7 Minutes in Heaven (Are You Game?) (3 page)

She studied the man on the other side of the counter. If he wasn’t planning to take this arrangement into the sexual arena then what was his agenda? Could she trust him to keep his word if she agreed?

“What’s wrong, Cass? You afraid you can’t handle me telling you what to do?”

Hah!
“I can handle anything you dish out. Question is, can you say the same?” Cassie hoped he couldn’t see through her tough-girl act, because in spite of a lifetime spent being scared of nothing, this man had her insides shaking and her nerves jittering with a healthy dose of fear. It wasn’t the thought of taking orders that had her worried either. Her brothers had bossed her around for as long as she could remember, so she knew she was capable of putting up with Lucas telling her what to do. She was more concerned about her traitorous libido. The electricity arcing between them was enough to light up the entire city of Sydney for a month. But she’d be damned if she’d let him get the better of her.

He chuckled. “No question. It would take more than some little woman to scare me.”

A growl rumbled in her chest. “Did you just call me a
little woman
?”

Lucas shrugged. “If the shoe fits.”

Oh boy. That did it. She’d spent her whole life proving her size didn’t matter. She might be average height for a female, but in a household of extra-tall individuals that hadn’t made a difference. As the shortest, she’d endured every tease imaginable from her brothers, and hearing Lucas refer to her as little only tweaked her need to prove she packed as big of a punch as he did.

“Fine.” She stuck out her hand. “When do you want to start?”

“Now’s as good a time as any.” His large hand engulfed hers.

“I’m in charge first.”

He arched an eyebrow.

“I’ve got a job tomorrow, and Dan was going to help me but now you will.”

His other eyebrow joined the first, his eyes widening. “A party?” he asked as he glanced around them.

“Don’t worry. It’s not an adults-only one.” Cassie smiled. “I’m sure you’ll be fine, it’s a birthday party.”

“Oh.” Relief filled his face as he smiled.

Cassie had to hold back her laughter. She wasn’t about to inform him he’d be spending six hours with a bunch of pink-tutu-wearing six-year-olds helping them make jewellery from tiny glass beads. “I’ll give you my work address and you can meet me there in the morning to help me load up the supplies.”

“I thought we were starting now?”

“Oh, but I thought…” What had she thought? Cassie had just assumed they’d start in the morning; they were both still working after all.

“Okay, how about this.” Lucas glanced at his watch. “We start the clock ticking when we finish up here. You get me for twenty-four hours, then I get you for twenty-four.”

He held her with a look that sent shivers down her spine. “But when I finish here I’m going home to catch a couple of hours sleep before I have to prep for tomorrow’s party.”

“So will I.” He grinned and Cassie’s stomach fluttered. “You can get me to massage your feet before you hit the sack.”

Cassie gulped. Good God, that wasn’t all she’d like him to massage, and most of what she was thinking would be done
after
she hit the sack. “You’re coming home with me?”

“Yep. Twenty-four hours is twenty-four hours.” Lucas locked his gaze to hers, his stare and stance clearly telegraphing the words
I dare you to back out
.

She wasn’t stupid by a long shot, but Cassie may have just made the dumbest deal of the century with a man who had already proven he could scramble her brain with a mere kiss.

Luc watched myriad emotions flicker across Cassie’s face before she straightened her spine and yanked her hand from his. How either of them had forgotten to let go before now was a mystery. Then again maybe not. His hand felt cold without hers tucked inside it and the heat her touch generated still zipped up his arm and through his body, hitting every erogenous zone he had. He slipped his thumb through a belt loop and shoved his fingers into his front pocket, which only made the fit of his slacks tighter and his semi-hard cock even more uncomfortable. He removed his hand and placed it on the counter, palm down, and leaned forward. The urge to kiss her fired his nerve endings and scorched his veins with molten lust.

