Sunday Smooch - Cassie's Grand Plan

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!


Today we have a smooch from Cassie's Grand Plan by Emmie Dark, but first ...

the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is -- Natasha D!

Congratulations, Natasha! Can you please contact Joan Kilby at
joan (at) joankilby (dot) com and she'll send you a copy of Gentlemen Prefer Nerds.

Also, the winner of Nikki Logan's Smooch was Chey!

Congratulations Chey! Please contact Nikki at nikki (at) nikkilogan (dot) com.au and she'll send you a copy of Mr Right At The Wrong Time.

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from Cassie's Grand Plan by Emmie Dark ...

 

Cassie Hartman knows what she needs to do to get her life under control. First, she'll get herself promoted. Then she'll update her appearance. Steps three and four - marriage and family - well, those will have to wait.

Then Ronan McGuire shows up. The too-sexy, too-polished business consultant has the power to derail Cassie's plans before she's even really started. If he doesn't approve her promotion, she'll be back to square one, and that's not an option. Cassie needs to keep her focus on that first step, no matter how much Ronan tempts her to skip ahead to the third and fourth ones .........

Tell me about your family,” Ronan repeated gently.

“Why?” Her tone dripped with suspicion and defensiveness.

“No particular reason,” Ronan said carefully. He’d meant it to be an easy way to find out more about Cassie outside of work. Seemed he’d stepped on a personal landmine instead. Damn. “You don’t have to tell me. I just thought seeing as we’re spending a week together it might be nice to know a little about each other.”

“Right.”

Silence stretched between them. Then her voice came out, halting and quiet, in a way that told him there was a lot more to the story.

“My parents died when I was fifteen. I have an older brother. He lives in London now.”

There was so much emotion behind her simple statements, Ronan didn’t know where to begin. He squeezed her hand and drew a little closer to her. “That must have been tough.”

“What about you?” she asked.

It was a deflection, but Ronan went with it. “A sister, younger than me. She’s a doctor – a resident now – at a hospital back home in San Francisco. My mom is a southern belle who insists on manners, is stronger than a mule and just as stubborn. She lets my father think he’s in charge, but we all know she’s the one who really pulls the strings.”

“And your father?”

“Very driven, very successful. He came to America from Ireland with my grandparents when he was only a small child. He has that special drive to carve out a niche in the world that lots of immigrants seem to share. A leader in the community.” He wondered if she caught the hint of bitterness in his tone.

If she had, she didn’t let on. “You sound like you’re very fond of your sister,” she said diplomatically.

“Siobhan? She drives me nuts. She’s always getting herself into trouble. I love her to pieces.”

“You look out for her.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“That’s nice.”

Her wistful tone made him want to ask about her relationship with her own brother, but before he could, she stopped suddenly. He halted and turned to face her.

“What’s up, Cassie?”

“This is starting to feel like . . .”

“Like what?”

“Like a date.”

“Yeah. It would be a nice date. But it’s not.”

“It’s not?”

Ronan resisted the temptation to smile at the combination of disappointment and relief etched on her face. “No, it’s not a date.”

He stepped closer to her, close enough to smell her fresh, floral perfume, to feel the heat of her body. Any closer and her breasts would touch his chest. “It’s not a date unless we kiss.” He took her other hand in his. She didn’t resist.

“Well, we wouldn’t . . .”

Her voice trailed off as he brought his lips closer to hers. Closer, closer. Her breath tickled his lips. Those bronzed eyes looked up at him, and he could see the moment she gave in. But he was too distracted to pay attention to his triumph, too aroused to recognise the challenge he’d set himself had been won. Far too focussed on the woman in front of him to hear the warning bells that should have been clanging loud enough to wake the dead.

He concentrated on her lips, full and pouty and just crying out to be kissed. They parted slightly as she sighed and her eyes fluttered closed in the ultimate surrender.

Leave a comment to be in the draw to win a signed copy of Cassie's Grand Plan!


Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced -- and a smooch from Colorado Fireman by CC Coburn will be posted!