowned. “Then what happened?”
She pointed at him. “You’re the bastard.”
He stared at her for several moments before speaking. “Are you serious?” he asked quietly.
She nodded weakly. “Yes.”
She saw him stiffen before he quickly stood. He took a couple of deep breaths, but said nothing.
“You cried over … ” He ran his hand roughly over his face. “You’re unbelievable.” He grabbed her under the arms and dragged her farther into the house before shutting the door.
She stood up, glaring at him. “You were about to leave without a word to me.”
His eyes glistened with unshed tears. “What are you talking about?” he asked, voice thick with emotion.
“Drop the act. Julia told me you were leaving.”
He looked at her for a moment before turning away, smiling and shaking his head. “Julia told you that?”
His angry words to her and Steven came rushing back. “You,” she pointed at him, “are a coward, too. I know you were just saying things to me and Steven for effect, but it really applies in this case.”
Eric laughed.
Making fun of her at a time like this? Her head began to throb. She was about to lose it. Knowing she looked ridiculous in her classy slacks, kitten t-shirt, and lone red sling back, she still exploded. She yelled as she shook her fist at him.
Eric’s laughter stopped suddenly as his eyebrows shot up. “What’s happening now?”
She hobbled toward him like lightning. In one swift, fluid motion she balled her fist up, pulled her arm back and swung straight for his crotch.
He grabbed her fist.
“Whoa!”
“Let me go!” She’d promised herself she would attack his family jewels and she intended to do just that. “Punch you right in the junk!”
“Not if I can help it.”
He loosened his grip and she yanked her fist away. “Let go!”
He put his hands up. “You felt the need to drive over here to damage my manhood?”
She looked away from him. She tried to slow her shallow, rapid breaths as she stepped back. “Not exactly. I came here to talk to you like an adult, but you had to go and make fun of me.”
“Like an adult? I guess that was after you fell into my house, but before you started shaking your fist at me.” He looked her up and down. “And what the hell is with you and shoes?” He tilted his head as he stared at her hair. “And this,” he said, pointing at his own. “Nice outfit, by the way.”
She made a half-assed attempt to fix her hair before dropping her hand. “You hurt my feelings,” she said softly.
Eric widened his eyes. “How?!”
“You laughed at me!”
He threw his head back, slapping his hands over his eyes. “Cass,” he groaned. He looked at her. “I wasn’t making fun of you, you big baby. I was laughing because you totally misunderstood what happened that day I found you and Steven.”
Her righteous anger dissipated. “I did?”
“My outrage wasn’t an act. I meant everything I said to you and that asshole.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“And I was so pissed at you I couldn’t see straight. When you came into the bedroom while I was packing, I didn’t want to look at you, talk to you, or even hear your voice. I was done.”
A tear escaped her eye, sliding down her cheek.
“But when you praised my acting abilities, you gave me an out. If I just went along with it, I wouldn’t have to feel so humiliated about what happened between us. I could leave with at least a little dignity.” He shrugged. “What I couldn’t do was ignore you during our very last time together.” He smirked. “Or, what I thought was our last time together.”
Cassie took a small step toward him. She loved that smirk.
“I never actually thought you believed I was acting though,” he continued, “so I’m sorry, but it made me laugh when I realized you did.”
“Sorry?”
He sighed. “Now that that’s cleared up and my junk is safe — ”
“For now.”
“You were calling me a coward?”
The righteous anger swelled within her once again. “You were just going to leave me without a word, without saying goodbye!” She pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. “I knew you weren’t reliable.”
“Was I supposed to keep you informed on my plans?” he asked quietly.
“Yes!” Suddenly feeling chilled, she wrapped her arms around herself. “No,” she whispered. “I was hoping you would though. I was hoping we were friends.”
Eric chuckled. “We’ll never be friends, Cass.”
His remark hurt like a son a bitch, but she couldn’t deny it, even to herself. She looked down at floor. “Oh,” she said weakly, taking steps backward toward the front door. “Sorry I wasted your time then.” She turned to go.
“I’d never be able to think of you as my friend. I’d always want more.”
