One night in Daytona (One Night Stands #1) (5 page)

“What was that, Cassie?  Oh.  My.  God.  Do you know Farris?” Clifton blurted.  “How?  Holy hell.  You turn down every guy in this place and he just walks up to you and plants a kiss on you.  Spill the goods.”

“You don’t want to know.”  Stalking back over to where Jos was watching her, Cassie was beyond furious.  Mostly at herself for letting him kiss her, and most of all, for wanting him again.  But she hadn’t really stopped.  “You think you can just waltz over and kiss me again?  I don’t think so.  You stay the hell away from me.  Go to one of your minions if you want that.  I’m not interested.”

“Are you pissed because I’ve bedded other women since you?  Is that what this is about?” Jos grated out.  “Because if it is, you’re way outta line.”

Shaking her head, Cassie huffed and walked away, slamming the door in the office she’d camped out in.  It may be a fish bowl with its three glass walls, but it had a lockable door.  And at that moment, the lock was the office’s best feature and her saving grace.  She’d seen Jos watching her from the windows in the studio and she’d studiously avoided meeting his gaze.  Now she couldn’t even get a coffee.   How in God’s good name was she going to get through the last hour of her shift after that kiss?  It had completely undone her.

Cassie managed to finish her shift and snuck out the employee entrance while Jos was finishing up in the studio with Clifton.  She’d watched him on the live feed telecast on the internal network, telling herself she was trying to time her exit from the building so their paths wouldn’t cross.  But really, it was just as much to see him again.  She felt pathetic and angry at both herself for still being attracted to him and at him for looking so darn good.  He was just as stunningly masculine and deliciously sexy as the night she met him.  His hair still had the same un-kept messy look it had after she’d run her fingers through it.  She’d done it so many times she’d memorised the silky feel of each strand.  And those eyes, they burned with intensity.  But while intense, his eyes were sad, that spark he’d had seemingly gone.  In her lonely nights, she’d Googled him.  She knew his racing contract had been terminated and he’d been unable to find another team to take him on mid-season.  He’d done some charity work and a lot of appearances at schools to keep his sponsors happy.  And now from what she’d gathered from Scott’s memo, he’d scored a stellar deal racing for a higher ranked team next year, so that couldn’t be the sadness she could see.  What was it then? 

Cassie picked at her salad that she’d thrown together for dinner.  Her relaxation time wasn’t very relaxing tonight.  She didn’t have many friends in Daytona Beach yet, so she couldn’t call anyone up to see them, but her pops was always happy to lend an ear.  Telephoning him, Cassie told him everything that had happened today.  His only comment in return was, “Maybe it’s fate that you’ve seen him again.  It might be the closure you need.”

Jos was gutted when Cassie had run out of the office as he was finishing up.  He needed to talk to her, needed to find out what he’d done wrong.  Why was she so angry with him?  Shouldn’t he be the one pissed at her, running away from what they had without a second glance back?

His ride back to his trailer later that morning depressed him rather than freeing him like it normally did.  And lunch was a non-event; he pushed around the food on his plate and tossed all of it in the trash after it had wilted.  Sitting on his lawn chair outside under the trailer’s awning, a cold beer in his hand, he closed his eyes and recalled every moment of their time together.  Memories of Cassie smiling down at him as she rode him; the silky feel of her pale, freckled skin; the sweet taste of her nectar on his tongue as she climaxed hard against him; the wet heat of her pussy as he made love to her; her begging him; their first kiss and her goodbye kiss.  The sour taste in his mouth grew until all he could taste was bitterness at being hurt so badly when she left.  Sighing, he went inside, it was time to formulate a plan to either win her back or get her out of his mind once and for all, and he couldn’t do that while he was an all-you-can-eat Vegas style mosquito buffet. 