What was it about Cassandra Moreland that sparked such an incendiary reaction? Luc couldn’t recall any other woman having such an instant or profound effect on him. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last woman to have any kind of effect on him other than annoyance. He’d never been one to make close connections with anyone. It came with the job. Being head of security meant he had to be available twenty-four-seven, and the women he met in his line of work were usually the shallow money-grubbing kind of individual, and therefore even if he’d found his interest piqued by a woman she was unlikely to want anything to do with a lowly bodyguard. Of course, there were the few who wanted to take a tumble between the sheets with a dangerous man, but they tended to have their curiosity satisfied fairly quickly.

He’d left one-night-stands behind him sometime in his twenties. At thirty-eight he was extremely discriminatory with his choice of bed partner. He wasn’t in it just to get his rocks off. That type of dalliance left him unsatisfied and more often than not feeling selfish, used and disgusted with himself and the woman he was with. Might explain why he couldn’t remember the last woman he’d had sex with. If he had his way that dry spell was about to be broken, but not this weekend. Luc wouldn’t use their challenge to get Cassie into bed. No. When he slept with her it would be because they both wanted it with bone-deep need, not because either of them had ordered the other there.

And the quicker they got this place cleared out the quicker he could work his magic and have her panting for him. He wasn’t delusional though, he knew full well that he’d be panting just as hard and looked forward to one very long weekend of temptation and anticipation with Cassandra Moreland.

“I’ll get a couple of my men to give you a hand with the pack up,” he said.

“What?” Cassie turned from the clipboard she was marking items off on. “My staff is more than capable of doing their job.”

Luc smiled. “I didn’t say they couldn’t—”

“Then don’t imply it.” She squared her shoulders as though preparing for a fight.

He held up his hands. “Whoa. All I’m doing is offering to help.”

“Then offer, don’t order.” Her mouth stretched into a straight line, her lips pressed together, and Luc wanted to lean over and tease his tongue along the seam until she softened and the harsh lines were plump and wet.

“Fine.” He pulled his thoughts out of his pants and tried a different track. “It’s two-thirty a.m. Give yourself and your staff a break by allowing me and my men to help you finish out the night. I’m sure everyone is more than ready to head home. You’ve been here since two this afternoon.”

Cassie’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her ample bosom, drawing his gaze. “Could you not ogle me while we’re arguing? And how the hell do you know what time I got here? Have you been spying on me?”

Luc brought his gaze up to meet hers. “We’re arguing?”

“That’s all you heard?”

“Well, no, but it was certainly the part that got my attention. As for the other, no, you aren’t being
spied on
, but the McDermotts’ security is the highest priority and therefore anything pertaining to them I know about.”

“Anything?” She arched a brow.

“Yes.”

“So you know that Lil quit modelling?”

“Yes.” Luc quickly surveyed the space around them and judged the area safe. He knew he wouldn’t be telling Cassie anything Lillian McDermott hadn’t already divulged. “I also know all about her children’s clothing label, Lilli Pond, and next month’s launch of her signature fragrance, Golden Lilli.”

“Oh.”

“It’s my job, Cass. I take it and the safety of those under my protection very seriously.” He placed his hands on the counter and leaned closer. “Now, will you let me and my men help you? You can give us orders and I won’t even count the time towards our little weekend challenge.”

She chewed the corner of her bottom lip. Her white teeth worrying the flesh until it turned a deep red caused Luc’s groin to tighten.

“Fine. I could use some help loading these boxes into the back of the van in the driveway.”

Luc smiled as satisfaction slid through his belly. She may not like taking his help, but she wasn’t stubborn enough to refuse it to prove a point. He just hoped the rest of their time together would run as smoothly.

