Unexpectedly Expecting the Sheik's Baby - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,32

But that kind of revelation would give him too much power if he knew how much he affected her.

Then again, the man wasn’t an idiot. He had to know how intensely he could make her feel that damnable desire.

Cassy took another deep breath and focused. “Okay, I’m holding it. It’s steady. The safety is on and I’m pulling the trigger. Now what?”

He stepped forward and she stopped him. Maintaining a firm grip with one hand, she lifted her other hand. “Stop right there.” When one dark eyebrow went up in question, she sighed and carefully placed the gun on the table in front of her. “Look, I’m going to be completely honest with you.” He stepped backwards and crossed his arms over his chest. A very nice chest, she thought, before realizing her thoughts were going in the wrong direction again.

Closing her eyes, she focused again. “You’re a very attractive man. You know that. I am attracted to you and I can’t seem to stop it. When you’re close, something odd happens to me and I can’t really explain it. But,” she paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “I don’t want it to keep happening.”

He moved closer, ignoring the way she immediately stepped back. “Why are you so frightened of the attraction between us?”

She shook her head, but before she could tell him anything, he pressed a finger against her lips, stopping her argument. “Cassandra, if you don’t explain your resistance to me, then we will continue this dance all night. I would like to have you in my bed and I know that we can give each other a great deal of pleasure. But if there is some reason you are opposed to having a relationship with me, then you need to explain it to me.”

“You mean, besides the ethical issues with me having sex with my client?”

“I will release you from that role, if that will help.”

She shook her head, horrified at that suggestion. “No, please don’t do that!” She took a deep breath. “I know that you are an important client to my firm.”

“I don’t see a problem with this.”

She rubbed her forehead, trying to get him to see reason. “Look, you’re a client. I’m an employee currently working for you. For all intents and purposes, no matter what happens, if I have sex with you or not, I’ll never know for certain I’m doing a good job. Sex muddies the waters. It would cause not only me, but also my supervisors, to question a good evaluation from you.”

He watched her eyes, accepting that her explanation made sense. But there was more.

“Is that all?”

She sighed again. “No. That’s not all.”

“There’s something personal, isn’t there?” He touched her hair, pushing it behind her shoulders. “Something that is bothering you.”

Cassy was doubly impressed that he could read her so easily. That spoke volumes for his perception. And she decided to be honest with him, thinking it would help him understand her resistance.

Unable to look him in the eye, she stepped away from him, needing space in order to tell this story. “When I was a teenager,” she began, then stopped, shuddering at the wave of memories. Taking another deep breath, she tried again, crossing her arms over her chest, trying to hide her body from him. “Well, I developed early,” she explained.

He leaned back against the wall. “You have a lovely figure.”

She flushed and looked away. “Yes, well, the boys noticed that too.” She stared at the ground. “The girls did as well. And they said…things…that were painful.”

There was silence for a long time. “What did they say?” he prompted.

She shrugged and laughed. “Oh, they were creative. Saying things like how much of a slut I was, how my breasts were the leading factor in my good grades. One girl snidely pointed out that having sex with my eighth grade history teacher wouldn’t help me in the long run.”

Nasir was stunned. He knew kids were cruel, but those comments were outrageous. “You never had sex with your teachers,” he stated emphatically.

Cassy laughed and wrapped her arms more tightly around her. “The boys seemed to think that the girls’ insinuations were an open invitation for me to have sex with all of them.” She paused, crossing her arms over her chest. “One time, I was alone after school and some boys…” she paused and looked down, pressing her lips together as she remembered vividly the terror of that afternoon. “A group of boys trapped me against the lockers.”