her at a distance. He was trying to push her away, but the drugged body she inhabited

icient murmur. "Mr. Blackwood, she is Cassandra Laurent. The

to cutting. He scanned her from head to t

their grand plan? Faking a suicide to get my attention

wen clarified, ever the professional. "The

despised being defied. He had agreed to this union for pragmatic reasons-to appease his family's board and secure a business

A social disaster. Utterly unremarkable. This desperate,

oice leaving no room for argument. "Cancel the engagement. Se

." He reached for his phone

d haze in Cassie's mind. Back to Melissa. Back to that gi

iges of control evaporated. A primal panic seized her

e clean, cool scent of his shirt was an anchor in a burning sea. A broken sound

froze. It was not the reaction of a cunning manipulator. It

wracked her small frame. He looked down at the top of her head, at the dark, wet hair plastered to her

er. It channeled a lifetime of stagecraft into that single, desperate look

t his jacket, trying to pull him closer, to absorb his coolness. One of her hands snagg

r ten years and had never seen anyone touch him s

pths of his eyes. He grabbed her chin, his fingers digging in

u know what y

s just another source of relief from the fire. She leaned into it, her body instinctively seeking more. Her lips p

an through him, something that wasn't just annoyance. It was a flicke

didn't recognize, beautiful and lost, pleading for something she couldn't name. She sho

uld have handed her to his security an

did

, only to slide one arm under her knees and the other a

s. Without another word to Owen, he turned and strode toward the ship