hours.”
He munched on the wheat toast and took a sip of coffee before answering.
“How much did Gloria tell you?”
Cassie gave him a knowing glance. “Everything. At least what she knew and could piece together, that is.”
She handed him a tall glass of orange juice. “Drink this. You’re probably still dehydrated.”
Rhett followed her orders, draining the glass, hoping to buy some time. But as he looked at Cassie, he knew he could only be honest with her. She would never hold back on him. He owed her the same—even if it did put him in a bad light.
He set down the empty glass, picking up a strip of bacon in one hand and taking her hand with his other.
“I guess you could tell how upset I was at the funeral.” He inhaled the bacon in two bites and waited for the wrath of Cassie to drop.
Her brows raised a good inch. “You mean the part about leaving the business? Or the part where you abandoned me both physically and emotionally without looking back?” She frowned at him, dropping her sarcastic tone. “Rhett, you vanished. You could’ve been lying dead in a ditch and I wouldn’t have known. In fact, you practically were.”
Cassie pulled her hand from his. “I care about you, Corrigan. A lot. But I’ve got to know it’s a two-way street. I don’t trust easily or often. I learned a long time ago not to wear my heart on my sleeve because the world always stomps on you.”
He winced. “Okay. I deserve that one.” He reached for her hand again and captured it in his, entwining his fingers through hers.
“I acted like a first-class fuck-up, okay? I admit it. I stormed out of there, angry at the world, totally selfish. I drove around aimlessly, feeling sorry for myself. Why was I still here and Zak dead? He had his whole life in front of him. He loved doing what he did but it wasn’t enough.”
Rhett picked up the tray and moved it aside. He pulled Cassie next to him, his arm around her shoulders, holding her close.
“Then my little pity party took a turn for the worse. I drove by some dive and wheeled into the parking lot. Went in and had a lot of drinks. I mean a lot. So many I can’t begin to remember.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I felt sorry for Zak because he wanted you and I was lucky enough to have beaten him to you. I felt sorry for me because the world thinks I have everything I could ever need or want in a career, and most of the time I’m empty inside. I’m bored with what I do. I’m typecast. I wanted it all to go away—the press junkets and gift baskets and mediocre scripts.”
Rhett looked into Cassie’s eyes. “Everything but you, Cassie Carroll. You’ve become my world. I can’t believe I put you through hell worrying about me.”
His arm tightened around her. “Can you forgive me for being such a selfish Hollywood bastard?”
“I’ll think about it.” She smiled. “Of course, I do my best thinking—”
Rhett cut her off with a kiss, long and deep.
When he finally broke the kiss, he murmured in her ear, “If you’re going to think, I better give you something to think about.”
She sighed as he nibbled on her ear, her hands tightening on his shoulders. Rhett moved to the slender column of her throat, taking long minutes there before working his way down. His fingers pushed the buttons through the holes of her white oxford shirt and then slipped it from her shoulders.
“Hmm. You did that in record time, Mr. Expert. Or should I say Mr. Sexpert?”
Rhett cupped her breasts, kneading them, enjoying her little sighs of contentment before he unfastened her bra and tossed it aside.
“Baby, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Cassie moaned as Rhett’s warm mouth touched her breast, his tongue dancing in circles around her nipple. Every stroke brought a new shiver, a new rush of emotion. Her fingers pushed into his hair, clenching and unclenching as his tongue and hands worked their magic.
Somehow, she found herself without any clothes on, Rhett stretched above her like a chiseled Greek god. She’d always laughed at stories back in high school of girls losing their heads, couples who said they got carried away and didn’t know what they were doing.
Little Cassie Carroll from Waco, Texas now counted herself a member of that club. Rhett Corrigan drove every coherent thought from her mind. She