I clench my jaw and step away from Nia when she lets go of my cock. “What is it, Randall?”
He clears his throat. “Things have been set up on the grounds, sir – uh, Cass. Everyone is waiting for you outside.”
I fix my jeans, buckle up my belt, and try not to lose my temper as I say, “Tell Amanda that I don’t appreciate her indirect meddling, and that I’ll meet her downstairs in a couple of minutes.”
He’s silent for a moment. “Umm… Should I really tell her the first bit?”
I pull open the door, and he all but stumbles at the suddenness of it.
“Did you hear me stuttering while I said those words, Randall?” I ask.
“…No?”
I lift a brow at him, to which he clears his throat and gives me a nod.
“I’ll…go tell Amanda what you just said to me.” He nods again – more to himself this time. “Yeah. I’ll, uh, I’ll go now.” With an abrupt shift, he almost burns through the carpet as he runs away from me.
I close my eyes and place my forehead against the doorframe.
“Why did you have to be so hard on him?” comes Nia’s voice, right before she rubs a hand on my back and presses a long kiss on my shoulder. “He’s just doing his job, Cass; give him a break.”
I turn and look at her. “I’m annoyed, okay? Givemea break.”
“So, being annoyed automatically gives you the right to act like a bitch to him?” she retorts.
I snort. “I didnotact like a bit–”
“You can try to justify that until the end of time, but I’ll never agree with you,” she challenges.
I chuckle, loosening up a bit. “How did I end up having such luck – to have someone in my life who doesn’t even blink before calling me a bitch?”
She bats her lashes and gives me a clinical smile. “You may wanna ask Amanda about that. I’m sure she’s transcribing an answer for that as we speak.”
I grin and cup the back of her head before giving her a chaste kiss.
“Stop.” She gives my chest a slight push. “You need to go now, Cass. The crew is waiting for you downstairs.”
I step back. “Fine, but I’m coming over tonight.”
“I know.” She tangles and drags her fingers through my hair. “I’ll go do stupid things until then in order to pass the time.”
I wink at her. “I’mstupid, dome.”
“Ugh.” She pushes me away. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“Admit it, you secretly loved it.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of that in this lifetime, I assure you.”
“Evil,” I say around a grin.
She rises on her tiptoes and sets a soft kiss on the side of my mouth. “Mm-hmm. The best of her kind, don’t you dare forget that.”
12. Cass
With a shake of my head, I chuckle and rise on an elbow. “You’re going to get all dizzy if you don’t stop doing that,” I tell her.
Nia, with a serene look on her face, continues spinning around the open, snow-laden field we’re in. With her right hand in front of her chest, and the left one on top of her head, she turns, causing the flared hem of her blue velvet dress to brush against the powdered snow under us. Her long hair – wavier than usual – flows wildly with the strong afternoon wind, and when the muted daylight catches her at just the right moment, I sit up and continue looking at her because I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than her in my life so far. Watching Nia as she takes in the little pleasures of nature with such interest and calm is very soothing to be a part of.