C H A P T E R   S I X

Cassie walked into the office, weary from tossing and turning all night.  Her breakfast sat like a leaden weight in her stomach and she felt flat.  She’d been at work for a few hours now and there was no improvement.  At least her shift was halfway done.  But there was no way she could get through the rest of the morning without caffeine, so a trip to the kitchen and the gleaming stainless steel coffee machine that dominated the little workspace, was an absolute necessity. 

“Cassie,” Jos pleaded in barely more than a whisper after she’d stepped into the kitchen.  Cassie hadn’t seen him sitting at the table when she’d walked in.  Hearing him made her jump so hard she dropped the plastic insulated coffee mug she was carrying and screamed.

“What are you doing here?” she started.  “You scared me to death.”

“I needed to talk to you, to see you again, so I set up lunch with Clifton.  I’m waiting for him to get off air.  Please, Cassie.”  Jos wasn’t too proud a man to beg, not when it involved her.

“Please don’t, Jos.  Please.” Cassie sniffed, hating the wobble in her voice as her fright subsided and was replaced by hurt. 

“Okay, I’ll give you some space.  But please, we need to talk.”

“No, Jos, you might have something to say, but I don’t.”  Cassie pushed past him carrying her mug over to her cubical.  She wasn’t locking herself in an office again.  She needed this job and she wasn’t going to let him distract her.

Jos made it half an hour into lunch with Clifton before his frustration started to bubble over.  He’d been given the cold shoulder by Cassie and he was getting sick of pussyfooting around.  He wasn’t usually this impatient, but with Cassie it was all he could do not to go insane.  Seeing her again had reignited all the chemistry he felt between them, not that it had ever really subsided.  Cassie had the starring role in every one of his fantasies since he’d met her.  His plan of quietly speaking with her this morning had gone up in flames when she’d shut him down, but he wasn’t done.  He needed to know what the heck he’d done wrong to upset Cassie so badly.  She was acting more hurt than angry, and that just didn’t make any sense.  He dropped his burger on the plate and stood, nearly knocking over his chair.

“’Bout time you went after her.” Clifton grinned at him.  “Waited long enough.”

“Huh?”

“Cassie.  She turned down every one of us who asked her out, and yet, with you, she melted.  She’s got her walls up, but she wants you.”

Grinning, Jos slapped a hand on Clifton’s shoulder. “Thanks, buddy.  That’s everything I needed to hear.”  He made it back to the station in record time and stalked straight through reception over to the cubicle she was sitting in.  He didn’t want to cause a scene, but Cassie was too important to him to let things slide.

“Time’s up.  We need to talk.”

“No, Jos, I’m busy.”

“Make time, Cassie, this is important.”

“Fine,” she sighed.  “What do you want?”

“Not here, the office.” Jos motioned to the glass cage Cassie had locked herself in yesterday.  Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of her seat and dragged her toward the office at the back of the building.

Pinning him with a glare after he closed the door, she slumped down behind the desk saying, “You have one minute.  I need to be on-air in five.”  The devastation in her eyes sucker punched Jos breathless and he had to clench his fists by his sides to resist the urge to pull her into his arms.

“I’ve missed you—”

“Obviously not enough,” she snapped.

“Again with this?  You wanted me to wait for you?  Sure, I bedded more women than I could count, but believe me, fucking you outta my system sure as shit didn’t work.”

“Whatever, Jos,” Cassie said dismissively.

“What more could I have done, Cassie?” Jos asked too loudly, his frustration getting the better of him as he paced the small room. 

“You could have called,” Cassie yelled. 

“How?” Jos yelled back.  “I didn’t have your number; I didn’t even have your last name.  You got up and left that damn hotel without a second glance.  I begged you to stay with me and you didn’t even leave me your number.  And now you’re pissed with me?  What the hell more could I have done?”

“I did leave it, you ass.  And you never called me.  You just went off and fucked half the state of Oklahoma,” Cassie screamed at him, tears cascading down her cheeks.  “You think I didn’t read the stories.  You were with a new woman every few days.  Quit making out that I was more important than any of them.  I understand exactly what I meant to you.  Just don’t think you’ll get it again,” she ended her tirade on a whisper, shoulders shuddering as she tried to get her emotions under control.