Hurting a little less now. “Oh,” she repeated, turning around to face him.
“Want a drink?”
Hell yes. “That would be nice.” She followed him into the family room.
He went behind the bar while she stayed on the other side.
“What would you like?”
Having you with me forever. “A martini would be nice.”
Cassie watched as he mixed the drink and strained it. He passed it to her.
“You said you were falling for me, that you thought we had a real chance.” She stared down into her martini. “Did you mean that?”
“Yes.”
She gazed into his eyes. “I’m falling in love with you, too.” She smiled and her eyes began to sting. “I can’t deny it anymore.”
“But I saw you and Steven — ”
“He kissed me. I didn’t reciprocate.”
He rubbed at his eyes, but said nothing.
Just do it already, Cassie.
“I haven’t vacuumed since last Friday,” she blurted out instead.
He frowned.
“And that’s forever for me.” Didn’t he understand the gravity of that, of what he’d done to her? “I don’t really think about it anymore and — ”
“Cass.”
“Yes?”
“I refuse to discuss vacuuming with you right now.”
Her gaze flickered over his mouth before moving back up. “Maybe later.”
“Even then … ” He shook his head.
She smiled. I knew he wouldn’t go for it. “You’d find a way to shut me up.”
“If you insisted on talking about it, yeah.” He looked at her lips. “I’d think of something.” His eyes crinkled with mischief when he looked into hers.
Her eyes roamed over his face, his hair. She wanted to dedicate every single detail to memory in case she wasn’t able to silence the warning bells in her head long enough to be impulsive just once more.
“Why did you cut your hair?”
He ran his hand over it. “It was getting a little long.”
She tilted her head as she drank him in, standing there with that smirk on his face, looking good enough to eat in his three-piece suit and …
She held up a hand. “Why are you in a suit?”
He looked down at himself. “I’ve been wearing this since you got here. You just now noticed?” He smiled at her.
“I had other things on my mind.” The bottom dropped out of her stomach. “You have a big date? You taking her to that swanky place you took me?”
He pressed his lips together. It looked like he was trying not to laugh.
She couldn’t stand not knowing a second longer. “What is it you do exactly? Because I don’t care if you shovel poop.”
“I’ll remember you said that when I decide to take another break from my career.”
Career is a nice, stable word.
“I build things, Cass.”
“Like construction? Or a carpenter?” Why would he need a suit for those jobs?
He shook his head. “I don’t actually build things. I draw up plans, design them — buildings and houses, that is.”
“You’re an architect?”
He nodded.
She almost squealed. That was so much better than anything she’d been bracing herself for. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that when we met?”
“I wasn’t doing it at the time. Though, it probably would’ve impressed the ex and the squeeze more than being a bartender, huh?” He smiled.
“It would have made things easier, yes.” She laughed. Julia was right. Eric was a safer bet than Cassie had even known. He wasn’t aimless. He even had a career! “I don’t get it, why leave a great job like that to do other things?”
“I get bored.”
He must have seen her expression change.
He smiled. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.” He sipped his drink. “I was never crazy about becoming an architect, but I felt pressure to work for the family business — ”
“Your family owns a business?”
He nodded. “Well, my dad started a small architectural company right out of college. It flourished and now, it’s a decent-sized firm.”
Cassie’s jaw dropped as the realization washed over her. She knew his name sounded familiar when she’d first learned it. “Sommer Design Associates?”
“Yeah.”
Eric was being way too modest. That decent sized firm was the largest, most successful one in Oklahoma, with branches all over the country.
“Wow,” she breathed. “They designed a lot of the new buildings downtown. The hotel, Mireille, and Délicieux, the restaurant we … ” Her voice trailed off as her brain finally engaged. “You designed those?”
He smiled.
“And you do houses, too?”
“Rarely, but yes.”
“I’d love to see one you’ve done.”
He looked around. “You have.”
She was speechless. He not only had every wonderful quality she’d been privileged enough to experience, he was unbelievably talented, too. Particularly in one certain area, but she couldn’t dwell on that now. Later though. Definitely later.
