Beyond the Breaking Point (32 page)

“Knows what?” he asked, sounding unconcerned.

“About us. He came over tonight to discuss the divorce and saw the passion mark on my neck.”

“Good,” Max said, sounding satisfied.

“Max! You marked me on purpose?” she asked, horrified.

He laughed. “No, I didn’t, but I don’t care if Phillip knows about us. I’m not hiding our relationship. Are you?”

Rather than answer, she deflected. “I just don’t want there to be any problems between you two. You have to work together.”

“No, actually, we don’t,” Max surprised her by saying. “I’ve been putting out nibbles to other firms. I’m very good at what I do. Someone will bite.”

She groaned. “I don’t want to be the cause of you leaving your job.”

“Hey! You’re not. I would have left even if we hadn’t hooked up. There’s no way I could have continued working with Phillip after what he did. People knew we were friends and are beginning to pick up on the strain in the relationship. Soon they’ll start asking questions. I’d prefer to be someplace where my name isn’t connected as strongly with his.”

She flopped onto the bed and stretched out on her back. “I’m sorry, Max. I’m sure the situation with me and the baby isn’t helping matters.”

“Cassidy, honey, listen to me. If I could go back in time and change things, I wouldn’t. Not if it meant at the end of the day I could be with you. Don’t worry so much.”

Max’s words shocked her into silence.

“What are we doing here, Max?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I’m not ready to call a halt to it. Are you?”

She took a deep breath and forced herself to speak the truth. “No.”

“Even if it means Phillip finding out?”

“Even if,” she admitted.

“That’s what I wanted to hear. You let me worry about Phillip.”

“Max, this divorce may get really ugly,” she warned.

“Is Phillip causing you problems?” he asked, and there was something dangerous in his tone.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” she said, making the split decision to keep Phillip’s threat to herself.

“Cass, I know Phillip. In a lot of ways I know him better than you. If he starts causing you trouble, I want you to let me know.”

She frowned up at the ceiling. “I don’t want to involve you any more than you already are.”

“Stop worrying about me. I told you, I have a vested interest in the outcome of these proceedings. Don’t forget.”

Tired and stressed from Phillip’s visit, she spoke without thinking. “Max, we both know the only reason you’re so interested in the outcome is because you believe this is your child.”

The silence after her remark stretched so long that her heart thudded in her chest and her palms grew sweaty. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for,” she apologized in a soft, conciliatory voice.

“You think my only interest in you is the babe you carry? Or,” he added before she could answer, “the incredible sex between us?”

Her breath caught audibly. “I don’t know. No, don’t say anything. Just listen,” she said when he tried to interrupt. “Right now I don’t know what to believe, or who to trust. I no longer trust my judgment. I don’t want to fall in love with you. I’m tired of being hurt and like Phillip said, I’m vulnerable right now.”

“So you think I’d use you? Not to get revenge on Phillip like he suggested, but use you all the same?” he sounded a little angry, a little hurt.

“No, I don’t think that.” She sighed heavily. “Look, I don’t know what this thing is between us. Part of me feels guilty that I’m breaking my wedding vows. Another part of me says to grab ahold of you and don’t let go. That’s the part that frightens me.”

“Why?” he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“I—” 

“Never mind. Just answer this one question for me. Forget about what you should or shouldn’t do, and forget about your pregnancy and Phillip. I want to know what Cassidy wants without all those other factors coming into play. Do you want me in your life as a friend and a lover?”

Cassidy knew the answer, but did she have the courage to speak it? “Yes.”

“Then that’s all that matters. We’ll let the future take care of itself.”

The bury-her-head-in-the-sand approach to life had never appealed to her, but for the first time in her life she was willing to give it a try. “I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask. Now, I’ve been thinking about you all weekend. When are you off again?”

“Not until Saturday.”

“Oh, that won’t do at all. I’ll be out of my mind by then. Put me out of my misery and tell me to come over.”

“Tonight?” She glanced at the clock. It was almost ten.

“Yes, unless you’re too tired.”

“I was getting ready for bed,” she said, her voice husky.

His dropped an octave lower. “Perfect. Bed’s just what I had in mind.”