“What?” Jos asked quietly, sinking down into the chair completely deflated.  Then the memory hit him.  When the room service breakfast Cassie ordered the night before arrived, he asked for it to be put out on the balcony so he could throw his jeans on instead of his Henley bunched in front of the less-respectable bits of him.  The open door must have blown the piece of paper out of sight while he was trying to find his belt.  Could a simple breeze have been responsible for all the pain they’d both suffered in the last six months?

“Angel, listen to me, please,” Jos said, moving around the desk to sit on the table in front of Cassie.  She was still rigid, arms crossed protectively in front of her and looking away from him.  But the tears still trickling down her cheeks spoke volumes.  Untangling her arms after a moment of resistance, he took her hands in his.  He marvelled at the zing that shot through his body at her touch.  Giving her hands a light squeeze, he explained to her quietly, “I don’t know for sure what happened to your number, but I have a theory.  I pulled apart that room trying to find a note that you might have left for me.  I was gutted when I thought you hadn’t.  But I didn’t want it to be the end of us.  I called every TV and radio station in Chicago, every newspaper and a bunch of other places trying to find you.  They thought I was some creeper stalking one of their employees.  No one would give me any info about you.  I s’pose it’s not surprising. I didn’t even really know who to ask for.  I asked my agent to try and track you down.  I had my media consultant, who looks after my social media profile, keep an eye out for any Cassies who had any contact with me on social media.  I didn’t know what else to do.  I couldn’t get you outta my system.”

“You tried to contact me?” she asked, finally looking at him.

“I never stopped.”

Sighing, Cassie confessed, “I lost my job in Chicago.  I finished up the day after we were together.  I did a couple of weeks working at the diner I used to wait tables at, but they didn’t need me for longer than that.  I had to give up my apartment and I moved back home.  I started working here a month ago.  There was no way you could have contacted me even if you got the right station.  They wouldn’t have passed my number on in case you were a story.”

“I’m so sorry, angel, so sorry I wasn’t there for you.  So sorry I let you walk out that room without getting your number tattooed on me.” Jos smiled ruefully.  “It’s my one regret from that night.”

Looking at her watch, Cassie said, “Jos, I need to go.  I need to get on the air.”

“Yeah, okay.  Go.  I’ll be waiting here when you get back.”  When Cassie stood, Jos pulled her close and gave her a lingering kiss.  Cassie leaned in and kissed him again, beaming at him as she winked and left his embrace.  As she stepped away, still looking at Jos, the room behind them erupted in applause and cheering.  Cassie’s head snapped up and Jos spun around on the desk to see the entire office milling around the glass walls watching them.

“Looks like Clifton passed on the message that I was coming back to see you.” Jos laughed as he ushered Cassie out of the door and walked her to the studio.

Jos watched Cassie’s news report on the live feed being broadcast outside the studio.  The station often put up funny YouTube videos of the announcers messing around.  The cameras were still set up from yesterday’s interview with him, which to his dismay was already on YouTube for the entire world to see him making a fool of himself.  Jos was as nervous as hell while he was doing his first on-air performance.  But Cassie, she looked like a pig in mud, presenting the main stories and the fluff piece she’d been working on.  It was something about a local family winning it big in the lottery.  Both their kids suffered from rare diseases and needed full-time care.  The winnings would help them get into their own house.  They’d also decided to donate some of the prize to the children’s hospital in town to help out other sick kids.  Jos felt good for them knowing that the lottery had gone to someone who really needed it.

“She’s got talent, hasn’t she?” Scott said from behind Jos.  “She’s really become part of the family since she’s been here.  We all adore her.”  It was more the tone of what he said than the words that made Jos read between the lines of Scott’s comment.

“Is that a veiled threat?” Jos asked, remembering the salt-and-pepper-haired man from his introductions yesterday as the general manager.