Chapter Three

Cassie lowered the box to the van floor and tried to ignore the ache in her back. She didn’t normally cart around the heavy equipment, usually she left the serious lifting for Dan or one of the other guys, so she only had herself to blame for any injury she sustained. Lucas hadn’t actually challenged her competency, but after their earlier conversation her life-long compulsion to prove herself had reared its ugly head and she’d been compelled to show him she was more than capable of doing the job. Unfortunately, that meant a sore back, and unless she treated the area with a heat pack when she got home, she was bound to suffer for the next few days. Cursing her stubborn need to demonstrate she measured up in every way, Cassie straightened and winced as a sharp twinge of pain lanced her lumbar region.

With a groan, Cassie reached around and pressed her hands against her lower back. Arching slightly, she stretched the muscles and kneaded with her fingers. Two large hands covered hers, warm strong fingers working along her spine with harder pressure than her own. She slipped her hands free and allowed the far more skilled ones to take over. The ache eased with each caress and she couldn’t stop the small moans of relief the soothing massage roused. Cassie didn’t have to turn around to know who was behind her. Lucas. Heat radiated off him, surrounding her with the aroma of soap and man and a tantalising cologne she couldn’t name.

She’d know his scent anywhere. Funny how so little time spent in his presence could engrave him so deeply on her memory banks. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The heat and smell of him soaked in, curled inside her and drew her nerves taut until Cassie thought she might snap at any moment. She dipped her head forward with a groan as he hit a particularly tight spot. It didn’t take him long to weed the knots out of her stiff muscles. Concentrating on Lucas and his magic hands, she didn’t hear anyone approach until Dan spoke beside her.

“We’re almost done, Cassie, just the walkthrough and letting everyone go left to do.”

Her eyes snapped open and a gust of air burst from her lungs. She jumped forward, almost toppling into the rear of the van in her effort to move away from Lucas. Righting herself, she turned to Dan and thanked the darkness surrounding them. She’d hate for him to see her flaming-red face. “I’m sure you can let everyone go now. I’ll do the walkthrough and fix anything we’ve forgotten, but I doubt I’ll find anything. You always do a brilliant job on clear-out.”

“Are you sure?” Dan asked. “I can do the walkthrough with you.”

“No, it’s okay, I can manage. If you let everyone know they can leave I’ll get started.” Cassie stepped around both men then stopped abruptly. “Oh, and you can have tomorrow off. I’ve found someone else to help me, and you already pulled those extra shifts this week so you deserve to have a full weekend free.”

“I didn’t think anyone was available for Saturday this week,” Dan said.

Cassie glanced at Lucas. “Um, well, no, but Lucas has agreed to give me a hand.”

“He has?” Dan looked Lucas over from head to toe with a critical eye. “Does he know what type of party it is?”

Not wanting Dan to let the cat out of the bag, she grabbed his arm and led him towards where her staff waited and away from Lucas. Cassie quickly changed the topic and pointed Dan in a different direction. “Make sure everyone has a ride home when you let them go. A couple of the guys are new to the team and I’m not sure how they got here.”

He waited until they were out of earshot before pulling from her grasp and turning on her. “What the fuck is going on, Cassie?”

She didn’t want to get into it with Dan right now, so she gave him the bare minimum of information. “Nothing is going on. Lucas and I got to talking and he volunteered to give me hand sometime, and seeing how you really shouldn’t have to do another shift this week, I thought tomorrow would be perfect.”

Dan eyed her with suspicion, but she’d learnt long ago how to school her face. She wasn’t the family poker champion for nothing.

“I know I’m missing something, but I’ll take your word for it as long as you promise to ring me if anything fucks up.”

Cassie smiled. Dan might sometimes behave like one of her overbearing brothers, but she could always rely on him to put business first. “Promise.”

“I don’t like it, but you’re the boss.”

“Honest, Dan, nothing is going on. Now go see to the staff and I’ll catch you on Monday at the office. Don’t forget we need to talk about bringing on another supervisor.” Cassie gave his shoulder a little push in an attempt to nudge him into action.

Standing his ground, he studied her a minute longer before drawing in a big breath and letting it out in a rush. “Fine. See you Monday.”