Yeah? Well, notthisnaked woman, and with that last bit of baby weight still hanging on for dear life, she most definitely wasn’t comfortable enough with her body to flaunt it. Even if she did indulge in a fling with the sexy agent—and she couldn’t believe she was seriously considering such a thing—she wasn’t going to make the catch so easy for him. What fun would that be?
Deciding to teach him a lesson, Cassie reached up and patted the side of his face. “You’re so sweet to sacrifice yourself that way.”
Cassie knew her mother had a box of old clothes up here. Perhaps something could be used to cool her off and make Ian squirm just a bit more.
As she went toward the area with the clothing boxes, she opted to keep Ian talking.
“So, tell me more about Lily.” Cassie pulled the lid off an oblong box and nearly wept with relief at the colorful summer dresses inside. “She’s very striking and has a strong resemblance to my mother.”
“When this film came across my desk, I knew I wanted Max to try for it and I was sincerely hoping they paired him with Lily. This role was made for her. She’s already got that Southern-bellecharm your mother had, according to everyone on set. Lily has the sweet little twang in her voice like all of you Barringtons do.”
Cassie turned, clutching a simple strapless cotton dress to her chest. “I do not have a twang.”
Ian quirked a brow. “It’s actually even more prominent when you get ticked. Very cute and sexy.”
Rolling her eyes, Cassie turned back to the box and placed the lid back on. “I’m going to change. Could you try not to stare at me through the reflection again?”
Ian shrugged one broad shoulder. “I promise.”
Cassie waited for him to turn around or move, but he just sat there smiling. Damn that man. Now that she’d reminded him he’d seen her pretty much naked, Cassie had no doubt she’d just thrown gasoline on the fire.
“Aren’t you going to turn around?” she finally asked.
“Oh, when you just said not to look at you through the reflection, I assumed you wanted to let me in on the full viewing.”
“I didn’t want to let you into this room...let alone treat you to a viewing.”
Cassie resisted the urge to kiss that smirk off his face. He knew he was getting to her, and she wondered just how much longer she’d deny it to herself.
“I’ll move, then,” she told him, stomping to the other end of the attic behind a tall stack of boxes. “And don’t you follow me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He chuckled. “But you’re just putting off the inevitable, you know.”
She quickly wrestled out of her clothes and yanked the strapless dress up over her heated body. Her bare arms and legs cooled instantly.
“I’m not putting anything off,” she informed him as she came back around the boxes. “I know your type, Ian. Sex shouldn’t justbe a way to pass the time. It should mean something, and the couple should have feelings for each other.”
“Oh, I feel something for you. And I plan on making you feel something, too.”
Why did her body have to respond to him? And why did she always have to be so goody-goody all the time?
She didn’t even have the ability to make him squirm. No wonder her husband had left her for another woman.
“I’m not sure what put that look on your face, but I hope it wasn’t me.”
Cassie drew her attention back to Ian, who had now moved in closer and was very much in her personal space. His dark eyes stared at her mouth and Cassie really tried to remember why she was putting up such a fight.
Had her husband ever looked at her like this? As though he was so turned on that all that mattered was the two of them? Had he ever made her tingle like this or feel so feminine and sexy?
No to all the above.
Cassie swallowed. If she was really going to do this, she needed to be in control. She’d been dominated enough in her marriage and right now she wanted something totally different. She wanted sex and she wanted Ian.
Mustering up all her courage, Cassie looked up at him with a wide smile and said, “Strip.”
Five
It wasn’t often Ian was shocked—he did live in Hollywood, after all. But that one word that had just slid from Cassie’s lips truly took his breath and left him utterly speechless.