“No, it’s a warning that you’ll piss a lotta good people off if you hurt her.”

“I’m gonna let that one slide because you don’t know me and you’re protecting your own, but don’t question my motives or my integrity again.  I’m here because I wanna be with Cassie, and not just for one night.”

“Good, I’m glad.  We don’t want to see her hurt.” Scott clapped him on his shoulder as he sauntered away.

Jos waited for Cassie to finish her last news read for the day before he walked her out to his bike.  “You game?”

“Are you kidding?  Let’s go,” Cassie’s eyes lit up, her excitement obvious.

“Put this on.” Jos passed her his helmet.  It would be too big for her, but it was better than her not wearing one.  He’d have to get her a set of leathers and a helmet if she was going to ride with him again, and he couldn’t wait to take her for a test spin in his new race car.  When she slid on the bike behind him, wrapping her body tightly around his, he willed his cock down for long enough that they could get to the restaurant he’d planned to take her to for drinks and an early supper. 

Sliding into the booth at the back of the steakhouse, Jos wrapped his arms around Cassie and crushed his mouth to hers.  He was desperate to have her naked in his arms, but he fought down his frantic desire and turned it into a long, slow kiss.  When they pulled apart, both their hearts beating out of their chests, he murmured against her temple, “Tell me everything about yourself, angel.”

Cassie started with her most embarrassing secret: her name.  It was commonly known that her surname was Lane, but no one except for the few people who remained in her hometown whom she went to school with knew her first name. 

“You’re kidding,” he said biting back a laugh.  “Your name is Lois Cassandra Lane.  And you’re a reporter.  That’s gold.”

“My parents are mad Superman fans.  When they had me, they thought they’d give me something else to get teased about.  Wearing glasses and having red hair wasn’t enough, so they called me Lois.  You can imagine how happy they were when I decided to be a reporter,” Cassie huffed, rolling her eyes.  Jos couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled out of him. 

“See, that reaction, that’s why I use my middle name.  My poor brother is stuck with Kal-El Clark.”

“Gold.” He shook his head, capturing her mouth with his again.  Her parents were a hoot.  From what Cassie had already told him, he was sure he’d like her pops.  And her mom seemed pretty kooky too.  At that, thoughts of his own mom flashed through his mind’s eye.  He’d stopped in to see his folks last week before leaving Oklahoma.  His mom was flagging quickly, the breast cancer taking its toll on her.  It was aggressive.  She was barely diagnosed five months ago, and within three months of that diagnosis, she’d been told the cancer had migrated and was terminal.

“There, what’s that?  The sadness is in your eyes again.”

“It’s my mom,” Jos murmured as he squeezed Cassie tighter.  He told her about the diagnosis and the limited time he had left with her.

“You should go and see her again soon.  Spend as much time with her as you can.”

“Come with me?  She’ll love you.”

“I’d love to.” Cassie smiled.

Later that night, curled in each other’s arms, breathing heavily from the latest of their orgasms, Jos whispered against Cassie’s temple, “I love you, angel.”

Gasping, her slender fingers covered her gaping mouth.  “You don’t know me, Jos.”  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Cassie realised that even though they still had so much to learn about each other, it didn’t matter.  She’d fallen for him their first night together too.  She remembered the heartache of leaving him and not hearing from him and the feeling that the broken part of her was being mended when he kissed her yesterday. 

“My heart knows you.  From the moment I met you, I knew.  I’ll thank the good Lord every day for the rest of my life for bringing you back to me.”

“I love you too, Jos.  I knew it in my heart, too.  I cried so much when I realised you weren’t going to call me.”

“I’m sorry, angel.  I’ll never hurt you again.  Here.” He plucked his phone off the nightstand and handed it to her.  “Put your number, email, Facebook details, Twitter handle, everything, in my phone.  And now I know where you live, you ain’t gettin’ away from me again.”  Giggling, Cassie complied and sighed into his arms again, enjoying simply being held by him.