Cassie:It’s okay, I stalked you too. I was kind of hoping you had put on loads of weight and let yourself go.
Luke: And now?
Cassie: Now I’m glad you didn’t.
Luke: Good. We’ll chat soon.
I can’t wait for Friday to roll around. Not a good headspace to be in when it’s only 8 a.m. Monday morning. I’ve got a shit load of work to do to prepare for these sessions in DC, and sitting here daydreaming like some damn stupid teenager, is not helpful.
Messaging Bec from my laptop, I ask her to come into my office so we can make some updates to the draft presentation. If we want to secure this contract, Blake and I will have to be in top form. Competition is tough on these types of contracts, and we will be the new players.
Friday afternoon, and I’m standing in the downstairs lobby of Cassie’s office building. I’ve texted her to say I’d arrived, so I hope she’ll be down soon. I’m so eager to see her again, I can barely stand still.
Five o’clock on a Friday afternoon in any office lobby is hectic, but this building seems particularly bad. The elevators arriving down are packed with office workers all eager to get away to start their weekends.
I catch sight of Cassie as she squeezes out of an elevator with a dozen other people. She looks amazing with her black skirt silhouetting her slight curves, the striped business shirt fitting snugly beneath a tailored jacket and heels. Totally corporate professional. I head over to her quickly to help her with her bag.
Scooping my arm around her, I give her a quick kiss. It will have to do for now, although I want a whole lot more.
Smiling up at me, she exclaims, “Oh my God, it is crazy busy with the elevators tonight.”
“Let’s get out of here,” I respond.
We walk out the glass front doors and down the block a short distance to my parked SUV. I open the door for Cassie and quickly stow her bag in the back before jumping behind the wheel.
“So, are you curious about where we're going?” I ask, weaving my car through the heavy Friday traffic.
“Maybe just a little,” she teases.
“Okay, I’ll leave you guessing.”
I can't help smiling to myself as I can tell she's dying to know the plans.
“Well, we're going over the Queensboro bridge, I’m guessing Long Island,” she excitedly announces a short time later.
“The girl is not only beautiful, she’s also clever. Yes, we're heading to Long Island. Are you excited?” I ask, briefly glancing sideways to catch her expression, not simply her words.
With a huge smile stretching her luscious lips, she agrees enthusiastically.
A couple of hours later and we are pulling up to the beach house. Great we're just in time to catch the sunset. I grab our overnight bags from the back, throwing them over my shoulder, and taking Cassie’s hand, walk her up the steps to the front door.
On the drive here, I told her Blake’s family owns the beach house and it’s one of my favorite places to visit. I’m hoping Cassie loves this place as much as I do.
Opening the large wooden front door, I lead her into the wide hallway taking us straight through to the open plan kitchen and living room. Large glass doors span the back of the house, opening up the living room to the deck. The house sits tucked into the sand dunes providing some privacy on this lower level. From the upper deck, you can see the ocean and along the stretch of white sand in both directions.
I show Cassie upstairs to the guest bedrooms. I know exactly which room to lead her to as I prefer the room closest to the water so I can hear the waves at night. It’s a large corner room, with light flooding in through windows on two sides and a huge bed facing out to sea. The adjoining bathroom has a double shower, and I hope Cass will want to share it with me. I place our bags at the foot of the bed.
“If you want to get settled in, I’ll bring in the food and things. There are towels in the bathroom and anything else you might need.”
Cassie’s eyes spark as she tells me, “This place is amazing. Really special. Thank you for bringing me here, Luke.”
And I'm so glad I brought her too. “Be back soon,” I promise.
Before I can be distracted by thoughts of Cassie in the shower, I finish unpacking the car, filling the fridge with steak, salads, and drinks for dinner tonight. I wanted to make sure we had everything we needed so we could kick back and relax.
As I’m unpacking, I can hear the shower running in the background. I’m finding it hard, literally as my jeans tighten across my groin, to stop thinking about Cassie naked under the water spray. I need to think about work problems, run some lines of code through my head, something, anything.
Maybe waiting out on the deck in the cooling sea breeze will do the trick till it’s my turn to jump under the shower.