She smiled. “I think I’m ready to give us a chance.” There. It was out there. She wouldn’t have to regret letting this opportunity slip away.
“Hmm.”
That wiped the smile off her face. “That’s all you can say?”
“I’m trying to process it, damn.”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “You know so much about me, but you didn’t see this coming?”
“Not at all.”
Her bravado vanished. “Really?”
“I thought you were a little busy wanting to give Steven a chance.”
She shook her head. “I was. But then I met you.” She laughed suddenly.
“What?”
“Somehow you seem to remember his name when you’re talking to me, yet it was always ‘Steve’ to him. He hates being called that.”
Eric smiled. “I figured. Same way you hate being called ‘Cass’.”
“Not so much anymore.”
They grew quiet as they stared at one another again.
“We stare at each other a lot.”
Cassie smiled. “We do, huh?”
“So you’re ready to take a chance on me?”
“Yes.” She had to stop running scared. She didn’t want to frighten the poor guy though. “I don’t want you to feel like that obligates you to anything. I just wanted … you’re leaving, I know that.”
Eric’s eyes caressed every inch of her face.
“I would never expect you to stay here for me. And I don’t assume you’d want a long distance, uh, relationship.” She threw her hand up. “Not that I’m saying I wouldn’t consider it if it’s something you would be interested in — ”
“Cass.”
She took a much-needed breath. “Yes?”
“You’ve completely lost your mind.”
She chewed her lip.
“There’s not a single doubt in my mind that I want to be with you.”
Her chewing ceased immediately. Her eyes welled up with unshed tears. “But you’re leaving. You said if you loved someone, you wouldn’t — ”
“I’m coming back.”
Relief filled her as the tears spilled onto her cheeks. “You are?”
Eric shook his head as he wiped at her tears with his thumbs. “What the hell did Julia say to you?” He smiled. “I’m only gonna be gone for a week.”
She wanted to hide. She’d made a complete blubbering fool of herself when he was only leaving for a week? Damn you, Julia!
Cassie cursed under her breath.
Eric chuckled. “You mean to tell me she actually said I was leaving forever?”
Not exactly.
He walked around the bar to stand beside her.
Cassie placed her hands on his face as she tiptoed on her one heel. She turned her face up to him. And he did the rest.
Their kiss went on and on with neither of them eager to stop anytime soon. When they finally parted, breathing rapid and uneven, Cassie remembered something.
“What would you like me to give you?”
Eric arched an eyebrow. “You really want me to answer that?”
She gave him a light punch in the stomach. “I didn’t mean that.”
“Too bad.”
“Were you gonna go for cake or icing?”
He smiled. “You’ll never know now.”
She shrugged. “It’s for the best I suppose. You did ban me from getting anywhere near your junk.”
Eric laughed. “That ban’s lifted.”
Cassie gasped, feigning surprise. “Really?”
“Since you’re being nice now.” He sat down on a barstool and pulled her close, nuzzling her neck. “I give up. If you weren’t talking about sex … ”
She ran her fingers through his hair. “I promised to get you a gift.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t remember? Right after we came up with our plan to break up Steven and Ann.”
He kissed her neck, creating a tingle that shot throughout her body.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he murmured.
“I promised to get you a gift if you helped me get what I wanted. And you did.”
He pulled his head back to look at her. “Then you do owe me,” he said, smiling.
She nodded. “The best gift you can think of. You name it, you got it.”
He gazed into her eyes. “You said you were willing to take a chance on me. If you mean it, then that’s my gift.”
They both grew silent.
She knew he was giving her one last chance to back out. Part of her still wanted to run. Being overly cautious and resistant to change would always be her nature. She had to accept that. Still, she could switch things up every now and then.
She felt a tear slide down her cheek. “You got it,” she whispered.
He kissed her. “If things go the way I plan, our next engagement will be a real one.”
“We haven’t even dated yet.” She smiled. “You see an engagement in our future?”
He chuckled. “It’s a whirlwind romance.”
“I’ll say,” she laughed. She considered the engagement for a moment. “Well,” she shrugged, “anything is possible.”
If nothing else, the last week had certainly taught her that.