It should be illegal to sound that sexy. “I have to work in the morning,” she warned half-heartedly.

“If I promise to let you sleep, will you say yes?”

“Yes.” It came out before she could sensor herself. “Use the code and park in the garage. You can let yourself in with the key.”

“Go to bed. If you fall asleep before I arrive, I promise I’ll wake you. Be there soon.” There was such promise in his voice, Cassidy shivered.

“See you when you get here,” she told him before disconnecting.

Cassidy tossed down the phone and rushed into a flurry of motion. Diving for the lingerie drawer, she pulled out a simple but very sexy chemise, but left the matching panties behind. Then she went into the bathroom to shower, shave, and smooth lotion on her skin.

Then she went into the living room, relocated three decorative candles in their matching glass globes, and lit them. Their position on the dresser in front of the mirror filled the room with a soft golden light. She programmed a bluesy instrumental jazz station via Pandora on her iPad and had it playing softly.

Cassidy glanced around the room. She’d already changed the sheets. There was nothing left to do to prepare. Rather than pace, she climbed under the covers and forced herself to relax. In minutes, the candlelight and music lulled her to sleep.

Phillip stalked out of Cassidy’s apartment building, angrier than he’d ever been in his life. His wife was fucking someone else. While he was dealing with pent-up sexual frustration by watching porn and using his fists, his wife was screwing around on him.

Was it one of those damned doctors she worked with? Had this whole thing with Amber been a ploy to free herself so she could be with her lover? The pure insanity of the thought brought him partially back to reason.

No, Cassidy’s anger and hurt over the Amber incident had been real. They’d been happy together, really truly happy, before Amber—the bitch—had pulled her stunt. So whoever had wormed his way into his wife’s bed, this was a recent development.

He’d warned her to be careful. Warned her not to let some joker sweet talk his way into her pants. Hadn’t he explained to her how ripe she was for the plucking? She was so fucking innocent, always believing the best of everyone.

Phillip got into his car and sat there, staring up at her apartment. So who was doing his wife and how the hell had he managed to get close to her? In the two and a half months they’d been separated, he spent more time here at her place than home. Half of those weeks, he’d spent the night. That brought him back to his original question. Who the hell had managed to not only weasel past him, but slip under Cassidy’s guard, such as it was?

It had to be someone she knew and trusted. His wife wasn’t an easy fuck. That was one of the many reasons he’d latched on to her when they’d first met in college. He’d asked her out because she was cute, and he figured, an easy lay. That first night she’d shot him down and done it so smoothly he hadn’t even been upset. He’d thought she’d been abiding by some stupid three- date rule, so he’d hung in there. By the fifth date, she was still turning him away at the door and he’d realized Cassidy was the real deal. By their tenth date he’d been considering marrying her.

By their six-month mark, he’d been so in love all he could see was Cassidy, even though she wouldn’t have sex with him. When she’d finally agreed to become his lover, he’d done it right. He’d saved enough money to take her to a semi-expensive restaurant for dinner and afterward had booked them into a nice hotel. He hadn’t been Cassidy’s first lover, but he’d damn well been close. Her near innocence had sealed the deal in his mind.

Phillip drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
Think like a lawyer. Use that deductive reasoning they taught you in school and leave your emotions out of it.

His wife was reserved about sex, so which of Cassidy’s coworkers or acquaintances had a chance of getting under her guard? He ran through a mental checklist, discarding names almost before their faces could come to mind. Then he got to the last one on the list and his fingers clenched the wheel.

Son of a bitch! Max Desalvo. That asshole was making a play for his wife, even after he’d warned him off. Hell, he’d told Cassidy to watch out for the man. Max was one slick bastard. Had women dropping at his feet like flies. Phillip didn’t think Cassidy was one of them, but she was gullible. Max probably fed her some bull about wanting to be close to her because of the baby and she fell for it.

Had she had sex with Max again? That’s what Phillip needed to know. He had no doubt Max had marked Cassidy on purpose. A sort of “fuck you” message intended solely for him. He was cool and calculating enough to do so.

More importantly, if Max had managed to con his way into Cassidy’s bed, what was he going to do about it?

Phillip started the car and drove home, his mind already drafting his carefully worded response to the legal papers he’d been served.